US 8,006,866 B2Granted

Ratio control in postmix dispenser

AssigneeCarrier Corporation

InventorsJames J. Minard, Mark E. Bush, Peter F. McNamee

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Abstract

A beverage dispenser provides numerous inventive features in its refrigeration system (82), diluent delivery system (78), concentrate delivery system (74), mixing and dispensing system (76), and control system. The refrigeration system (82) employs a plate heat exchanger to provide on demand refrigeration of an intermittent water flow. The diluent delivery system includes a flowmeter/solenoid/check-valve assembly. The concentrate delivery system employs a positive displacement pump. The mixing and dispensing system includes a mixing nozzle (80) that has a locking feature such that an elevated blocking surface directly faces the inlet of pressurized diluent to create turbulence. The control system receives package-specific information from a scanner and diluent flow rate information from the flowmeter, and then determines the pump speed in order to set a desired mix ratio.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A beverage dispenser for regulating a compositional ratio of a mixture therein, said dispenser comprising:

a metering device generating an output signal in relation to a flow rate of a diluent;
a control in electrical communication with said metering device for receiving said output signal;
a valveless piston pump configured to pump a concentrate into contact with said diluent to form said mixture;
a motor configured to actuate said valveless piston pump;
an encoder configured to regulate a rotary speed of said motor, said encoder in electrical communication with said control,
a sensor that obtains information on a desired compositional ratio from a package of concentrate and provides the information on the desired compositional ratio to the control;
a refrigeration system having a plate heat exchanger for refrigerating said diluent;
a mixing nozzle having a body with an inlet section and an outlet section and defining at least one passageway from said inlet section to said outlet section;
and
a blocking surface situated near said inlet section of said body;
whereby said control is configured to compute a desired rotary speed for said motor based on a desired compositional ratio between said concentrate and said diluent in said mixture and on said output signal from said metering device, said control also configured to send a command based on said desired rotary speed to said encoder for regulating said motor's rotary speed.

8 more elements

A device comprising:

a rotameter generating an output signal in relation to a flow rate of a diluent;
a control in electrical communication with said rotameter for receiving said output signal;
a nutating valveless piston pump configured to pump a concentrate into contact with said diluent to form a mixture;
a motor configured to actuate said nutating valveless piston pump;
an encoder configured to regulate a rotary speed of said motor, said encoder in electrical communication with said control;
a label reader that obtains information on a desired compositional ratio from a package of concentrate and provides the information on the desired compositional ratio to the control;
a refrigeration system having a plate heat exchanger for refrigerating said diluent;
a mixing nozzle having a body with an inlet section and an outlet section and defining at least one passageway from said inlet section to said outlet section;
and
a blocking surface situated near said inlet section of said body;
whereby said control is configured to compute a desired rotary speed for said motor based on a desired compositional ratio between said concentrate and said diluent in said mixture and on said output signal from said rotameter, said control also configured to send a command based on said desired rotary speed to said encoder for regulating said motor's rotary speed.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.