Condiment dispensing system utilizing a draw-back valve

A condiment dispensing system comprising:

• a rack for holding a source of condiment having an outlet port;
• a gas driven pump having a condiment inlet and a condiment outlet;
• a source conduit connecting the outlet port of the source of condiment with the condiment inlet of the pump;
• a source of gas under pressure;
• a delivery nozzle having at least one passageway for flowing condiment therethrough, the delivery nozzle being coupled with the pump and being operable to activate the pump for flowing condiment to the delivery nozzle and to deactivate the pump;
• a delivery conduit connecting the passageway of the delivery nozzle with the condiment outlet of the pump;
• and
• a draw-back valve operably connected on the delivery conduit, the draw-back valve comprising a housing having a housing cavity, a condiment entry port for receiving condiment from a portion of the delivery conduit, and a condiment exit port for dispensing condiment to another portion of the delivery nozzle, a valve stem disposed in the housing cavity and movable between a first position and a second position, the condiment flowing through the housing cavity from the condiment entry port to the condiment exit port in the first position but not flowing through the housing cavity in the second position, the valve stem drawing a vacuum in a portion of the housing cavity between the condiment entry port and the condiment exit port when moved to the second position.

A method of dispensing condiment from a condiment source comprising the steps of:

• providing a delivery conduit from the condiment source to an open delivery nozzle;
• providing a gas-operated pump operatively connected to the source of condiment;
• connecting the pump to a source of gas;
• providing a gas control valve on the delivery nozzle to control gas flow to the pump whereby opening the gas control valve causes flow of gas to the pump causing condiment to flow through the delivery conduit and out of the delivery nozzle;
• and
• providing a draw-back valve on the delivery conduit, the draw-back valve operable by a piston stroke to simultaneously block flow of condiment into the draw-back valve and produce a vacuum in the delivery conduit when the gas control valve is closed to stop gas flow to the pump, whereby condiment is sucked back from the delivery nozzle.

A condiment dispensing system comprising:

• a pump for moving a condiment;
• a delivery nozzle having at least one passageway for flowing the condiment therethrough, the delivery nozzle being coupled with the pump and being operable to activate the pump for flowing the condiment to the delivery nozzle and to deactivate the pump;
• a delivery conduit connecting the pump to the delivery nozzle for delivering the condiment to the delivery nozzle from the pump;
• and
• a draw-back valve operably connected on the delivery conduit, the draw-back valve being separate and spaced from the pump and comprising a housing having a condiment entry port coupled to the pump via a portion of the delivery conduit and a condiment exit port coupled to the delivery nozzle via another portion of the delivery conduit.