Airpot beverage dispenser and method

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows body has an annular, double-walled construction with an exterior wall surrounding an interior wall that surrounds the beverage brew-through passageway.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows assembly includes another bellows body that is laterally spaced from both the one bellows body and the passageway.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows assembly includes a plurality of other bellows bodies, which together with the one bellows body, are symmetrically arranged around and laterally spaced from the passageway.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows assembly includes at least another bellows body linked to the bellows actuator for distortion of the other bellows body concurrently with distortion of the one bellows body.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows has an air outlet that communicates with the interior of the hollow body and has a valve for closing the outlet except when air is passing out of the bellows though the air outlet.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the brew-through passageway includes an interior, nonmovable interior funnel with an outlet for passing beverage into the interior of the hollow body.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the cover assembly includes
• a protective housing for the bellows assembly with
• a bottom, a top spaced from the bottom, and a surrounding side wall,
• an interior beverage outlet opening in the bottom for passing beverage from the passageway into the interior, and
• an inlet opening in the top through which the passageway extends.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover body for substantially closing the open top except for a brew-through passageway substantially smaller than the open top and extending between an upwardly facing exterior brew-through inlet and an interior outlet;
• and
• a bellows assembly carried by the cover assembly for pressurizing the interior of the insulated hollow body, said bellows assembly including a bellows body mounted to the cover body and a bellows actuator linked to the bellows body for distorting the bellows to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, and in which
• the cover assembly has a top surface with the exterior brew-through inlet through which the passageway extends and includes
• an upwardly extending collar surrounding the brew-through inlet opening,
• said collar extending upwardly from the top surface for mating relationship with a beverage dispense opening of a brewer to guide freshly brewed beverage into the brew-through opening.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly with a cover carrying the bellows and a bellows actuator;
• an electronic display for indicating a plurality of levels of the beverage within the hollow body;
• an electronic level sensing assembly with a level sensing probe with multiple level sensing locations at a plurality of different levels for sensing a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body, respectively;
• and
• means for communicating level sensing information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display for selective display of the plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly with a cover carrying the bellows and a bellows actuator;
• an electronic display for indicating a plurality of levels of the beverage within the hollow body, the electronic level sensing assembly including a battery powered electronic circuit for operating the electronic display, and a water tight electronics compartment defined by part of the cover for protectively housing the battery powered electronic operating circuit;
• an electronic level sensing assembly for sensing a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• means for communicating level sensing information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly with a cover carrying the bellows and a bellows actuator;
• an electronic display for indicating a plurality of levels of the beverage within the hollow body;
• an electronic level sensing assembly for sensing a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body including
• an elongate member mounted to and extending downwardly into the interior of the hollow body to a plurality of levels, and
• means carried along the length of the elongate member for sensing the plurality of levels;
• and
• means for communicating level sensing information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly with a cover carrying the bellows and a bellows actuator;
• an electronic display for indicating a plurality of levels of the beverage within the hollow body;
• an electronic level sensing assembly for sensing a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• means for communicating level sensing information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display, the communicating means including means for radio wave transmitting information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic display.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through assembly, comprising:

• a cover assembly with a cover carrying the bellows and a bellows actuator, the cover including an electronics compartment made of plastic and means for venting the plastic compartment to atmosphere;
• an electronic display for indicating a plurality of levels of the beverage within the hollow body;
• an electronic level sensing assembly for sensing a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• means for communicating level sensing information from the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through cover assembly, comprising:

• a cover fitted to the open top with a housing protectively enclosing means to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, an electronic beverage level display, a display controller responsive to an electronic level sensor for controlling the electronic display and a portable source of electrical power for the display and the controller;
• a direct-brew passageway passing through the housing with an exterior inlet located at a top surface of the housing and an interior outlet at a bottom surface of the housing and in fluid communication with the interior of the hollow body;
• and
• means carried by the cover for manually actuating the pressurizing means.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through cover assembly, comprising:

• a cover fitted to the open top with a housing protectively enclosing means to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, an electronic beverage level display, a display controller responsive to an electronic level sensor for controlling the electronic display and a portable source of electrical power for the display and the controller;
• a direct-brew passageway passing through the housing with
• an exterior inlet located at a top surface of the housing, and
• an interior outlet at a bottom surface of the housing and in fluid communication with the interior of the hollow body,
• the direct brew passageway being defined by a tubular member mounted for vertical movement within a mating mounting hole in the top of the cover, an inlet end of the tubular member being attached to a movable cover member in which the brew-through beverage inlet is formed, and said cover having a recess within which the movable cover member is received when the movable cover is moved to a brew position;
• and
• means carried by the cover for manually actuating the pressurizing means.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having an interior defined by a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a dispense tube with an exterior outlet adjacent the top and an interior inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the outlet when the interior of the hollow body is pressurized, the improvement being a brew-through cover assembly, comprising:

• a cover fitted to the open top with a housing protectively enclosing means to pressurize the interior of the hollow body, an electronic beverage level display, a display controller responsive to an electronic level sensor for controlling the electronic display and a portable source of electrical power for the display and the controller, the electronic level sensor being mounted to the dispense tube;
• a direct-brew passageway passing through the housing with an exterior inlet located at a top surface of the housing and an interior outlet at a bottom surface of the housing and in fluid communication with the interior of the hollow body;
• and
• means carried by the cover for manually actuating the pressurizing means,
• means for mounting the dispense tube to the cover for removal from the interior of the hollow body with removal of the cover from the open top.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having, a bottom, an open top and a surrounding sidewall joining the open top to the bottom, a laterally extending, downwardly facing spout outside of the hollow body and a dispense tube with an outlet connected to the spout and an inlet within the hollow body and located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement, comprising:

• a cover assembly mounted to the open top of the hollow body and including
• an upwardly facing, centrally located brew-through beverage inlet passageway passing through the cover and having a centrally located, upwardly facing, beverage inlet substantially smaller than that of the open top of the hollow body, and
• means for mounting the dispense tube and the spout at a location laterally spaced from the centrally located brew-through beverage inlet passageway;
• and
• means for mounting the cover assembly to top of the hollow body.

A method of serving freshly brewed beverage from an airpot, comprising the steps of:

• locating the airpot at a brew position with a brew-through inlet opening in an upper most surface of a closed cover assembly of the airpot positioned adjacent to and aligned with a beverage outlet of the brewer to directly receive freshly brewed beverage into the airpot;
• passing beverage from the beverage outlet directly into a hollow body of the airpot through the brew-through inlet and a brew-through passageway defining the brew-through inlet and slidably mounted to the cover assembly while the cover is closed;
• and
• serving beverage at the serving location from a spout located outside of the hollow body and connected with a dispense tube within the hollow body by actuating a bellows by manually sliding the brew-through passageway against the bellows to relatively pressurize the hollow body;
• closing the brew-through inlet before moving the airpot to a serving location and after the step of passing has been completed by the steps of
• manually moving a closure cap movably mounted to the cover between
• a closed position in which the brew-through inlet is blocked by the cap, and
• an open brew-through position in which the inlet is unblocked.

A method of serving freshly brewed beverage from an airpot, comprising the steps of:

• locating the airpot at a brew position with a brew-through inlet opening in an upper most surface of a closed cover assembly of the airpot positioned adjacent to and aligned with a beverage outlet of the brewer to directly receive freshly brewed beverage into the airpot;
• passing beverage from the beverage outlet directly into a hollow body of the airpot through the brew-through inlet opening in the closed cover while the cover is closed;
• moving a closure cap between
• a closed position in which the brew-through inlet is blocked by the cap, and
• a brew through position in which the inlet is unblocked;
• and
• serving beverage at the serving location from a spout located outside of the hollow body and connected with a dispense tube within the hollow body by actuating a bellows to relatively pressurize the hollow body.

A method of serving freshly brewed beverage from an airpot, comprising the steps of:

• locating the airpot at a brew position with a brew-through inlet opening in an upper most surface of a closed cover assembly of the airpot positioned adjacent to and aligned with a beverage outlet of the brewer to directly receive freshly brewed beverage into the airpot;
• passing beverage from the beverage outlet directly into a hollow body of the airpot through the brew-through inlet opening in the closed cover while the cover is closed;
• and
• serving beverage at the serving location from a spout located outside of the hollow body and connected with a dispense tube within the hollow body by actuating a bellows to relatively pressurize the hollow body, and in which
• the hollow body has an open top, and
• the closed cover assembly is fixedly mounted to the hollow body to maintain a fixed position relative to the hollow body to permanently close the open top except for the brew-through inlet when open.

A method of serving freshly brewed beverage from an airpot, comprising the steps of:

• locating the airpot at a brew position with a brew-through inlet opening in an upper most surface of a closed cover assembly of the airpot positioned adjacent to and aligned with a beverage outlet of the brewer to directly receive freshly brewed beverage into the airpot;
• passing beverage from the beverage outlet directly into a hollow body of the airpot through the brew-through inlet opening in the closed cover while the cover is closed;
• and
• serving beverage at the serving location from a spout located outside of the hollow body and connected with a dispense tube within the hollow body by actuating a bellows to relatively pressurize the hollow body, and in which
• the bellows has a double-wall construction with a central passageway, and
• the step of passing includes the step of passing beverage from the brew-through inlet and into and through the central passageway and into the hollow body.

A method of serving freshly brewed beverage from an airpot, comprising the steps of:

• locating the airpot at a brew position with a brew-through inlet opening in an upper most surface of a closed cover assembly of the airpot positioned adjacent to and aligned with a beverage outlet of the brewer to directly receive freshly brewed beverage into the airpot;
• passing beverage from the beverage outlet directly into a hollow body of the airpot through the brew-through inlet opening in the closed cover while the cover is closed;
• and
• serving beverage at the serving location from a spout located outside of the hollow body and connected with a dispense tube within the hollow body by actuating a bellows to relatively pressurize the hollow body, and in which
• the step of passing includes the step of passing the beverage through a gap between the one bellows and another bellows spaced from the one bellows.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and an elongate feed tube extending downwardly into the hollow body with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of electronically displaying an actual condition of the beverage within the hollow body, comprising the steps of:

• closing the open top of the hollow body assembly with a cover assembly carrying a bellows and a bellows actuator;
• indicating with an electronic display the level of the beverage within the hollow body;
• sensing with an electronic level sensing assembly a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• linking the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and an elongate feed tube extending downwardly into the hollow body with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of electronically displaying an actual condition of the beverage within the hollow body, comprising the steps of:

• closing the open top of the hollow body assembly with a cover assembly carrying a bellows and a bellows actuator;
• indicating with an electronic display the level of the beverage within the hollow body;
• sensing with an electronic level sensing assembly a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• linking the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display, and in which
• the electronic level sensing assembly includes a battery powered electronic circuit for operating the electronic display, and including the step of
• protectively housing the battery powered electronic operating circuit in a water tight electronics compartment defined by part of the cover.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and an elongate feed tube extending downwardly into the hollow body with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of electronically displaying an actual condition of the beverage within the hollow body, comprising the steps of:

• closing the open top of the hollow body assembly with a cover assembly carrying a bellows and a bellows actuator;
• indicating with an electronic display the level of the beverage within the hollow body;
• sensing with an electronic level sensing assembly a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• linking the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display, and which
• the digital display is mounted to an outside front of the cover adjacent the watertight electronics compartment and faces laterally forwardly for reading from in front of the hollow body.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and an elongate feed tube extending downwardly into the hollow body with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of electronically displaying an actual condition of the beverage within the hollow body, comprising the steps of:

• closing the open top of the hollow body assembly with a cover assembly carrying a bellows and a bellows actuator;
• indicating with an electronic display the level of the beverage within the hollow body;
• sensing with an electronic level sensing assembly a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• linking the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display, and in which
• the step of sensing includes the step of electronically sensing with one of (a) a capacitive sensor, and (b) a resistive sensor attached to a vertical portion of the feed-tube.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and an elongate feed tube extending downwardly into the hollow body with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of electronically displaying an actual condition of the beverage within the hollow body, comprising the steps of:

• closing the open top of the hollow body assembly with a cover assembly carrying a bellows and a bellows actuator;
• indicating with an electronic display the level of the beverage within the hollow body;
• sensing with an electronic level sensing assembly a plurality of different levels of beverage within the hollow body;
• and
• linking the electronic level sensing assembly to the electronic level display, and in which
• the feed-tube is made of stainless steel with an insulated coating on which the electronic level sensing circuitry is printed.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having, a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and a feed tube with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of serving freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:

• keeping the open top of the hollow body substantially closed with a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover carrying a bellows;
• and
• moving a bellows actuation member lever with a brew-through inlet opening for direct passage of freshly brewed beverage directly into the hollow insulated body to a brew position in which the brew-though opening is facing substantially upwardly for direct receipt of freshly brewed beverage from a beverage outlet of a brewer;
• passing freshly brewed beverage from the beverage brewer through the brew-through inlet opening when the actuation member is in the brew position;
• after the step of passing, serving beverage out of the spout by moving the actuation member between the direct brew position and at least one pumping position to pressurize the insulated hollow body to force beverage upwardly through the feed-tube and out of the spout.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having, a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and a feed tube with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of serving freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:

• keeping the open top of the hollow body substantially closed with a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover carrying a bellows;
• and
• moving a bellows actuation member lever with a brew-through inlet opening for direct passage of freshly brewed beverage directly into the hollow insulated body to a brew position in which the brew-though opening is facing substantially upwardly for direct receipt of freshly brewed beverage from a beverage outlet of a brewer;
• passing freshly brewed beverage from the beverage brewer through the brew-through inlet opening when the actuation member is in the brew position;
• after the step of passing, serving beverage out of the spout by moving the actuation member between the direct brew position and at least one pumping position to pressurize the insulated hollow body to force beverage upwardly through the feed-tube and out of the spout, and in which
• the bellows has a bellows body with
• a double-walled construction, and
• a beverage passageway with an inlet located in aligned relationship with the brew-through inlet opening and extending through the bellows body, and including the step of
• passing beverage received from the flow-through inlet through the beverage passageway extending through the bellows body and into the insulated hollow body.

In an airpot beverage dispenser with an insulated hollow body having, a bottom, a top and a surrounding sidewall joining the top to the body, a spout and a feed tube with an outlet connected to the spout within the insulated body and an inlet located adjacent the bottom for passing beverage from adjacent the bottom to the spout, the improvement being a method of serving freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:

• keeping the open top of the hollow body substantially closed with a cover assembly mounted to the top and having a cover carrying a bellows;
• and
• moving a bellows actuation member lever with a brew-through inlet opening for direct passage of freshly brewed beverage directly into the hollow insulated body to a brew position in which the brew-though opening is facing substantially upwardly for direct receipt of freshly brewed beverage from a beverage outlet of a brewer;
• passing freshly brewed beverage from the beverage brewer through the brew-through inlet opening when the actuation member is in the brew position;
• after the step of passing, serving beverage out of the spout by moving the actuation member between the direct brew position and at least one pumping position to pressurize the insulated hollow body to force beverage upwardly through the feed-tube and out of the spout, and including
• another bellows linked to the bellows actuation member and spaced from the one bellows to provide a passageway between the one bellows and the other bellows that is aligned with the brew-through inlet opening, and including the step of
• passing beverage from the brew-through inlet opening past the one bellows and the other bellows and into hollow insulated body.