GB2160503A

GB2160503A - Beverage dispensing apparatus; ice dispensing

Info

Publication number: GB2160503A
Application number: GB08515753A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takeshi Kanezashi
Original assignee: Sanden Corp
Current assignee: Sanden Corp
Priority date: 1984-06-23
Filing date: 1985-06-21
Publication date: 1985-12-24
Also published as: GB2160503B; JPS619787A; KR910005784B1; KR860000612A; GB8515753D0

Abstract

A beverage dispensing apparatus has a tank (10) containing chilled water (PW) for cooling plain water and syrup S prior to being dispensed into a cup (C). The water (PW) is chilled by a cooling coil (11) of a refrigerator unit (12). An ice-making device (23) is provided which may, under the control of a damper plate (32), either dispense ice into the cup (C) via a duct (28) or dispense ice into the tank (10) via a duct (29) to provide additional cooling of the water (PW) in the tank. Both the syrup(s) from (21) and the water from (15) pass to the cup via pipes immersed in tank (10), which also contains a carbonator (17). Ice sensors (37, 38) measure the quantity of ice formed on the tank walls, to cut off the refrigeration when this is excessive, and to direct ice down duct (29) when insufficient. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Beverage dispensing apparatus This invention relates to a beverage dispensing apparatus for use in a beverage vending machine, and more particularly to the arrangement used in cooling water held in a tank forming part of the dispensing apparatus.

A beverage dispensing apparatus for supplying soft carbonated drinks is described, for example, in US-3215312, where the apparatus comprises a tank filled with water, a carbonator which is immersed in the water of the tank and connected to a plain water supply line, a syrup supply line connected to a syrup tank and passing through the water in the tank, and a refrigeration unit for cooling the tank water and hence the plain water, carbonator and syrup. The refrigeration unit has a cooling coil through which refrigerant is passed. This coil is either immersed in the water of the tank, as shown in US-3215312, or positioned around the outer peripheral surface of the tank.

The above type of beverage dispensing apparatus is suitable for installation in a coin-operated beverage vending machine which vends soft drinks to customers. Usually, a vending machine is designed to be compact and to offer a multiplicity of dispensing and vending functions. Therefore, the water tank and refrigeration unit need to be designed to fit into the compact vending machine.

As a result of the compact size of the vending machine, the refrigeration unit is necessarily small and has a correspondingly small cooling capability.

This means that, after the machine has been switched on, a long time is spent cooling the tank water to its operating temperature. Plain water is introduced into the carbonator to be mixed with carbon dioxide gas to produce carbonated water, and, since the efficiency of the carbonation of the water is dependent upon the temperature of the water being carbonated, this water should be adequately chilled.

Furthermore, ice normally either forms around the cooling coil or lines the inner surface of the tank as a result of the operation of the refrigeration unit, and this prevents a sudden change of tank water temperature. However, since the cooling capability of the refrigeration unit is insufficient to be able to compensate for a large deviation from the operating temperature, possibly resulting from many cups of the beverage being served in a short time, the temperature of the water may rise high enough for all of the ice to be melted. If this happens, the temperature of the water is not retained within the desired operating range and it takes a long time to reform the ice within the tank.

In accordance with the present invention, a beverage dispensing apparatus comprises a tank which, in use, contains water; a refrigeration unit for cooling the water in the tank; a water supply line passing through the tank and extending, in use, from a source of water to a cup filling station; a raw material supply line extending, in use, from a source of raw material to the cup filling station; and an ice-making device having a discharge conduit which is branched to allow selective delivery of ice to either the cup filling station or the water tank.

The refrigeration unit may have a refrigeration coil which is positioned adjacent to the wall of the tank to cause a layer of ice to form, in use, on the inner surface of the tank wall, in which case, there may be a first sensor spaced from the inner surface of the tank wall and a second sensor spaced closer than the first sensor to the inner surface of the tank wall, whereby, in use, upon warming of the tank water and the second sensor detecting the retreat of the ice layer past itself, the refrigeration unit is activated and ice delivered to the water tank and, upon the first sensor detecting the growth of the ice layer past itself, the refrigeration unit is deactivated.

If the apparatus is to be used to produce "fizzy" beverages, a carbonator may be connected in the water supply line, and is preferably also positioned in the tank.

An ice storage container may be positioned within the tank to retain ice supplied via a branch of the conduit from the ice-making device, and the container may then have a plurality of apertures so as to allow water within the tank to establish direct contact with any ice stored therein.

The selection of along which conduit branch the ice may pass may be achieved by the use of a damper plate, which is preferably operated by an electromagnetic solenoid.

An example of a beverage dispensing apparatus in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of the beverage dispensing apparatus; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the part of Figure 1 showing how the ice may be selectively passed along the conduit branches; and, Figure 3 is a schematic view of the mechanism which controls the discharge of ice from the icemaking device.

Referring to Figure 1, the dispensing apparatus includes a tank 10 filled with water, a cooling coil 11 which is connected to a refrigeration unit 12 via a pipe 11a to form a refrigerant circuit and which is positioned adjacent to the outer peripheral surface of the tank 10. An insulation layer 13 covers the outer peripheral surface to reduce the demand for cooling placed upon the refrigeration unit 12.

A plain water supply line 14 is connected to a reservoir tank 15 through a pump 16 and has a part 141 in the form of a coil which is positioned adjacent to an inner surface of the tank 10 whilst immersed in the water. The other end of the line 14 is connected to a carbonator 17, whereby the carbonator 17 may be supplied with plain water from the reservoir tank 15 whenever the pump 16 is operated. The level of water in the reservoir tank 15 is controlled by a known kind of float switch 35.

The carbonator 17, which may be of any conventional type, is immersed in the water in the tank 10 with only a top part above the water surface. The carbonator 17 is pressurised with carbon dioxide gas delivered, via a line 19, from a cylinder 18 containing compressed carbon dioxide gas. Therefore, the plain water supplied to the carbonator 17 from the reservoir tank 15 absorbs carbon dioxide to become carbonated water CW which exits from the carbonator 17 and is carried along a carbonated water supply line 20 to a cup C placed at a vending position.

Syrup S, which is stored in a container 21, is dispensed via a syrup supply line 22 into the cup C to produce, with the carbonated water, a soft drink.

This line 22 has a part 221 which is immersed in the water PW in the tank 10. The carbon dioxide gas contained in the cylinder 18 is fed into the syrup container 21 through a branch line 191 in order to pressurise the syrup S.

The dispensing apparatus also has an ice-making device 23, which may be of any conventional type.

Plain water is supplied into the ice-making device 23 from the reservoir tank 15 by a supply line 24 and is used in the production of ice. The device 23 has an ice discharge opening 231 which feeds ice I into a duct 232 of U-shaped cross-section, and then into a dispensing chute 25. One end of the duct 232 is positioned immediately above the top opening of the chute 25, thereby ensuring that the ice I is guided into the chute 25.

The discharge of ice I from the ice-making device 23 is controlled by an L-shaped control door 26, which is pivotably mounted on the ice-making device 23 above the discharge opening 231. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, one end of the control door 26 is connected to a plunger 271 of an electromagnetic solenoid 27 for controlling the pivotal movement of the door 26 about a support portion 261, i.e. the pivotal movement of door 26 is linked to the reciprocating movement of the plunger 271.

Specifically, if the solenoid 27 is not energized, plunger 271 is in position A (see Figure 2), thereby causing the discharge opening 231 to be kept closed by the door 26 to prevent the discharge of ice, but, if the solenoid 27 is energized, the plunger 271 is in position B and the opening 231 is opened to allow the discharge of the ice 1.

First and second delivery ducts 28, 29 are connected to a respective side of the bottom of the dispensing chute 25. One end of the first duct 28 is positioned above the vending cup C for supplying the ice I thereinto, and one end of the second duct 29 is positioned above the open top of an ice storage container 30, which is almost totally immersed in the water PW in the tank 10, and which has a plurality of apertures 301 through its side and base. Therefore, heat exchange may occur between the ice I' stored in the container 30 and any plain water PW which enters the container 30 through the apertures 301. The circulation of water PW in the tank 10 may be forced by an agitator assembly 31 comprising a motor 311 and an agitating impeller 312 which is immersed in the water PW.

A damper plate 32 pivotably mounted on the base of the chute 25 is used to divert the ice I selectively down either the first duct 28 or the second duct 29. The damper plate 32 achieves this by pivoting between two positions, at a first one of which it closes the opening to the first duct 28 and at a second one of which it closes the opening to the second duct 29, the pivoting motion of the damper plate 32 being controlled by an electromagnetic solenoid 33. As shown in Figure 2, if the damper plate 32 is at position C, ice I moves from the chute 25 to the ice storage container 30 via the second duct 29. Conversely, if the damper plate 32 is at position C, ice I moves from the chute 25 to the cup C via the first duct 28.

As the water PW is cooled by the melting of ice within the ice storage container 30, the volume of water PW in the tank 10 will increase. For this reason, the tank 10 is provided with an overflow control device 34 to maintain the correct volume of water PW.

During operation of the dispensing apparatus, both of the electromagnetic solenoids 27, 33 are energized by a vending signal from a merchandise selecting switch (not shown) to cause delivery of ice from the ice-making device 23 to the cup C placed at the vending position. The carbonated water CW and syrup S, which have already been cooled by passing through the water PW in the tank 10, are also delivered into the cup C. All this results in the production of a vended soft drink.

Whenever the dispensing apparatus is operating, the water PW in the tank 10 is either being cooled or kept chilled.

Initially, the water PW in tank 10 is cooled by the refrigeration unit 12 acting through its cooling coil 11, and, as this cooling occurs, an ice layer 36 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the tank 10. The ice layer 36 provides a heat sink which, by melting, is able to maintain the temperature of the water PW substantially constant in spite of vending operations.

The thickness of the ice layer 36 is controlled by two detecting sensors 37, 38, which project into the water PW, and which control the operation of the refrigeration unit 12. One of the sensors 37 defines the maximum thickness of the ice layer 36 by producing a signal, upon detecting growth past itself of the ice layer 36, which stops the refrigeration unit 12. The other sensor 38 defines the minimum thickness of the ice layer 36 by producing a signal, upon detecting the retreat past itself of the ice layer 36, which starts up the refrigeration unit 12.

If the dispensing apparatus is being used frequently, large amounts of plain water from the reservoir tank 15 and syrup from the container 21 are dispensed. All of this plain water and syrup needs cooling as it passes through the tank 10. Normally, this cooling is achieved without a significant increase in the temperature of the water PW by relying on the melting of the ice layer 36. However, the ice layer 36 is only of finite thickness and this means that it must be prevented from disappearing if the temperature of the water PW is not to increase to an unacceptable level.As the refrigeration unit 12 might not be capable of extracting enough heat to reverse the melting of the ice layer 36 to cause its growth, the signal produced by the sensor 38 upon detecting the retreat past itself of the ice layer 36 is used both to start up the refrigeration unit 12 and to energise both of the solenoids 27, 33, thereby allowing ice to be supplied from the ice making-device 23 to the ice storage container 30. The energization of the solenoid 27 opens the discharge opening 231 and the energization of the solenoid 33 pivots the damper plate 32 to close the opening into the first duct 28.

Once ice I' has been deposited in the ice storage container 30, it cools the water PW whilst enabling the refrigeration unit 12 to reform the ice layer 36.

If the dispensing apparatus has a mechanism which allows ice from the ice making device 23 to be supplied to the ice storage container 30 independently of the operational state of the refrigeration unit 12, then ice deposited in the ice storage container 30 may be used to cool initially the water PW in the tank 10. This would enable the dispensing apparatus to be more quickly brought to a state in which it is capable of dispensing correctly chilled beverages.

Claims

1. A beverage dispensing apparatus comprising a tank which, in use, contains water; a refrigeration unit for cooling the water in the tank; a water supply line passing through the tank and extending, in use, from a source of water to a cup filling station; a raw material supply line extending, in use, from a source of raw material to the cup filling station; and an ice-making device having a discharge conduit which is branched to allow selective delivery of ice to either the cup filling station or the water tank.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the refrigeration unit has a refrigeration coil which is positioned.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus further comprises a first sensor spaced from the inner surface of the tank wall and a second sensor spaced closer than the first sensor to the inner surface of the tank wall, whereby, in use, upon warming of the tank water and the second sensor detecting the retreat of the ice layer past itself, the refrigeration unit is activated and ice delivered to the water tank and, upon the first sensor detecting the growth of the ice layer past itself, the refrigeration unit is deactivated.

4. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus comprises a carbonator positioned in the tank and connected in the water supply line.

5. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises an ice storage container positioned within the tank to retain ice supplied via a branch of the conduit from the ice-making device.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ice storage container has a plurality of apertures for allowing water within the tank to establish direct contact with any ice stored therein.

7. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a damper plate controls the selection of along which conduit branch the ice may pass.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the damper plate is operated by an electromagnetic solenoid.

9. A beverage dispensing apparatus substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.