DE2323345A1 - METHOD OF DISPENSING A CARBONIZED BEVERAGE - Google Patents

Description

© Int. CL:

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

B 67 c, 1/08

GERMAN

PATENT OFFICE German KL: 64 c, 10/01

Offenlegungsschrift 2,323,345

File number: P 23 23 345.6 Filing date: May 9, 1973

Disclosure date: December 6, 1973

Exhibition priority: -

Union priority
Date:
Country:
File number:

May 24, 1972

Great Britain

24481-72

Description:

Method of serving a carbonated beverage

ro ro CN ΓΟ! M

Addition to: -

Elimination from: -

Applicant: Whitbread & Co. Ltd., London

Representative according to § 16 PatG: Crasemann, J., Dipl.-Ing .; Raf f ay, V. von, Dipl.-Ing .; Patient attorneys,

2000 Hamburg

Named Inventors: Morgan, Gareth Thomas, Aston Clinton, Aylesbury,

Buckinghamshire (UK)

© 11.73 309 849M10

CRASEMANN d RAFFAY 2 HAMBURG 70

SCHLOSSTRASSE β

May 8, 1973

DIPL.-INQ. _ <UH <, I N CRASEMANN DIPL.-ΙΝΘ. VINCENZ ν MAFFAV

1213/2

WHITBREAD & COMPANY LIMITED
The Brewery, Chiswell Street,
London, EClY, England

Method of serving a carbonated beverage.

It is widely believed that the incentive to buy Beer, in particular draft beer, is promoted when the beer is poured into a drinking glass or a beer mug Foam crown receives. The foam should be fine, firm, tightly meshed Have structure so that the foam is permanent and the liquid beer will pass through the foam while drinking can. It is also considered desirable that the foam adhere well to the glass when drinking.

The foam of bottled or canned beer can be increased by increasing the carbon dioxide content in beer can be improved. However, this solution cannot be applied to draft beer, and partly because of consumer tastes and partly because of the difficulty in serving the required Amount of beer. This is a particularly serious deficiency when dispensing meters are used.

Known devices for generating the foam of draft beer have the disadvantage of poor control, so that either too much or too little foam is formed. So far, attempts have been made to keep the foam on the beer either by using a To improve the cavitation plate at the pipe point so that the

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OfHQiNAL INSPECTED

the entire poured beer passes through the cavitation plate or by introducing a gas into the entire stream when the beer is being poured or part thereof. The first of these solutions produces far too much foam, which creates great difficulties when pouring the beer, while the second solution only results in a short-lived foam with a very open structure.

Ea is the object of the invention, the foam formation when pouring of carbonated beverages, especially beer, without the disadvantages mentioned above appear.

The inventive method for pouring a carbonated displaced drink from a storage container through a pipe and a tap into a drinking vessel is characterized by » exposing the beverage in the tube between the reservoir and the tap to ultrasonic vibrations.

Preferably, the ultrasonic vibrations are only during one applied for a smaller part of the serving time. In this case it is also preferable that the vibrations be limited to a Part of the beverage are applied, which is first poured in the following, so that the gas bubbles released from the Carbonated drink to form the foam by the height of the drink subsequently poured have to climb. This enables better foam formation.

In the method of the invention, the gas bubbles formed in the beverage by the application of vibrations are numerous and extremely small compared to the bubbles created with other dispensing methods. This causes the bubbles to rise slowly up to the surface; and this slow rise gives time for the surfactants of which the properties and stability of the foam depends,

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.; ur surface of the blisters to migrate and to Xremigkeit and Contribute to permanent improvement of the resulting gchaumea.

The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method consisting of a storage container for the drink and a pipe leading from the storage container to the Zaofhahn. According to the invention is an ultrasonic generator coupled to the tube via its ultrasonic transducer, so that the ultrasonic transducer generated ultrasonic vibrations pass from the transducer into the beverage, which is located within the tube.

The tube can be made of flexible plastic and run through a liquid bath that is exposed to the ultrasonic vibrations is. The liquid thus acts as a coupling between the converter and the beverage present in the pipe, but preferably the tube between the reservoir and the tap is solid or semi-solid over part of it Length, and this solid or semi-solid part is bound or clamped directly to the active surface of the ultrasonic transducer.

Preferably, a switch is also provided which is either attached to and operated by the tap, or the switch is in the form of a flow switch which is operated by the flow of liquid through the pipe when the tap is opened, so that the ultrasonic generator is switched on when the drink is poured through the pipe.

A timer can also be provided so that the time period can be changed while the ultrasonic generator is in operation. This improvement can also be related can be used with a tap meter. In this case the Converter preferably arranged downstream of the dispensing meter so that the gas bubbles are only released from the beverage after which the drink has been metered, thereby ensuring will that you? required amount of beer is served.

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In the following the invention is illustrated by means of embodiments and the drawing explained in more detail.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a first apparatus showing the Can serve different types of beer;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of an electrical control circuit for the device according to FIG. 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a transducer for the apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a cross-section through the transducer of Figure 3; Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a second apparatus;

Figure 6 is a block diagram of an electrical control circuit for the apparatus of Figure 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a transducer used in the third embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a section through a transducer according to FIG. 7.

The first embodiment is a device for pouring of beer, in which four separate beer feed circuits use a common converter. Since the converter unit is a is a very expensive part of the device, a considerable saving is achieved and this training is preferred. In the embodiment, a cylinder 1 contains carbon dioxide under pressure, the carbon dioxide passes through a valve 2 into a distribution line 3. The distribution line 3 is provided with four separate beer barrels 4a, 5a, 5bj and 4b connected by valves 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d. the Egg kegs 4a and 4b contain 2.0 volumes of lager beer, while the barrels 5a and 5b contain 1.3 volumes of bitter beer. That

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means that a unit volume of lager beer contains and releases 2.0 unit volumes of carbon dioxide, while one unit volume Bitter beer contains and releases 1.3 volume units of carbon dioxide. The lager comes from passports 4a and ^ b through cooler units 7a and 7b and from there through the distributor 8 to the taps 9a and 9b. From the barrels 5a and 5b, the bitter beer goes directly to the converter 8 and then to the taps 10a and 10b.

The transducer 8 is shown in more detail in FIG. It consists of an electroacoustic transducer with four tubes 11 made of stainless steel, which are connected to its active surface. It is a transducer of the type 6769a manufactured by Dawe Instruments Limited and described in British patent specification 957 802. The transducer contains a piezo-electric crystal made of lead titanate zirconate, known as PZT, which is clamped between a steel back plate 13 and an aluminum resonance horn with a corrugated sheet-like surface 15. The corrugated-like front panel 15 can be clearly seen in Fig. H. The stainless steel tubes 11 have an inner diameter of 8mm and are glued with epoxy resin glue in the grooves of the corrugated sheet metal-like front plate 15 of the transducer. The converter is tuned to a resonance frequency of UO kilo Hertz. The stainless steel tubes 11 are coupled to the remainder of the dispenser by heoprene tubes 17 which are held in place by tube clamps 18.

The control circuit for the second embodiment is shown in Fig. And consists of the switches 20, 21, 22 and 23, the are attached to the taps 9a, 10a, 10b and 9b and on a timer are connected. The switches 20, 21, 22 and 23 can be flow switches in the pipes leading to the taps 9a, 10a, 10b and 9b lead, or they can be designed as mercury switches that are attached to each of the four taps are arranged. In the latter case they are

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Switch arranged so that when you pull the handle forward to open the tap the mercury in the mercury switch two electrodes in which it connects salaries and, when used, activates the timer.

The timer 24 and the ultrasonic generator 25 are supplied with power via an isolating transformer 26. The isolation transformer 26 is a transformer for reducing the mains voltage to 24 volts; it is used for safety reasons, as the operating personnel often pour the beer with wet hands. For this reason, such electrically operated devices are operated behind a bar with 24 volts. The ultrasonic generator 25 operates the transducer 8 with 40 kilograms of Kertz and is controlled by the timer 2k . The timer can be designed so that it switches on the ultrasonic generator for a period of time which can be varied between half a second and four seconds and such a timer is manufactured by Dawe Instruments Limited under the type designation 6690-la.

The timer 24 is switched on by opening one of the taps 9a, 10a, 10b and 9b, which closes a corresponding one of the switches 20-23. When the timer is switched on, it switches the ultrasonic generator 25 on and after a preset time the timer 2k switches the ultrasonic generator 25 off again. The timer is reset when the switch in question that originally operated it is reopened. In this particular embodiment, a period of one second has been found to give the best results.

It is common practice to use large amounts of carbon dioxide Dispense staggered beers, e.g. lager beers, through pipes with an inner diameter of .4.8 mm. thats why the flow rate of bitter beer is greater than the flow rate of lager

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, and therefore, the Bierrcengo exposed to the ultrasonic vibration can not only change the amount of time during which the vibrations are applied, but also by controlling the flow rate of the beer past the head of the converter. In this embodiment, the flow rate of lager beer is through the taps 9a and 9b less than the flow rate of bitter beer through the taps 10a and 10b. Thus, the timer can be set in this way be that the required amount of foam is generated on the bitter beer, and then the amount of foam on the lager can be controlled by changing the flow rate of the lager. In this way became a period of time of one second was found to give the best results for both types of beer. The flow of the lager through the coolers 7a and 7b also reduces the tendency of the lager to foam and therefore some degree of control can also be exercised in this way.

The flow rate of the bitter beer is adjusted so that 280 ecm be poured in six seconds, while the flow rate for lager is adjusted to 280 ecm in nine seconds be served. When pouring both types of beer, a firm, close-meshed foam forms that is permanent and lasts the entire time while drinking. The foam sticks to the sides of the glass while drinking good at.

The switches 20-23 can each be connected to a separate timer so that the amount of ultrasonic vibration, to which each separated beer is exposed as it passes through the tubes above the transducer, according to the properties of the beer can be changed. In this embodiment, only one device was used for two different ones Types of beer are described, however, each keg can contain a different beer, and in this case the timer is or

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the timers are set to produce optimal foam for each type of beer.

A second device shown in Fig. 5 is for pouring of 1.3 volumes of bitter beer used. This device has a cylinder 30 containing carbon dioxide Contains pressure and via a valve 31 to a line 32 is connected »The line 32 is connected to a barrel 33, contains the beer, so that the carbon dioxide from the cylinder 30 into the keg 33 is above the level of the beer in the Barrel is introduced. A dispensing pipe 34 that extends up below of the level of the beer in the keg 33 is connected to a pipe 35 which extends from the keg 33 to the entrance of the beer dispenser 36 leads. A line 37 leads from the output of the dispensing meter to the converter 38. The converter 38 corresponds to that of Fig. 3 with the exception that only one tube is glued to the active surface. A short length of pipe 39 connects the transducer 38 to the tap 40. The tap 40 contains a mercury switch 41 shown in FIG is and is attached to the tap Uo. The switch 41 is arranged so that when the handle is pulled forwards when the tap is opened, the mercury in the silver switch connects two contacts in the switch as described above.

The carbon dioxide from the cylinder introduced into the keg 33 keeps the beer in the keg at overpressure and therefore the beer tends to be propelled through the tap 34 into the pipe 35. The electrically operated dispensing meter 36 delivers exactly -230 ecm of beer into the pipe 37 with each actuation. This measured amount of beer flows through the pipe 37, the Viandler 38, das'Rohr 39, the tap 40 and into a beer mug or glass that is below the outlet of the tap 40. The cylinder 30, the barrel 33 and ^the tap measuring mechanism -36 are normally located in a cellar at some distance from the tap. However, the transducer 38 is as close as possible to the

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Tap 40 is arranged, and in this embodiment, the length 'of the tube 3-9 60 cm, so that the volume of beer in the tube 39 30 ^m l.

The electrical control circuit for this embodiment is shown in FIG. 6 and includes a mercury switch 41 which is connected to a relay 42. The relay 42 controls the tapping mechanism 36 and a timer 43. The timer Jj3 monitors the operation of an ultrasonic generator 44 ^ who is connected to a V / andler 38 and this supplied with energy. An isolating transformer 45, which reduces the mains voltage to 24 volts, is used as the power supply used for the tap meter, relay, timer and ultrasonic generator.

In operation, valve 2 is opened so that carbon dioxide from cylinder 30 pressurizes passport 33, the network is connected to the input of the isolating transformer 45 and the system is ready for use. The beer tap 40 is opened, and thereby the switch 4l is closed. This energizes the relay unit 42 and closes two contacts in the Unit 42. The first set of contacts operates the beer dispenser 36 for dispensing 280 ecm of beer, while the second contact set the timer 43 is actuated, which controls the ultrasonic generator 44 and thus the transducer 38. The tap meter puts 28Ο ecm of beer in six seconds into the 37 »pipe and the The timer starts the ultrasonic generator as soon as the nozzle 40 is opened, and the generator 44 will soon turn on switched off on it. The length of time during which the ultrasonic generator 44 is in operation can be adjusted by setting the timer 43 can be changed. In this embodiment, the best results are obtained when the ultrasonic generator is operated for a period of one second. The timer 43 is activated by opening the contacts of the relay unit 42 reset when the tap 40 is closed. Since the length of the tube 39 is only 60 cm, this becomes the ultrasonic vibration exposed beer early before tapping

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Claims (11)

Patent claims: Method for pouring a carbon dioxide mixed with it Beverage from a storage container through a pipe and a tap into a drinking vessel, characterized in that exposing the beverage in the tube between the reservoir and the tap to ultrasonic vibrations. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic vibratipnen only during a smaller part the outside time can be applied. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the ultrasonic vibrations immediately at the beginning of pouring can be applied. 4. The method according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that that the drink is pass beer. 5. The method according to claim 1 to 4, characterized in that that the frequency of the ultrasonic vibrations is essentially 40 kHz. 6. Apparatus for performing the method according to claim 1 to 5, consisting of a storage container for the drink and a pipe leading from the storage container to the tap, characterized in that an ultrasonic generator (25, 44) is coupled to the tube (11, 37, 39) via its ultrasonic transducer (8, 38). 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the tube (11, 37, 39) at least over part of its length is firmly formed, and this fixed part is connected directly to the active surface (15) of the transducer (8, 38). 3Q9849 / G41G 8. Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that ana tube (11, 37, .39) is semi-rigid at least over part of its length and that this semi-rigid part is directly on the active surface (15) of the transducer (8, 38) is clamped. 9. Apparatus according to claim 6-8, characterized in that that with the ultrasonic generator (25, 44) a timer for controlling the duration of the on the drink in the tube (11, 37, 39, 51, 52, 53, 54) acting ultrasonic vibrations connected is. 10. Apparatus according to claim 6-9, characterized in that the ultrasonic generator (25, 44) by a switch (20, 21, 22, 23, 41) is controllable, which is automatically activated when the tap (9, 10, 40) is opened. 11. The device according to claim 6 - 9, characterized in that that upstream of the transducer · (8, 38) a tapping mechanism (36) is provided.