DK202270401A1

DK202270401A1 - A beverage dispensing system

Info

Publication number: DK202270401A1
Application number: DKPA202270401A
Authority: DK
Inventors: Gaarde Hansen Emilie; Wiemer Klaus
Original assignee: Micro Matic As
Priority date: 2022-08-09
Filing date: 2022-08-09
Publication date: 2023-07-05

Abstract

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing system (1) comprising a housing (10) with a dispensing tap (20) for dispensing selected amounts of a beverage, such as water, a first collector (30) at the dispensing tap (20), for collecting beverage, such as spilled beverage, dispensed from the dispensing tap (20), a container (50, 52, 55, 60) adapted for containing the beverage and in fluid connection with the dispensing tap (20), a beverage refrigerating unit (25) for cooling the beverage to be dispensed by the dispensing tap (20), the first collector (30) being in fluid connection with a second collector (40) so as to supply the collected beverage to the second collector (40), the second collector (40) being thermally connected with the refrigerating unit (25) for conduction of heat energy, that is generated by the refrigerating unit (25) cooling the beverage, to the second collector (40) to thereby evaporate the beverage supplied to the second collector (40).

Description

DK 2022 70401 A1 1

A beverage dispensing system

The present invention concerns a beverage dispensing system useful, by way of example, for drinking fountains.

Drinking fountains for dispensing water have various dispensing systems, and may in some cases be connected to a water supply and to a water drain for discharge of spilled water.

In some variants drinking fountains may be configured as stand-alone devices that are neither connected to a water supply nor to a water drain. Examples are drinking fountains with a housing supported by wheels, allowing the drink- ing fountain to be moved from one place to another and wherein a single, large size container for the beverage to be dispensed is arranged inside the housing.

The present invention as defined in claim 1 aims at providing an improved dispensing system wherein a manually effected discharge of spilled beverage may be avoided.

Thus, the present invention relates to a beverage dispensing system compris- ing a housing with a dispensing tap for dispensing selected amounts of a bev- erage, such as water, a first collector at the dispensing tap, for collecting bev- erage, such as spilled beverage, dispensed from the dispensing tap, a con- tainer adapted for containing the beverage and in fluid connection with the dis- pensing tap, a beverage refrigerating unit for cooling the beverage to be dis- pensed by the dispensing tap, the first collector being in fluid connection with a second collector so as to supply the collected beverage to the second col- lector, wherein the second collector is thermally connected with the refrigerat- ing unit for conduction of heat energy, that is generated by the refrigerating unit cooling the beverage, to the second collector to thereby evaporate the beverage supplied to the second collector.

DK 2022 70401 A1 2

The second collector is preferably in direct contact with the condenser of the refrigerating unit, for conduction of heat energy, that is generated by the refrig- erating unit cooling the beverage, to the second collector, such as to walls, that may be of metal, of the second collector.

In this way, beverage supplied to the second collector is heated and slowly evaporated by the aforementioned heat energy.

According to an aspect of the invention a dispensing system is provided that is easier to use in that a restocking may be carried out without a user having to carry or manipulate heavy containers containing the beverage.

The pressurised gas source preferably is configured to provide an essentially — constant gas pressure; where a compressor, such as an air pump, is used the gas source may be configured to operate when beverage is being dispensed.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

In particular, the invention makes use of containers having a novel lid allowing in a highly convenient manner, and together with dedicated tubes, for a serial connection of the containers.

Brief description of the drawings

Figs. 1a and 1b are side and front views, respectively, showing the dispensing system of the invention, with components thereof placed in an associated housing, a front access door of the housing being shown in an open position in fig. 1b,

Figs. 2a and 2b are front cross-sectional views of the housing of figs. 1a and 1b, with and without a collector for collecting and evaporating spilled beverage,

DK 2022 70401 A1 3 prior to installation of a dispensing tap and before placing beverage containers inside the housing,

Figs. 3a and 3b are perspective views of a group of beverage containers of the dispensing system, fig. 3b showing details inside the containers illustrated for convenience with a transparent container wall,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing ends of respective tubes prior to be- ing connected with a lid secured to a neck portion of a container shown in figs. 3a and 3b, and

Figs. 5a, 5b and 5c are cross-sectional views similar to fig. 4 showing the tubes connected to different ones of the containers illustrated in figs. 3a and 3b, di- rections of flow of beverage shown by arrows.

Detailed description

The invention will now be explained in more detail below by reference to a presently preferred embodiment.

Figs. 1a through 2b show component parts of a beverage dispensing system 1 comprising a dispensing tap 20 that is arranged at the top of a housing 10 and that is used for dispensing selected amounts of a beverage, such as water.

Dispensing may be by a person manually opening a valve associated with the tap 20, to thereby dispense a user-selected amount of the beverage.

Inside the housing 10 is placed a source 15 of a pressurised gas, which source 15 may be an air pump or an air compressor, or even a gas bottle containing a gas under pressure, such as nitrogen. The gas is selected such that it will not mix with the beverage to be dispensed since the gas is to act as a driver for driving the beverage towards the dispensing tap 20. Air is preferred, and

DK 2022 70401 A1 4 the pressure may — by way of example only — be selected to be in the order of 0.6 — 1.0 bar, preferably in the order of 0.8 bar.

Also in the housing 10 is a plurality of containers 50, 52, 55, 60, in this ex- ample four containers of which three are visible in fig. 1b, each container con- taining the beverage being dispensed. The inside of a first container 50 of the plurality of containers is in direct fluid connection with the pressurised gas source 15 via a flexible tube 150 and the inside of a second container 60 of the plurality of containers is in direct fluid connection with the dispensing tap — 20 via a flexible tube 160 having an end 167.

The plurality of containers are connected in series, in the way that the afore- mentioned first container 50 is directly connected to a next, third container which is directly connected to a next, fourth container 55 which is connected to the aforementioned second container 60, such that the pressurised gas source 15 may give rise to a flow of the beverage towards the dispensing tap 20. The housing 10 preferably also contains a beverage refrigerating unit 25 for cooling the beverage to be dispensed at the dispensing tap 20. For this, the refrigerating unit 25 may either cool a heat insulated chamber, shown here as an upper part 12 of the housing 10, within which all the containers 50, 52, 55, 60 are placed, or may be arranged to cool beverage leaving the second con- tainer 60, i.e. to provide a local cooling.

As will be understood from the following, compressed gas from the gas source 15 is used to bring about a flow of an amount of the beverage through all the containers on a person activating or opening the tap 20, in that the gas pres- sure acting initially on the upper free surface of the beverage in the first con- tainer 50 will force beverage therein to flow into the next container of the series, displacing beverage therein stepwise into the subsequent container of the se- ries, via respective tubes 140 shown in figs. 3a and 3b. When, finally, all bev- erage from the first container 50 has been dis-placed stepwise into the last

DK 2022 70401 A1 container of the series, viz. the aforementioned second container 60, the gas pressure acts on the upper free surface of this remaining amount of beverage via the now empty upstream containers 50, 52, 55, to displace user-selected amounts of the remaining beverage to-wards the tap 20. 5

While the drawings herein illustrate an embodiment having four containers, any number of containers may be used, such as two, three, four, five, de-pend- ing on the size of the housing 10. — The containers preferably are of the same size and of a light-weight material such as plastic, and may preferably each be sized to contain eg. 12 litres or preferably less, such as 5 litres, allowing them to be easily handled and ex- changed for new ones, once beverage in all or some of the containers has been depleted. A shelf 13 supports the containers, and the shelf 13 may con- — veniently be pulled out of the housing 10 via an access door 14. All connecting tubes 140, 150, 160 preferably have a length allowing for the shelf 13 to be pulled out of the housing 10, at which time the tubes 140, 150, 160 may be disconnected for exchanging the containers 50, 52, 55, 60. Preferably, the housing 10 may be supported by wheels, allowing it to be easily moved around, with only an electrical connection being required.

Preferably, as shown, the housing has the aforementioned upper part 12, and a lower part 11 which holds the refrigerating unit 25, which preferably is of a conventional type with a compressor, evaporator and condenser, and the com- pressed air source 15.

As shown in figs. 3a and 3b the plurality of containers 50, 52, 55, 60 containing the beverage each includes a container body 80 sealed by a molded plastic lid 90 secured to a neck portion 82 of the container body 80, such as via a threaded connection 100. The lids 90 each have a first opening or port 92 and a second opening or port 94, each port 92, 94 being connected to an end 141,

DK 2022 70401 A1 6 151, 161 of a respective tube 140, 150, 160 to establish fluid communication with the inside of the container body 80. A gastight connection, such as a gas- tight threaded connection 200 and/or a gas-tight O-ring connection 201, is pro- vided between the respective tubes 140, 150, 160 and ports 92, 94.

Moreover, a respective internal tube 210 mounted to the lower side of each lid 90 is in fluid communication with the second port 94 and extends towards the bottom 81 of the container body 80, with a free open end thereof terminating slightly above or at the bottom 81, to allow for full depletion of the containers 50, 52, 55, 60. The internal tubes 210 are sealed to the respective second port 94, and may in one embodiment be replaceably connected thereto.

As will be understood from the foregoing, beverage is displaced to the tap 20 via the internal tubes 210 when compressed gas is made available, such as — when the tap 20 is opened to simultaneously activate the air pump 15 using suitable control means.

A priming of the system 1 may be carried out when all containers 50, 52, 55, 60 are replaced, such that beverage stands ready for dispensing at the level of the tap 20, by activating the pressured gas source 15 to displace beverage via the internal tubes 210 and into the tube 160 connecting the second con- tainer 60 to the tap 20.

The ports 92, 94 may preferably have different diameters/size to ensure that — correct connections are made, eg. that the tube 160 that connects to the tap 20 is connected to the port 94 which is connected to the internal tube 210.

The lids 90 preferably have a protective cover, such as in the form of a mem- brane or a cap, and may preferably each include a membrane 110, 120 sealing — a respective one of the ports 92, 94. For penetrating the membranes 110, 120

DK 2022 70401 A1 7 ends 141, 151, 161 of the tubes 140, 150, 160 may have a pointed tip portion 145, 155, 165.

Installation of the containers 50, 52, 55, 60 is carried in that the first end 151 of afirst one 150 of the tubes is connected to the first port 92 of the lid 90 of the first container 50, as shown in fig. 5c, while the second end of the tube 150 is connected to the outlet port of pressurised gas source 15, as shown in fig. 2b. A first end 161 of a second tube 160 is connected to the second port 94 of the lid 90 of the second container 60, as shown in fig. 5a, and a second end 167 of that tube is then connected to the dispensing tap 20, as shown in fig. 1b. The serial connection is then established via a number of interconnecting tubes 140 connected each to the first port 92 of the lid 90 of one container and to the second port 94 of the lid 90 of a subsequent container of the series of containers 50, 52, 55, 60, as shown in figs. 5a, 5b , 5c.

According the invention, the housing 10 for the dispensing system 1 has a first collector 30 at the dispensing tap 20, for collecting beverage, such as spilled beverage, eg. water, dispensed from the dispensing tap 20. The first collector 30 typically will located immediately below the outlet of dispensing tap 20 and may be in the form of a tray 30 of a relatively small depth configured also for supporting a cup to be filled when the user activates the dispensing tap 20.

Often, small amount of beverage may be spilled by the user when dispensing beverage, and the first collector 30 collects such small amounts of beverage.

Prior art dispensers that are not connected directly to a drain may have a large — size collector arranged inside the housing 10, which larger size collector must be taken out and or other-wise be emptied at intervals, requiring frequent mon- itoring of the dispenser. The invention seeks to overcome this problem by us- ing heat energy generated at the condenser of the refrigerating unit 25 cooling the beverage, and this by providing a second collector 40 in fluid connection via a tube 35 with the first collector 30 so as to supply the collected beverage to the second collector 40, which may have a capacity of eg. 1-2 litres. For this

DK 2022 70401 A1 8 the second collector 40 is thermally connected with the refrigerating unit 25, preferably in direct contact with the condenser, for conduction of heat energy, that is generated by the refrigerating unit 25 cooling the beverage, to the sec- ond collector 40, such as to metal walls of the second collector 40. In this way, beverage supplied to the second collector is heated and slowly evaporated by the aforementioned heat energy.

The second collector 40 may be a lidded re- ceptacle with a vapour discharge passage 45 to the outside of the housing 10.

Claims

DK 2022 70401 A1 9 Claims

1. A beverage dispensing system (1) comprising a housing (10) with: - a dispensing tap (20) for dispensing selected amounts of a bever- age, such as water, - a first collector (30) at said dispensing tap (20), for collecting bever- age, such as spilled beverage, dispensed from said dispensing tap (20), - a container (50, 52, 55, 60) adapted for containing said beverage and in fluid connection with said dispensing tap (20), - a beverage refrigerating unit (25) for cooling said beverage to be dispensed by said dispensing tap (20), - said first collector (30) being in fluid connection with a second col- lector (40) so as to supply said collected beverage to said second collector (40), said second collector (40) being thermally connected with said refrigerating unit (25) for conduction of heat energy, that is generated by said refrigerating unit (25) cooling said beverage, to said second collector (40) to thereby evaporate said beverage supplied to said second collector (40).

2. The dispensing system (1) according to the previous claim, said sec- ond collector (40) communicating with the outside of said housing (10), for said evaporated beverage to escape from said housing (10).

3. The dispensing system (1) according to claim 1 or 2, said housing (10) including: - a pressurised gas source (15), such as an air pump, - a plurality of said containers (50, 52, 55, 60), each container adapted for containing said beverage, - wherein the inside of a first container (50) of said plurality of contain- ers is in fluid connection with said pressurised gas source (15),

DK 2022 70401 A1 10 - wherein the inside of a second container (60) of said plurality of con- tainers is in fluid connection with said dispensing tap (20), - said plurality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60) being connected in series for said pressurised gas source (15) to provide a flow of said bever- age towards said dispensing tap (20).

4. The dispensing system (1) according to the previous claim, said hous- ing (10) including an upper part (12), said plurality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60) being received in said upper part (12), preferably supported by a shelf (13), preferably a shelf (13) that may be moved into and out of said upper part (12), said upper part (12) preferably including a door (14) openable for replacing said containers (50, 52, 55, 60).

5. The dispensing system (1) according to the previous claim, said hous- ing (10) including a lower part (11) below said upper part (12), said pres- surised gas source (15) and/or said refrigerating unit (25) being re- ceived inside said lower part (11), a panel (11°) preferably concealing said inside of said lower part (11).

6. The dispensing system (1) of claim 4 or 5, said dispensing tap (20) be- ing arranged above said upper part (12).

7. The dispensing system (1) according to any of the previous claims 4-6, said upper part (12) including a heat insulated chamber, all of said plu- rality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60) being received in said chamber.

8. The dispensing system (1) according to any of the previous claims 3-7, said refrigerating unit (25) being configured to simultaneously cool said beverage contained in some or all of said plurality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60).

DK 2022 70401 A1 11

9. The dispensing system (1) according to any of the previous claims 3-7, said refrigerating unit (25) being configured to cool said beverage when flowing from said second container (60) to said dispensing tap (20).

10. The dispensing system (1) according to any of the previous claims 3-9, said plurality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60) each including a container body (80) sealed by a lid (90) connected to a neck portion (82) of the container body (80), such as via a threaded connection (100), said lids (90) each including a first port (92) and a second port (94), each port (92, 94) connected to an end (141, 151, 161) of a respective tube (140, 150, 160) for fluid communication with the inside of the container body (80), a gastight connection, such as a gas-tight threaded connection (200) and/or a gas-tight O-ring connection (201), between said respec- tive tube (140, 150, 160) and port (92, 94), an internal tube (210) in fluid communication with said second port (94) of each container (50, 52, 55, 60) extending to the bottom (81) of said container body (80).

11. The dispensing system (1) according to the previous claim, said lids (90) each including one or more sealing membranes (110, 120) pene- trated by said tube ends (141, 151, 161), preferably by a pointed tip portion (145, 155, 165) thereof.

12. The dispensing system (1) according to claim 10 or 11, a first one (150) of said respective tubes connected to the first port (92) of the lid (90) of said first container (50) having another end (157) connected to said pressurised gas source (15), a second tube (160) connected to the sec- ond port (94) of the lid (90) of said second container (60) having another end (167) connected to said dispensing tap (20).

DK 2022 70401 A1 12

13. The dispensing system (1) according to any of the previous claims 3- 12, said plurality of containers (50, 52, 55, 60) being a group of more than two of said containers containing said beverage.

14. The dispensing system (1) according to any of claims 3-13, said serial connection which allows for said pressurised gas source (15) to provide a flow of said beverage towards said dispensing tap (20), comprising respective tubes (140) connected with the first port (92) of the lid (90) of one of said containers (52, 55, 60) and with the second port (94) of the lid (90) of another one of said containers (50, 52, 55).