GB2230057A

GB2230057A - Dispensing apparatus for frozen products

Info

Publication number: GB2230057A
Application number: GB9005379A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Shane Robert Mcgill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-03-11
Filing date: 1990-03-09
Publication date: 1990-10-10
Anticipated expiration: 2010-03-09
Also published as: GB2230057B; GB9005379D0; GB8905629D0

Abstract

Dispensing apparatus is for dispensing frozen product such as ice cream from prefilled deformable containers (20) in incremental quantities. The apparatus includes a cylindrical compartment (34) in which the container is releasably located and the container has an outlet (24) at one end. The container is deformed and the product discharged from the container through the outlet by a ram (50) which lies parallel and spaced from the compartment. A cantilever arm (48) has a drive head (28) which engages the container (20) and the arm is attached to the ram to discharge the product on operation of the ram. A modified apparatus (Fig 3) allows dispensing of measured quantities of the product. <IMAGE>

Description

DISPENSING APPARATUS This invention relates to dispensing apparatus and in particular to apparatus for dispensing frozen material such as ice cream or other frozen, semi-frozen or chilled confectionery.

It has been proposed to dispense ice cream and other products from deformable or collapsible containers but the means for collapsing the container has only been suitable for a limited range of product.

An object of the invention is to provide dispensing means which is capable of dispensing a wide range of frozen material including materials of the kind which have hitherto only been dispensed manually or in prepacked portions.

According to the invention dispensing apparatus for dispensing a frozen product comprises a cylindrical compartment, refrigeration means for maintaining the compartment and the product at a selected low temperature, deformable container means for the product releasably located within the compartment, outlet means in the container means through which the product is discharged, drive means engageable with the container means and operable to deform the container means and reduce its internal volume to cause the product to be discharged from the outlet means, and valve means for controlling the discharge of product from the container means in incremental quantities, the drive means including fluid-operated ram means drivingly connected to a drive member which engages the container means, operation of the ram means causing the drive member to deform the container means.

Preferably the ram means is double-acting and lies with its axis parallel to and spaced from the axis of the compartment.

Conveniently the product discharges through an outlet nozzle and the valve means is arranged to cut off supply of product to the nozzle, the nozzle being situated externally of said compartment.

The drive member may be attached to a piston of the ram means at one end and at its other end the drive member engages the container means and the drive member includes a cantilever arm having at one end a drive head engageable with the container means, the other end of the arm being attached to the piston of the ram means.

Conveniently the compartment is formed in a longitudinal opening along which the arm passes in its movement during operation of the ram means.

Preferably the compartment includes an abutment member against which the container means is located at a position opposite that of the engagement of the drive means with the container means.

The compartment conveniently includes a door for gaining access to the container means within the compartment.

Optionally the door also gives access to means for conducting product from the outlet means whereby to clean such parts of the apparatus.

Conveniently the outlet valve means includes a dosing device whereby a predetermined quantity of product may be automatically discharged from the container means for each operation of the valve means.

Further features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevation of dispensing apparatus for frozen material shown partly in section, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a schematic side elevation corresponding to Fig.

1 of another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs 1 and 2, dispensing apparatus is shown which includes an upright frame arranged to be floor or table top mounted. The main dispensing elements of the apparatus are located in an upper housing 10 which is formed with insulated walls including an upper wall 11, front and rear walls 12 and 13 and side walls 14 and 15.

The housing 10 defines a cooled region 17 cooling being obtained in conventional manner by refrigeration means (not shown) located within the frame to provide the desired temperature level, typically -lO0C and -180C, i.e. a temperature at which the frozen product in the region 17 is kept frozen but is in a condition to be dispensed.

An intermediate support is provided by a member 18 having central opening 19, a front opening 16 and a rear opening 21 through the member 18.

A container 20 for the frozen product is located in a releasable manner and is generally cylindrical with its major axis vertical. At one end the container 20 is formed with an outlet 24 centrally of the end wall 22 of the container and the outlet 24, which also acts as a filling opening during filling of the container, is in the form of an outwardly tapered tube.

The side walls 23 of the container 20 are formed as corrugations whereby when axially directed pressure is applied between the ends of the container the container is deformed, and compressed axially to reduce its internal volume and discharge its contents through the outlet 24.

An end wall 26 opposite the end wall 22 of the container 20 is arranged to be engaged by drive means 27 including a drive head 28 movable against the end wall 26. The head 28 may deform the upper end wall 26 during a discharge operation to the shape of the head 28. Alternatively the wall 26 may be formed with a depression conforming to the shape of the head 28.

It will be appreciated that the container 20 is formed of deformable material, preferably plastics having the desired characteristics at low temperature so that the container may be of substantially nil internal volume when fully deformed, i.e. with end wall 26 adjacent end wall 22, to thereby fully discharge the container contents.

The lower end of the container 20 is supported on an abutment plate 31 carried by the support member 18 but hinged to pivot forwards during renewal of the container 20, as will be described. The plate 31 has an opening 32 aligned with the opening 19 for receiving the container outlet tube 24.

Upstanding from the plate 31 is a generally cylindrical tube 34 in which the container 20 is located, the sides 23 of the container 20 being constrained by the tube 34 during a container discharge operation, the tube 34 defining a compartment.

The floor of the refrigerated region 17 is provided by an insulated member 36 which extends from front to rear of the frame. A discharge and valve assembly 37 is located between the support member 18 and the insulated floor member 36.

The assembly 37 comprises a duct member 38 defining a discharge duct 39 communicating at one end with the container outlet 24 and at the other end with an outlet nozzle 41 through which product is to be dispensed. The nozzle 41 protrudes downwardly through the insulated member 36 into a dispensing compartment 42 accessible at its front side to the operator.

Thus during operation a receptacle for the product may be placed in the compartment 42 under the nozzle 41.

Flow of product along the duct 37 is controlled by a valve member 44 which is movable between a discharge position, as shown in Fig. 1, and a closed position in which the member 44 occupies the outlet nozzle 41 thereby preventing discharge of the product. It will be appreciated that the duct member 38 is located in the refrigerated compartment 17 so that product in the duct 37 after a discharge operation is kept frozen whereas no product remains in the nozzle 41 which is subject, at least in part, to ambient temperatures.

The valve member 44 is a generally cylindrical plug carried on the piston rod 45 of a piston and cylinder member 46 extending in a generally vertical direction. The member 46 is conveniently hydraulically-operated and controlled by control means (not shown) to extend and retract according to whether a closing or opening movement of the valve is required.

The valve is arranged to enable easy cleaning of the parts to be undertaken, for example at the end of each working day. For this purpose it may be arranged for the valve member 44 to be detached by quick release means (not shown). In addition the piston and cylinder 46 may be readily detachable.

The region 17 is provided with a door 47 forming part of the front wall 12. Upon opening the door 47, which when closed is in sealing engagement to maintain the low temperature in the region 17, access is gained to the container 20 to remove an empty container and to insert a fresh, filled container. To ease access to remove the container 20 the abutment plate 32 is hinged at its front edge. When pivoted about its hinge the plate 31 together with the tube 34 and the container 20 tilt towards the operative releasing the outlet tube 24 from the openings 19 and 32 and enabling the container to be slid out of the tube 34 when the tube 34 is tilted towards the horizontal.

The drive head 28 of the drive means 27 is carried on a cantilever arm 48 mounted on the piston rod 49 of a hydraulic ram 50. The axis of the ram lies parallel to and spaced from the central axis of the container. The ram 50 has a stroke substantially equal to the length of the container 20 so that retraction of the ram 50 effects substantially complete emptying of the container. After emptying the ram 50 is extended to enable the container to be released. The tube 34 is formed with a longitudinal slot 51 to admit the arm 48 during such movement. The arm 48 is guided by rollers 55 engaging in tracks 56.

Although it is preferred to employ a hydraulically-operated ram 50 other pressure fluid may be employed. An advantage of using hydraulic power is that movement of the ram can be precisely controlled and the ram is maintained in the selected position after a dispensing operation. Moreover a suitable hydraulic pump for powering the ram 50 and any other hydraulically-operated means, such as ram 46, can produce the required compressive force on the container 20 at relatively low cost. The operation of the ram 50 may be controlled from a control panel 52 on the front of the housing 10 to discharge predetermined and/or arbitrary quantities of product by progressive deformation of the container 20.

The lower part of the housing 10 may simply provide a platform 53 on which containers (not shown), for example cartons, may be located to receive the discharged products.

However the platform 52 may be formed as the upper end of a cabinet (not shown) which may be refrigerated to contain spare, full containers 20 of product. Normally the product will be stored at relatively lower temperatures, for 0 example -25 C for longer term storage but in order to bring the product to higher dispensing temperatures the containers need to be located at said higher temperatures for a period before location in the dispensing apparatus.

The cabinet can be used for such purpose.

Referring now to Fig. 3 an alternative form of dispensing apparatus is shown. The apparatus of Fig. 3 differs from that of Figs. 1 and 2 primarily in the provision of means for dispensing measured quantities of product for each operation of the apparatus. In other respects the same reference numbers are used in relation to the same or similar parts of the previously described embodiment.

Instead of the product issuing through the outlet 24 of the container directly into the discharge duct 39 the product first passes from the outlet 21 to a measuring cylinder 60 via a three way adjustable switching valve 61 including an operating ram 62 coupled to the valve by an arm 63.

Operation of the ram causes the valve 61 to move from a position in which the outlet 21 communicates with the cylinder 60 and a position in which the cylinder 60 communicates with the duct 39.

The latter position is adopted after the cylinder 60 has been filled with product. The cylinder 60 is then discharged by operation of an associated drive ram (not shown) connected to a piston and piston rod 64 in the cylinder 60. Discharge of the cylinder 60 pushes the product along the duct 39 and through the nozzle 41 with the valve member 44 in the open position. At the end of a discharge operation the valve member 44 is closed and the switching valve 61 is returned to a position in which the cylinder 60 can again receive product from the container 20.

The discharge arrangement of Fig. 3 will find application in automatic dispensing apparatus which may be coin freed.

It will be appreciated that although the apparatus, as illustrated, is arranged with the axis of the container 20 in a vertical position the container may be arranged horizontally with the associated ram 50 remaining parallel to the container axis. With this arrangement the valve 46 is located at the front end of the container 20 i.e. the outlet end and the abutment plate 31 may be hinged to give access to the container 20 for exchanging containers.

Claims

1. Dispensing apparatus for dispensing a frozen product comprising a cylindrical compartment, refrigeration means for maintaining the compartment and the product at a selected low temperature, deformable container means arranged to be prefilled with product and located releasably within the compartment, outlet means in the container means through which the product is discharged, drive means engageable with the container means and operable to deform the container means and reduce its internal volume to cause the product to be discharged from the outlet means, and valve means for controlling the discharge of product from the container means in incremental quantities, the drive means including fluid-operated ram means drivingly connected to a drive member which engages the container means, operation of the ram means causing the drive member to deform the container means.

2. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein the ram means is double-acting and lies with its axis parallel to and spaced from the axis of the compartment.

3. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 2 wherein the drive member is attached to a piston of the ram means at one end and at its other end the drive member engages the container means.

4. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 2 or 3 wherein the drive member includes a cantilever arm having at one end a drive head engageable with the container means, the other end of the arm being attached to the piston of the ram means.

5. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 4 wherein the compartment is formed in a longitudinal opening along which the arm passes in its movement during operation of the ram means.

6. Dispensing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the outlet valve means includes a dosing device whereby a predetermined quantity of product may be automatically discharged from the container means for each operation of the valve means.

7. Dispensing apparatus according to Claim 6 wherein the dosing device includes a discharge cylinder into which the product passes from the outlet means and upon filling of the discharge cylinder discharge from the container means is interrupted to discharge the contents of the discharge cylinder, said cylinder having a powered piston-for effecting said discharge.

8. Dispensing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the compartment includes at one end an abutment member against which the container means is located in use and the abutment member includes an opening for receiving the outlet means.

9. Dispensing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims comprising door means whereby access to the container means is obtained and the container means can be released from the compartment.

10. Dispensing apparatus substantially as described with reference to the drawings.