Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02084646 2002-03-O1
-1-
POSTMIX BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to beverage dispensing and in a
preferred embodiment to a postmix juice dispensing system for
dispensing a finished beverage directly from a pliable
concentrate at freezer temperatures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Postmix juice dispensing systems are known. Orange juice
concentrate, for example, is distributed frozen. Restaurants
remove concentrate from the freezer and thaw the concentrate in a
cooler prior to dispensing. The restaurant has to estimate its
juice requirements at least two days in advance and place
sufficient concentrate in its cooler. If the restaurant's
estimates are incorrect or if someone forgets, the restaurant
will run out of thawed concentrate. Also, there is often a
limited amount of cooler space available for thawing orange juice
concentrate. When a restaurant runs out of thawed concentrate,
measures are sometimes taken to quickly thaw frozen concentrate
and such measures often are inefficient and ineffective and also
sometimes affect the taste of the resulting product. Orange
juice concentrate has typically been 3+1 concentrate. The
present invention is useful preferably with 5+1 concentrate,
although it can be used with any desired ratio up to about 7.5+1.
The reduced amount of water in 5+1 concentrate prevents a phase
change or freezing, at typical freezer temperatures of -10°F to
0°F. The 5+1 concentrate at freezer temperatures does not
readily flow by gravity. A container of 0°F product can be
inverted and no product will flow out. Also, the product is so
thick that a pump's suction cannot pull product from the
container. However, the product is still pliable.
WO 91 / 18826 PCT/ US91103869
~(: g~~~~f
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
postmix juice dispensing system for direct dispensing with 5+1
concentrate at freezer temperatures.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a
direct dispensing postmix juice dispensing system for use with
5+1 concentrate at freezer temperatures in which the concentrate
is placed in a pressurizable canister and the concentrate is
pressurized to about 50 psig to force concentrate out of the bag.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
postmix beverage dispensing system in which a high quality
beverage is dispensed directly from frozen concentrate.
It is another object of this invention to provide a postmix
beverage dispenser in which all product contact surfaces are
disposable, therefore eliminating the need to sanitize the
dispenser.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a
postmix beverage dispensing system which requires virtually no
cleanup or sanitization.
It is another object ~of this invention to provide a postmix
beverage dispenser which allows a rapid flavor change.
It is another object of this invention to provide a postmix
beverage dispensing package for frozen concentrate.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a single
blow mold concentrate package having two parts; one being the
concentrate container capable of being pressurized in a canister
by a driven piston and the other being a metering pump-mixing
nozzle unit capable of pumping a metered quantity of concentrate
when reciprocatingly moved by a metering pump actuator.
It is another object of this invention to provide an
improved metering pump.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an
improved metering pump which prevents premature movement of the
piston and eliminates the :need for close tolerances between the
piston and the discharge valve.
It is another object of this invention to provide a metering
pumF~ in which the inlet opening of the discharge valve is full
open throughout the dispensing portion of the metering cycle,
WO 91/18826 PCT/US91/03869
~~~~~~-~Ei
-3-
which improves metering efficiency by eliminating flow
restrictions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A postmix beverage dispensing system for dispensing a
finished beverage directly from a pliable concentrate at freezer
temperatures. The term "directly" is hereby defined for use in
this application as meaning without forcing the concentrate
through a heat exchanger. The term pliable is used in its normal
meaning. A 5+1 orange juice concentrate (meaning that it is to
be mixed 1 part concentrate to 5 parts of water to be
reconstituted), for example, has a reduced amount of water such
that at freezer temperatures it is pliable and although it will
not readily flow by gravity or by a pump's suction, it will flow
under pressure. The beverage dispensing system of this invention
includes placing a concentrate container of pliable concentrate
at freezer temperature into a canister, locking the door of the
canister, and connecting a disposable unit comprising a metering
pump and mixing nozzle to a discharge spout of the concentrate
container extending through an opening in the canister. A
pressurized water line is connected to the mixing nozzle and a
pump actuator is attached to the pump. The concentrate is
pressurized by a piston in the canister. When it is desired to
dispense a beverage the pump actuator operates the pump to force
metered quantities of concentrate into the mixing nozzle where it
thoroughly mixes with water under pressure while flowing through
a static mixer. The finished beverage is dispensed from the
static mixer into a cup.
When it is time to replace an empty concentrate container
with a full one, both the container and the integral unit
including the metering pump and mixing nozzle are disposed of.
Thus, because all product contact surfaces are disposable, the
dispenser requires virtually no cleanup or sanitization, and a
rapid flavor change can be made.
This invention also includes an improved metering pump
having: (1) detent insured positive piston movement eliminating
the need for close tolerances, and (2) full open valve inlet
opening during the dispensing portion of the metering cycle
whereby efficiency is increased by reducing flow restrictions out
CA 02084646 2002-03-O1
4
of the pump; which occurs in the previous devices of this
type in which the piston goes to the top of the chamber
and the inlet opening in the valve is restricted to a
smaller and smaller size.
Other aspects of this invention are as follows:
A postmix beverage dispenser comprising:
(a) a concentrate chamber therein for receiving a
quantity of concentrate;
(b) said chamber having an opening for inserting
concentrate into said concentrate chamber, a cover for
closing said opening and a concentrate discharge opening.
(c) a disposable concentrate metering pump adjacent
said concentrate discharge opening of said concentrate
chamber and having an outlet for feeding metered
quantities of concentrate therethrough;
(d) a disposable mixing nozzle adjacent said pump
having an inlet connected to said pump outlet, a beverage
dispensing outlet, and a water inlet port for receiving
water to be mixed witrn concentrate;
(e) means for pressurizing any concentrate in said
concentrate chamber and for forcing it directly into said
metering pump without any intermediate heat exchanger;
(f) metering pump actuating means in said dispenser
for actuating said pump to feed metered quantities of
concentrate into said mixing nozzle;
(g) a water pump for pumping' water under pressure
into said mixing nozzle; and
(h) including a disposable concentrate container
positioned in said concentrate chamber and wherein said
metering pump actuating means is a permanent part of said
dispenser and said corucentrate container and said
CA 02084646 2002-03-O1
4a
metering pump and said mixing nozzle are easily removable
from said dispenser and are disposable.
A method for dispensing a beverage directly from
pliable concentrate at freezer temperatures comprising
the steps of:
(a) inserting a disposable container of pliable
concentrate at freezer temperature into a concentrate
chamber of a beverage dispenser;
(b) providing said container with a concentrate
outlet opening;
(c) providing a disposable concentrate pump
including an inlet opening and a concentrate outlet
opening immediately adjacent said container with said
pump inlet opening connected to said container outlet
opening;
(d) providing a disposable mixing nozzle having an
inlet connected to said pump outlet opening, a beverage
dispensing outlet, and a water inlet port for receiving
water to be mixed with concentrate;
(e) pressurizing the concentrate in said container
and forcing it to flow directly into said pump;
(f) pumping concentrate from said pump into said
mixing nozzle;
(g) pumping water under pressure into said mixing
nozzle to mix with said concentrate;
(h) discharging a beverage from said mixing nozzle;
and
(i) including the step of disposing of said
container, pump and mixing nozzle when said container is
empty.
CA 02084646 2002-03-O1
4b
A two part disposable package for pliable beverage
concentrate at freezer_ temperature comprising:
(a) a first part comprising a concentrate container
with a discharge spout; and
(b) a second part comprising an integral pump and
mixing nozzle including a pump housing having an inlet
conduit, a pumping chamber and an outlet conduit, and a
mixing nozzle including an inlet conduit communicating
with said outlet conduit, a mixing chamber, a beverage
discharge opening, and a pressurized water inlet upstream
of said mixing chamber.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be more fully understood
from the detailed description below when read in
connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like
reference numerals refer to like elements and wherein:
Fig. 1 is a partly broken-away front perspective
view of a dispenser according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a partial front view showing the canister
and pumping mechanism of the dispenser of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a partly cross-sectional side view through
the canister and pumping mechanism of the dispenser of
Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a part7.y broken away perspective view of
the pumping mechanism of the dispenser of Fig. 1;
Fig. 5 is a partly cross-sectional side view showing
the water pump of the dispenser of Fig. 1;
Fig. 6 is a part7.y exploded perspective view of the
concentrate container and of the metering pump and mixing
nozzle used in the dispenser of Fig. 1;
CA 02084646 2002-03-O1
4c
Figs. 7A-7G are partly cross-sectional side views
through the metering pump and mixing nozzle showing the
operation thereof;
Fig. 8 is a partly broken away perspective view of
the concentrate container and metering pump as they are
packaged together;
Fig. 9 is a partly schematic side view of an
alternate embodiment of this invention; and
Figs. l0A-lOD are partly cross-sectional, partial
side views through a preferred embodiment of a metering
pump, showing the operation thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to the drawings, the
figures show a beverage dispenser 10 according to the
present invention for dispensing a beverage, such as
orange juice, into a cup 12. The
-5-
dispenser 10 mixes water with concentrate which is supplied in a
concentrate container 14 (see Figs. 3 and 6) and which is at
freezer temperature (such as in the range of from about -10°F to
+5°F). The container 14 is taken directly from the freezer and
inserted into the dispenser 10 without the need for thawing. The
dispenser 10 can immediately proceed to dispense beverages from
this frozen concentrate.
The dispenser 10 includes a housing 16 on legs 18, a cup
support 20, a drip tray 22, and a pair of dispensing nozzles 24.
The dispenser 10 is a two flavor dispenser, however, a dispenser
according to this invention can include any desired number of
dispensing mechanisms for dispensing one, two, three or more
different beverages. Because each of the dispensing mechanisms
are the same, only one will be described herein.
The dispenser 10 includes a canister 26 for holding a
concentrate container 14, pressurizing means 28 for pressurizing
the concentrate in the canister, a disposable combination
metering pump and mixing nozzle 30, a metering pump actuating
means 32, and a water pump 34 for pumping water to the mixing
nozzle for mining with the concentrate to produce the beverage.
The dispenser 10 also includes a refrigeration system 36.
The canister 26 and the pressurizing means 28 will now be
described. Referring to Figs. 1-3, the canister 26 is preferably
a stainless steel cylinder enclosing a concentrate chamber and
having an opening through which a concentrate container 14 is
inserted into the chamber 38. After the concentrate container 14
is inserted into the chamber 38, a cover 42 is closed and locked.
The cover 42 is hingedly connected to the canister by means of a
hinge 44 and also includes a lock 46. The lock includes a handle
48 connected to a pair of pins which extend through a pair of
supports 52 connected to the cover 42 and project through a
stationary plate 54 adjacent to the cover 42. It is noted that
the cover 42 preferably includes an opening 56 therein to
accommodate a handle 58 on the concentrate container 14. The
cover 42 also includes an opening 60 to accommodate a discharge
spout 62 of the container 14. The refrigeration system 36
includes a cooling jacket 37 around each canister for keeping the
canister 26 at a desired temperature selected from the range of
WO 91 /18826 PCT/US91 /03869
-6-
from about 0°F to 40°F. The refrigeration system 36 also
includes a water bath 176 (see Fig. 5).
The other end of the concentrate chamber 38 is formed by a
piston 64 of the pressurizing means 28. The pressurizing means
28 include a motor 66, a gear box 68, a belt 70 extending between
a pair of pulleys 72 and 74, a screw-threaded rod 76, and an
internally screw-threaded collar 78 connected to the piston 64.
Connected to the collar is an arm 80 having a key-way slot
therein associated with a rod 82 to prevent the collar 78 from
turning with the screw-threaded rod 76 so that rotation of the
rod 76 will cause linear movement of the piston 64. The piston
64 preferably applies about 40 psig of force on the concentrate.
The concentrate metering pump and mixing nozzle unit 30 will
now be described. The pump and nozzle unit 30 is a single
integral and disposable unit which comes with the concentrate
container 14 and which after depletion of the concentrate in the
container 14 is disposed of along with the concentrate container.
In this way, all of the product contact surfaces are disposed of,
which provides the dispenser 10 with the important advantage of
reqixiring virtually no cleanup or sanitization. The pump and
nozzle unit 30 is made up of the three separate pieces of a pump
housing 90, an annular piston 92 and a valve and mixing nozzle
94. The pump housing 90 is L-shaped in configuration and
includes an inlet conduit 96 and a concentrate pumping chamber
98. The annular piston 92 is captured for reciprocating movement
inside of the pumping chamber 98. The valve and mixing nozzle 94
are slideably movable inside of the annular piston 92 and
includes a valve opening 100 and a concentrate discharge conduit
102 which communicates with the valve opening and through which
concentrate is forced from the pumping chamber 98 into the mixing
nozzle 104, which preferably includes a static mixer 106. The
valve and mixing nozzle 94 include a pair of spaced apart flanges
108 in which the yoke 134 of a metering pump actuating means fits
to cause vertical reciprocating movement of the valve and mixing
nozzle to create the pumping action of the metering pump, as
shown in Figs. 7A-7G. Fig. 7A shows the top dead center position
which is the start/stop position. Fig. 7B shows the downward
movement of the valve and closing of the valve opening 100. Fig.
'2084 4~
7C shows the valve engaging the piston 92 such that further
downward movement of the valve also moves the piston down opening
and enlarging the pumping chamber 98, as shown further in Fig.
7D. Fig. 7E shows the upward movement of the valve closing the
intake to the pumping chamber 98. Fig. 7F shows the further
upward movement opening the valve opening 100 and the contact
with the piston 92 after which further upward movement as shown
in Fig. 7G compresses the pumping chamber, forcing concentrate
through the valve opening 100 and out of the mixing nozzle 94.
The pump housing 90 also includes a pair of spaced apart
flanges 116 in-between which a stationary plate fits to hold the
housing 90 stationary.
The mixing nozzle portion of the valve and mixing nozzle
unit member 94 includes an inlet port 110, a beverage dispensing
outlet 112 and a water inlet port 114 for receiving pressurized
water pumped to the mixing nozzle 94 from the water pump 34.
The metering pump actuating means 32 will now be described.
This actuating means includes a motor 120 and a slider crank
mechanism 122. The mechanism 122 includes a vertically sliding
plate 124. Connected to the vertical plate is a first horizontal
plate having a large cutout 128 to accommodate the pump and
nozzle unit 30 without touching it, a water passage block 130
connected to the plate 126, and a second horizontal plate 132
connected to the block 130 and having a yoke 134 to be received
in between the pair of spaced apart flanges 108 on the valve and
mixing nozzle 94. The water block 130 includes a water
passageway 136 therein connected at one end to a water line 138
leading from the water pump 34 and at the other end being
connected to a coupling 140 defining the water inlet port to the
mixing nozzle. The vertically reciprocating elements ride on a
pair of spaced apart rods 142 in bushings 144.
The slider crank mechanism preferably has a positive stop
device shown in Fig. 2 and including a stop arm 146 pivoted at
148 and held in a disengaged position as shown in the right in
Fig. 2 by a spring 150. If it is desired to effect a positive
stop, then a solenoid 152 is energized, which will cause the stop
arm 146 to pivot to the position shown in the left in Fig. 2 to
engage the slider crank mechanism to effectuate a positive stop.
n.
i~~
_8_ '~~3~4~~6
The water pump will naw be described with reference to Fig.
5. Fig. 5 shows the water pump 34 with a piston 160 which
includes a reduced diameter section 162 which extends through a
hole in the horizontal plate 126. There is a predetermined
amount of play between movement of the plate and the piston
because while the metering pump requires about three-fourths inch
of movement for its pumping action, the water pump requires much
less, preferably about one-fourth inch of movement. As shown in
Fig. 5, water enters into a pumping valve 164 through an inlet
line 166. The pumping valve includes two check valves 168 and
170 and a flow control 172. Water flows from the pumping valve
through a heat a=change line 174 located in a water bath 176 and
then to the water block 130 described above. A water line 178
extends from the pumping valve 164 to the water pump 34. It will
be seen from Fig. 5 that one stroke of the water pump draws water
into the water pump from the pumping valve and on the pressure
stroke forces water through the pumping valve to the water block
130.
The dispenser 10 will have several delays. When a new
container 14 is inserted the dispenser will pressurize first,
delaying pumping action. Next the pump motor will start,
allowing for water pressure to be established then the pumping
action will begin and the water solenoid will open which
dispenses a finished beverage. Thereafter, each time a drink is
dispensed the screw jack motor 120 which pressurizes the
concentrate will begin about one second prior to the pumping
action and water solenoid opening. A proximity switch (see Fig.
2) is used to inform the system about the number of strokes made
by the pumping mechanism.
Fig. 8 shows a package including a corrugated box containing
four disposable concentrate containers 14 and four pump and
nozzle units 30. As noted previously, both the concentrate
container and the pump and nozzle unit 30 are disposable after
use. Of course, the concentrate containers can be delivered in
other sizes, types and arrangements of boxes and shipping crates
other than the one shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the present
invention in which a canister 190, having a refrigeration jacket
ir: ., .
2oeas4s
_g_
192 is arranged vertically above the pump and nozzle 30. The
canister 190 includes a cover 194 which is locked thereto and
which includes an opening 196 therethrough. The cover includes a
coupling for attachment to a pneumatic line for pressurizing the
concentrate chamber 202 inside of the canister 190. This is an
alternate method for forcing the concentrate from the concentrate
container into the metering pump and mixing nozzle.
Figs. l0A-lOD, show a preferred embodiment of a metering
pump 300, similar to that shown in Fig. 7. The metering pump 300
differs from that shown in Fig. 7 in including detest insured
positive stops for the piston 302. The reason is to require
extra force to move the piston. This is important because since
the discharge valve 304 causes the piston to move, it might do so
prematurely if friction between the valve and the piston were
greater than that between the piston and the housing 306. This
improvement eliminates the need to have close tolerances and
reduces the chance of improper volumetric metering.
It is noted that the pump 300 also allows the inlet
opening 308 in the valve to remain full open throughout the
dispensing portion of the metering cycle. This provides the
advantage over known metering pumps of this type in which the
piston goes all the way to the top of the pumping chamber 310 of
improving control of the metering of the fluid by eliminating the
flow restrictions through an inlet opening of decreasing area as
the piston approaches the top of the chamber.
The metering pump 300 includes the stationary housing 306,
the volumetric piston 302 mounted for reciprocating movement
inside of the housing 306, and the discharge valve 304 mounted
for reciprocating movement inside of the piston 302. The
stationary housing 306 includes a liquid pumping chamber 310
therein and a liquid inlet passageway 312 in communication with
the pumping chamber 310. The piston 302 is annular in shape and
is mounted for reciprocating movement inside of the housing 306
and is in sliding engagement with the housing. The piston has an
axially extending cylindrical valve chamber 314 therein. The
discharge valve 304 is cylindrical and is mounted for
reciprocating movement inside the valve chamber 314 of the
piston 302. The valve 304 includes a liquid passageway 316
;;
,' .::
WO 91/18826 ~~~~~,~Ej PCT/US91/03869
-10-
therethrough including a diametrical passageway 318 with inlet
openings 308 on opposite sides of the discharge valve 304. The
inlet openings 308 are spaced-apart from a proximal end of the
valve 304. The passageway 316 also includes an axial
passageway 322 connected to the diametrical passageway and
extending from the diametrical passageway to a distal end of the
valve 304 where the passageway 316 has its outlet end. The
discharge valve 304 includes first and second axially
spaced-apart piston moving means for causing the piston 302 to
move only when both (1) the discharge valve 304 is moving and
(2) one of said moving means is in contact with said piston. The
piston 302 has a top dead center position shown in Fig. 7A and
Fig. lOC wherein the piston stops short of a top wall of the
pumping chamber 310 leaving an upper portion 330 of the pumping
chamber 310. The discharge valve 304 is in its top dead center
position when the piston is also in its top dead center position
and the inlet openings 308 are located in the upper portion 308
of the pumping chamber 310, whereby the inlet openings 308 remain
full open throughout the dispensing portion of the metering
cycle.
The first and second piston moving means can be seen both in
Fig. 7 and in Fig. 10. The first piston moving means includes a
bottom shoulder 332 of the valve which contacts an annular
ring 334 of the piston, and the second piston moving means
includes a shoulder 336 on the valve which contacts a bottom
end 337 of the piston 302.
The housing 306 includes a pair of spaced apart annular
o-ring grooves 340 and 342,, and the piston 302 includes an
annular o-ring 344 on its outer surface (preferably molded as an
integral portion of the piston 302) to require that additional
force be used to move the piston. The o-ring grooves and the
o-ring are located such that the o-ring mates with one of the
grooves at each of the top dead center and bottom dead center
positions of the piston. The friction between the valve 304 and
the piston 302 is thus insufficient to cause the piston to move,
such that the piston will move only when contacted by one of said
piston moving means on said valve.
WO 91/18826 PCT/US91/03869
~'~~~~46
-11-
Fig. lOC shows the top dead center position and Fig. 10A
shows the bottom dead center position. Fig. lOB shows the valve
moving up and just starting to contact the piston, whereby
further upward valve movement will cause the piston to move and
the o-ring 344 to come out of the o-ring groove 342. Fig. lOD
shows the valve having moved down and just contacting the piston
whereby further downward valve movement will cause the piston to
move.
While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been
described above in detail, it is to be understood that variations
and modifications can be made therein without departing from the
spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, any
desired system for applying pressure to the concentrate to force
it into the metering pump can be used. It is not essential that
it be mechanical or pneumatic and if it is, it is not essential
that the specific system described above be used. Also, other
arrangements for actuating the metering pump can be used and they
do not need to be mechanical and even if mechanical they do not
need to be the specific arrangement shown above. Other
arrangements of metering and other mixing systems can be used.
The metering pump and mixing nozzle do not have to be part of the
same single integral unit. While the preferred embodiment of
this invention is for use with juices, such as orange juice, it
is not limited thereto. Other concentrate containers can be used
in place of the specific construction described above.
