Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Beverage cooling and pumping system
This invention relates to beverage or beverage
component and pumping systems and has particular, but
not exclusive, reference to such pumping systems
intended to pump carbonated water around a soda
circuit.
Ice bank cooling systems are well known. Such
systems incorporate a reservoir containing water and
two sets of coils. The first coil comprises the
expansion portion of a refrigeration circuit and the
second coil is a heat exchanger for cooling beverage
or a beverage component such as a concentrate or
diluert. The operation of the refrigeration system
builds up a layer of ice on the refrigerant coils
which acts as a store of cold and enables a smaller
refrigeration unit running for longer time periods to
cool beverages where the demand occurs in peaks
throughout the day. Normally, such systems
incorporate an agitator in the farm of a paddle
rotated by an electric motor which agitates water
within the reservoir to wash it over the ice bank to
keep the water cold and prevent temperature
stratification within the reservoir. A motor may be
connected directly via a shaft to the paddle or
agitator or may be connected indirectly utilising a
magnetic coupling system as is for example described
in UK patent application 2 167 845.
A coil or other form of heat exchanger for the
beverage or beverage component is immersed in the
coolant and Gaols the beverage or beverage component
which passes through the coil.
In some cases the beverage or beverage
component is passed through the coil under pressure
from an external source. In some cases however, a
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pump is used to pump a beverage or beverage component
through the coil.
In a particular type of system, namely a soda
circuit system, there is provided a loop for a soda
circuit in which carbonated water is continuously
pumped around a loop and is tapped off at locations
around the loop for supply to a beverage mixing
apparatus. The carbonated water is pumped by means of
a conventional electrical pump which therefore has to
handle the cold soda water. Such pumps normally
operate 24 hours a day and continuously circulate
chilled water through the soda circuit.
By the present invention there is provided a
beverage or beverage component cooling and pumping
system including a reservoir of coolant liquid, an
agitator for agitating liquid in the reservoir, power
means located above the reservoir and connected to the
agitator to rotate the agitator, a pump for pumping
the beverage or beverage component through a circuit,
characterised in that the pump is driven by the same
power means as the agitator and in that the pump is
magnetically coupled to the power means, the magnetic
coupling being located between the agitator and the
pump.
The pump may be immersed in the coolant liquid
or may be located exteriorly of the reservoir which is
formed at least in part of a non-ferromagnetic
material permitting coupling magnetically through the
wall. The pump, when mounted in an exterior position
may be thermally insulated from the external
atmosphere.
The circuit may include a heat exchanger
immersed at least in part in the coolant liquid. The
pump may have two feeds and a single outlet, one feed
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for a return from the circuit and the other feed for a
circuit top up from a carbonator.
The motor may be an electric motor and may be
a two-pole electric motor. The liquid coolant may be
water and there may be provided means to freeze part
of the water in the reservoir. The system may
incorporate a carbonator for carbonating water.
The present invention further provides a
beverage or beverage component cooling system
including a reservoir of coolant liquid, an electric
motor located above the reservoir, a shaft dependant
from the motor and having agitator means therein
within the reservoir, a magnetic coupling at the end
of the shaft interengaging the shaft and a pump for
pumping the beverage or beverage component through a
circuit.
By way of example embodiments of the present
invention will now be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings of which
FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of the said
circuit,
FIGURE 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view
of a coolant reservoir, and
FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of a
recirculating pump and agitator
system.
Referring to Figure 1, this shows a circuit 1
in the form of a loop which extends from and to a pump
2 and incorporates a 'T' lead off 3. The 'T' lead off
heads towards a valve 4 which controls the flow of
said water to an exit point or nozzle 5. It will be
understood that the system beyond the 'T' lead off is
perfectly conventional and the valve 4 may be part of
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a system for mixing carbonated water with a drink
concentrate or may be a simple control valve.
The pump 2 has a pair of inlets 6, 7. The
inlet 6 is for the return from the circuit 1 and the
inlet 7 is for replenishment of soda water from a
carbonator 8. The pump 2 runs continuously and would
normally circulate water around the circuit 1.
However, in the event of carbonated water being drawn
through valve 4 top up for the circuit is provided by
carbonator 8. The carbonator 8 is supplied by a
carbon dioxide line 9 and a water line 10
incorporating valves 11 and 12. The remote carbonator
8 is of conventional form.
The circuit 1 incorporates a heat exchanger to
maintain the carbonated water at a low temperature and
the circuit itself is normally insulated.
The pump 2 and its cooling system is shown in
more detail in Figure 2. The pump 2 has an output
through line 13 into a heat exchanger 14 which forms
part of the circuit 1. Feed line 15 leads -to port 7
and feed line 16 leads to port 6. The pump 2 is
immersed in water 17 contained within an insulated
reservoir 18. Also within the reservoir is a
refrigeration coil 19 shown surrounded by an ice bank
20 in a conventional manner. The water within the
reservoir is agitated by agitator paddle 21 fixed to
shaft 22 and driven by electric motor 23. A magnetic
coupling 24 interconnects the shaft 22 and the pump 2.
The agitator pump and motor system are shown
in more detail in Figure 3. The electric motor 23
which forms the power means for the system comprises a
two-pole motor having a cooling fan 25 and being
supported on a frame 26 to which is mounted a pump
head 2? being part of the pump 2. The agitator paddle
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21 is mounted on the shaft 22 and the end of the shaft
terminates in a magnetic coupling 24 which couples to
a corresponding portion of a magnetic coupling in the
pump head. The outlet line 13, the pump itself 2 and
the inlet lines, one of which 15 is shown in Figure 3,
are all immersed in the coolant water. Because the
magnetic coupling avoids the need for seals, the pump
can be completely sealed from the water 17 in the
reservoir. There is therefore no danger of leakage
through the seals which could contaminate the beverage
carbonated water with water 17 from the reservoir 18
which might be contaminated. The absence of seals
also ensures that the friction of the seals is not
present and therefore the motor 23 can be of the
smallest size practicable. Furthermore, because the
pump is immersed in the coolant and is not in the open
air, there is no risk of condensation which might
otherwise lead to condensation affecting the electric
motor and causing damage to the motor.
In an alternative embodiment the pump 2 has a
single inlet and the top up line from the carbonator 8
is fed into the loop 1. This means that there is only
a single seal for the inlet to the pump and a single
seal for the outlet. In a further alternative, the
feed line or lines to the pump may be led over tile top
of the wall 18 of the reservoir so as to avoid the
need for seals in the wall of the reservoir.
It will be appreciated that the pump 2 could
be located outside the reservoir 18 which could have a
pocket for the pump provided that the wall of the
reservoir was not ferromagnetic for the region where
the magnetic coupling was to make the connection.
However, such a system would require insulation to
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prevent condensation from the pump damaging the
container or its surroundings.
