Patent ID: 7644592

Claim:
A cooling apparatus for installation in a support structure having a support surface for supporting a receptacle holding a comestible product, comprising one or more cooling stations embedded in the support structure, each of said cooling stations comprising a housing for being installed in the support structure and a cooling disc assembly mounted on said housing, said housing for each of said cooling stations including a top surface for being disposed along the support surface of the support structure, and a cavity within said housing and extending through said housing from a top of said housing to a bottom of said housing, said cooling disc assembly for each of said cooling stations including an enclosure for being received in said cavity of said housing and enclosing an interior space forming a cooling chamber within said enclosure, a fluid inlet entering said enclosure providing communication into said cooling chamber, and a fluid outlet exiting said enclosure providing communication out of said cooling chamber, said enclosure including a top disc, a bottom plate, and a peripheral side wall connecting said top disc to said bottom plate to enclose said cooling chamber, said top disc having an upper face for being disposed along the support surface of the support structure when said cooling disc assembly is mounted on said housing with said enclosure received in said cavity of said housing, and said top disc having a lower face, said cooling chamber being peripherally circumscribed by said side wall and extending from bottom to top between an upper surface of said bottom plate and said lower face of said top disc, said fluid inlet having an inlet orifice located within said cooling chamber and at said top of said cooling chamber through which a flow of chilled fluidic cooling medium is supplied to within said cooling chamber, wherein said fluid inlet for each of said cooling stations comprises an inlet tube extending through said bottom plate and having a terminal end surface in abutment with said lower face of said too disc, said inlet orifice for each of said cooling stations includes one or more inlet holes formed through said inlet tube adjacent said terminal end surface, said top disc for each of said cooling stations includes a recess in said lower face in communication with said cooling chamber, said fluid outlet having a discharge orifice located within said cooling chamber and at said top of said cooling chamber through which fluidic cooling medium from within said cooling chamber is discharged, wherein said fluid outlet for each of said cooling stations comprises an outlet tube extending through a hole in said bottom plate and having an open end disposed in said cooling chamber adjacent said recess to define said discharge orifice, said upper face of said top disc providing a surface for supporting the receptacle holding the comestible product, said top disc providing thermal transfer from the comestible product to the chilled fluidic cooling medium in said cooling chamber.