JPS63263051A - Ice cream dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to ice cream dispensers that operate using replaceable (disposable) and/or refillable ice cream cartridges.

(Prior art and its problems) As is widely known among those skilled in the art, there are basically two types of ice cream: industrial ice cream and homemade ice cream (the latter also known as Italian type ice cream). ).

Industrial ice cream is made in bulk quantities, packaged and distributed to various outlets, where it is often stored in a single buff cage in the outlet's freezer for long periods of time.

Industrial ice cream must be made using long-life, low-quality base materials and with the addition of preservatives, which adversely affect the quality of the product, resulting in a poor quality product.

However, industrial ice cream has some advantages with respect to commercial distribution, including price, and does not require machinery or people with special knowledge of the manufacturing process, just for distribution. Only a refrigerator is needed to store the various packages for a short period of time.

Although the quality of homemade ice cream is far superior to that of industrial ice cream, it is more expensive because it must be made in a store by a skilled worker using specific ingredients.

Ice cream of various qualities is placed in containers and stored for a short time in compartmentalized freezer counters or showcases from which it is removed and used to make ice cream cones, cones and tubs.

The object of the invention is to provide an ice cream dispenser that combines the advantages of both industrial ice cream and homemade Italian type ice cream, and at the same time eliminates their disadvantages.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve this object □, the invention includes at least one freezer compartment closed by a door equipped with a dispensing tap, said compartment containing a quantity of ice cream. To provide an ice cream dispenser which is adapted to removably house an ice cream cartridge held therein and which is adapted to actuate a pressure device to dispense one serving of ice cream from a hole in the dispensing tap.

The cartridge may be disposable or retrievable and refillable.

The features of the structure and operation of the invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several practical embodiments of the invention.

1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, a dispenser according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown generally at 10 and is constructed from, for example, a cylindrical freezing or insulating chamber 11. The heat insulating chamber is appropriately cooled by a known refrigeration circuit. The cooling coil is 12
Indicated by

The cylindrical chamber 11 has a door 13 near the base with screws 1
4, it is removably attached.

Said door 13 is of a type known to those skilled in the art and is equipped with a tap 15 for dispensing a batch of ice cream from an outlet conduit 16.

According to the invention, said cylindrical chamber 11 is adapted to hold a harmonically shaped "ice cream cartridge" 17 in a replaceable (disposable), recyclable and refillable manner.

The ice cream cartridge 17 is made of a stainless steel container 18 with an annular flange 19 near the open side and a door 13 attached to the flange 19 as shown in FIG.
is tightly tightened.

Said container 18 has a bottom 2 having a central hole 21 aligned with a hole 22 passing through the rear wall 23 on the opposite side of the door 13.
It is equipped with 0.

A rod-shaped thrust member 24 supported by a guide frame 25
The thrust member 24 passes through the holes 21 and 22 lined with
is controlled to move in the direction of arrow F.

The control device for the thrust member 24 is not shown, but is of a known type, for example a hydraulic cylinder or other element providing mechanical thrust suitable for the purpose.

The free end of the thrust member 24 releasably engages the seat 26 of a piston 27, which is capable of moving in sealed sliding motion within the container 18 along its lateral wall.

For this purpose, the piston 27 is provided with a suitable surrounding gasket 28.

Reference numeral 29 indicates the amount of ice cream held in container 18, which ice cream is conventional homemade ice cream made on a separate machine.

The container 18 has a removable or breakable seal 30.
sealed by.

As can be inferred from the above description, the operation method of the ice cream dispenser according to the present invention is as follows.

By automatically engaging the thrust member 24 and the piston 27, the container 17 filled with ice cream is placed into the freezer compartment 11, and then the freezer compartment 11 is closed by the door 1.
Closed by 3.

When the tap 15 is rotated by hand, one batch of ice cream is taken out, which automatically moves the piston 27 forward. The piston 27 stops after the tap 15 is turned off or after a time period set by the timer controlling the actuation of the thrust member 24 has elapsed.

It is also possible to make the dispenser fully automatic, based on coin actuation or counter actuation.

The dispenser of the invention has a plurality of chambers 11 each having at least one door 13 made of a transparent and insulating material.
These chambers 11 house ice cream cartridges 17 of different flavors, respectively.

Instead of dividing into a plurality of chambers 11, it is also possible to form a single chamber, for example a parallelepiped, in which several cartridges can be housed side by side.

This structure allows premium home-made ice cream to be provided via sealed cartridges that are made at a suitable production center and supplied from the center to various outlets.

In this way, the burden of making ice cream is removed from the store, and the dispenser of the invention and cold storage for temporarily storing spare ice cream cartridges if the store itself is not equipped with a spare cold storage room. All you need to do is prepare a cupboard and a cupboard.

The objects of the invention stated in the introduction of the specification are thus achieved.

3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the same or similar parts as the first embodiment shown in FIGS. show.

This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that instead of a rod-like thrust member, pure high pressure is introduced into the interior of the vessel 118 through a nozzle 124 connected to a suitable high pressure air source (not shown). The thrust is provided by an air jet.

In this case, a high thrust can be obtained from the ice cream cartridge even when the air pressure is low due to the dimensions.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the invention, in which parts identical or similar to those shown in FIGS.
It is shown as a number with 10 added.

This embodiment also uses high pressure air to dispense the ice cream, which is delivered to container 218.
rather than being housed within a disposable cartridge 231 made of a deformable material and contained within the container 218 itself.

This embodiment is very practical in that it can independently dispense ice cream made at a remote ice cream mass production center.

In this case, the container 218 does not require any special work to be made airtight; the airtightness is achieved by the deformable cartridge 231.

The cartridge and rim are also deformable, so that air pressure is applied to the base and sides to reduce the volume of the container in order to increase thrust action.

The base of the cartridge is stretched to the proper shape, as shown at 232, so that it will not bend so severely that it will not be possible to eject all of the ice cream.

7 and 8 show a fourth embodiment of the invention, and parts that are the same as or similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by numbers 3 (plus 10).

Like the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, this embodiment also utilizes a disposable cartridge 331 made of a suitable deformable material.

This cartridge 331 can have a rigid base 333 with a gasket 334 integrally formed therein.

Alternatively, the container 31 is integrated with the machine body.
The cartridge 331 may be provided with a deformable base 335 on which a piston 336 provided inside the cartridge 8 acts.

The provision of a rigid base 333 and a separate piston 336 provides regular movement of the disposable cartridge 331, so that its deformation is also regular.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 1θ show the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and the first
4 (10
Add a number.

As in the case shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, this embodiment is also a fixed container 41.8, but made of a rigid material and designed to accommodate a disposable cartridge 431 with a movable base 437. The movable base 4
37 acts as a pushing piston when the rod-shaped thrust member 424 acts.

11 and 12 show a sixth embodiment of the invention, in which parts that are the same or similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 are numbered 5 (plus 10).

This embodiment is a variation of the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10, but an air jet directed from nozzle 514 acts on the base 537 of the cartridge.

The movable base 537 is configured to ensure air tightness as it moves along the shell of the cartridge 531, which is made of a rigid material.

Additionally, the cartridge 531 can maintain the pressure necessary to extrude the ice cream without deforming it.

As mentioned above, in all embodiments of the present invention, a transparent cover 513 is provided to indicate the quality of the ice cream and promote sales.

If the pressure acting on the ice cream is constant, there is no need for an electrical control to operate the extruder, in which case the outflow of the ice cream is controlled only by the dispensing tap.

However, if the pressure on the ice cream is not constant, it is necessary to electronically control the extrusion system.

The pressure acting on the ice cream is kept constant only by pressure regulators such as pressure switches or other devices.

Temperature control is provided by an electronic thermostat that keeps the ice cream at its proper temperature.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dispenser using an ice cream cartridge in the operating state; FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dispenser in an exploded state showing the step of inserting the ice cream cartridge into the housing space of the dispensing chamber; , FIGS. 3 and 4 are the same sectional views as FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views, respectively, showing a third embodiment of the invention. 1 and 2 are the same sectional views, FIGS. 7 and 8 are the same sectional views, respectively, showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are the same sectional views, respectively. 1 and 2 are the same cross-sectional views showing the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are the same cross-sectional views as FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively showing the sixth embodiment of the present invention. It is. 10...Dispenser 11...-insulation chamber 12.
...Cooling coil 13-Door air 4...-Screw 15...Tap 16-Outlet duct 17--Ice cream cartridge 18-Container 20...Bottom 22-...Hole 23...-Rear wall 24--・Thrust member
25-Guide frame 26--Seat part
27... Piston 28 - Casquerat 29... - Amount of ice cream

Claims (11)

[Claims] (1) includes at least one freezer compartment (11) closed by a door (13) with a dispensing tap (15), said compartment containing an ice cream cartridge (17) holding a quantity of ice cream (29); ) is designed to be removably housed, and one can be removed from the hole of the distribution tap (15).
An ice cream dispenser characterized by operating a pressure device to dispense ice cream in batches. (2) The ice cream dispenser according to claim 1, wherein said cartridge is retrievable and refillable. (3) The ice cream dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is disposable. (4) said cartridge (17) includes a container (18) holding a certain amount of ice cream (29), and a piston (27) installed in said container (18) causes said certain amount of ice cream (29) ) on the piston (2
Ice cream dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the ice cream dispenser (7) is removably connectable to a thrust member (24) extending through the chamber (11) and the container (18). (5) An ice cream dispenser according to claim 4, wherein the thrust member (24) includes a nozzle (124) for delivering high-pressure air. (6) An ice cream dispenser according to claim 1, wherein the ice cream cartridge is a container (231) made of deformable material on which the pressure device acts. 7. An ice cream dispenser according to claim 6, wherein said pressure device includes a high pressure air jet acting on said container. 8. An ice cream dispenser according to claim 6, wherein said pressure device includes a piston urged by a jet of high pressure air acting on the base of said container. (9) The ice cream cartridge is a container made of a rigid material (431
) The ice cream dispenser according to claim 1. (10) The ice cream dispenser according to claim 9, wherein the pressure device includes a rod-shaped thrust member. 11. The ice cream dispenser of claim 9, wherein said pressure device comprises a jet of high pressure air.