Cooling line with cold plate and recirculating of dispensed fluid

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods for cooling fluids, for example beverages or beverage components, are presented. A cooling system or device includes a cold plate of bulk material (e.g., material of high thermal conductivity). A first sensor (preferably temperature sensor) is positioned within the bulk material and communicatively coupled to a processor. A first fluid line is at least partially disposed within the cold plate, having a first inlet entering and a first outlet exiting the cold plate. A second sensor (preferably temperature sensor) is positioned at the first fluid line proximal to the first outlet and communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor compares a sensor reading from the first sensor with a sensor reading from the second sensor, and issues an error report when the difference between the readings is above a threshold, or an individual reading from a sensor is outside of an operational parameter.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.