GB2551037A

GB2551037A - Beverage dispensing apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2551037A
Application number: GB1706991.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Manser Simon
Original assignee: C&c Ip Sarl
Current assignee: C&c Ip Sarl
Priority date: 2016-05-06
Filing date: 2017-05-03
Publication date: 2017-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-03
Also published as: GB201607953D0; IE87389B1; GB2551037B; IE20170096A1; GB201706991D0

Abstract

A surface-mountable beverage dispenser, e.g. a beer dispenser, comprising a multi-part housing for enclosing an interior cavity; and a resiliently deformable outer sleeve 20. The multi-part housing may comprise two parts: one forward-facing, one rear-facing. In use, the housing extends above the surface about a longitudinal axis. The sleeve is shaped and dimensioned to partially surround the housing, e.g. about the longitudinal axis. The angle between a first tangent to one peripheral surface on the outer sleeve and a second tangent to an opposing peripheral surface is greater than 180 degrees. The tangents may be located on opposing lateral sides of the sleeve. The housing and sleeve may be translucent and a light may be contained in the interior cavity. The sleeve may be a thermoplastics material and may contain advertising printed thereon. A seal 18 may be provided along opposing outer peripheral surfaces of a forward-facing part of the housing.

Description

BEVERAGE DISPENSING APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a beverage dispensing apparatus and particularly, though not exclusively, to an illuminable beer dispensing apparatus adapted to interchangeably receive a range of translucent outer sleeves bearing advertising or promotional indicia.

It is well known to provide bar-mounted beer dispensing apparatus which presents information to a customer. The information may be in the form of logos or promotional messages which are, for example, indicative of the brand of beer being served, specific to the particular pub, or relating to season, current events or the like. Typically, such information is provided on a pump clip or plaque clip attached to a generic heer engine; or alternatively it forms a fixed and integral part of a bespoke beer fount.

Pump clips are generally small and, consistent with their temporary usage on beer engines, are neither illuminated nor fastened in a secure manner. They are therefore vulnerable to knocks which tend to misalign the clips thus adversely affecting overall aesthetics. The clips themselves may become loose or succumb to mechanical failure over time,

Larger beer founts that are provided with integral illuminated regions are typically intended to provide a single-use bespoke display. The replacement of a damaged display, or the interchanging of displays is a significant undertaking requiring the use of manual tools and fixings, and hence a degree of skill on the part of the person responsible for this task.

The inventor of the present invention has identified a need within the bar and restaurant industry for an alternative and cost effective apparatus facilitating easy and rapid changing of advertising or promotional indicia on beer founts.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus comprising: (i) a multi-part housing for enclosing an interior cavity, the housing extending above a surface in use about a notional longitudinal axis; and (ii) a resiliently deformable outer sleeve shaped and dimensioned to partially surround the housing; wherein the angle between a first tangent to one peripheral surface on the outer sleeve and a second tangent to an opposing peripheral surface is greater than 180 degrees.

It will be appreciated that the shape and dimensions of the outer sleeve are substantially matched to the external surface profile of the part[s] of the housing to which it is intended to cover. Prior to being mounted onto the housing the relatively thin outer sleeve naturally adopts a contracted configuration. In particular, the opposing peripheral edges of the outer sleeve are naturally urged toward one another as a consequence of their inherent resilience. When in a contracted configuration, the spacing of the opposing peripheral edges of the outer sleeve is less than the widest part[s] of the housing onto which it is to be mounted. To enable mounting of the outer sleeve onto the housing, the opposing peripheral surfaces are therefore expandable over its widest part(s) before contracting into close contact with the underlying surface profile of the housing part(s).

Optionally, the multi-part housing consists only of a single forward-facing part and a single rear-facing part.

Optionally, a forward-facing part of the multi-part housing is at least translucent to light; and an illumination source is located within the interior cavity.

It will be appreciated that the interior cavity may accommodate electrical circuitry for powering the illumination source; and tubing for conveying a beverage through the housing to a dispensing tap mounted on a rear-facing part thereof

Optionally, the outer sleeve is at least translucent to light.

Optionally, the outer sleeve is shaped and dimensioned to partially surround the housing about the longitudinal axis; and the first and second tangents associated with the peripheral surfaces of the outer sleeve are located at opposing lateral sides thereof

Optionally, the outer sleeve is shaped and dimensioned to surround a forward-facing part of the housing.

Optionally, the forward-facing part of the housing defines a partially curvilinear surface profile.

Alternatively, the forward-facing part of the housing defines a continuously curvilinear surface profile.

Optionally, the curvilinear surface profile is convexly curved.

It will be appreciated that the continuously curvilinear surface profile extends along a major arc, i.e. an arc which subtends an angle of greater than 180 degrees. In one embodiment, the major arc extends through a plane which lies perpendicular to the notional (vertical) longitudinal axis. However, the major arc may extend through alternative planes. Regardless of its orientation, the provision of a major arc is significant insofar this arrangement facilitates partial wrapping of the outer sleeve around the housing and thereby resists detachment of the former from the latter.

Optionally, a seal is provided along at least parts of the opposing outer peripheral surfaces of the forward-facing part of the housing.

It will be appreciated that the presence of such a seal provides, in use, both a barrier against water ingress and a frictional gripping surface between the outer sleeve and the underlying housing. This gripping effect is enhanced by virtue of the fact that the opposing peripheral edges of the outer sleeve are inclined toward one another at a point, in use, where they overlap similarly profiled parts of the underlying housing, i.e. including parts to which the seal is applied.

Optionally, the outer sleeve is a vacuum formed thermoplastics material. A suitable material is polyethylentherehpthalate offered under the brand name POLYCASA PETG manufactured by Polycasa N.V. of Belgium. This material has extremely high impact properties and is virtually unbreakable in normal use. Some relevant properties are: Minimum thickness - 0.8 mm [also available in 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm thicknesses); Flexural Modulus - 2290 MPa; Flexural Strength - 89 MPa; Tensile Modulus - 2200 MPa; Tensile Strength - 59 MPa; Elongation - 23%.

Optionally, advertising or promotional indicia is printed on the outer sleeve.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect comprising the steps of: [i) fixing one part of the multi-part housing to a mounting surface; [ii) fixing a second part of the multi-part housing to the first part to define an interior cavity; [iii) providing an illumination source within the interior cavity; and [iv) manipulating the outer sleeve over the second part of the multi-part housing such that the former is held on the latter solely by virtue of its inherent resilience.

It will be appreciated that the resiliently deformable nature of the outer sleeve and its tendency to wrap around the housing obviates the need for any separate fixings between the two. The arrangement therefore provides a quick and effortless means of interchanging different outer sleeves each bearing different advertising or promotional indicia without the requirement for any tools, fixings or skill on the part of the person(s) responsible for this task. Furthermore, the simple construction of the outer sleeves reduces material costs and hence mitigates overheads commonly associated with changing advertising or promotional indicia.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions adapted to cause a 3D printer to print one or more elements of a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect created layer-by-layer via a 3D printing method.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a partially exploded view of the forward-facing and rear-facing parts of the housing of the surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus;

Fig. 2 shows the forward-facing and rear-facing parts of the housing of Fig. 1 assembled together to define an internal cavity;

Fig. 3a is a schematic representation of the cross-sectional shape of both the forwardfacing part of the housing and the outer sleeve;

Fig. 3b shows a partially exploded view of the forward-facing part of the housing and the outer sleeve;

Fig. 4 is a view showing the outer sleeve as it is being attached to the forward-facing part of the housing;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a fully-assembled surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus wherein the forward-facing part of the housing is covered by the outer sleeve;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the forward-facing part of the housing in isolation showing the peripheral lateral surfaces covered by a seal; and

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the outer sleeve in isolation.

Referring to Fig. 1, two parts 12, 14 of a housing 10 are shown whereby a rear-facing housing part 12 is secured onto a peripheral edge of a surface 30, such as a bar top or countertop. The rear-facing housing part 12 provides a concavity within which is located electrical circuitiy 16, an illumination source [not shown), and other components associated with delivering a beverage to a dispensing tap 19 of a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus [see Fig. 5). A forward-facing housing part 14 also provides a concavity such that, when connected together, the concavities of the respective housing parts 12, 14 define an enclosed interior cavity. The assembled housing 10 [see Fig. 2) has a height above the surface 30 about a notional longitudinal axis extending through the interior cavity in a direction which is perpendicular to the plane of the surface 30.

The forward-facing housing part 14 [see Fig. 6) is formed from a relatively rigid plastics material and is arranged so as to be translucent to light emitted from an illumination source [not shown) within the interior cavity. The forward-facing housing part 14 adopts a generally semi-cylindrical shape. The convex external surface profile of the forwardfacing housing part 14 is curvilinear in both the longitudinal and lateral directions. The radius of curvature in the longitudinal direction is significantly greater than the radius of curvature in the lateral direction. The uppermost and lowermost ends 14a, 14b are the narrowest parts of the forward-facing housing part 14. The widest part 14c of the forward-facing housing part 14 is remote from its respective uppermost and lowermost ends 14a, 14b.

As shown in Fig. 3a, the radius of curvature of the forward-facing housing part 14 in the lateral direction [i.e. in a plane parallel to the surface 30) defines a major arc between opposing peripheral edges, i.e. an arc which subtends an angle of more than 180 degrees.

Laterally spaced peripheral edges of the forward-facing housing part 14 have a strip of foam sealing material 18 applied along their external surfaces. These external peripheral surfaces are inclined towards one another such that their respective tangents Tl, T2 intersect. In other words, the angle subtended between a tangent to one of the peripheral surfaces and another tangent to the opposing peripheral surface is greater than 180 degrees.

As shown in Fig. 3b, an outer sleeve 20 is shaped and dimensioned to substantially correspond with the external surface profile of the forward-facing housing part 14. The outer sleeve 20 (see Fig. 7) is formed from a relatively thin, translucent and resiliently deformable thermoplastics material. The outer sleeve 20 may be manufactured via a vacuum forming process comprising the steps of: (i) heating a substrate sheet of thermoplastic material to a predetermined forming temperature; (ii) pumping air beneath the heated sheet to partially stretch the heated sheet; [iii] forcing the partially stretch heated sheet against a mould of a desired shape by means of a vacuum; and (iv) cutting the outline shape of the outer sleeve from the moulded sheet.

The skilled reader will appreciate that the above described vacuum forming process may have a tendency to distort any images previously applied to the substrate sheet due to the stretching thereof over the mould. This may be counteracted by predicting the effects of the stretching process and altering the dimensions and layout of any graphics prior to applying them to the substrate sheet such that the previously applied graphic is effectively counter distorted in the opposite sense from the distortion effects resulting from the forming process. In this way, when the counter distorted image is distorted by the forming process it will be returned to a desirable undistorted image representation.

As a result of its inherent resilience, the outer sleeve 20 has a natural tendency to curl into a constricted configuration such that the separation between its opposing peripheral edges is reduced relative to the corresponding separation between the widest part(s) of the opposing peripheral edges of the forward-facing housing part 14.

When mounted onto the forward-facing housing part 14 the outer sleeve 20 conforms closely to the external surface profile of the latter.

It will be appreciated that the resiliently deformable nature of outer sleeve 20 facilitates the temporary flexing and enlarging of the separation between its opposing peripheral edges during the process of mounting the outer sleeve 20 onto the forward-facing housing part 14. The mounting process (see Fig. 4) may involve a progressive sliding motion whereby the outer sleeve 20 is vertically lowered onto the forward-facing housing part 14. Alternatively, the mounting process may involve a press-fit motion whereby the outer sleeve 20 is horizontally moved onto the forward-facing housing part 14. As a further alternative, the mounting process may involve a combination or hybrid of both of the aforementioned movements.

By providing complementary curved surfaces on the forward-facing housing part 14 and the outer sleeve respectively which each define a major arc between their respective opposing peripheral edges, a partial wrapping of the outer sleeve around the housing is facilitated. This arrangement resists detachment of the outer sleeve 20 from the housing 10. Furthermore, the presence of a seal 18 provides an additional frictional gripping surface between the outer sleeve 20 and the underlying housing 10.

The tendency of the outer sleeve 20 to grippingly wrap around the housing 10 obviates the need for any separate fixings between the two. It will therefore be appreciated that the invention provides a quick and effortless means of interchanging different outer sleeves each bearing different colours or advertising or promotional indicia without the requirement for skill on the part of the person(s] responsible for this task. Furthermore, the simple construction of the outer sleeves reduces material costs and hence mitigates overheads commonly associated with changing advertising or promotional indicia.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein in detail, this has been done by way of example and for the purposes of illustration only. The aforementioned embodiments are not intended to be limiting with respect to the scope of the appended claims. Indeed, it is contemplated by the inventor that various substitutions, alterations, and modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims. For example, whilst the outer sleeve has been described as being manufactured via vacuum forming process, alternative manufacturing processes are of course possible.

Claims

1. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus comprising: [i) a multi-part housing for enclosing an interior cavity, the housing extending above a surface in use about a notional longitudinal axis; and (ii) a resiliently deformable outer sleeve shaped and dimensioned to partially surround the housing; wherein the angle between a first tangent to one peripheral surface on the outer sleeve and a second tangent to an opposing peripheral surface is greater than 180 degrees.

2. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the multi-part housing consists only of a single forward-facing part and a single rear-facing part.

3. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a forward-facing part of the multi-part housing is at least translucent to light; and an illumination source is located within the interior cavity.

4. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer sleeve is at least translucent to light.

5. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer sleeve is shaped and dimensioned to partially surround the housing about the longitudinal axis; and the first and second tangents associated with the peripheral surfaces of the outer sleeve are located at opposing lateral sides of thereof.

6. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer sleeve is shaped and dimensioned to surround a forward-facing part of the housing.

7. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein a forward-facing part of the housing defines a partially curvilinear surface profile.

8. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the forward-facing part of the housing defines a continuously curvilinear surface profile.

9. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the curvilinear surface profile is convexly curved.

10. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein a seal is provided along at least parts of the opposing outer peripheral surfaces of a forward-facing part of the housing.

11. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the outer sleeve is a vacuum formed thermoplastics material.

12. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein advertising or promotional indicia is printed on the outer sleeve.

13. A method of assembling a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 12 comprising the steps of: (i) fixing one part of the multi-part housing to a mounting surface; (ii) fixing a second part of the multi-part housing to the first part to define an interior cavity; (iii) providing an illumination source within the interior cavity; and (iv) manipulating the outer sleeve over the second part of the multi-part housing such that the former is held on the latter solely by virtue of its inherent resilience.

14. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions adapted to cause a 3D printer to print one or more elements of a surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 12.

15. A surface-mountable beverage dispensing apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 12 created layer-by-layer via a 3D printing method.