GB2265605A - Auto-priming in beverage dispense systems - Google Patents
Auto-priming in beverage dispense systems Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2265605A GB2265605A GB9205632A GB9205632A GB2265605A GB 2265605 A GB2265605 A GB 2265605A GB 9205632 A GB9205632 A GB 9205632A GB 9205632 A GB9205632 A GB 9205632A GB 2265605 A GB2265605 A GB 2265605A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- circuit
- liquid
- gas
- dispense
- circulation circuit
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
- B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B67D7/00—Apparatus or devices for transferring liquids from bulk storage containers or reservoirs into vehicles or into portable containers, e.g. for retail sale purposes
- B67D7/06—Details or accessories
- B67D7/58—Arrangements of pumps
- B67D7/62—Arrangements of pumps power operated
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
- B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
- B67D1/08—Details
- B67D1/12—Flow or pressure control devices or systems, e.g. valves, gas pressure control, level control in storage containers
- B67D1/125—Safety means, e.g. over-pressure valves
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
- B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- B67D7/00—Apparatus or devices for transferring liquids from bulk storage containers or reservoirs into vehicles or into portable containers, e.g. for retail sale purposes
- B67D7/06—Details or accessories
- B67D7/76—Arrangements of devices for purifying liquids to be transferred, e.g. of filters, of air or water separators
- B67D7/763—Arrangements of devices for purifying liquids to be transferred, e.g. of filters, of air or water separators of air separators
Abstract
Beverage dispense systems suffer from an inherent problem of gas bubbles. Those bubbles may cause pump 3 to malfunction and improper beverage cooling. Furthermore, system operators may not notice such problems when busy. The present invention provides a recirculation circuit 6 that allows gas bubbles to be vented. The re-circulation circuit 6 depends upon the pump driving a liquid flow around the circuit 6 which forces the gas bubble out of the dispense valve 5 when opened. The gas is mixed with 'fresh' liquid from a liquid source 2 by a sucking action ensuring gas remains segmented. <IMAGE>
Description
Auto Priming In Beverage Dispense Systems
The present invention relates to auto-priming in beverage dispense systems.
A conventional beverage system includes a dispense valve coupled to a carbonated water recirculation circuit. The carbonated water is fed into the circuit by means of a pressurized carbonating or storage vessel.
The carbonated water is propelled around the circuit by means of a recirculation pump. The carbonated water is cooled prior to dispense by passing it through a cooling coil system directly coupled to the recirculation circuit.
The pump circulates the carbonated water through the cooling coil system and past the dispense valve when closed. A proportion of the carbonated water circulates past the valve when open.
A problem occurs with this conventional beverage dispense system when a gas bubble is generated. This happens particularly when the dispense valve is below pump height. Gas bubbles can be generated by failure of the soda water supply, carbonator failure or when the carbon dioxide supply cylinder runs empty. Once present gas bubbles are difficult to eliminate particularly with low beverage dispense rates. Obviously, when gas is present the dispense valve fails to dispense properly and an operator becomes aware of the problem. The operator will then correct the problem creating the gas bubbles and re-operate the valve. However, the valve may provide a stream of soda water but the pump arrangement is not pumping properly due to a gas lock.If the pump arrangement is not working properly then the soda water is not properly cooled but the operator may not notice such a problem particularly in a busy bar etc.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a system to ensure the pump arrangement is substantially auto-primed.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a beverage dispense system having a re-circulation circuit including pump means and dispense valve means, the recirculation circuit being coupled to a liquid supply and the pump means being arranged to propel liquid in the circuit towards the dispense valve means whereby any gas in the re-circulation circuit is drawn into convergence with liquid from the liquid supply when the dispensing valve means is operated to dispense liquid from the circuit.
Preferably, the liquid is carbonated or soda water and it is cooled in some manner.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompaning schematic drawing of the auto-priming arrangement.
Flow of carbonated or soda water is illustrated by arrow heads. A supply of soda water is coupled to a primary cooling coil 1 from a carbonator (not shown). The soda water is cooled in the coil 1 and passed through a pipe 2 to a pump 3. The cooled soda water is propelled by the pump 3 towards a dispense valve 5. Typically, the valve 5 is coupled in series with a return leg 7 of a soda circuit 7.
Thus, when the valve 5 is open, most of the soda water is dispensed along with any syrup (from another circuit). When the valve 5 is closed, the soda water passes through the leg 7 including a recirculation cooler coil 9 to recool the soda water. The return leg 7 is coupled to the pipe 2.
A gas bubble generated or created in any way is pushed towards and through the pump 3. If the valve 5 is open the gas is vented but a portion may be passed through to the return leg 7. An operator thus operates the valve 5 until soda water is passed. The gas present in the return leg 7 is drawn by the suction effect of the soda water passing through the pipe 2. Furthermore, the suction effect results in gas draw off from the return leg 7 to ensure segmentation of gas bubbles to prevent a gas lock in the pump 3. It will be appreciated that the soda circuit comprising the pump 3, the valve 5, recirculation cooler coil 9 and associated piping is "topped up" with soda water from pipe 2 when soda water is dispensed. Gases such as carbon dioxide drawn off may recombine with in the pump 3 with the soda water.
It will be appreciated that soda water pressure through the pump 3 will ensure that gas is vented through the valve 5 and so gas is normally only trapped in the return leg 7. Due to the dynamic balance of the coil resistance, pump effect, dispense action and 'top-up' action, the gas bubbles and carbonated water converge. The converged soda water/gas mixture is then forced by the pump 3 towards the valve 5 and dispensed. After a few operations of the valve 5 the soda circuit is purged of gas and the pump 3 is auto-primed.
It will be appreciated that some soda circuits have two dispensing valves. These dispensing valves may be operated simultaneously and the direction of flow in the soda circuit may be alternately reversed to purge gas through the valves.
Claims (7)
1. A beverage dispense system having a re-circulation circuit including pump means and dispense valve means, the re-circuiation circuit being coupled to a liquid supply and the pump means being arranged to propel liquid in the circuit towards the dispense valve means whereby any gas in the re-circulation circuit is drawn into convergence with liquid from the liquid supply when the dispensing valve means is operated to dispense liquid from the circuit.
2. A re-circulation circuit for a beverage dispense system, the circuit including pump means and dispense valve means, the re-circulation circuit being coupled to a liquid supply and the pump means being arranged to propel liquid in the circuit towards the dispense valve means whereby any gas in the re-circulation circuit is drawn into convergence with liquid from the liquid supply when the dispensing valve means is operated to dispense liquid from the circuit.
3. A beverage dispense system or re-circulation circuit as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the re-circulation circuit includes cooling means to cool the liquid.
4. A system or circuit as claimed in any of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein there is provided a mixing area to facilitate convergence of any gas with liquid, the mixing area being arranged to segment gas bubbles in the liquid.
5. A system or circuit as claimed in any proceeding claim wherein there are two dispensing valves such that the circuit can be purged of gas by operation of the dispensing valves simultaneously and the direction of liquid flow alternately reversed.
6. A beverage dispense system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
7. A re-circulation circuit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9205632A GB2265605A (en) | 1992-03-14 | 1992-03-14 | Auto-priming in beverage dispense systems |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9205632A GB2265605A (en) | 1992-03-14 | 1992-03-14 | Auto-priming in beverage dispense systems |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB9205632D0 GB9205632D0 (en) | 1992-04-29 |
| GB2265605A true GB2265605A (en) | 1993-10-06 |
Family
ID=10712171
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9205632A Withdrawn GB2265605A (en) | 1992-03-14 | 1992-03-14 | Auto-priming in beverage dispense systems |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2265605A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2498757A (en) * | 2012-01-26 | 2013-07-31 | Imi Cornelius Uk Ltd | Automatically priming soda recirculation pumps used in the dispense of post-mix carbonated beverages |
-
1992
- 1992-03-14 GB GB9205632A patent/GB2265605A/en not_active Withdrawn
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2498757A (en) * | 2012-01-26 | 2013-07-31 | Imi Cornelius Uk Ltd | Automatically priming soda recirculation pumps used in the dispense of post-mix carbonated beverages |
| GB2498757B (en) * | 2012-01-26 | 2018-02-21 | Cornelius Beverage Tech Limited | Beverage dispense |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB9205632D0 (en) | 1992-04-29 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |