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
  • 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
  • B67D1/14—Reducing valves or control taps
  • B67D1/1405—Control taps
  • B67D1/1477—Devices for assisting tap handling, e.g. levers
• • 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
  • B67D1/0888—Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means)
• • 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
  • B67D1/1247—Means for detecting the presence or absence of liquid
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
  • G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
  • G01F23/0007—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm for discrete indicating and measuring
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
  • G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
  • G01F23/30—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats
  • G01F23/64—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats of the free float type without mechanical transmission elements
  • G01F23/68—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats of the free float type without mechanical transmission elements using electrically actuated indicating means
  • G01F23/70—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats of the free float type without mechanical transmission elements using electrically actuated indicating means for sensing changes in level only at discrete points
  • G01F23/703—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats of the free float type without mechanical transmission elements using electrically actuated indicating means for sensing changes in level only at discrete points using electromechanically actuated indicating means
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01F—MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME
  • G01F23/00—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
  • G01F23/30—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats
  • G01F23/76—Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm by floats characterised by the construction of the float
• • 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
  • B67D1/14—Reducing valves or control taps
  • B67D2001/1483—Reducing valves or control taps electrically or electro-mechanically 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
  • B67D1/14—Reducing valves or control taps
  • B67D2001/1488—Reducing valves or control taps pneumatically operated

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to an improved operation of the Beverage Dispensing System and, more particularly, to a system and method for detecting an empty keg in a timely manner and to prevent excessive foaming or oxidation in the process.
• FOB Foam on Beer
• Such FOB devices generally utilize a radially expanded chamber within a beer delivery that is fitted with a float valve.
• the float valve floats in the liguid, thereby leaving the beer valve open and supplying beer to the taps.
• foam or froth begins to develop in the chamber, the float valve is too heavy and will not float on the froth. It will conseguently sink down to the beer outlet, closing it off and preventing the foam from entering the supply lines.
• a system for dispensing carbonated beverages from a keg containing a carbonated alcoholic beverage that is pressurized by a pressurized tank of gas includes a first delivery line for communicating the carbonated alcoholic beverage to a Foam on Beer (FOB) detector.
• the FOB forms a reservoir or chamber into which the liguid is dispensed and containing a float.
• a level detector in operative communication with the float identifies a level of said float.
• An empty keg is identified when the float within the FOB moves downward. Upward movement of the float indicates when a new keg is implemented.
• a second delivery line communicates the carbonated alcoholic beverage to a touchless tap.
• the touchless tap includes a control valve, a tap control board
• TBC Controller Area Network
• the tap may further provide an integrated pneumatic actuator casing forming a dispensing shaft that is opened or closed via a pneumatic valve, with the shaft and pneumatic valve having a connected or contiguous form factor.
• the tap shaft is further adapted to facilitate venting of beer from a spout independent of spout orientation.
• the present invention not only adapted to control beverage dispensing based on an empty keg condition, it may further be adapted to that in the event any air/gas is within a line the FOB float can drops or rise in a manner that can be detected and used to control the tap by allowing dispensing, or locking the tap to maintain pressure in the line and/or not allowing any gas to enter the product line.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of an improved beverage dispensing system having an automated touchless tap according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 2 is a schematic of a beer tap system for use therewith
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a touchless tap for use therewith
• FIG. 4 is a side elevational view thereof
• FIG. 5 is a top plan view thereof
• FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a Foam on Beer controller 4 for use with the improved beverage dispensing system having an automated touchless tap according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view thereof.
• FIG. 9 is a front elevational schematic thereof showing its internal operation.
• the system 100 utilizes a bulk keg 1 containing a carbonated alcoholic beverage 2 that is pressurized by a pressurized tank of gas 12.
• a first delivery line 3 communicates the beverage 2 to a foam trap or FOB 4 which forms a reservoir or chamber into which the liguid is dispensed.
• the chamber contains a float 5 and further communicates the beverage through a second delivery line 11 to a touchless tap 7 which dispensed directly to a serving container 13.
• the tap 7 may contain a control valve.
• a system controller 6 may communicate with and control the valve 8 with a first communication cable 10. Further, the system controller 6 may communicate with a level sensor 14 positioned along the FOB 4 with a second communication cable 9.
• empty keg condition may be detected not only by FOB 4 but also through the use of any of a variety of sensors.
• a highly sensitive pressure sensor 21 may detect even a slight drop of line pressure during dispensing of a serving. The pressure drop may be explained by increasing of air volume inside the keg when the air displaces a liguid in the keg. The absence of a pressure drop may alternately indicate that no beverage is being dispensed and the keg therefore, is empty.
• a specially designed algorithm may identify or filter out perturbations of air pressure that may occur when the compressor starts pumping during the dispensing.
• an infrared or ultrasound sensor 27 may be attached to a beverage delivery line 11 and may differentiate moving versus motionless liquid inside the line. If no beverage movement is detected during dispensing, this may be used as an indication of an empty keg.
• a pressure sensor 25 may be further attached to an air chamber, such as being formed by a closed piece of tube 23 cut into beverage line 11.
• an air chamber may form an appendage that is only partially filled with a beverage and the remaining (i.e. upper) section of the tube being filled with air.
• the sensor 25 may measure the air pressure inside this chamber 23. Based on the differences in readings it will be possible to differentiate a normal dispensing versus an empty keg or unacceptable beverage temperature condition or situations when no beverage flows through line 11.
• a temperature sensor 33 may also be used for operational control. If a temperature in the refrigerator where beverage kegs are stored exceeds a predefined threshold, the controller 6 may send a command to close the valve. This may be useful in conjunction with certain beverages, like beer, that are best served warm but may also spoil if not kept cold.
• the present improvements not only may be used for identification of and control based on an empty keg condition, but may also be adapted for modifying control based on the intrusion of air or gas into the beverage lines.
• gas intrusion in the line allows the FOB drop
• gas intrusion may be determined.
• the determination of the FOB float's position in dropping or rising may be used to allow control (or, alternately, prevent control) of the through locking or unlocking the tap to alternately allow dispensing or to maintain pressure in the line and/or not allowing any gas getting in product line.
• the controller 6 analyzes the readings from sensors 21, 25, 27, and 33 and based on the predefined criteria identifies the empty keg condition and sends "close valve" command to TCB 19 which in turn closes valve 8.
• valve In addition to closing the touchless tap valve when an empty keg condition is detected, the valve must be closed at the end of each serving and opened when a new serving is initiated. This closing will prevent a drop in the pressure inside the beverage line that might result in excessive foaming of carbonated beverages.
• the tap 7 may include the valve 8 in the form of an integrated pneumatic actuator casing 16.
• the casing 16 may include a shaft 17 that facilitates venting of beer from a spout 18 regardless of its orientation. With such an improvement, the tap 7 doesn't need to be installed in a particular position in order to operate appropriately, which is unlike existing tap dispenser in which the dispensing shaft must be oriented in a limited orientation for proper functioning.
• the tap 7 may incorporate a universal fit configuration that may fit with current major beer tap shanks (e.g., Perlick, Micromatic, etc.)
• current major beer tap shanks e.g., Perlick, Micromatic, etc.
• the integrated pneumatic actuator casing 16 may incorporate the pneumatic actuator 8 in an integrated form factor.
• a pneumatic valve 18 driven by the actuator 8 may be electronically actuated by a tap control board (TCB) 19 that is operatively controlled by the controller 6. It is anticipated that when a user pushes a button to actuate the dispensing of a pour, the controller 6 may send a control signal to the TCB.
• Controller Area Network (CAN bus) 20 may be used to allow the controller 6 to communicate with the TCB 19, as well as to any other a host computers.
• a message-based protocol may be communicated through cables 9, 10, which may include multiplex electrical wiring.
• the FOB 4 includes a float chamber 22 having a lower inlet 24 for receiving pressurized liguid into an upper outlet 26 for discharging the pressurized liguid.
• the chamber 22 may form a radially expanded housing, as compared with a beverage supply or discharge line (not shown) such as to form an internal volume sufficient to retain a float valve 28.
• the float valve 28 may include a magnetic target 29 for use in conjunction with the sensor control assembly 30 as described in greater detail below.
• the float valve 28 may include a number of guides or vanes 32 that may guide the float to be movable to and from a normal upper position wherein the chamber inlet 24 is open to liguid flow and a lower, foam detection position wherein the float 28 becomes immersed in a liguid/foam mixture having a lower specific gravity that both the normal liguid flow as well as that of the float 28 itself.
• the vanes or guides 32 may allow for fluid flow through the chamber 22 while providing alignment and orientation of the float 28 within the chamber and thereby maintain a known path and trajectory for the magnetic target 29.
• the sensor control assembly 30 may include a sensor mounting plate 32 to allow for coordination of assembly between the float chamber 22 and a sensor assembly 34. As shown herein a plurality of individual senors 34 may be provided for operational redundancy. The sensors 34 are used to detect the position of the float 28, as well as movement of the float 28 within the chamber 22. In order to provide a non-contact detection of movement and location regardless of liquid translucence and viscosity, the sensors 34 may be magnetic flux sensors placed strategically in a non-invasive manner on the mounting plate 32.
• the sensors 34 are utilized to obtain a non-binary representation of the exact location of the float 28. Two sensors 34 placed across the plane of movement will allow a weak strength but light magnet 29 inside the float 28 to be detected. It is intended that light weight magnets 29 may be utilized in order to maintain the buoyancy of the float 28.
• Output of the sensors 34 may be connected to an analog to digital converter, located either at the controller 6 or separably within the sensor assembly 34 or sensor control assembly 30.
• the senors 34 may thereby obtain discreet values indicating the polarity and magnetic flux strength. With this non-binary information, it is possible to determine the extract location, velocity and acceleration of float 28 as it moves through the FOB 7. Additionally, any stationary position may similarly be determined
• system 100 will allow the detection of an empty keg 1 when dispensing carbonated beverages 2. Once an empty keg 1 is detected the valve 8 of the tap 7 can be immediately closed. During normal operation, high pressure in the keg 1 pushes the beverage 2 through line 3 into FOB 4 and then through line 11 to be dispensed by Touchless Tap 7 into container 13.
• the touchless tap 7 contains a built-in pneumatic (or other type) valve 8 that opens and closes the tap in response to commands received from controller 6. The controller communicates with the tap via cable 10.
• the controller 6 may record the volume of the beverage 2 dispensed prior to detecting an empty keg 1 so that when a new keg 15 is installed the system 100 can resume dispensing the serving 13 that was interrupted by the empty keg 1.
• the serving size of the first serving from the new keg may be calculated with taking into account the recorded volume of the last serving.
• a determination of float position may be made versus time, thereby allowing for calculation of the float speed and acceleration.
• the determination of all such position and movement data allows for controlled action to be made concerning a dispense system's status.
• the fast float drop for example indicates the empty keg reguiring the system to close the remote tap immediately; small float fluctuations near the FOB top could mean the leaking keg tap, wrong beverage temperature and/or pressure.
• Each float kinematic pattern along with additional data from other sensors could be analyzed to generate the informational message to the user making it easier to fix the problem fast and increase productivity.
• the remote controlling of the flow of the tap 7 may be facilitated.
• the tap 7 may be tens of feet away in a long draw beer system. Even in such remote situations, pressure is maintained in the entire line, reducing waste thanks to detectable issues in the system.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Devices For Dispensing Beverages (AREA)
• Control Of Vending Devices And Auxiliary Devices For Vending Devices (AREA)
• Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
• Burglar Alarm Systems (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=79268242

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2021
  • 2021-04-05 BR BR112022024093A patent/BR112022024093A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2021-04-05 JP JP2022572702A patent/JP2023551079A/ja active Pending
  • 2021-04-05 MX MX2022014843A patent/MX2022014843A/es unknown
  • 2021-04-05 MX MX2022014840A patent/MX2022014840A/es unknown
  • 2021-04-05 CA CA3144190A patent/CA3144190A1/en active Pending
  • 2021-04-05 WO PCT/US2021/025784 patent/WO2021257152A1/en unknown
  • 2021-04-05 EP EP21773279.1A patent/EP3956256A4/en active Pending
  • 2021-04-05 AU AU2021292939A patent/AU2021292939A1/en active Pending

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Non-Patent Citations (1)

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