Patent ID: 8657262

Claim:
Device for foaming a liquid foodstuff, comprising: a pump ( 2 ) that has, on a suction side, a feed line ( 3 ) that can be connected in a fluid-conducting way to a storage container for the liquid foodstuff, an air feed line ( 3 a ) arranged in a path of flow of the liquid foodstuff, by which air can be fed to the foodstuff, is arranged on the suction side of the pump ( 2 ) and, a throttle ( 4 a ) is arranged in the path of flow of the foodstuff, on a downstream side of the pump ( 2 ), the air feed line ( 3 a ) comprises an air valve ( 3 b ) that is controlled by a control unit ( 9 ) and the air valve ( 3 b ) is an intermittent air valve ( 3 b ) in which, through control of the control unit ( 9 ), is switchable between at least one opened state with high air flow and one essentially closed state with comparatively lower air flow and/or with no air flow that is specified selectively, and the control unit ( 9 ) and air valve ( 3 b ) are constructed to interact such that, through repeated switching between the closed and opened states of the air valve ( 3 b ), an average air flow of the air valve ( 3 b ) is controlled by specifying at least one of a switching frequency in a range from 1 Hz to 50 Hz at which switching is performed between the at least two states of the air valve ( 3 b ) or a pulse-duty factor between the at least two states.