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US 6,712,342 B2Granted
Hollow fiber carbonation
AssigneeLancer Partnership, Ltd.
InventorRobert S. Bosko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for beverage dispensing are provided with a carbonator (12) that includes a plurality of hydrophobic hollow fibers (32). A pre-carbonation circuit (28) may also be included. A water treatment system (14) may be used to supply water to the carbonator (12) and/or the pre-carbonation circuit (28).
Claims20
A beverage dispenser, comprising:
- a water supply;
- a reverse osmosis water treatment system coupled to said water supply, said reverse osmosis water treatment system comprising a flexible bag reservoir;
- a CO2 source;
- a carbonator coupled to said reservoir and said CO2 source, said carbonator including at least one hydrophobic hollow fiber proximate to which water is carbonated;
- a beverage syrup source;
- and
- a customer interface enabling the dispensing of beverage syrup from said beverage syrup source and carbonated water generated by said carbonator to form finished drinks.
4 more elements
A method of dispensing beverages, comprising:
- supplying water;
- treating the water through reverse osmosis;
- storing the treated water in a flexible bag;
- supplying CO2;
- carbonating the water from the flexible bag with the CO2 proximate to at least one hydrophobic hollow fiber;
- and
- dispensing carbonated water and beverage syrup to form finished drinks.
4 more elements
A beverage dispenser, comprising:
- a water supply;
- a CO2 source;
- a carbonator coupled to said water supply and said CO2 source, said carbonator including at least one hydrophobic hollow fiber through which water is supplied;
- and
- a beverage syrup source, such that beverage syrup and carbonated water are dispensed to form finished drinks.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.