POSTMIX JUICE DISPENSING SYSTEM

Abstract: A postmix juice dispensing system for reconstituting and dispensing pliable 5 + 1 orange juice at freezer temperatures of from about -10°F to 0°F (-23°C to -18°C), including a pressurizable canister (32) for pressurizing concentrate in a flexible bag (30) and for forcing the concentrate through a concentrate conduit (38) into a heat exchanger (40), then into a metering device (20) and then into a mixing chamber (16) where the concentrate mixes with water fed also through a metering device (20).

Description: This invention relates to juice dispensing and in a preferred embodiment to dispensing orange juice from 5 + 1 concentrate at a temperature as low as about -10°F (-23°C). Postmix orange juice dispensing systems are known. Orange juice concentrate is distributed frozen. Restaurants remove concentrate from the freezer and thaw the concentrate in a cooler prior to dispensing. The restaurant has to estimate its juice requirements at least two days in advance and place sufficient concentrate in its cooler. If the restaurant's estimates are incorrect or if someone forgets, the restaurant will run out of thawed concentrate. Also, there is often a limited amount of cooler space available for thawing orange juice concentrate. When a restaurant runs out of thawed concentrate, measures are sometimes taken to quickly thaw frozen concentrate and such measures often are inefficient and ineffective and also sometimes affect the taste of the resulting product. Orange juice concentrate has typically been 3 + 1 concentrate. The present invention is useful preferably with 5 + 1 concentrate, although it can be used with any desired ratio up to about 7.5 +1. The reduced amount of water in 5 + 1 concentrate prevents a phase change or freezing, at typical freezer temperatures of -10°F to 0°F (-23°C to -18°C). The 5 + 1 concentrate at freezer temperatures does not readily flow by gravity. A container of 0°F (-18°C) product can be inverted and no product will flow out. Also, the product is so thick that a pump's suction cannot pull product from the container. However, the product is still pliable. It is known from DE-U-8 414 000 to provide apparatus for reconstituting and dispensing juice comprising: a concentrate container; a mixing chamber and a nozzle for dispensing a beverage therefrom; a concentrate conduit for supplying concentrate from said concentrate container to said mixing chamber; a water conduit for supplying water to said mixing chamber; means for feeding a controlled volume of water through said water conduit to said mixing chamber; and means for feeding a controlled volume of concentrate to said mixing chamber during dispensing. In this known apparatus, the concentrate is fed to the mixing chamber by the pressure of a CO₂ cylinder. It is also known from EP-A-0 266 201 (prior art within the terms of Article 54(3) EPC) to provide such apparatus. This known apparatus has a gerotor (gear rotor) pump for feeding concentrate to the mixing chamber but does not have a poppet valve or a check valve downstream of the pump. The present invention is characterised in that said concentrate feeding means includes a gerotor pump and a poppet valve at the outlet thereof to prevent concentrate from leaking out of said pump, and a check valve downstream from said poppet valve to prevent water from said water conduit from flowing upstream from said mixing chamber through said pump when said pump is not operating. In use, the poppet valve prevents concentrate from dripping out of the pump and the check valve prevents flushing water from going up through the pump into the concentrate reservoir and diluting the concentrate. A preferred postmix juice dispensing system for dispensing concentrate (preferably 5 + 1 concentrate) at freezer temperatures from a flexible bag includes placing the bag in a rigid, pressurizable container, pressurizing the container to force concentrate out of the bag, feeding concentrate through a heat exchanger to raise the temperature to about 32° to 40°F (0°C to 4°C), feeding the thawed concentrate to a metering device along with water for controlling the mixture ratio, and then feeding the water and concentrate to a mixing chamber of a dispensing valve for dispensing the mixture as an orange juice beverage into a cup. The concentrate bag preferably incorporates a dip tube or dip strip with slots larger than the pulp in the concentrate and with an internal cross-sectional area much greater than that of the slots to facilitate flowing of the concentrate and to reduce pressure drops. The tube prevents the bag from blocking the internal passageway therethrough. Concentrate emerging from the bag can be as cold as -10°F (-23°C). The heat exchanger can use recirculating soda water and a heating element to prevent the water from freezing. Control electronics, such as a microcontroller can regulate the water flow rate by use of a motorized control valve. The concentrate pump's motor can be adjustable and the control electronics can then also or alternatively regulate the speed of the pump motor depending on the water flow rate. The actual reconstituting of the metered water and concentrate can incorporate either a static or a dynamic mixer, or both. In a preferred embodiment, the dispenser includes a linear modulating solenoid valve for the water. The system includes separate flushing and sanitizing operations. The system includes under-the-counter modules that can include a canister cabinet, a water bath and a refrigeration unit. Certain preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein: Fig. 1 is a partly broken away top, left rear perspective view of the preferred dispenser of the present invention; Fig. 1A is a partial front perspective view of the selector panel of the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the flow control valve used in the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the flow control valve of Fig. 2 in its closed position; Fig. 4 is a view identical to Fig. 3 but showing the valve open; Fig. 5 is a partly broken away, exploded, perspective view of the shut-off valve used in the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the shut-off valve of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partly cross-sectional side view through the water side of the valve of Fig. 5 taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a partly cross-sectional side view through the concentrate side of the valve of Fig. 5 taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a partly cross-sectional, exploded view of the mixing devices and spout of the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional side view through the components shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional top view taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is a partly broken away perspective view of the under-the-counter canister cabinet for the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 13 is a partly broken away perspective view of the under-the-counter water bath for the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 14 is a partly broken away perspective view of the under-the-counter system for the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 15 is a partly diagrammatic, partly schematic view of the electronics used in the dispenser of Fig. 1; and Fig. 16 is a partial side view through the pump, mixers, check valve and poppet valve of the dispenser of Fig. 1. With reference to Figs. 1-16 of the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the preferred juice dispenser 210 of the present invention including a narrow (less than about 5 inches (12.7cm)) countertop housing 212, a water feed system, a juice concentrate feed system, a juice concentrate reservoir 214, a static mixer 216, a magnetic mixer 218, a nozzle 220, and a drip tray 222 for supporting a cup 240. Fig. 1A is a partial front view of the selection panel 243 of the dispenser 210 including small, medium, large, and pour/cancel buttons 244, 245, 246 and 247 respectively. Figs. 2-11 show the details of various components in the housing 212, Figs. 12-14 show the details of the under-the-counter components, Fig. 15 is an electrical circuit diagram showing the electrical operation of the dispenser 210, and Fig. 16 shows details of the poppet valve and check valve used in the dispenser of Fig. 1. Referring now to Fig. 1, the juice concentrate food system includes a concentrate inlet conduit 224 that feeds into a shut-off valve 226, and a concentrate line 228 from the shut-off valve to the reservoir 214. A liquid level control system including three probes 230 (high level, low level and ground) controls the concentrate level in the reservoir 214. Concentrate is fed from the reservoir 214 through a discharge line 232 by means of a motor 234 and pump 236 to a mixing line 238 where it begins to mix with the water, then to the mixers 216 and 218 and finally to the nozzle 220 from which the mixture is dispensed into a cup 240. The concentrate side of the shut-off valve 226 simply maintains a proper supply of concentrate in the reservoir. That is, when the level drops to a first predetermined lower level, the shut-off valve opens and feeds more concentrate to the reservoir until the level rises to a second predetermined higher level, when the shut-off valve again closes. The concentrate in the reservoir is maintained at a desired chilled temperature by means of cooling coils 242 which are in contact with the outside surface of the reservoir and which carry chilled water from a refrigeration system (not shown in Fig. 1). The water feed system includes a water inlet conduit 250 that feeds to both a water flow meter 252 and to the shut-off valve 226. The water path to the shut-off valve 226 is used for cleaning and flushing the reservoir, while the water path to the flow meter 252 is the water to be mixed with the juice concentrate to produce the beverage. Referring first to the flushing path, when it is desired to clean the reservoir, such as at the end of each day, the shut-off valve opens the water side and water flows through a water flush line 254 to a spray nozzle 256 to spray the entire insides of the reservoir. At the same time, the motor 234 turns on and drives the pump 236 to discharge the contents of the reservoir through the mixing line 238, the mixers 216 and 218, and the nozzle 220 cleaning this entire assembly of any juice concentrate. Referring now to the potable water flow, the water flows into the flow meter 252, from the flow meter to a water shut-off solenoid valve 253, to a flow control valve 258 through a line 260, and from the flow control valve 258 through a discharge line 260 to connect to the mixing line 238 just upstream from the mixers 216 and 218 and the nozzle 220. Any suitable available flow meter can be used for the flow meter 252, such as a paddle wheel flow meter. The flow control valve 258 is shown in detail in Figs. 2-4 , and includes a body 270 having an inlet 272, an outlet 274, a chamber 276, and a control element 278. The control element 278 includes a solenoid 280 having an armature 282 that, when energized, moves a valve 284 from its closed position (Fig. 3 ) to its open position (Fig. 4 ) against a spring 286. An annular plug 288 forms a wall across the chamber 276 and has a flow opening 290 therethrough in which the valve 284 moves. A diaphragm 292 provides a seal for the chamber 276. The inlet 272 communicates with an annular groove 294 around the plug 288 and through a plurality of radial passages 296 to the interior volume 298 adjacent the opening 290. When the solenoid 280 is energized, water can flow through the flow control valve 258. The flow meter 252 can be any known flow meter to provide an electrical signal corresponding to the volume of water flowing therethrough. The shut-off valve 226 is shown in detail in Figs. 5 - 8 and includes a body 300 and has a water side 302 and a concentrate side 304. The water side includes an inlet passageway 306, a valve seat 308, an outlet passageway 310, a solenoid 312, and an armature valve 314. Fig. 7 shows the water side closed; when the solenoid 312 is energized, the valve 314 moves up off the valve seat and opens the water line. The concentrate side of the shut-off valve 226 includes a concentrate inlet passage 316, a concentrate outlet passage 318, a valve seat 320, a diaphragm 322 for opening and closing the concentrate line by moving against or away from the valve seat 320, and a solenoid 324 having a fitting 326 for a pressurized air line and having a vent hole 330. When the solenoid is de-energized, pressurized air pushes against the diaphragm 322 holding it closed. Upon energization the solenoid closes off the air line and vents the air pressure chamber 332 below the diaphragm to atmosphere, allowing the concentrate pressure to move the diaphragm down and open the passage so concentrate can now flow through the shut-off valve 226. The static and magnetic mixers are shown in Figs. 9-11 . The static mixer 216 includes a plurality of circumferentially staggered slots in each of which an insert 342 is placed to partially block the flow. Thus, the water and concentrate must follow a zig-zag, circuitous path which greatly aids thorough mixing. The magnetic mixer 218 includes a series of magnets surrounding the mixing line 238. Inside the line 238 is a magnetic rotor 344 rotably mounted between two stationary rings 346 and 348 each having four blades; the blades in the second ring are positioned at 45° to the blades in the first ring. This combination of mixers assures complete and thorough mixing. The nozzle 220 is located directly below the magnetic mixer 218. All of the equipment described above goes on a countertop. The portion of the juice dispenser 210 that goes below a counter will now be described with reference to Figs. 12 -14. In the preferred embodiment, the under-the-counter equipment comprises three separate modules: a canister cabinet 360, a water bath 362 and a refrigeration unit 364. Referring to Fig. 12, the canister cabinet 360 includes a housing 366, a pressurizable canister 368, a heat exchange coil 370, a concentrate outlet fitting 372, a cooling water in fitting 374, and an overflow opening 376. A collapsible bag 378 of juice preferably 5+1 juice at freezer temperature (about -10°F to -0°F (-23°C to -18°C)) is shipped in a cardboard box 380, preferably hexagonal in shape. The bag 378 has a bag fitting 382 that mates with a canister fitting 384 when the bag and box are inserted into the canister 368. The canister 368 includes a removable lid 386 that seals to the canister 368. The lid includes a pressurized air hose connector 388 for an air hose 390. The hose includes a T-fitting for a hose 392 that connects to the fitting 326 on the shut-off valve 226 in the dispenser 210. In operation, the lid 386 is unlocked and removed, a box 380 and bag 378 are inserted into the canister and the lid is replaced and locked and sealed. The inside of the canister is pressurized by air to a desired pressure of about 45 psig (310KPA). The 5+1 concentrate can thus be pushed out through the coil 370 where it is heated to about 40° F (4°C) and flows more freely. The concentrate flows through a concentrate line 394 to the dispenser 210. The housing 366 receives water from the cooling coils 242 that surround the concentrate reservoir 214 in the dispenser 210. Referring to Fig. 13 , the water bath includes a tank 400, evaporator coil 402 for forming an ice bank 404, a pair of agitators 406, and a series of potable water coils 408 on the tank bottom having an inlet fitting 410 and an outlet fitting 412. The water line carrying the water to be used in the dispenser 210 is connected to the inlet fitting 410. The water inlet conduit 250 (Fig. 1 ) is connected to the outlet fitting 412. Referring to Fig. 14 , the refrigeration unit 364 includes a housing 420, a compressor 422, a condenser coil 424, and a pump 426. The evaporator coil 402 in the water bath is part of and is connected to the refrigeration unit 364. The refrigeration unit simply holds the refrigeration equipment, plus the pump 426. Fig. 15 is an electric circuit diagram showing the electrical operation of the dispenser 210. The dispenser, 210 of Fig. 1 has been designed with flexibility as a primary goal. The dispenser 210 is capable of accurately dispensing various juices at ratios in the range of from about 2.5:1 to 7.5:1 and at rates to 3 ounces (71ml) per second. Many smart features are incorporated into the electronics to improve functionality including a 'Teach' function which allows the machine to interactively learn various portion sizes; these sizes are then stored in non-volatile random access memory and used for automatic portion dispensing. Component Description: Following are the major electro-mechanical system components: Concentrate solenoid valve 324. Concentrate level probes 230. Concentrate pump motor 234 with high resolution encoder 235. Flush solenoid valve 312. Water flowmeter 252. Water shut-off solenoid valve 253. Water modulating solenoid valve 280. Dynamic juice mixer 218. Following are the major electronic system components: Dual voltage remote DC power supply 432. Bi-Directional RS-232C serial communications port 436. Primary and secondary functions operator keypads 243 and 434. Electronics 430 including a printed circuit board consisting of: an Intel 8052 series 8-bit microcontroller an Intel 8254 counter/timer IC non-volatile, static random access memory (SRAM). erasable, programmable, read only memory (EPROM) for program storage a watch-dog circuit to reset the processor RS-232C transmitter and receiver opto-isolated from the processor input signal conditioning circuitry for the level probes, the concentrate encoder and the water flowmeter opto-isolated output driver circuitry for the concentrate pump motor, and the concentrate, flush, water modulating and shut-off solenoids. General Control Philosophy: There are two process control closed loops, the concentrate and water loops. Pump motor operation is initiated and concentrate flow rate is determined by monitoring the high resolution encoder and using this feedback to achieve the desired flow rate in a classic interactive closed loop control. Similarly the water shut-off and modulating solenoids initiate flow and the water flowmeter feeds back rate information in an interactive process that is used to achieve the desired flow rate. Upon initialization the processor reads the mixture ratio and water flowmeter calibration switches on the circuit board and knowing the programmed rate for each of the selected portion sizes performs a calculation to determine the number of water flowmeter counts per unit time that is necessary to achieve the desired flow rate. This number then becomes the target feedback that the water closed loop control is proportionately adjusted to achieve when the actual differs from the calculated. The concentrate encoder counts per unit time are calculated and utilized in much the same manner except that in the present configuration calibration switches, to correct for variations from one pump to the next, have not been incorporated. Rates are controlled to continually achieve not only the correct mixture ratio but also to provide other beneficial features e.g., a slow ramp up at dispense initiation is necessary to reduce cup upsets then high speed dispensing proceeds to reduce dispense time and just prior to cycle termination the flow rate is ramped down to reduce foaming and spillage. Monitoring the two process loops also helps the processor detect anomalies in one that can be compensated for in the other e.g., a low water flow rate caused by low line pressure or a partially plugged line results in a proportionate decrease in the concentrate flow rate to maintain the pre-set ratio and vice versa. The processor then flashes the dual function 'Low reservoir' LED (light emitting diode) at a steady rate to indicate the low flow condition. The flow monitors by their very nature also provide information on the volume of fluids dispensed which is used by the 'Teach' feature to provide portion size dispensing. Depressing the 'Teach' key initiates this special mode, then a portion size key is pressed to indicate to the microprocessor that it will be "taught" the size of a 'Small', 'Medium' or 'Large' drink; the 'Pour/Cancel' key is pressed and held pressed which causes the machine to dispense product at the correct pre-set mixture ratio while the microprocessor is totalizing the quantity of each fluid dispensed. When the 'Pour/Cancel' key is released the microprocessor remembers the totalized quantities of concentrate and water dispensed and will reproduce those quantities whenever that portion size key is pressed again. Inventory Control and Diagnostics: Inventory management and diagnostic information is provided by the flow sensors and by the ability of the processor's firmware to monitor inputs and control outputs including: Number of each of the various portion sizes of drinks dispensed. Volume of each portion size. Total amount of concentrate used. Total amount of water used. Water to concentrate ratio. Size of last drink dispensed. Volume of concentrate in last drink. Volume of water in last drink. Total time to dispense last drink. Number of manual pours. Volume dispensed via manual pours. Water flow meter calibration. Pump status. Reservoir level status. Flow rate status. Status of solenoids. The above information is saved on-board in non-volatile static random access memory and can be monitored asynchronously as desired through the serial port. The serial port can also be used to change default parameters in memory to fine-tune the process, if so desired. The electronics 430 is preferably mounted in the dispenser 210 behind a front panel 480 that is hingedly connected at 482 to swing up and expose a circuit board 484 and make the panel holding the "Teach" button, for example, accessible. Fig. 16 shows the pump 236 in more detail. The pump is a gerotor (gear rotor) pump driven by the motor 234 and including a gear box 460 and the encoder 235. It is preferred to flush the mixing line 238 and the mixers 216 and 218 once a day with potable water from the line 260. However, because the mixers 216 and 218 are restrictions in the line, the water pressure could cause this flushing water to back up through the pump 236 and dilute the concentrate in the reservoir 214. A duckbilled check valve 462 at the outlet of the pump 236 prevents this from occurring. In addition, to prevent any concentrate from dripping from the pump 236, a spring loaded poppet valve 464 is located at the outlet from the pump and just upstream from the check valve 462. The poppet valve 464 includes a spring 466, a diaphragm 468, a piston 470, a poppet 472, and a valve seat 474. When the pump 236 is operating, the concentrate will flow easily through the poppet valve 464 and check valve 462, however, when the pump is not operating the poppet valve will close and prevent any drippage of concentrate out of the gerotor pump 236. While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described in detail, it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims For example, this invention can be used with various juices other than the preferred orange juice. Also, the juice can be thawed juice, such as thawed 3+1 juice; that is, this invention is not limited to use with pliable 5+1 concentrate at freezer temperatures. Also, the preferred temperature ranges are only preferred, other freezer temperatures below 32°F (0°C) can be used, and the heat exchanger can raise the temperature to any desired temperature above 32°F (0°C). Also, the heat exchanger can include a water conduit, such as a recirculating soda water line that is available in the restaurant, in heat exchange relationship thereto. Thus at least in its preferred forms the present invention provides a postmix juice dispensing system for use with 5 + 1 concentrate at freezer temperatures. There is also provided a postmix juice dispensing system for use with 5 + 1 concentrate at freezer temperatures in which the concentrate is contained in a flexible bag which is then placed in a pressurizable vessel which is pressurized to about 40 psig (276 KPa) to force concentrate out of the bag. There is also provided a postmix juice dispensing system for dispensing 5 + 1 concentrate at freezer temperatures including elevating the concentrate temperature to about 32°F to 40°F (0°C to 4°C) forcing the thawed concentrate to a metering device, and then feeding the thawed and metered concentrate to a mixing chamber of a dispensing valve. There is also provided a postmix juice dispensing system in which 5 + 1 concentrate at freezer temperatures is placed in a flexible bag in a pressurizable vessel and forced by pressure out of the flexible bag, fed through a heat exchanger, then fed through a metering device, and finally fed to a mixing chamber of a dispensing valve. There is also provided a juice dispensing system for any juice or syrup which has been cooled but which has not experienced a phase change from liquid to solid. There is also provided daily flushing of the mixers and mixing line without diluting the concentrate in the concentrate reservoir. Further preferred features are that the water flow may be controlled with linear solenoid modulation, and the provision of under-the-counter components including a canister tank, a refrigeration unit, and a water bath.

Claims: Apparatus for reconstituting and dispensing juice comprising: a concentrate container (360); a mixing chamber (238) and a nozzle (220) for dispensing a beverage therefrom; a concentrate conduit (224,228,232) for supplying concentrate from said concentrate container to said mixing chamber; a water conduit (260) for supplying water to said mixing chamber; means (258) for feeding a controlled volume of water through said water conduit to said mixing chamber; and means (236) for feeding a controlled volume of concentrate to said mixing chamber during dispensing; characterised in that said concentrate feeding means includes a gerotor pump (236) and a poppet valve (464) at the outlet thereof to prevent concentrate from leaking out of said pump, and a check valve (462) downstream from said poppet valve to prevent water from said water conduit from flowing upstream from said mixing chamber through said pump when said pump is not operating. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a concentrate reservoir (214) and means (368) for automatically maintaining said reservoir filled with concentrate, the concentrate feeding means being arranged to feed concentrate from said reservoir to said mixing chamber during dispensing. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the concentrate container comprises a pressurizable canister (368) adapted to hold and dispense a quantity of pliable juice concentrate at a temperature below 32°F (0°C), there being means (388,390) for pressurizing said canister and means (370) for heating concentrate in said concentrate conduit. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a concentrate shut-off valve (226) in said concentrate conduit downstream from said heating means, the concentrate reservoir being downstream from said concentrate shut-off valve. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the water feeding means includes a linear modulating solenoid (258). Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a flow meter (252) in said water conduit, a water on-off solenoid valve (253) in said water conduit downstream from said flow meter, the linear modulating solenoid (258) being located downstream from said on-off solenoid valve, and the water conduit (260) being arranged to feed water from said linear modulating solenoid to said mixing chamber. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a microcontroller (430) for controlling the water feeding means.

Inventors: KIRSCHNER, JONATHAN, PAISLEY, GARY V., SMAZIK, KENNETH G.
Applicants: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B67D1
IPC codes: B67D1, B01F15, A23L2