FOOD DISPENSING MACHINE

Abstract: A coffee brewing machine includes a housing (10) having a front wall (12), a viewing window (14) provided on the front wall, and a coffee brewing compartment (26) adjacent the window in the front wall. The coffee brewing compartment includes a pouring assembly in a pour area. An elongated duct (32) extends along an edge of the window and adjacent the brewing compartment. The duct has an inlet opening (34) adjacent the pour area and inlet openings (36) adjacent the window. A vacuum pump (40) is provided at the other end of the duct, and an exhaust opening (42) is provided in a wall of the housing communicating with the duct and vacuum pump so that vapors being formed in the brewing compartment and the pour area as well as the window are withdrawn by negative pressure through the duct and exhausted outboard of the coffee brewing machine.

Description: The present invention relates to food dispensing machines, and more particularly, to a hot beverage dispensing machine. Self-service food dispensing machines are usually characterized by being enclosed in a display housing. In some cases, a glass panel or window may be provided to allow persons utilizing the machine to view the mechanical operations going on during the dispensing of such food. The handling of hot beverages, particularly, creates vapors which form above the surface of the hot beverage. If the housing is provided with a window, it will tend to fog up, making it impossible to view the interior of the housing through the window. Furthermore, the presence of such vapors within the housing may provide high humidity within the housing, causing rust and other problems associated with high humidity. It is known to place fans in enclosed housings of this type, such as described in U.S.-A-2,517,073 and U.S.-A-2,907,265. These patents describe very specific uses of fans or blowers, such as for ventilating the gas burner in the former or the shielding of an opening as in the latter. US-A-2977026 also shows the use of a blower in a hot beverage dispensing machine for maintaining an upper compartment of a housing at a pressure higher than that of a lower compartment thereof to prevent steam or humid air from the lower compartment where dry ingredients are mixed with hot water entering the upper compartment where the dry ingredients are housed. A down draft serves to aerate the lower compartment which tends to become heated because of the presence of a hot water container therein. FR-A-2074479 discloses a hot food dispensing machine including a housing having a dispensing region adjacent a housing wall, and a ventilation unit comprising elongate duct means provided with inlet openings and an outlet opening means communicating with negative pressure means for providing a suction in the duct means for drawing vapours from regions adjacent the inlet openings and exhausting the vapours outboard of the housing. The present invention provides a hot food dispensing machine as defined in the last preceding paragraph characterised in that (i) a window is provided in said housing wall, (ii) said duct means comprises an elongate duct mounted on said wall and extending in part along an edge of said window (iii) said inlet openings are provided at spaced apart locations on the elongate duct and (iv) at least one such inlet opening is provided adjacent said window for drawing vapours from the region of the window in order to reduce fogging thereon. An embodiment of the invention, which is described hereinafter, is a machine for dispensing hot beverage and comprises pouring means disposed in a pour region in said housing and wherein said elongate duct extends to the pour region and one of said inlet openings opens adjacent said pour region for drawing vapours formed therein. This embodiment is for dispensing brewed coffee, and said window is provided adjacent a coffee brewing compartment including said pour region for enabling said coffee brewing compartment to be viewed. In the embodiment, the outlet opening means comprises an outlet opening of said elongate duct and said negative pressure means comprises a vacuum pump communicating with said outlet opening for drawing vapours through said duct and with an exhaust opening in said housing for exhausting such vapours outboard of the machine. In order that the invention may be well understood, the above-mentioned embodiment, which is given by way of example only, will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a coffee dispensing machine having a window on the front thereof; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in cross-section, of the coffee dispensing machine as shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section, taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, illustrating a detail thereof. Referring now to the drawings, a coffee brewing and dispensing machine of the type described and illustrated in U.S. Patent 3,552,976 is shown in Fig. 1 having a housing 10 with a front wall 12. A viewing window 14 is provided on the front wall 12. The viewing window 14 allows one to view the brewing operation while the customer waits for the cup C in cup receptacle 16 to be filled. The front wall 12 includes side panels 13 and 15. Part of the apparatus, such as a coin-handling apparatus (not shown) is mounted to the front wall 12 which is hinged to the side wall 20 by means of a piano hinge 18. The housing 10 also includes a top wall 22 and a side wall 24. Within the housing 10 is provided a brewer compartment 26 which is schematically shown in Fig. 2 and which includes a pour spout 28 adapted to convey the dispensed coffee into the cup C. Also mounted within the front wall 12 is a ventilation unit 30. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the ventilation unit 30 includes an elongated flat duct 32 mounted on side panel 13 (part of front wall 12). As shown in Fig. 2, the duct 32 extends from the pour spout area 28 of the brewer compartment to the top of the front wall 12 where there is mounted a negative pressure means comprising a vacuum pump 40. The duct has an inlet opening 34 adjacent the pour spout 28. An inlet opening 36 is located adjacent the window 14 in the front wall 12. Other openings may be provided as necessary along the length of the duct 32. An outlet opening 38 is provided at the upper end of the duct 32 and communicates with the vacuum pump 40. The vacuum pump 40 includes, as shown in Fig. 3, a pump impeller 44, and the pump communicates with an exhaust outlet 42 in the top panel 17 of the front wall 12. In operation, the brewer compartment 26 is operated to pour a hot liquid, such as coffee, just below the boiling point of the liquid. Visible vapors are thus produced which would normally fog up the window 14 and also contribute to a high level of humidity within the housing. The purpose of the ventilation unit 30 is to draw such vapors immediately as they are formed from the pour area by means of inlet opening 34. Other openings, such as opening 36, may be provided adjacent the window 14 in order to exhaust any vapors which might otherwise cause fogging on the window 14. The pump 40 and its electric motor 46 would be chosen of sufficient magnitude to cause a vacuum in the duct 32 to thereby draw the vapors therein as they are being formed. These vapors are exhausted through the exhaust outlet 42 by the impeller 44 at the top of the housing 10.

Claims: A hot food dispensing machine including a housing (10) having a dispensing region adjacent a housing wall (12), and a ventilation unit (30) comprising elongate duct means (32) provided with inlet openings (34, 36) and an outlet opening means (38) communicating with negative pressure means (40) for providing a suction in the duct means for drawing vapors from regions adjacent the inlet openings and exhausting the vapors outboard of the housing characterised in that (i) a window (14) is provided in said housing wall (12), (ii) said duct means comprises an elongate duct (32) mounted on said wall (12) and extending in part along an edge of said window (14), (iii) said inlet openings (34, 36) are provided at spaced apart locations on the elongate duct (32) and (iv) at least one such inlet opening (36) is provided adjacent said window for drawing vapors from the region of the window in order to reduce fogging thereon. A food dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1 for dispensing hot beverage and comprising pouring means (28) disposed in a pour region in said housing, wherein said elongate duct (32) extends to the pour region and one (34) of said inlet openings opens adjacent said pour region for drawing vapors formed therein. A food dispensing machine as claimed in claim 2 for dispensing brewed coffee, wherein said window is provided adjacent a coffee brewing compartment including said pour region for enabling said coffee brewing compartment to be viewed. A food dispensing machine as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said outlet opening means comprises an outlet opening (38) of said elongate duct (32) and said negative pressure means comprises a vacuum pump (40) communicating with said outlet opening (38) for drawing vapors through said duct and with an exhaust opening (42) in said housing for exhausting such vapors outboard of the machine.

Inventors: KING, ALAN M.
Applicants: VKI TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A47J31
IPC codes: A47J31, G07F9