FR2593491A1 - AUTOMATIC DISPENSER, TAP AND CONTAINER FOR USE THEREIN - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic dispenser having dispensing taps capable of receiving dehydrated ingredients from a cardboard container is disclosed. According to the invention, the tap 2 has a hopper 1 having a square or rectangular upper end, comprising protrusions 5 for receiving the open end of a box of ingredients; the extreme closure of the box has a central opening which can be torn to leave particularly short flaps; the box can be fixed in the hopper 1 and is retained by the protuberances 5. The invention applies in particular to automatic beverage dispensers. (CF DRAWING IN BOPI)

Description

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  The present invention relates to the sale or distribution of beverages by means of machines which, when a drink is provided, deliver a quantity of a dehydrated ingredient into a cup, which also receives water to reconstitute the drink. drink. The invention is particularly applicable to machines (but not necessarily limited thereto).

  is placed by hand under a dispensing faucet of the

  dehydrated, possibly under other additive valves such as a bleach and sugar and under a water outlet. Such machines are frequently used

  in offices and other workplaces.

  They can sell the drink by a mechanism of feeding coins, or be released by a token that is not money or distribute without any coin or token (so-called

  "over-the-counter" machines). The term "distribution machines"

  bution "is used here to denote all machines that dispense a dehydrated ingredient on demand, in

  a stage of distribution of a liquid drink, that the

  requires payment by insertion of a coin of

currency or token, or not.

  Such dispensing machines frequently have

  a number of dispensing taps for dispensing

  bution of dehydrated ingredients, and such a faucet forms the subject of UK patent 2,063,218. In the faucet is incorporated a closure which can be temporarily opened (during the operation of the machine) for

  distribute a certain amount of the dehydrated ingredient.

  For machines of the type where a vacuum cup is placed by hand under a dispensing valve, it is currently customary for the dehydrated ingredients to be supplied in plastic bottles. These are attached, by a thread at the neck of the bottle, to

  the top end of a dispensing faucet.

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  The dehydrated ingredients are then delivered directly to the tap, through the plastic bottle. The bottle gradually empties through the faucet while the drinks are sold. To fix the bottle, it is normal that the tap is removed from the vending machine and fixed on the bottle in place of a screw cap, and then the bottle and the fixed tap are reversed and

  placed in the vending machine.

  In general, in this invention, it can be noted that dehydrated ingredients could be provided in boxes, typically made of cardboard, and delivered to a tap at the outlet of such boxes, so that the box is

  gradually empty while the drinks are being dispensed

  steam. Means are also provided to accomplish this.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a valve for a dispensing machine, said valve having, at its upper end, a hopper with a rectangular or square top opening, an upper part of said hopper comprising walls erected around said upper opening to receive the open end of a returned box containing

  granulated or powdered ingredients for drinks.

  In order to maintain such a box in position, it is preferable that the raised walls of the hopper have a depth of at least 1 cm. Preferably, at least one upstanding wall has, on its inner surface, an inwardly directed formation for engagement with the sides

of the box.

  The invention also relates to an apparatus for the preparation of beverages from granulated or powdered ingredients, the apparatus comprising a number of

  faucets and associated boxes as described above.

  It is theoretically possible to use various box constructions of an appropriate size with the

  hopper above, provided that the box has a firm

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  Extreme ture that does not prevent an adequate evacuation of the ingredients of the drink from the inside of the box when it is in engagement with the hopper. However, a box with a preferred and new extreme closure forms another aspect of the invention. This comprises a container for storing dehydrated granular and powdered beverage ingredients for dispensing machines, in the form of a box of material

  foldable carton and which is square or rectangular in

  in order to have four lateral faces and two opposite end faces, one of said end faces being openable to form an opening defined on at least two sides by flaps extending from the edges of the lateral faces of the box, said flaps ending at or having tear lines or perforations at a distance from respective edges of the box that the flaps (having been torn, cut or folded along any tear line or perforations) extend from

  respective side walls to which they are attached.

  not more than a quarter of the minor width of the end of the box (or the width of a square end). Preferably, each flap extends from its respective side wall over no more than 20% of this width, and may well extend over less, i.e., not more than 10% or 15%. As a result of this arrangement, the flaps may be allowed to extend partially through the open end of a box returned to

a hopper, without blocking it.

  Preferably, the box also contains an inner liner of flexible material that can be sealed to form an airtight enclosure around the

ingredients of the drink.

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  Cardboard type boxes having an inner liner are well known. The box of the present invention is novel by the small extent on which the flaps,

  at its open end, cover the opening.

  The invention will be better understood, and other purposes,

  characteristics, details and advantages of it appear

  more clearly in the explanatory description

  which will follow with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating an embodiment of the invention and in which: - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hopper at the top of a tap of vending machine; - Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II-II of Figure 1; - Figures 3 to 6 are perspective views of the openable end face of a box according to one aspect of the invention, in different stages of its preparation for attachment to a hopper; - Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view of a hopper in engagement with a box returned; the cup

  being taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

  Referring to Figure 1, it shows a hopper 1 mounted at the upper end of a valve 2. The hopper has inclined walls 3 and an upper portion comprising vertical walls 4. Inwardly directed formations 5 are present on the four walls 4. Dispensing machines are commonly constructed with a number of holes in which taps are lowered, and a support surface surrounding each hole o rests a protuberance of the valve. The patent

  UK No. 2,063,218 above mentioned shows a wing extending

  radially on an adapter (bearing the reference numeral 12) which is attached to the valve, which wing rests on a support surface and thus supports the valve in the vending machine. In the present invention,

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  the protuberances 6 of the hopper perform the same function. Figure 2 shows the characteristics of the

  Figure 1 in cross section. In this embodiment,

  In particular, the hopper 1 is attached to the tap 2

by threads.

  Figure 3 shows the openable end face 8 of a preferred embodiment of the box. In Figure 3, the box has not yet been opened. This end face 8 is formed by the covering of two flaps extending from the edges 9 of the longer lateral faces of

  the box, the flaps being glued to their part of recou-

  vrement. The upper flap extends to the edge 10; the extent of the underlying flap is indicated by the dotted line 11. Each flap has a line of distinct cuts

  extending along its length parallel to the edges 9.

  These cuts form two tear lines 12 which are placed outwardly of the overlapping central part, so that this central part can be torn off. Two additional flaps 15 extend inward of the edges 13 of the shorter side faces of the box, and they are placed below the

  extreme face 8; they are not visible in Figure 3.

  The box is opened by pulling out the central part of the end face 8 to leave the box as shown in FIG. 4. The tearing off of the central part leaves two shorter flaps 14 which extend from each of the edges 9 in addition to the above-mentioned flaps 15 which are now visible. The box contains, in it, a

  inner liner of parchment paper which is hermetic-

  sealed to form a bag 16 which encloses the ingredients of the dehydrated beverage. Figure 4 illustrates the degree to which the flaps cover the opening when they extend over it. All the flaps 14, 15 extend the same distance from the respective side walls to which they are attached. The width of the flaps x is smaller than a quarter of the minor width W. This is a significant distinction from the known boxes of this construction, where the flaps equivalent to the flaps 15 are longer. The top of the inner bag 16 can be pulled up as in FIG. 5. The upper part of the bag is then cut as in FIG. 6, thus exposing the enclosed ingredients for the beverage (not shown). The box is then ready for use in a vending machine. A tap with attached hopper is removed from its position in the vending machine, inverted and placed on the erected box so that inward formations in the hopper engage the sides of the box. The entire valve, hopper and box is then reversed so that the box is returned (Figure 7) and everything is put in position in the vending machine. Figure 7 illustrates how the inwardly directed formations engage the sides of the box beyond the hinge lines 9, 13, keeping the box more firmly in the hopper. When the box is empty, and finally detached from the hopper, these formations inward can damage the end of the box

  while she is abducted. Since the box is particularly

  only to be used once, this is not a disadvantage, and can actually be avatangous to prevent unhygienic

of the box.

  When the whole box, hopper and tap is in the dispensing machine, the powdered ingredients of the beverage flow by gravity into the hopper, and from there to the top of the tap, in the same way as the ingredients supplied in a bottled bottle

  Conventional threads flow to the top of the faucet.

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  The hopper is used to channel the powder to its lower outlet.

  pool. The flaps 14, 15 can be relatively short, so instead of preventing the flow of powder as would two large flaps, they contribute to the channeling effect as shown in Figure 7. Note that the hopper should not not necessarily be big enough to receive all the contents of the box. In reality, it is better not to use such a large hopper. So when a full box

  is attached to an empty hopper and a faucet and that

  Resulting damage is reversed, only part of the contents of the box falls directly into the hopper, filling it up to the level of the box. The rest of the contents of the box are left there, to be gradually delivered to the hopper while the ingredients of the drink are

delivered by the tap.

  A partially empty box must of course not be removed. In order to allow someone to verify that a box is full or otherwise partially worn, the box may have one or more small perforations through which is visible a small surface of the coating, thus allowing to see the ingredients through the coating in paper, if the box is still

  filled to the level of the perforations concerned.

Claims (8)

- CLAIMS -   Faucet for a beverage dispensing machine, characterized in that it has, at its upper end, a hopper (1) having a rectangular or square top opening, an upper part of said hopper comprising upright walls (4). around said upper opening so as to receive the open end of an overturned can containing the beverage ingredients in granules or powder.   2. Tap according to claim 1, characterized in that the raised walls (4) of the hopper have a depth at least 1 cm.   3. Tap according to any one of the claims   1 or 2, characterized in that at least one of the erected walls has, on its inner surface, a formation (5) projecting inwards, for engagement of the sides of a   box received in said open end.   4. Tap according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforesaid box is made of a foldable cardboard material which is of square or rectangular section so as to have four lateral faces and two opposite end faces, in that the one of said end faces can be opened to form an opening defined on at least two sides by flaps (14) extending from the edges of the side faces of the box, said flaps terminating at or having tear lines or perforations at a distance from the respective edges where they are attached, which distance does not represent more than one quarter of the minor width of the end of the box.   5. Tap according to claim 4, characterized in that the distance on which each flap (14) extends from the edge of a respective side face of the box does not exceed 20% of the minor width of the end. of the box.   6. Tap according to any one of the claims   4 or 5, characterized in that the box contains an inner liner of a flexible material, which can be sealed for   enclose the ingredients of the drink.   7. Tap according to claim 6, characterized in that the boot comprises at least one opening allowing   inspecting an area of the cladding.   8. Tap according to any one of the claims   4-7 containing a dehydrated beverage ingredient, characterized in that two flaps extend from two opposite end faces of the boot to respective tear lines (12) or perforations and respective portions beyond said perforations, which parts overlap and are joined to close the boot and are removable in one piece by tearing along the lines of tearing or perforations.   9. Automatic dispenser, characterized in that it comprises a number of valves (2) according to one   any of claims 1 to 3 to which is attached a   open container according to any one of claims 4 to   8. 10. Automatic dispenser, characterized in that it contains a number of taps (2) according to one   any of claims 1 to 3.