Abstract:
A system for dispensing cold beverages. The system has a sealed enclosure containing an ice bath with a cold plate immersed therein and an ice system having an ice maker with a control mechanism operatively connected to said ice maker to maintain a predetermined quantity of ice in said ice bath.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a system for dispensing “bag in box” cold beverages. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system which is particularly well adapted for home use for dispensing cold carbonated “bag in box” beverages. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     So called “bag in box” (BIB) systems for delivering cold sodas, juices and other flavored drinks, are commonly used today in restaurants and other commercial establishments. BIB systems are used to dispense both carbonated and noncarbonated beverages but are generally found only in commercial establishments. BIB systems are rarely put into residential use because of their initial high cost and large size which raise a barrier to their purchase and installation in the home. 
     One of the necessary components of a BIB system is a device for cooling the beverage. While it is desirable to use a cooling device with noncarbonated beverages, the cooling device plays a vital role in keeping the carbon dioxide gas in a carbonated beverage after it has been released from the dispenser nozzle. Two types of cooling devices are commonly used: cold plates and water bath chillers. Since the inception of BIB systems, cooling devices have generally been relatively large, expensive, high volume designs intended for commercial applications. 
     It would be desirable to have a BIB cold beverage delivery system which could be economically manufactured and installed. It would be especially desirable to have a BIB cold beverage delivery system which was well adapted for residential use. It would be even more desirable if the system was relatively small and hence suitable for placement in locations which could not accommodate a larger system. Thus, it would be desirable to have a BIB design which employed a cooling device which was relatively small, inexpensive and well adapted for installation in a home kitchen cabinet. In short, it would be desirable to have a BIB cold beverage delivery system which was well adapted to be installed and used in a conventional home environment. 
     In accordance with the present invention, a remote cooling device for small beverage systems for home use is provided. The device uses cold plate cooling in combination with a self contained small counter top ice maker. The cold drink dispensing system of the present invention incorporates the cooling device and is small enough to easily fit in typical residential kitchen cabinet. The system of the present invention can be manufactured at a reasonable cost and is cost effective to use in the average home. These and other advantages will be apparent from the following disclosure and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A system for delivery of carbonated beverages has an insulated sealed enclosure containing an ice bath, a cold plate cooled by the ice bath and a self-contained ice system. The self-contained ice system is a regulated system which draws water from within the enclosure to form ice for the ice bath. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating the parts of a preferred embodiment of a cold drink delivery system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a cooling device of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view, broken away, illustrating the system of  FIG. 1  installed in a typical home kitchen base cabinet. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Now referring to  FIG. 1 , a preferred embodiment of a system of the present invention is shown in schematic form and indicated generally by the numeral  10 . System  10  is for the purpose of delivering carbonated beverages to a consumer or user and broadly speaking comprises cooling device  12  in combination with “bag in box” (hereinafter referred to as BIB) system  14 . BIB system  14  comprises conventional components which are known for use in BIB systems including CO 2  tank  16 , carbonator  18 , bag in box  20 , syrup pump  22  and dispenser  24 . The interior of CO 2  tank  16  is in fluid communication with carbonator  18  and syrup pump  22  with primary and secondary regulators  26  and  28  respectively providing pressure regulation as is typical in the art. Syrup pump  22  pumps syrup from bag n box  20  into cooling device  12  where it is cooled as described in more detail below. Carbonator  18  provides soda water to cooling device  12  where it is cooled as described in more detail below. Cold syrup and soda water are supplied from cooling device  12  to dispenser  24  where a desired mixture is selected and dispensesd by the user in a conventional manner. 
     Cooling device  12  comprises ice system  32  and cold plate  34  both of which are contained in sealed container  36 . Container  36  has enclosure  38  with removable lid  40 . A sealing strip  42  serves to seal lid  40  to the top edge of enclosure  38 . Enclosure  38  is thermally insulated for energy efficiency and is suitable to contain water and ice, i.e., an ice bath, without leaking. 
     Ice system  32  comprises ice maker  44 , ice bath  46  and ice control  48 . Ice system  32  is a sealed, self contained, cyclical system and is enclosed with cold plate  34  in sealed container  36 . Ice bath  46  is comprised of water  50  and ice cubes  52 . Ice bath  46  has the purpose of maintaining cold plate  34  at about 0° C. for cooling of soda water and syrup. It is intended that cooling device  12  is a “sealed” system which cycles water between its liquid and solid state. Thus, ice maker  44  draws water  50  from ice bath  46  in enclosure  38  and forms ice cubes  52  therefrom. Ice cubes  52  are ejected from ice maker  44  when commanded to do so by ice control  48  which selectively controls when ice is added to ice bath  46 . Ice control  48  employs pressure plate  54  which is operatively connected to reed switch  56 . When a predetermined amount of ice is supported by pressure plate  54 , switch  56  is in an “off” position which controls ice maker  44  to a standby state in which ice maker  44  freezes water therein to make ice cubes but does not eject the ice cubes so made. During time in use, ice on pressure plate  54  will melt into ice bath  46  and reduce the weight of ice on pressure plate  54 . When pressure plate  54  senses less than a predetermined amount of ice is thereon, switch  56  is put into an “on” position which controls ice maker  44  to a productive state wherein ice is dumped onto pressure plate  54  and water is drawn from ice bath  46  into ice maker  44  for conversion into ice. Ice is produced by ice maker  44  and dumped onto pressure plate  54  until a predetermined amount of ice is thereon at which time pressure plate  54  operates to put switch  56  into the “off” position which stops further ice production by ice maker  44 . Ice system  32  thus operates to maintain the temperature of ice bath  46  at about 0° C. as ice cubes  52  are formed by ice maker  44  and dumped onto pressure plate  54 , melts into the water  50  of ice bath  46  and is reformed from water  50  by ice maker  44  in a cyclical manner. 
     In operation, cold plate  34  is maintained at about 0° C. by ice bath  46  which is continuously maintained by recycling water  50  into ice cubes  52  under control of pressure plate  54  as describe above. Cold plate  34  serves the conventional function of cold plates to cool and carbonate a beverage passed therethrough as controlled by selector/dispenser valve  24 . Cold plate  34  is supplied with soda water by carbonator  18  and syrup by syrup pump  22 . Cold plate  24  supplies syrup and soda water to dispenser/selector valve  24  by which a user selects and dispenses a desired carbonated beverage. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention provides a system for delivery of carbonated beverages which has a small foot print and overall size and which is well suited for installation in a typical home kitchen cabinet as is illustrated in  FIG. 3 . Thus, system  10  has a height, width and depth which is less than the interior dimensions of a typical residential kitchen cabinet. It will also be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of the present invention described herein is subject to variation and/or modification and such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the broad scope of the present invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the following claims.