Patent Publication Number: US-2007116804-A1

Title: Machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappes or shakes

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappés or shakes.  
      The term “ice cream frappé” or “shake” is used here to refer to any frozen or partially frozen food product with a neutral flavor, hereinafter referred to as neutral ice cream, whipped with a syrup which has the desired flavor and which may have the soft parts of fruit flesh or solids such as seeds and the like added to it.  
      A known machine of the above-mentioned type comprises a section for production of the neutral ice cream, connected to a mixing unit by a pipe. At least one such syrup is fed into the mixing unit by feed means.  
      Again as is known, for each syrup the feed means comprise a container, a pipe and an injector for feeding to the above-mentioned feed unit.  
      Along each pipe there is also a gear pump for feeding the syrup to the injector through valve means.  
      In other machines of the known type each syrup is also subjected to a predetermined pressure in the container.  
      In this way, when the relative valve means, consisting of a solenoid valve operated by a control unit, open the syrup is fed to the mixing unit without using a pump.  
      However, the known syrup feed means have several disadvantages. These relate firstly to hygiene and are the result of difficulty removing from the mechanical components of pumps any solid particles, consisting for example of fragments of fruit, seeds and the like, contained in the syrups.  
      Secondly, gear pump operation may not be uniform depending on the type of syrup handled.  
      It should also be noticed that the solenoid valves are also subject to the same disadvantages in terms of hygiene.  
      Finally, it should be noticed that the known type of feed means are too expensive relative to the performance provided.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The aim of the present invention is therefore to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages by producing a machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappés which is free of the disadvantages described above.  
      Accordingly, the present invention achieves this aim with a machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappés which has the characteristics described in one or more of the claims herein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The technical features of the invention, in accordance with the afore-mentioned aims, are clearly indicated in the claims herein and the advantages of the invention are more apparent in the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment without limiting the scope of the invention, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappés or shakes in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIGS. 2 and 3  are cross-sections of the side view of a detail from  FIG. 1 , in two different operating conditions;  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view with some parts cut away and others exploded, of a detail from  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3 ;  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a detail from  FIG. 4 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      With reference to  FIGS. 1, 2  and  3 , the numeral  1  denotes as a whole a machine for producing and dispensing ice cream frappés or shakes, consisting of neutral ice cream with the addition of flavoring syrup.  
      The machine  1  comprises a box-shaped base  2 , substantially having the shape of a parallelepiped, of which  FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate a front portion delimitated by a vertical front wall  3 , where dispensing means  4  for predetermined doses of frappé or shake are positioned.  
      Inside the base  2  there is an ice cream producing unit  5  of the known type.  
      As illustrated also in  FIG. 4 , the unit  5  comprises a cylindrical body  6 , defined the whipping and freezing cylinder, with a horizontal axis  7  normal to the front wall  3  and supported, in the known way not illustrated, by the base  2 .  
      An open end  8  of the cylindrical body  6  is positioned at a circular opening  9  in the front wall  3 . On the outer face of the front wall  3 , at the circular opening  9 , there is a block or door  10 , comprising a substantially square plate  11 , fixed in contact with the front wall  3  and forming, with its cup-shaped central portion, a lid  12  which seals closed the open end  8  of the cylindrical body  6 .  
      In a substantially cylindrical portion  13  with vertical axis  13   a  of the door  10 , positioned on the opposite side of the lid  12 , there is a cavity for receiving the neutral ice cream and the syrup, having a cylindrical chamber  14  whose axis coinciding with the axis  13   a  is coplanar with the axis  7  of the cylindrical body  6 .  
      Below the cylindrical chamber  14  in the door  10  there is a truncated cone-shaped chamber  15  ( FIGS. 2, 3 ), closed at the bottom by a horizontal wall  16  which is part of a closing block  17  described in more detail below.  
      Inside the cylindrical chamber  14  a piston  18  slides, operated by actuator means  19  supported by the front wall  3  and able to move between an upper end of stroke position illustrated in  FIG. 2  and a lower end of stroke position, illustrated in  FIG. 3 , until it is close to the inlet of the truncated cone-shaped chamber  15 .  
      Inside the truncated cone-shaped chamber  15 , defined the mixing chamber, there is a rotor  20  operated by a shaft  21  coaxial with the cylindrical chamber  14 , passing through the piston  18  and driven to rotate about its axis by actuator means  22  supported by the front wall  3 .  
      The cylindrical chamber  14 , also called the chamber for receiving the neutral ice cream and the syrup, the truncated cone-shaped chamber  15 , together with the piston  18  and the rotor  20 , form a mixing unit labeled  23  as a whole and which is part of the door  10 .  
      As illustrated in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  4 , the closing block  17  is fixed in a removable way to the block  10  and has a through-hole  24  defined the dispensing hole which puts the mixing chamber  15  in communication with the outside for dispensing the frappeé or shake.  
      The piston  18  slides in the cylindrical chamber  14  with three O-Rings inserted between it and the chamber, in respective seats and labeled  25 ,  26  and  27  from top to bottom.  
      Two pipes  28  and  29  lead into the cylindrical chamber  14 , in the zone between the rings  25  and  26 . These pipes pass through the plate  11  and communicate with the inside of the cylindrical whipping and freezing body  6  to feed the ice cream to the mixing unit  23 .  
      Inside the base  2 , below the cylindrical whipping and freezing body  6 , there are means for feeding flavoring syrup, labeled  30  as a whole.  
      As illustrated in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  4 , for each syrup the feed means  30  comprise a container  31 , a flexible plastic hose  32  and valve means  33  connected to the container  31  by the hose  32 .  
      Along the hose  32  there are pump means  34  consisting of a peristaltic pump  35  of the known type, comprising a curved seat  36  for passage of the hose  32  and a rotor  37  with rollers  38  acting one after another on the hose  32  during rotation of the rotor  37 .  
      The valve means  33  are housed in a box-shaped body  39  substantially a parallelepiped inserted below the door  12  between the block  17 , the lower end of the block  10  and the wall  3 , to which it is fixed.  
      As  FIG. 5  also shows, the box-shaped body  39  is laterally defined by two walls  41 ,  42  vertical and transversal to the wall  3 . It is defined at the top by a wall  43 , and at the bottom by a wall  44  formed by the lower part of a support labeled  40  as a whole. Towards the inside and the outside of the base  2  it is defined by two walls, labeled  45  and  46  and substantially parallel with the wall  3 .  
      The upper wall  43  and the outer wall  46  are respectively in contact with the lower end of the door  12  and with the block  17 .  
      In particular, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the block  17 , in its closed position, locks the support  40 . This means that by moving the block  17  to its open position, it is possible to remove the support  40  and disassemble the valve means  33  contained in the box-shaped body  39 , for cleaning, in a very simple way.  
      Moreover, as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the horizontal wall  16 , which is part of the closing block  17 , has on its surface facing the substantially cylindrical portion  13  of the door  10 , a tray  16   a  for collecting condensation created during production of ice cream frappés or shakes. Through a hole  16   b  made in the base of the tray  16   a,  the condensation runs into a conveyor channel  17   a  made in the upper wall of the block  17  and is conveyed into contact with the front wall  3 .  
      To allow good evaporation of the condensation, the wall  3  has an electric heating element  3   a  schematically illustrated with a dashed line in  FIG. 1 , which is connected to an electric power source not illustrated and allows the wall  3  to reach a temperature which allows said evaporation.  
      The valve means  33 , relative to the feed means for each syrup (four in the example in  FIG. 4 ) are positioned alongside and parallel with the walls  45  and  46  and consist of lip valves  47  connected at the inlet to the hoses  32  with respective connectors  48  inserted in respective holes  49  in the wall  45  in contact with the wall  3 , and connected at the outlet, through respective holes  50  in the wall  46  and respective connectors  51  passing through pipes  52  made in the wall  46  of the box-shaped body  39 .  
      More precisely, each lip valve  47  (of the known type) comprises a cylindrical container  53  with a hole  54  for connection to the connector  32 .  
      Inserted in a sealed way in each cylindrical container  53  there is a valve element  55  made of elastic material and having a unidirectional outlet.  
      Therefore it should be noticed that the hoses  32  and the connectors  48  are completely positioned in the machine  1  base  2 .  
      Finally, it should be noticed that the block or door  10  comprising the plate  11  is mounted in a removable way on the wall  3  with a sealing ring  57  inserted between them, in contact with the open end of the cylindrical body  6 , whilst the block  39  is jointed to the front wall  3 .  
      In practice, with the piston  18  in the upper end of stroke position, the neutral ice cream produced in the whipping and freezing cylinder  6  flows through the two pipes  28  and  29  into the cylindrical chamber  14  ( FIG. 2 ). At the same time the peristaltic pump  35  feeds a flavoring syrup through the relative lip valve  47  and the pipe  52 , into the cylindrical chamber  14 .  
      It should be noticed that the hose  32 , the peristaltic pump  35  and the relative lip valve  47  are positioned on the same side relative to the mixing unit  23 , in the base  2 .  
      Under the pushing action of the piston  18  during its downstroke, the neutral ice cream and the relative syrup flow into the truncated cone-shaped chamber  15  in which they are whipped and mixed by the rotor  20  and, through the dispensing hole  24 , they are together dispensed to a cup or container  56  for consumption, in a predetermined dose.  
      It should be noticed that use of the feed means  30  for the syrups, in accordance with the present invention eliminates the disadvantages in terms of hygiene encountered in the prior art. Moreover, the gears of the pumps in contact with the products of which the syrups consist are also eliminated and use of such pumps is not influenced by the type of syrup used. Finally, the fact that the hose  32 , the peristaltic pump  35  and the relative lip valve  47  are positioned on the same side relative to the mixing unit  23  and inside the base  2 , contributes to greater machine hygiene and avoids visible external hoses.  
      It should also be noticed that a machine equipped with such feed means is more economical and requires less maintenance and cleaning.  
      Compared with prior art machines, such a machine is more compact and at the same time easy to disassemble for maintenance or cleaning.  
      If the base  2  has at least one window made of a transparent material, the operator can easily inspect the inside of the machine disclosed.  
      It should be noticed that, in order to be able to directly control the mixing steps, the door  10 , the box-shaped body  39 , the support  40  and the cylindrical containers  53  which house the lip valves  47 , may be made of a transparent material.  
      The invention described has evident industrial applications and may be modified and adapted without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.