Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SPECIFIC~TION
Thisinvention relates to a beverage cooling bath,
and more specifica]ly to means for controlling the size
of an ice bank therein.
It has been known heretofore to provide beverage
cooling baths that include a water tank having water
associated with a refrigeration evaporator, a beverage
cooling coil being disposed therein. One type of control
that has been proposed is disclosed in a copending
application assigned to the assignee of this application,
Serial No. 305,609, filed June 16, 1978. In that control,
the tube is arranged in a generally Y-shape with water fed
from below. Water is discharged through one arm of the ~;~
Y-shape which extends adjacent to the evaporator, and the
other arm of the Y-shape goes to a reservoir containing
an appropriate level-responsive sensing means. Although such
structure is meritorious, the control is not entirely
fail-safe.
The present invention is directed to a beverage
cooling bath adapted to be cooled by a refrigeration systemr
comprising a thermally insulated water tank; an evaporator
adapted to be a part of the refrigeration system and
supported to be in heat-transfer relation to water in said
tank for freezing ice on a surface thereof; a motor-driven -
water impeller supported in said tank; a tube having an
inlet end supported in confronting relation to said
impeller for receiving a flow of water therefrom, said tube
having an intermediate portion extending along the freezing
surface of said evaporator, and an outlet end in series with
said inlet end and said intermediate portion; and means
.
connected to said outlet and responsive to blockage of flo~
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through said outlet due to the formation of ice in said
lntermediate portion, and adapted to be connected to control
the refrigeration system.
Many other features of the present invention will
become manifest to those versed in the art upon making
reference to the detailed description and the accompanying
sheet of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment
incorporating the present invention is shown by way of
illustrative example.
ON THE DRAWINGS:
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a beverage dispensing
system having a beverage cooling bath provided according to
the present invention; and
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view, -
diagrammatic in nature, of the beverage cooling bath of
FIG. 1 show~ng the novel ice bank control. -
The present invention is particularl~ useful when
embodied in a beverage dispensing system having a beverage
cooling bath such as is schematically shown in ~IG. 1,
i 20 generally indicated by the numeral 10. The system includes
a source of beverage 11, which is under pressure, for ~
example from a source of carbon dioxide gas 12, and the
- beverage can be withdrawn from a dispensing valve 13, the
beverage cooling bath 10 being connected between the source
11 and the valve 13. The bath lG includes a water tank 14,
a beverage cooling coil ~5, and a separate evaporator coil
16. The evaporator or evaporator coil 16 is adapted to be
~` connected to and to form a part of a conventional refri-
geration system 17.
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As best seen in FIG. 2, the water tank 14 is
enclosed by thermal insulation 18, there being a cover 19.
The tank 14 is normally nearly filled with water~
The evaporator 16 is spaced well away from the
interior wall 20 of the tank 14, and the beverage cooling
coil 15 is disposed between the inside wall ~0 and the
evaporator 16 and a tube described below. By keeping the
beverage cooling coil 15 well spaced from the evaporator 16,
the likelihood of a freeze-up occurring in the beverage
cooling coil 15 is minimized.
When the refrigeration system 17 is energized,
heat is removed from the water by the evaporator 16 until
the water reaches it~ freezing point. Thereafter, after
removal of the latent heat of fusion, ice begins to form on
the outside of the evaporator or evaporator coil 16. Ice
formed on the evaporator 16 is known in the trade as an
"ice bank". ~hen beverage is not being dispensed from the i~
valve 13, the be~erage cooling coil 15 contains beverage
~hich is not flowing, and therefore its temperature will
drop along with the temperature of the water in the tank 14.
After beverage has been dispensed, the beverage cooling coil
15 becomes partially or fully filled with room-temperature
- be~erage from the source 11. Such beverage is warmer and ~-
tends to raise the temperature of the waterj but first acts
to melt a portion of the ice bank. When drinks are not
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being dispensed, the ice bank builds up in size. In order
to ensure that the ice bank does not engage and possibly ;
freeze the beverage in the bever~ge cooling coil 15, an ice
` bank control is necessary for limiting the maximum size
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According to the present invention, the beverage
cooling bath 10 further includes a motor 21 supported on the
cover 19, the motor supporting a shaft 22, on the lower end
of which is an impeller 23. The impeller 23 causes a cur-
rent of water to flow downwardly and also acts as an
agitator to keep the water in the tank at a fairly uniform
temperature. Yet, it is so small that it does not apply any
significant heat to the water because of its movement.
Situated immediately below the impeller 23 is an i.nlet end
24 of a tube 25 into which water is downwardly forced by the
impeller 23. The tube 25 is fixedly supported with respect
to the evaporator coil 16. The tube 25 has an inside
diameter of substantially one eighth inch throughout its -
length and includes an intermediate copper portion 26 which
has a length between 12 and 15 inches~ The inlet 24 is
connected to the upstream end of the intermediate portion 26
- by a plastic portion or hose 27, and its downstream end is ~`
connected by a similar portion 28, the tube 25 thus
constitutin~ the inlet 24 and the series-connected portions
27, 26 and 28 leading to an outlet 29 thereof, which is
connected to the inlet of a reservoir 30~ The evaporator
coil 16 is hel`ical and as viewed from above is generally
oval-shaped, the portion 26 of the tube 25 thus being
generally U-shapéd and bein~ disposed between the first and
second coils of the evaporator coil 16, and lying parallel
thereto for a major portion of one turn thereof. Within the
reservoir 30, there is disposed the float 31 of a float
switch 32 which i5 adapted to be connected to the refriger-
ation system 17 fox controlling it. The reservoir 30 and
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the float switch 32 here comprise means connected to the
outlet of the tube 25, responsive to blockage o~ flow there-
through due to ice formation, and adapted to be connected
to control the refrigeration system 17~ The reservoir 3~
has an overflow 33 which is directed to return water to the
tank 14, and also has a drain 34 also directed to return
water to the tank 14~
The motor 21 is normally continually energized
and thus the impeller 23 continually discharges a flow of
water within the tank and directs such flow downwardly into
the inlet 24 and through the tube 25 into the reservoir 30.
Once the reservoir 30 becomes filled to the level of the
overflow 33, the float 31 is raised to its upper po~ition
to energize the refrigeration system 17. Eventually, ice
will form ~ithin the copper intermediate portion 26 of the
tube 25 and.begin to restrict the flow of water there-
through. The re.servoir 3Q has a drain 34 ~hich has a
~ smaller flow capacity than that of the tube 25, and when the
flow capacity of the tube 25 is reduced so that it is less
than the drain.34, the water in the reservoir 30 will pass
. out through the drain 34, thus lowering the float 31 to
deenergize the refrigeration system 17. ~he flow capacity
. of the overflow 33 combined with the flow capacity of the :~
drain:34 is greater than the flow capa-city of the tube 25
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. 25 so that the overflow 33 will always act to limit the maxi~
.;~ mum level up to which water may rise ~n thereservoir 30,
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-.` and in that the drain.34 is relatively small, it will not
prevent the water level going up, but will always drain the
. reservoir as the flow into it becomes reduced. . . .
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In the event that the motor 21 should ~ail or if
the impeller 23 should become dislodged from the shaft 22,
water will cease flowing through the tube 25, enabling the
reservoir 3Q to drain, and thus enable the refrigeration
system to be shut down because of such failure of the ice
bank control. Any freeze-up of the tube 25, or if it should
become clogged by foreign material, will cause the refriger-
ation system to be shut down. In summary, any failure af
any component in the circulating system of the ice bank
control will cause the electrical circuit to the refriger-
ation system to be opened, to stop the production of ice.
Thus the problems connected with possible water bath freeze-
up are avoided by such fail-safe construction.
The actual amount of ice that will form on the
evaporator coil 16 will depend in part upon the length of
the metal portion 26, the distance that the intermediate ~ -
metal portion 26 is spaced from the evaporator coil 16, and
the force or water level needed to actuate the float switch
- 32. When ice on the ice bank melts, ice within the inter-
mediate portion 26 will also melt, thus reestablishing flow
of watér to the reservoir 30 and thus energizing the float
switch 32.
A bracket 35 provides means for supporting the
inlet 24 of the tube 25 and also carries thereon anti-
~` 25 cavitation plates such as 36.
Thus there is provided an inexpensive beverage `~
~; cooling bath assembly that has a particularly simple and in-
expensive means or ice bank control for con~rolling the
amount of ice that can be formed therein constructed in a
fail-safe manner.
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