Dispensing – With recorder – register – indicator – signal or exhibitor – Recorder
Patent
1998-04-20
1999-10-19
Bomberg, Kenneth
Dispensing
With recorder, register, indicator, signal or exhibitor
Recorder
222 37, 222 23, 2221291, 222641, B67D 556
Patent
active
059673672
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates drinks-dispensing apparatus.
Such apparatus commonly includes for each kind of drink to be dispensed (a) a dispensing head which includes a nozzle for feeding the drink into a cup placed below the nozzle, and associated control valves for controlling the flow of drink ingredients under pressure from supply lines to the nozzle for mixing there and delivery into a waiting cup, (b) manually-operable electrical selection means for selecting the quantity of drink to be delivered to the cup, and (c) an electrical control module responsive to an output signal of the selection means and arranged to energise in response thereto the control valves for a period sufficient to deliver the selected quantity of drink through the nozzle into the waiting cup.
A plurality of such dispensing heads may be arranged in a common drink dispensing unit, each such head being arranged to deliver a particular drink different from those to be delivered by the other dispensing heads, and each head being controlled independently of the other heads by its own dedicated selection means and control module. By way of example, a known drinks-dispensing unit includes three such dispensing heads, dispenses three different drinks, and includes three separate spaced-apart selection means and their associated control modules. The three different drinks may comprise a brand of cola, a brand of low calorie `diet` cola, and a brand of lemonade.
In such a dispensing unit, the dispensing of drinks from the respective heads takes place in a serial, non-overlapping and hence time-consuming manner, which is less convenient for handling customers' multi-drink orders, such as are presented in cinemas, theatres and concert halls in the intervals between successive parts of a performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a multiple-head drinks-dispensing unit which in response to a multi-drink order is simpler and quicker to operate, requires less time to dispense the required drinks, and requires less electrical selection and control hardware to be accommodated in the dispensing unit.
The present invention also seeks to provide means whereby the operation of each of the dispensing heads can be continuously monitored and its operations reported from time to time to a drinks management system.
The present invention thus concerns a multi-head drinks-dispensing apparatus which comprises a plurality of drink dispensing heads each arranged to deliver a particular drink different from that to be delivered by each other dispensing head, and in which each dispensing head comprises (i) a nozzle for feeding the drink into a cup placed below the nozzle, and (ii) associated control valve means for controlling the flow of drink ingredients under pressure from ingredient supply means to the nozzle for mixing there and delivery into a waiting cup.
According to the present invention, there is provided in such an apparatus (a) first selection means for selecting a drink to be dispensed and thus the dispensing head to be used, (b) a second selection means for selecting the quantity of drink to be delivered by that dispensing head, said first and second selection means being arranged to emit respective first and second selection signals representative of the selected drink and selected drink quantity, (c) memory means for storing at least temporarily each pair of associated first and second selection signals, and (d) logic circuit means arranged to receive said pairs of associated first and second selection signals and in response to each such pair of signals to provide a valve control signal for effecting energisation of the control valve means of the selected dispensing head for a period sufficient to deliver the selected quantity of the selected drink, whereby two or more drinks may be dispensed simultaneously in a serial but over-lapping time relationship.
Thus, the time taken to dispense a customer's multiple drink order is substantially reduced as compared with that of the prior art uni
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Bomberg Kenneth
Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages Limited
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