Patent Publication Number: US-9834426-B2

Title: Mixing nozzle

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/US2013/043885, filed on Jun. 3, 2013, the entire contents of which are being incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure generally relates to beverage dispensing devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to mixing nozzle fitments for dispensing beverages. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     There are a variety of beverage dispensers currently on the market. Some beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a hot or cold ready-to-drink fluid directly into a container such as a cup. Other beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a powdered or liquid concentrate along with a separate diluent through a beverage dispensing nozzle and into a container or cup to form the drink. 
     The present invention relates to post-mix dispensers in which a liquid concentrate is stored and is automatically combined at the time of dispensing with a diluent such as water. The combination is usually operated in a mixing chamber in which the concentrate and the diluent emerge. The relative flows of the concentrate and diluent can be controlled to maximize the qualities of the beverage such as mixing and foam production. This mixing chamber can be a mixing tee fitment such as described in WO 2010115888. This mixing tee fitment cooperates with the end of a flexible tube attached to a concentrate container. The concentrate can be pumped through the flexible tube by peristaltic pump as well known in the state of the art. In the mixing tee fitment a flow of water mixes with a dose of concentrate. It has been observed that for concentrates presenting high viscosity properties the mixing and dilution with water can be difficult. Then the beverage in the drinking cup may not be homogeneous. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first aspect, the invention concerns a mixing nozzle for mixing a concentrate and a diluent and dispensing the mixture comprising:
         a concentrate conduit including a concentrate inlet port and a concentrate outlet port and a concentrate flowpath therebetween, said conduit defining the longitudinal axis of the mixing nozzle,   a toroidal chamber around said concentrate conduit having a water inlet conduit tangentially disposed with respect thereto to create a swirling of the water in said chamber, said toroidal chamber presenting multiple openings at the bottom wall of the toroidal chamber to create multiple flows of diluent around the concentrate outlet port,   an assembly of multiple radially projecting ribs provided downstream to the multiple openings of the toroidal chamber, the ribs being curved at their downstream ends towards the mixing nozzle longitudinal axis.       

     According to a second aspect the invention concerns a device for dosing a concentrate, mixing the dosed concentrate with a diluent and dispensing the mixture comprising:
         a mixing nozzle such as described hereabove, and   a pump.       

     According to a third aspect the invention concerns a package assembly comprising a concentrate container and a device for dosing a concentrate, mixing the dosed concentrate with a diluent and dispensing the mixture such as described hereabove. 
     According to a fourth aspect the invention concerns a method of making a beverage, the method comprising:
         providing a mixing nozzle such as described hereabove,   dispensing portions of concentrate through the concentrate inlet port of the mixing nozzle and a diluent through the water inlet conduit of the mixing nozzle, the concentrate and the diluent being mixed and dispensed through the assembly of multiple radially projecting ribs to form the beverage.       

     The dependent claims further define the difference aspects of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood in relation to the following figures: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a mixing nozzle according to the invention, 
         FIG. 2  is a longitudinal section view of the mixing nozzle of  FIG. 1 , 
         FIGS. 3 a , 3 b , 3 c    are transversal section views of the mixing nozzle of  FIG. 1  according to sections AA′, BB′ and CC′ as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the mixing nozzle of  FIG. 1 , 
         FIG. 5  is a view of the mixing nozzle of  FIG. 1  with a shroud, 
         FIGS. 6 and 7  are assemblies of the mixing nozzle with a pump, 
         FIG. 8  is a view of the assembly of the mixing nozzle with a flexible tube, 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic view of a beverage production machine comprising a mixing and dosing device according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIGS. 1 to 4  illustrates a mixing nozzle  1  for mixing a concentrate and a diluent and dispensing the mixture according to the invention. The mixing nozzle comprises a concentrate conduit including a concentrate inlet port  2  and a concentrate outlet port  3  and a concentrate flowpath  4  therebetween said conduit defining the longitudinal axis XX′ of the mixing nozzle as illustrated in the longitudinal section view of  FIG. 2 . The nozzle comprises a toroidal chamber  5  around said concentrate conduit  6  having a water inlet conduit  6  tangentially disposed with respect thereto to create a swirling of the water in said chamber. The water inlet conduit  6  and the chamber  5  are particularly illustrated in  FIG. 3 a    that is a transversal section of the mixing nozzle  1  at the level of said chamber  5 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 b    that is a transversal section of the mixing nozzle  1  according to a section plane lower than in  FIG. 3 a   , the toroidal chamber  5  presents multiple openings  7  at its bottom wall. These opening are preferably homogeneously distributed around the concentrate conduit. These openings  7  create multiple flows of diluent around the concentrate outlet port  3  as illustrated in  FIG. 3 c    that is a lowest transversal section of the mixing nozzle. 
     The nozzle comprises an assembly of multiple radially projecting ribs  10  provided downstream to the multiple openings  7  of the toroidal chamber  5 . These ribs are curved at their downstream ends  10   a  towards the mixing nozzle longitudinal axis XX′. The ribs provide large surface areas where the concentrate flowing from the concentrate outlet port  3  can spread; it increases the contact surface of the concentrate with water when the multiple water flows run on the ribs. The ribs also help in providing direction and streamlining the beverage mixture: they enable a better control of the dispensing of the beverage in the receptacle placed under the dispenser: the flow is directed to the centre of the nozzle and no splashing occurs around. 
     As illustrated the multiple radially projecting ribs  10  preferably do not extend downstream to the concentrate outlet port  3 . This embodiment limits the deposit of concentrate on the ribs that could stick on them and then dried when no water is dispensed. 
     According to the illustrated embodiment at least two openings  7  of the toroidal chamber emerge in the space separating two ribs  10 . Then flows of water can flow on each side of the ribs and improve mixing and then rinsing at the end of the beverage preparation. 
     As the mixing of the concentrate and the diluent occurs on the ribs the potential contaminations of the diluent inlet or the concentrate conduit outlet are limited. 
     According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5  the mixing  1  comprises a shroud  11 . Preferably said shroud can be a cylindrical tube surrounding the assembly of multiple radially projecting ribs  10 . This shroud aims at avoiding that an operator or a customer touches the nozzle. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an assembly of mixing nozzle according to the invention with a pump for dosing the concentrate. The mixing nozzle  1  presents the features of the mixing nozzle  1  of  FIGS. 1 to 5 . The concentrate inlet port  2  of the mixing nozzle is attached to a pump  12  of which inlet  17  can be attached to a beverage concentrate packaging through the fitment  14 . The beverage concentrate can be a bag-in-box or a tetrabrik container. Consequently a dose of concentrate can be pumped by the pump  12  and be provided in the mixing nozzle concentrate conduit to be mixed with water introduced in the conduit  6  of the mixing nozzle. Preferably the pump  12  is a positive displacement pump and most preferably a rotary pump presenting a rotor interface  13  configured for being connected to a rotary shaft. The rotary pump is preferably of the type having a pump chamber containing a rotor which defines with the wall of the chamber at least one cavity extending around only a part of the chamber. Preferably the rotor interface  13  and the mixing nozzle water inlet conduit  6  are located on the same side of the device. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates the assembly of  FIG. 6  wherein the mixing nozzle is surrounded by a cover  11 . 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a mixing a nozzle according to the invention in which a flexible tube  16  is attached to the concentrate inlet port  2  for example by stretching the end of the flexible tube around the part of the mixing nozzle through which the concentrate port extends. The other end of the flexible tube presents a fitment  16   a  for cooperating with a concentrate container. This embodiment enables the use of the mixing nozzle with a peristaltic pump that can urge the concentrate to flow through the flexible tube in direction of the nozzle. 
     According to the invention the mixing nozzle, the assembly of the mixing nozzle with the pump and the assembly of the mixing nozzle with the pump and the concentrate container can be made disposable. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , a beverage production machine  100  is represented that includes a package assembly comprising a beverage concentrate  15  attached to an assembly of mixing a nozzle  1  and a rotary pump  12  for dosing the concentrate such as described hereabove for producing a beverage from a beverage concentrate stored in the package assembly and a diluent entering the assembly. 
     A diluent feed circuit is provided in the machine to be able to feed the assembly with diluent, more particularly, water. For that, a water supply  101  is provided that can be tap water. A water pump  102  transports water from the supply  101  to a water heating or cooling unit  103  and to eventually a valve  104  that can open/close or adjust the flow. The water pump can be any type of pump such as a piston pump, diaphragm pump or a peristaltic pump. Finally water is fed into the water inlet conduit  6  of the mixing nozzle  1  by a tube  105 . The machine also comprises a motor  108  to rotate a rotary shaft  109  configured for being connected to the interface  13  of the rotor of the pump  12  of the package assembly. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10  the package assembly can be placed directly above a service tray  106  onto which is placed a drinking cup to receive the beverage liquid. The machine comprises a package assembly receiving area  107  to fix the assembly inside and provide cooperation between the water inlet conduit  6  and the machine diluent supply tube  105  and cooperation between the rotor interface of the rotary pump and the rotary shaft  109  of the motor  108 . In an alternative mode the rotary shaft  109  can be replaced by a peristaltic pump and the package assembly can comprise a flexible tube in place of the rotary pump  12 . 
     A controller  110  is provided to introduce water in the mixing nozzle  1  and coordinate dosing of the beverage concentrate by the pump  12  upon the user actuating or being prompted to press a command  111  on the machine. Preferably the controller is provided to rinse with water the mixing nozzle  1  at the end of the beverage preparation.