Dispensing Appliance Provided with a Disposable Cooling Cartridge

A kit of parts for a beverage dispensing apparatus, said kit of parts comprising the following components:

• (A) a cartridge formed by a frame defining a perimeter of an inner area and supporting in said inner area a channel forming a serpentine extending in a non-rectilinear trajectory from a channel inlet to a channel outlet, both channel inlet and channel outlet being located outside of the inner area, wherein said channel is flexible at least in a radial direction, and
• (B) an upstream dispensing tube section, comprising an upstream proximal end and an upstream distal end, wherein the upstream distal end is or can be sealingly coupled to the channel inlet, and the upstream proximal end can be brought in fluid communication with the interior of a container;
• (C) a downstream dispensing tube section, comprising a downstream proximal end and a downstream distal end, wherein the downstream proximal end is or can be sealingly coupled to the channel outlet, such that,
• (D) when the upstream distal end is sealingly coupled to the channel inlet and the downstream proximal end is sealingly coupled to the channel outlet, a continuous dispensing tube is formed by the upstream dispensing tube section, the channel, and the downstream dispensing tube section extending from the upstream proximal end to the downstream distal end, and
• (E) a beverage dispensing appliance provided with a cooling unit comprising:
• (c) a first cooling plate comprising a first surface and a second cooling plate comprising a second surface facing the first surface, both first and second cooling plates having a perimeter inscribed within the perimeter of the inner area, and
• (d) a cold source suitable for cooling said first and second surfaces, wherein the distance separating the first surface and second surface of the first and second cooling plates can be varied,
• from a loading distance, d0, greater than a thickness of the cartridge and forming an insertion slot allowing the introduction of the cartridge between the two cooling plates, and
• to a cooling distance, dc<d0, wherein the first and second surfaces contact the channel and apply a pressure thereon deforming the channel in the hoop direction.