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US 2024/0000286 A1Published application
State machine and/or container-specific operational control of high speed reusable beverage container washing system
AssigneeMidea Group Co., Ltd.
InventorsJoel Boyer, Robert M. Digman, Dylan Rowe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A beverage container washing system may utilize a state machine-based control system and/or beverage container type determination to manage washing and/or sanitizing of beverage containers, e.g., for use in a retail environment to wash and/or sanitize customer-provided beverage containers prior to filling the beverage containers with purchased beverages.
Claims20
An apparatus for washing a beverage container, comprising:
- a housing including a wash chamber configured to receive a beverage container for washing;
- a spray assembly including at least one sprayer disposed within the housing and configured to spray a wash fluid onto the beverage container while the beverage container is disposed in the wash chamber, the spray assembly further including:
- a tank coupled to receive wash fluid sprayed by the at least one sprayer;
- a heater disposed in the tank and configured to heat wash fluid retained in the tank;
- a drain device configured to convey wash fluid retained in the tank to a drain;
- a pump disposed downstream of the filter and configured to supply wash fluid to the at least one sprayer;
- a make up water valve configured to supply make up water to the tank;
- a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature of wash fluid retained in the tank;
- a fluid property sensor configured to sense a fluid property associated with wash fluid cleanliness;
- and
- a fluid level sensor configured to sense a level of wash fluid in the tank;
- and
- a controller coupled to the spray assembly and configured to execute a plurality of state machines, wherein the plurality of state machines are configured to:
- initialize the apparatus by priming the pump and activating the make up water valve to add make up water to the tank;
- maintain a predetermined temperature of wash fluid retained in the tank by selectively activating the heater in response to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor;
- maintain a predetermined wash fluid level in the tank by selectively activating the make up water valve in response to the level sensed by the fluid level sensor;
- perform a wash fluid refresh operation by, in response to the fluid property sensed by the fluid property sensor, selectively activating the drain device to drain at least a portion of the wash fluid retained in the tank and selectively activating the make up water valve to add make up water to the tank;
- and
- perform a washing operation by selectively activating the pump to supply wash fluid to the at least one sprayer.
16 more elements
An apparatus for sanitizing a beverage container, comprising:
- a housing including a wash chamber, an entrance, and an exit that is separate from the entrance, the entrance configured to provide external access to the wash chamber for insertion of a beverage container into the wash chamber prior to sanitizing and the exit configured to provide external access to the wash chamber for removal of the beverage container after sanitizing;
- a spray assembly including at least one sprayer disposed within the housing and configured to spray a wash fluid onto the beverage container while the beverage container is disposed in the wash chamber, the wash fluid sprayed by the spray assembly heated to a sanitizing temperature;
- an ultraviolet sanitizing assembly including at least one ultraviolet light disposed within the housing and configured to emit ultraviolet light toward the beverage container while the beverage container is disposed in the wash chamber;
- a dryer assembly including at least one air outlet disposed within the housing and configured to blow air onto the beverage container while the beverage container is disposed in the wash chamber;
- and
- a controller configured to control the spray assembly, the ultraviolet sanitizing assembly, and the dryer assembly to perform a sanitizing operation on the beverage container while the beverage container is disposed in the wash chamber, wherein the controller is further configured to determine a beverage container type of the beverage container and to set one or more of a wash fluid temperature for the wash fluid used by the spray assembly, a washing action duration for a washing action performed by the spray assembly, a sanitizing duration for a sanitizing action performed by the ultraviolet sanitizing assembly, and a drying duration for a drying action performed by the dryer assembly based upon the determined beverage container type.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.