AU603713B2 - Beverage dispensing system - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act600 3 47 1 M"MPLM SPECIFICATIC"I

(ORIGINAL)

Cla.9 Int, class App],ication Number; Lodgedi Comnplete Speq fjcatlqn Lodgedi Acoop ted The Coca colbA Compiany 31.0 tWorth Ryde AvealuQ N, UNITE~D SrTTS OF AIA Addross for Sar*41c I! andTrae Mrk ttt oy Holbourpq 3000 AU3SrhAt.,Th& POP codei 78760/7a750Q the b~ umethod of p~roii It knoWil to plca~~ PATNTN APPLICATZ0N DOCKET NO, 16O2A Beverage Dispensing system CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION i This patei app1Jaoion Is a continuatiorv4n-part of qo-pnding V' patent 4pplicatton Serial NQo 07/110,118t filed o n Ooctber 29t 1~987,, haviqg the sam title, inventor and asignee as this qase.

BACKGROUND OV ThE INVENTION Tho prelnnt invention reates to bov e~age, Rdippensers and in particular to such dispqnser that od-B; include porrion cQ~~trol A boverage dispenatn system 1 si f lw metes, ,jgl~ucntrollers, 1 in!Qroprocessor and portin control is knownfQn as descrbe in Patent 4 4 87,3 3 Ono purpo of such a system is to atomaitially aichia~v th or0 atoo yu to4 Wao in the dS,,pQfl$d 0evaraqo With~t havingu to maKo weekly mecanical adjustamenw of flow controls.Such a sya ytom can be u ,ed with a cup actuated !over arm to operate the disp nsing valve or with portion confro in whict for QXAMPIQIr any one of~ a Smallo medium, large, or extra l ktuttoa is pushed and a corrolponing voluxo of beverageis automaiacay diV;Vnsed into the cup, Pverago dispensing valvos ~oknown using Mehanical f o nt- ols and Vortilon control. Thportion control incudo% an R-C timor circuit in which the settings drif t ove n4r hot m1t to changes bnytho als of hie thesha M it be tosotr by a skillodi2$ Servico AQQ P'#'1te SUMMARY OF THE _INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a beverage dispensing apparatus comprising: 8 dispensing valve and nozzle for mixing together syxrup and carbonated water and dispensing the mixture as a beverage out the nozzle; a syrup conduit connected to said dispensing vale fr dlivering syrup thereto; a carbonated water conduit conneqted to sald dispensing av for delivering carbonated water thereto; a flow meter and a control Valve in each of said ~Oprduito; Microprocessor control means cooneotod to each of sait flwrerV and control valves for delivetin said sYrup and carbonated water to said d1iponsing valve at a desired ratio; (f naid raiotprocesaor control means including portion control means for; carrying Out a primary pouir cycle for dispeosing any one of several diffe rent slected voluM(es rif beverage from said disponsing valve; and said Microprocessor (cont~roj mno includingq preprorommod topping off rtian4s for carrying out 4topping off pour cycle after a period of time aftor ewic primary pour cycle hare been Lorminated.

The presenL invention also Vrovidles, a boverage kj;4 nc apparatu.s comprising: lispensing vatvo and rtozzlo, for mixing together s-yrup and obonated 40erad dlispensing the mix~ture as k a beveragek out tho no44le'(n nyrup) oondulit connoctod to (aid dispnsingq valvo for deIliverinj s'Yrup eeo Ic (carb t W, Ie tr L' '01(11t t CM11100(ok to id ipn'; dn val vo f r (1livej n~j prhatI tt If ot 1erttoil the dispensied mlxture.

a control Val~ve in eac0h Of Oald 0011duit'0 Mf Or~arol Mean$ onnooed to each of 04W~ control valves for controliflg the f low of syrup anAd carbonated Water through oad diapenstng valve; sg aid control nmean inlcluding prion control means and a jjooproCeq$00 ~a,9ed ti~o o r~~ out~ a primary Pouar cycle for dtispQ11sig anoy One of several different aelegtL olme of veorage fromi said di-spenoingj valve, anAd for aaryflg out a pero*proornhrfld toppInq Off VOVV cycle after a Wait period of ttlm) aftor 5alid prtmray pour cycle has bon The presen ipvont~lon, further provtlegq ee~rg die g pon~sin vaile an a dp n vle n no44le for im~dn toether syrup and carbontated wIater and 4ispvnsn ug Je mixture as a bovgrago, ou Ide nQzzlo+ a -Ayrup conduit conoohnod to aid -n ti valve Ea delivering cyrtp tthoroLo; a 0arbotiatod wat~er conduit conOtioUd to 8QaCI dpnasing valv for dletiv*eritq cabnatod watoz' a control VaIVe in oacih of gzild condit'tits ce ontrol woalna conn etod Lo e;o (A ii ~ro 1 vilve forZ con'olling tUho flowt oE sraX yrup a11d c~ihonated wator Lhrowugh said diqwnnainy valvo aid COntrOl 111anii l 5 101U di 1 C pOtion1 C.ontrol means" and a mic t~ ocosso rarn hLVoinwnm for: CjrYjIn out a Jprimauy pour cyoln fo dipod) ay n of so&r aI dif fornt;t 1, Io Ed( O t11" 0oue of h0ieraqe gC ORo saiLd d ni fir va lVo! ad for)t r y inti out a f tt tn. off Iou yio a ftoV a vwait Leriodl of time aftern said 1IV L)Oy Ur Oy'le hau, hootn f.tri natjed, Vho r itmv zi ion t i. 1, L Lni t t r r vti a ciim~in~ id ;llfr f syrup and carbonated water and dispensing the mixture as a beverage out the nozzle; a syrup conduit connected to said dispensing valve for delivering syrup thereto; a carbonated water conduit connected to said dispensing valve for delvering carbonated water thereto l a control valve in each of said conduits; marts for controling the syrup to water ratio in the digpened Mixure; portion control means for Carrying out a plurCality of different primary pour qyls each laviting a ditereit predetorminqd period of time for daspensing diffErpnt seleted volutmes, of beverage from Vaid dispensing valve;# said porttion control means incluidtng toppinco oft mean rid aprocjrarmnable ml roproQs4o 0 ae ir~t Means a0 rr~~l 6~p~cs~ boo M$or; and said topVIngq oft Ma fclr na carrying out at laoaL one of said V rlmary pour cyclep with a pro-programmiiod topping off pour cycle after a wait period of time after said primary pour cycle has boonl torminat;Od, Tho protent invetiion, wUi be re fu$,t uoratod from tho cotailod doe~ctiptioll b~low whonr readl in n01111oction with tho acconIEanyinj drawitgs whorin like ref ~oron zumoral,- refer to, liko olometnt.4 and wheeooilt PATENT APPLtQATION DOCT NO. 1602A Fig. 1 is a partly schenMatiq, partly diagrammatic view of the beverage dispensing system of the p2enPt invention; and Fig, 2 i8 a partly spqhmatic, partly diagrammatic view of a beverage dispensinjg system accring to another embodiment of this inventionr t DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TVE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT VWith referenoe now to the drawings, Fig ,I shows a Oqveago dispen4ng system £0 inoludifq 4 dispensing valve 12 with a nozzle a wator cocndult 16 c16 ected thereto$ a syrup oohndtit £8 qonnoeted thereto, a flow meter 20 and a flow controller 22 in the water line t6, a flow meter 24 and a flow controller 26 in the syrup line 18, a micooproeasso contrL means 28 connocted to both flow moters and flow ooftroieles, and the miro pro cv trQontrol means 28 i-,Qlxdii a portion ottol means In addition to the above appratus which is kniowni, the preent invetion includes topping off moans for carring out one or more topping off pour cycles after a period of time after tho prmary pour oyclo has terinated. Thi sInvention taki advadntage of th fact that there is sufficient memory tfil available in the InI.Qcrprocsecsr to teach it how long to wait for the foam to subsiide and how long the top off pour Qyclo shuld l.ast, for each of ;ural top uff pour and for a multifavor valivei or oac h ofa plurality of difforont soft dr~ink!% which can be (1i oVn,5Q efon thedispenning valve 12.

VtOat ist diftoront 101t drinks produce difrett Amoua tl of f0AM hat roqt irn dif fcieat at ontz Of tilv to s~ubWe. Difforelient bvba(naove requlro diftezent PATENT APPLICQATION DOCKET NO. 1602A nunbers of topping off pour cycles. Also, the length of time to wait for the foam to subside and the lpngth of time of for the topping off cycles also depend on the cup size and whether it is the first, second or third top off cycle, In any event, this information is easily available experimentally, and once available, the microprocessor has sufficient memory capacity to store it, and to use it to control the operation of the dispensing valve 12 during the topping off pour cycles.

In one preferred embodiment, for a non-sugaqr cla and a medium cup, the time tc wait bafore the first top off pour cycle is three seconds, the first top off pout cycle is fcr 1.5 seconds, the time to wait for the second top off cycle is two seconds, and the second top off pour cycle is .75 seconds, The software for carrying out this topping off tnvention can be easily developed by anyone skilled in, this art, Fig, 2 shows another and pre ferred mbodiment of a beverage dispensor 40 according to the present invention.

Equipmont currently exists that providos portion control filling of a cup by a soft drink dispensing valve. Those devices include an R-C timer circuit which turns the soft drink dispensing valve on far a predetermined time. An operator can choose betwoeon four different time periods depending upon the size of the cup to be filled. The time periods are set by using a screwdriver to adjust a potentiometer.

Over tim, the settings drift due to component value chanege and must be reset by a skilled service agent. If the product being dizpunsed oreates an excessive amount of foam, the timer must be set so that t4- PATENT APPLICATION QOCKZT NO 1602A the foom does not overflow the cup, This 1.eaI4Ve A partially filled Qtp when the foam stutbigdes.

An objoct of this ivention is to make the tjmet easier to set and to add the, function of the timet tuArping the dispensing valve on for an additional (topping off) period of time a.ftter the foam has had time to subside, Them o:d~l'aqqnt shownin Fig, 2 in 3ot4es a riaoproceosor k45ed tiaor 42 which circuit can learn~ the proper times for the four different size drirks, n addition to learning the amount of tinme required for each of the sites, the valve 12 can loarn how long to wait after the primary pour cy~l ends for fQam to stibside, and what amount of timne it should turn on for a top oft cycle after the: wait period, To set the timer values, an OperatL:r Putts the based timer 42 Into its program or loarn rdeO, Once In the lear mode, the oporator Ptushes the size button he Wants to set, When the operator pDtqhes the size button, the valve 12 begins to fOw. White the vatve Is flowing, the Rii( ,rovroqosor basied timrior 42 is reording the amount of time the valve hati boon flowing, When the foam reachns the top of the eup, the, tt oerator ta1kes hi hand off of the size() bUtton, and(A th vatve 5tops 4flowing. At thie,.; point, the micto()pr()c(eeqor based timer 42 stores in its memory the timo period that the valve Wa, Initiall on (thle pri$tivim pout Cycle,), and monitors the time periodA tat the vAe is off (the. wait Poriod). When, the foamw suh"31ces, the ovetratr Ai ain pushes thoe size button and the VA11Vq tutns on ajain (tor a top off eloce) allwing the oerator to finish fiting the Mip4 The timer has wnow Itored tho firtm on tiJmo, th eiubmquent off tim an n0w Monitorin the Va-( to otoetihn thej seen on Tg )501 r) PATNT7 4 ICTIO DOCKETZ NQ, IQO2-A time, The timor is qapable of ]earninq U14 to thbQ on times separatedi by tWo off times.

At this pointp tho proramming is finishod r that size, The operator can either progam a diegent size or he can got out of the progvam rodeo Onoe o~t Qt the prgograr mode, Whorl the 5ize btuttoi q psuhe4 the microprocessor based tirycl 42 will eaeot the o/of pattern it learned1 in th proram mcge. The timer Is ia peatablp and not drif~t becauso the times ar baed 04, clock pule, from a crytal oscillator, The Micropocessor based tim~er 42 unso an Intel, 8$51 M tiQtoprocessort howeVae, others can bused as will 44 understood by one s killed in the art.

Whilo the preferred embodients4 ofn atthijs invetio n ha~e be above in detail, iti obe understood that vaiations and modificatins can i e toade thercin withoumt dpartitri fenri the spiit and scope of tho preset inention, For (i:taj-nplq, vittie tle vie siR in the drawing i a sinql flavej valvq, the prbesent invention can be used witil 4 0tf va "d

Claims (1)

1. 6. The AppAratus as recited In claim 5 wherein aid conltrol moarns includes meansP, fo carrying out a Plurality of~ separ t tppinj of pour cycles, The aparatus as recited in vlairn whorein said controlQ meanls includes means tor carrylog out s aid toppinig qff pour~ cycl1e fo a 4ijttn period 04 time and2 otter a iffetontwtt, pqrlod o~ tie ec of~ soveral d±oen( 8, A bovoagve dioponsing apparotu0 ~OQrpining; a dlsnlltnq7 valve ancd nOZ7le for [A4100 together t syrmp ond carbonatod water and dispensing the Mnixture as a heV*oragie out the riozzlej osi d~es~ ob syrUP conduit Oonnoctedtosi pe valve for delivering srup thoteto; a carojbated W~abr conduit Cnnected to sal dispomiin valve for delivering co nlatod water theoto; a co0ntrol Volve Itj oach of said cinuts; ()mns for coritollitig the pyrup to iter ratio in thle disp fl5oa i mtuo (E portion con~rol Ii0 Rne 5 o carrying out 0a lartifl9 a different proohemiried perim! of Limo for 611spum(1Jnq difefon~lt selm'Ld vo01UIAs bovferWqO from~ Sd1 p1t1onr~ii valve'. (s)aaid p)ortion ootrol~ liari itr ludInU qpdtv off Lnoal' '11d a pro(rawmabln 11cVl oooep "Ioxr biued timoro 1-1it to i n off moiiwn in(, wliij nwaa f r oi Vryiv~ otrt at lecimft n' ofl SoC id p iwtarVY p~mL 4r y (c wih a pr(, p rinn1 pptnqj off potir oy e f~V a w'ait potiod of tign atter rndpritaar? pour: (,yoo Lacl hoollh fil Lo~d. '1 thl apartU au;a rttd in ('11111 tElo1rtn ut tpm al (It f1 iil~iw t w td Leaeawn [ot f eriI oa t L0.1ru1it (if e'ttedjl off pthiEl~ mrm~whr AUm -310- period of time are different for diffeent ayxups being dispensed, 1l The appaatus as recited in any one Of claims 8 to wherein said tppig off moans includes means for carrying out a topping off cycle for each of said pour cycles, 12, A beVerage. dispensing apparatus aocordtng to claim If substantially as herein desoribeo with reference to Figure I or Figure 2 or the accompanying drawingo, DAT4D; S XARCIf 1,90 PfIbIIJ44 ORMOND9 F&TZPATRICI Attornevs For; MflB COCA-CQJA CQKVANV