BEVERAGE DISPENSING TAP

Abstract: A beer tap incorporating an integral sparkler mechanism for agitating beer dispensed through the tap, the sparkler mechanism comprising a plug axially movable within the bore of the tap so as to present a variable cross-sectional area through which beer can be passed, the axial movement being by means of an external adjustable member the outside of which can be manually adjusted without coming into contact with the beer.

Description: BEVERAGE DISPENSING TAP This invention relates to beverage taps and has particular reference to beverage taps for dispensing beer. It is well known to dispense draft beer through a tap which incorporates means to agitate the beer as it leaves the tap. The agitation is conventionally provided by a so-called sparkler cap. A sparkler cap comprises a cap screwed into the end of the outlet nozzle of the tap and providing a restriction to the flow of beer. The restrictive effect of the sparkler cap is normally adjustable and the operator frequently adjusts the restrictive effect during the dispensing of the beer. This can be unhygienic in that the operator's fingers may come into connect with the beer as the beer streams may flow over the operator's fingers during manual adjustment of the sparkler cap at the end of the tap nozzle. With increased concern about hygiene in the beverage dispensing industry, there is a need to, provide a sparkler cap or other agitator which can be adjusted without danger of the operator's fingers coming into contact with flowing streams of beer. Agitation of the beer is often necessary to provide an attractive head on the beer and the amount of agitation required can vary with the temperature of the beer, the liveliness of the beer (normally an indication of the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide) or the type of beer dispensed. By the present invention there is provided a beer tap including a tap body having a bore therethrough for the passage of beer, a valve to control the flow of beer through the bore, an outer nozzle, the outer nozzle being in the form of a tube, agitation means for agitating the beer after it has passed through the valve but before leaving the outer nozzle, the agitating means being adapted and arranged so as to be able to provide a variable degree of agitation of the beer, and adjustment means spaced from the downstream end of the outer nozzle for manually adjusting the extent of said agitation, said adjustment means being operable independently of the operation of said valve. Preferably, the outer end of the outer nozzle is an open end. The nozzle may have a convergent zone in a downstream direction and the agitation means may include an insert which is located within the nozzle and serves to direct beer passing from the valve onto the inside wall of the nozzle in said convergent zone. The insert may be a conical plug of tapered cross-sectional area movable within said zone and co-operating with the zone to produce a passageway of variable cross-sectional area of flow for the beer. The plug may have an opening on its end adjacent the valve which communicates with one or more orifices passing through the plug walls to divert beer onto the inside wall of the nozzle. The outer nozzle may be screw threaded onto the tap so as to be rotatable and axially movable. There may be provided means on the external surface of the nozzle to permit it to be gripped and rotated by hand. The conical shaped plug may be frusto-conical and may have a circumferential groove downstream of the passageway. The frusto-conical end of the conically shaped member may be re-entrant. A flow straightener may be provided at the end of the frusto-conical portion at its most downstream end. The flow straightener may comprise walls extending downstream on the end of the frusto-conical member. The walls may be parallel to the direction of flow of beverage. There may be an additional convergent zone within the nozzle adjacent or immediately upstream of the flow straightener. The plug or conically shaped member may be formed with an upstanding tubular wall adapted to be secured to or be part of the tap body. The outer nozzle may be screw threaded onto the outside of the wall for axial adjustment to increase or decrease the size of the passageway. There may be provided a click stop mechanism between the nozzle and the tubular wall. There may be provided a ring member co-axial with the outer nozzle and having a cylindrical outer wall, said ring member being locked between the tap body and the upstanding tubular wall. The inner surface of said cylindrical outer wall may be fluted to cooperate with a resilient projection on the outer nozzle to provide a click stop mechanism upon rotation of the outer nozzle. The outer surface of said cylindrical wall and the outer surface of the outer nozzle may be marked with suitable indicia to enable visual inspection to determine the relative rotational positions of the ring and the outer nozzle. There may be provided means to lock the nozzle to prevent accidental adjustment thereof. The nozzle may be provided with recesses adapted to be engaged by a key (which may be annular) to restrict adjustment of the nozzle to the key holder. By way of example embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of part of a prior art tap. Figure 2 is a part cross-sectional view of a beer tap in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is an elevation of part of the beer tap shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a partial cross-section of an alternative form of frusto-conical; Figure 5 is a view of Figure 4 along the line of arrow V, Figure 6 is a perspective view of one form of tap adapted for key adjustment; and, Figure 7 is a perspective view of a key for adjusting the tap of Figure 6. Figure 1 shows part of a prior art beer tap incorporating a sparkler cap. The beer tap comprises a body 1 having a cylindrical plug 2 movable within the body and carrying an "0" ring seal 3 which seals onto a tapered surface 4 within the body of the tap. Beer enters the tap through tubular portion 5 in the direction of arrow 6, and when the cylindrical plug 2 is in the position shown in the drawing the tap is sealed. To open the tap, the cylindrical plug 2 is moved upwards in the direction of arrow 7 by a conventinal tap operating mechanism (not shown) to lift the "0" ring 3 from the sealing surface 4. Beer then flows through the bore 8 and out through nozzle 9 which is screwed at 10 to the body 1. The "0" ring 11 seals the nozzle to the body 1. At the bottom of the nozzle 9 is a conventional sparkler cap 12 incorporating small apertures 13 and a distribution gun 14. It can be seen that the beer passing down through the nozzle 9 has to pass along the lines of arrows 15, 16 through the restriction formed by the gun 14 and the end of the nozzle 9 and through the small apertures 13. If the sparkler cap 12 is rotated so that it screws down on threads 17 away from the end of the nozzle 9, the restrictive effect of the agitator nozzle is reduced and therefore less sparkle is produced on the beer. Conversely, screwing the sparkler cap 12 upwards increases the restriction, increases the agitation, and increases the sparkler effect of the beer. Although sparkler caps such as those shown in Figure 1, which are very well known in the beverage trade work satisfactorily, there is a tendency for the operator to adjust the sparkler cap 12 during use and this can result in beer flowing over the operator's fingers which can be unhygienic. In the beer tap illustrated in Figure 2, the problem of the beer running over the operator's fingers during dispense is fully overcome. A tap body 1 has central plunger 2 movable to raise and lower the "0" ring seal 3 which engages on a tapered seat 4. Beer is fed to the tap body 1 through an inlet 5 along the line of arrow 6. As can be seen in Figure 2, movement of a handle 38 in the direction of arrow 39 causes handle 38 to rock on surface 40 lifting the plunger 2 via linkage 41 acting against a spring 42. An "0" ring 43 and cup seal 44 prevent the ingress of dirt or the egress of beer. Screwed to the lower end 43a of the tap body 1 there is a tubular walled insert generally indicated by 44a having an upstanding tubular wall 45 and a frusto-conical lower portion 46. Apertures 47, 48 in the tubular wall 45 permit beer to flow through the tubular insert 44a. Screwed to the outside of the tubular wall 45 is a wall 49 of nozzle 50. An "0" ring seal 51 seals the end 43a of the tap body 1 to the inside of the tubular wall 45 and a further "0" ring 52 seals the outside of the tubular wall 45 to the inside of the wall 49 of the nozzle 50. The frusto-conical portion 46 of the tubular walled insert 44a incorporates a circumferential groove 53 near the end of the frusto-conical portion 46. Beer passing through holes 47, 48 passes through the narrow annular passageway 55 between the inner wall of the nozzle 50 and the frusto-conical portion 46. The cross- sectional area of the passageway may be varied by screwing the nozzle 50 up and down on the threads 56 between the inside of wall 49 and the outside of wall 45. A clip stop mechanism permits nozzle 50 to be set in a position from which it cannot accidentally be disturbed. The click stop mechanism comprises a resilient plastics protrusion on the diametrically outer surface of wall 49 of nozzle 50 at its uppermost end. The protrusion interacts with splines on the inside of a separate plastics ring 91 around the outside of the upper end of wall 49. Ring 91 has a radially inwardly extending portion axially spaced from nozzle 50 by the splines. This radially inwardly extending portion has the same inner diameter as the inside diameter of the wall 45 of the tubular walled member 44a. Ring 91 is held onto the lower end 43a of tap body 1 ahead of the tubular walled member 44a. Ring 91 has visible on its external surface a mark or index 92. Nozzle 50 also carries marks 93 at its upper end which enables the operator to set indicated relative rotational positions of ring 91 and outer nozzle 59, which are perhaps suitable for a particular level of sparkle to the beer. At the lower end of the frusto-conical portion 46 there may be provided flow straightening walls 46A which act to prevent jetting of beer when the tap is adjusted for maxinum sparkling and which help to centre the frusto-conical in the bore of the nozzle. The walls 46A which extend at 120° are shown more clearly in Figure 5. When the handle, 38 is moved so as to lift the plunger 2 and open valve 3, beer flows through the tap from inlet 5 past the valve opening provided between the "0" ring seal 3 and tapered seat 4; into the bore of tap body 1, into tubular walled inset 44a, out of the apertures 47, 48 and through the narrow passageway 55. Just downstream of the narrow passageway 55 the cross- sectional area increases which reduces pressure in that zone which results in carbon dioxide coming out of solution and producing an agitated pour. As mentioned above, the cross-sectional area can readily be varied by rotating the nozzle 50. As the agitated beer leaves the narrow passageway 55, it does not pour straight into a glass as would be the case with a conventional sparkler, but passes down the outer surface of the frusto-conical portion 46 and comes off as a result of the abrupt finish of the cone and the groove 53. The beer in the agitated condition then passes down through nozzle 50 with minimal air pick up which produces an agitated product which on final presentation to the customer gives a tight creamy head of the desired height on top of the black (unagitated) beer which turns out to be much superior to that produced by a conventional sparkler. In some circumstances it may be desirable to have a tap in which the sparkler mechanism is not easily adjusted by the tap operator. In such a circumstance the tap may be key operated and a mechanism for carrying out such a key operation is shown in Figures 6 and 7. In Figure 6 the tap 100 has an adjustable nozzle 101 containing inclined recesses 102 and 103 which are engaged by internally directed fingers such as finger 104 the annular key 105 seen in Figure 7. By having a nozzle resistant to easy movement it is possible to arrange for the position of the sparkler nozzle to be adjustable only by use of the key 105. It has been found that the product illustrated in the drawings 2 to 7 produces a much tighter head than a conventional sparkler cap as illustrated in Figure 1. As mentioned above, it is believed that this is because the agitation occurs in the absence of air. Thus, the carbon dioxide bubbles formed are smaller and there is no entrainment of air at that point. With a conventional sparkler cap air is entrained at the point of formation of the foam and this results in a relatively loose, large bubbled head. The invention however produces a much superior head in that the bubbles are small and the head is tight and creamy. This is a significant added advantage to the already significant improvement in hygiene produced by the invention compared to the sparkler cap of the prior art.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A tap suitable for dispensing beer, said tap including a tap body having a bore therethrough for the passage of beer, a valve to control the flow of beer through the bore, an outer nozzle, the outer nozzle being in the form of a tube, agitation means for agitating the beer after it has passed through the valve but before leaving the outer nozzle, the agitating means being adapted and arranged so as to be able to provide a variable degree of agitation of the beer, and adjustment means being spaced from the downstream end of the outer nozzle for manually adjusting the extent of said agitation, said adjustment means being operable independently of the operation of said valve. 2. A tap as claimed in claim 1 in which the nozzle has a convergent zone in a downstream direction. 3. A tap as claimed in claim 2 in which the agitating means includes an insert which is located within the nozzle and which serves to direct beer passing from the valve to the inside wall of the nozzle in said convergent zone. 5. A tap as claimed in claim 3 in which the insert is a conical plug of tapered cross-sectional area movable within the said zone and co-operating with the zone to produce a passageway of variable cross-section area of flow for the beer. 5. A tap as claimed in claim 4 in which the plug has an opening at its end adjacent the valve which opening communicates with one or more orifices passing through the plug walls to divert beer onto the inside wall of the nozzle. 6. A tap as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 in which the conical shaped plug is frusto-conical and has a circumferential groove downstream of the passageway. 7. A tap as claimed in any preceding claim in which the outer nozzle is mounted on the tap so as to be rotatable and axially movable. 8. A tap as claimed in any preceding claim including means on the external surface of the nozzle to permit said nozzle to be gripped and rotated by hand. 9. A tap as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6 including a flow straightener provided at the end of the insert at its most downstream end. 10. A tap as claimed in claim 9 in which the flow straightener comprises walls extending downstream of the insert which are parallel to the direction of flow of beer. 11. A tap as claimed in claim 4 in which the plug is formed with an upstanding tubular wall adapted to be secured to or be part of the tap body. 12. A tap as claimed in claim 11 in which there is provided a ring member co-axial with the outer nozzle and having a cylindrical outer wall, said ring member being located between the tap body and the upstanding tubular wall. 13. A tap as claimed in claim 12 in which the inner surface of said cylindrical outer wall is fluted to co¬ operate with the resilient projection on the outer nozzle to provide a click stop mechanism upon rotation of the outer nozzle. 14. A tap as claimed in claims 12 or 13 in which the outer surface of said cylindrical wall and the outer surface of the outer nozzle are marked with suitable indicia to enable visual inspection to determine the relative rotational postion of the ring on the outer nozzle. 15. A tap as claimed in any preceding claim in which the nozzle is provided with recesses adapted to be engaged by a key. 16. A tap as claimed in claim 10 in which there is an additional covergent zone within the nozzle adjacent to or immediately upstream of the flow straightener. 17. A tap for dispensing beer substantially as described in the specification with reference to Figures 2 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: DRYDEN ERIC, ENGINEER SAMMY JAMES, EVERITT DAVID, VINER DAVID, DRYDEN, ERIC, ENGINEER, SAMMY, JAMES, EVERITT, DAVID, VINER, DAVID
Applicants: IMI CORNELIUS UK LTD, WHITBREAD & CO PLC, IMI CORNELIUS (UK) LIMITED, WHITBREAD AND COMPANY, PLC
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B67D1
IPC codes: B67D1