AU659153B2 - Beverage dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

r~ i; 659153

AUSTRALIA

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Jennifer Mae LANGOULANT and Bruce Le Ber LANGOULANT 122 Mackie Street Kensington, Western Australia 6151 Lancelot Phillip GUTTERIDGE and Dorothy Mae GUTTERIDGE GRIFFITH HACK CO, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, 256 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, 6000 Attorney Code: c fr C t" Standard Complete Specification for the invention entitled: rcC' ct

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"BEVERAGE DISPENSING APPARATUS" Details of Associated Provisional Applications: Details of Parent Application for Divisional Applications: j The following is a full description of this invention, including the best method Soperforming it known to me:- I I I I -2 THIS INVENTION relates to a beverage dispensing apparatus.

It is known to dispense a beverage using a pump to transport liquid from a supply to a dispensing outlet.

This type of dispensing apparatus does not, however, generally dispense metered quantities of the beverage accurately.

The present invention seeks to provide a beverage dispensing apparatus which can dispense metered quantities of liquid accurately.

According to the present invention there is provided a beverage dispensing apparatus for dispensing an alcoholic beverage into a glass or cup, the apparatus comprising: a peristaltic pump having a pump inlet adapted for connection to a beverage supply, and a pump outlet, said peristaltic pump having a resiliently deformable liquid transport line provided between said pump inlet and said pump outlet, and a movable member for progressively deforming the liquid transport line whereby liquid is transported through the line; a control valve having a valve intake for receiving liquid from the pump outlet, and two valve outlets one being a return outlet connected directly to the pump inlet and the other being a discharge outlet, said control valve having two modes of operation, namely a recirculating mode in tt" v 25 which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the return outlet and a discharge mode in which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the discharge outlet; a control means for controlling operation of the control Svalve in said two modes of operation and for controlling 30 operation of the pump whereby, in use, during operation of the pump said control valve can be moved from the recirculating mode to the discharge mode for a controlled Stime interval wherein a metered quantity of alcoholic beverage can be accurately dispensed from the discharge outlet of the control valve; and, a liquid reservoir connected to the pump inlet for storing S a predetermined volume of beverage whereby a sufficient supply of beverage is available at the pump inlet for said I I 2A metered quantity of beverage to be dispensed on operation of the pump, and wherein said reservoir has a level sensing means for sensing the level of beverage in the reservoir, said control means being responsive to said level seasing means to prevent the discharge of beverage from the discharge outlet of the control valve when the level falls below a predetermined level whereby, in use, the beverage dispensing apparatus cannot inadvertently dispense less than said metered quantity of alcoholic beverage.

The control means may incorporate a cime delay whereby the control valve is caused to move from the recirculating mode into the discharge mode after commencement of operation of the pump. The purpose of this is to allow the pump to develop liquid pressure at the pump outlet before operation of the control valve.

I -W i c i r C. t The dispensing apparatus may further comprise a dispensing line one end of which communicates with the discharge outlet of the control valve.

A dispensing handpiece may be fitted to the other end of the dispensing line.

The control means may include an actuating means incorporated in the dispensing handpiece whereby operation of the pump and the control means can be initiated from the handpiece.

The dispensing apparatus may be adapted to dispense various 1: types of liquid. For this purpose, the peristaltic pump may have a plurality of such resiliently deformable transport lines each extending between a respective pump inlet and pump outlet, and a plurality of such control valves each associated with a respective one of the transport lines.

1The invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of one specific embodiment thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment; Fig. 2 is a schematic elevational view of a peristaltic pump forming part of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the peristaltic pump illustrating a plurality of transport tubes and a rotor having rollers which pass in succession over the flexible tubes; 1 Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rotor; 1 IFig. 5 is a perspective view of a stationary part of the rotor including the tubes; i -4- Fig. 6 is a schematic view of a control valve, the control valve being shown in a discharge mode; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 except that the control valve is shown in a discharge mode; and Fig. 8 is a schematic view of a level sensor which is provided in the dispensing apparatus.

The embodiment shown in the drawings is directed to a dispensing apparatus for selectively dispensing liquid of various types. In particular, the dispensing apparatus is adapted to dispense measured quantities of bottled alcoholic liquor.

The dispensing apparatus comprises a pump 11 having a multitude of pumps inlets 13 and an equivalent number of pumps outlets 15. Each inlet 13 receives liquid from one of a plurality of bottles 17 mounted in inverted fashion on a rack 19.

Each outlet 15 communicates with a dispensing handpiece 21 on the outer end of a flexible conduit 23. The handpiece 21 incorporates a dispensing nozzle 24 and an actuating means in the form of a key pad 25 having a series of keys, one corresponding to each of the bottles 17. With this arrangement, actuation of any one of the keys causes the pump 11 to deliver a measured quantity of alcoholic beverage from the corresponding bottle 17 to the dispensing handpiece 21 from where it can be dispensed into a glass or other vessel.

The pump 11 is in the form of a peristaltic pump having a stationary part 27 and a rotatable part 29. The stationary part 27 comprises a base 31 and a plurality of transport lines 33 mounted on the base. The transport lines 33 are each in the form of a length of resiliently deformable tube 5 one end of which defines the respective one of the pump inlets 13 and the other end of which defines a respective one of the pump outlets 15. The transport tubes 33 are secured to the base 27 by securing means 35. The base 27 is provided with a concave depression 37 which accommodates the rotor 29 and an intermediate portion of each transport lines 33.

The rotor 29 comprises a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinal elements 37 supported between rotor discs 39. While not apparent from the drawings, the longitudinal elements 37 may be in the form of rigid shafts or rollers each of which can rotate about its central longitudinal* axis.

A drive motor 41 is drivingly coupled to the rotor by way of a belt and pulley assembly 43.

a In operation of the pump, the longitudinal elements 37 pass successively along the intermediate portions of the transport lines 33 as the rotor rotates and so transport liquid from the inlet 13 to the outlet The dispensing apparatus has a plurality of control valves one associated with each transport line 33. The control valves 45 each comprise a sliding-spool directional .flow valve having an intake 47 connected to the respective pump outlet 15 and two outlets, one being a return outlet 48 and the other being a discharge outlet 49. The control valve 47 has two modes of operation, one being a recirculating mode in which liquid entering the intake 47 is directed to the return outlet 48 and the other being a discharge mode in which liquid entering the valve intake 47 is directed to the discharge outlet 49. Movement of the control valve 47 between the recirculating mode and the 6 discharge mode is effected by sliding of the valve spool in conventional manner.

The return outlet 48 communicates with the respective pump inlet 13 by way of a return line 50. A control means is provided for controlling operation of each control valve 47 and the peristaltic pump 11. The control means comprises a control circuit incorporating an actuating means defined by the key pad 25 incorporated in the dispensing handpiece 21.

The control circuit incorporates a time delay whereby the control valve is caused to move from the recirculating mode (as shown in Fig. 7) into the discharge mode (as shown in Fig. 6) after commencement of operation of the pump.

Typically, the time delay is approximately 0.5 seconds.

The time delay allows the pump to operate' and produce liquid pressure at the various pump outlets 15 prior to operation of the control valve.

There are a plurality of dispensing lines 51 housed within the flexible conduit 23, one dispensing line corresponding to each pump outlet 15. Each dispensing line 51 is connected at one end to the discharge outlet 49 of the respective control valve 47. The other end of the dispensing line 51 opens into the dispensing nozzle 24 of the dispensing handpiece 21.

25 There are a plurality of liquid reservoirs 61 housed in the rack 19, one corresponding to each of the pump inlets 13.

Each pump inlet 13 communicates with a respective one of the reservoirs 61 by way of a delivery line 63 having an 6.4 intake portion opening into the reservoir adjacent the bottom thereof. The top wall 66 of the reservoir has an inlet 65 incorporating a spigot 67 which is received in the mouth of a respective one of the inverted bottles 17 mounted on the rack. The contents of the bottle 17 1 'Iv -7progressively drain into the reservoir as liquid is pumped from it. A vent 70 is incorporated in the reservoir to facilitate this action. A level sensor including a probe 71 is associated with the reservoir such that when the liquid in the reservoir falls below a predetermined level, the pump can no longer be operated. The purpose of this is to ensure that there is sufficient liquid available for a metered quantity of the liquid to be dispensed on operation of the pump. When the liquid level in the reservoir falls below the predetermined level, the empty bottle 17 should be removed and replaced with a full bottle.

The dispensing apparatus according to the embodiment allows a measured quantity of alcoholic liquor from any one of the bottlec 17 to be dispensed at the handpiece 21 simply by pressing the appropriate key on the key pad 25. When one of the keys on the key pad 25 is pressed, the motor 41 is actuated so as to cause the rotor 29 to rotate. As the rotor rotates, the longitudinal elements 37 successively pass along the various transport lines 33 and so transport 20 liquid along the lines from the inlets 13 to the outlets *and thus develops liquid pressure at the outlets. After the predetermined time, which'is typically 0.5 seconds, the particular control valve 45 corresponding to the pressed key 'is caused to move from the recirculating mode into the 25 discharge mode so allowing liquid to be delivered along the disp~ensing line 31 to the handpiece 21. Metering of the dispensed liquid is controlled by the extent of rotation of the rotor 29. Rotation is terminated and the control valve returned to the recirculating mode once the metered quantity has been dispensed.

At the time when the particular control valve is in the discharge mode, the other control valves remain in the recirculating mode so that liquid transported along the transport lines 33 as a result of rotation of the rotor is returned to the various inlet 13.

The embodiment according to the invention provides a comparatively simple yet effective way for dispensing metered quantities of liquid in a convenient and accurate manner.

It should be appreciated that the scope of the invention is not limited to the scope of the embodiment described. In particular, it should be appreciated that the dispensing apparatus may be used to dispense any form of liquid from either a single supply or selectively from several supplies as was the case with the embodiment.

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Claims (9)

1. A beverage dispensing apparatus for dispensing an alcoholic beverage into a glass or cup, the apparatus comprising: a peristaltic pump having a punp inlet adapted for connection to a beverage supply, and a pump outlet, said peristaltic pump having a resiliently deformable liquid transport line provided between said pump inlet and said pump outlet, and a movable member for progressively deforming the liquid transport line whereby liquid is transported through the line; a control valve having a valve intake for receiving liquid from the pump outlet, and two valve outlets one being a return outlet connected directly to the pump inlet and the other being a discharge outlet, said control valve having two modes of operation, namely a recirculating mode in which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the return outlet and a discharge mode in which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the discharge outlet; a control means for controlling operation of the control valve in said two modes of operation and for controlling operation of the pump whereby, in use, during operation of the pump said control valve can be moved from 25 the recirculating mode to the discharge mode for a t .ft. controlled time interval wherein a metered quantity of alcoholic beverage can be accurately dispensed from the discharge outlet of the control valve; and, i a liquid reservoir connected to the pump inlet for storing a predetermined volume of beverage whereby a "sufficient supply of beverage is available at the pump inlet for said metered quantity of beverage to be dispensed on operation of the pump, and wherein said reservoir has a I level sensing means for sensing the level of beverage in the.reservoir, said control means being responsive to said V j' level sensing means to prevent the discharge of beverage from the discharge outlet of the control valve when the level falls below a predetermined level whereby, in use, the beverage dispensing apparatus cannot inadvertently :i dispense less than said metered quantity of alcoholic beverage. i T.i is 11 1 JENNIFER MAE LANGOULANT and BRUCE LE BER LANGOULANT By their Patent Attorney P 3 j592

2. A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control means incorporates a time delay whereby the control valve is caused to move from the recirculating mode into the discharge mode a predetermined time interval after commencement of operation of the pump.

3. A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said liquid transport line is on- of a plurality of such resiliently deformable liquid transport lines each extending between a respective pump inlet and pump outlet, and wherein said control valve is one of a corresponding plurality of such con :rol valves each associated with a respective one of the liquid transport lines.

4. A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said movable member is one of a plurality of rollers rotatably mounted on a motor driven rotor, and wherein as the rotor rotates the rollers successively roll over an intermediate position of each of said transport lines whereby said intermediate portion is progressively deformed to transport the liquid through the lines.

A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a plurality of dispensing lines I o none end of each of which communicates with the discharge "outlet of a respective one of the control valves, and S 25 wherein the other end of the or each dispensing line opens into a dispensing nozzle.

6. A neverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in V 0 T? claim 5, wherein the control means further comprises an oC actuating means whereby operation of the pump and the control means can be initiated manually by operating the ;i actuating means.

7. A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the actuating means comprises a key pad ,i1 incorporated in a dispensing handpiece, and wherein said I 35 1 dispensing handpiece incorporates said dispensing nozzle, 11

8. A beverage dispensing apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in the form of a drink dispensing unit for dispensing alcoholic liquor into a glass or cup, and wherein said control means comprises a control circuit capable of controlling the operation of the control valve and the pump so as to dispense predetermined metered quantities of selected alcoholic liquors.

9. A beverage dispensing apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 7th day of February 1995 JENNIFER MAE LANGOULANT and BRUCE LE BER LANGOULANT By Their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK CO Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia. C t C CE CC: SC. c i' <t ABSTRACT A dispensing apparatus for dispensing metered quantities of a liquid. The apparatus comprises a pump (11) having a pump inlet (13) adapted for connection to a liquid supply (17) and a pump outlet Flow from the pump outlet is controlled by a control valve (45) having a valve intake (47) for receiving liquid from the pump outlet and two valve outlets one being a return outlet (48) communicating with the pump inlet and the other being a discharge outlet (49) communicating with a dispensing handpiece The control valve (45) has two modes of operation, one being a recirculating mode in which liquid entering the intake is directed to the return outlet and the other being a discharge mode in which liquid entering the valve intake is directed to the discharge outlet. A Scontrol means including a key pad (25) on the dispensing i handpiece (21) is provided, for controlling operation of i Sm the control valve between the two modes and for controlling operation of the pump. !2 I S C'1 f