Carbonator Nozzle Assembly For Beverage-merchandising Machine

Abstract

A nozzle assembly for delivering carbonated water from a supply to a cup in a carbonated beverage dispensing machine in which carbonated water from a supply flowing to the nozzle inlet through a solonoid-operated valve during the dispensing operation moves a valve in the nozzle away from its seat against the action of a spring to provide restricted flow of the carbonated water around the valve to the nozzle outlet. The position of the valve seat in the nozzle is readily adjusted to regulate the resistance to flow of carbonated water through the nozzle. The nozzle body and the seat-forming inlet member do not require close tolerances and are formed of synthetic resin having relatively good dimensional stability. The parts are easily disassembled for cleaning.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In most carbonated-beverage-merchandising machines of the type known in the prior art, in response to actuation of the machine to dispense a carbonated beverage, first a cup is positioned at a location at which it can directly receive both a charge of flavoring syrup and a charge of carbonated water. The syrup is delivered to the cup and concomitantly a solenoid valve is operated to permit the flow of carbonated water from a carbonator to a nozzle which is constructed to restrict flow of carbonated water therethrough. In a particular nozzle arrangement known in the prior art, the nozzle includes a metal cylindrical shell which receives a metal core. A central bore extending part way into the core admits carbonated water into the nozzle. Lateral openings located beyond a first seal between the core and the bore wall leading from the bore to the wall of the shell cause water entering the bore to flow outwardly and then through the restricted space between the core and the shell wall toward the discharge end of the nozzle. At a location adjacent the discharge end, and ahead of a second seal between the core and the bore wall, radial openings cause the carbonated water to flow inwardly toward a short bore in the other end of the core to be discharged from the nozzle through a filter. In order to permit the restricted flow required for optimum carbonation of the water, the shell and core must be machined to within relatively close tolerances. This arrangement not only is apt to become clogged by dirt and the like, but also it is difficult to disassemble for cleaning. In addition to that fact, no provision is made for adjusting the carbonation of the water. The nozzle is relatively expensive to construct.

We have invented a carbonator nozzle assembly for a carbonated-beverage-dispensing machine which overcomes the defects of nozzles of the prior art. Our assembly does not require such close tolerances as are required in nozzle assemblies of the prior art. Our assembly is readily disassembled for cleaning. Our nozzle assembly is simple in construction and is inexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of our invention is to provide a carbonator nozzle assembly for a carbonated-beverage-merchandising machine which overcomes the defects of nozzle assemblies of the prior art.

Another object of our invention is to provide a nozzle assembly which is readily disassembled for cleaning.

A further object of our invention is to provide a nozzle assembly which does not require the close tolerances which must be held in making nozzles of the prior art.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a carbonator nozzle which is simple in construction and which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and further objects of our invention will appear from the following description:

In general our invention contemplates the provision of a carbonator nozzle assembly for a carbonated-beverage-merchandising machine in which carbonated water fed through a solenoid-operated valve during a dispensing operation passes through a nozzle inlet member to move a valve housed by the nozzle away from a seat on the inlet member against the action of a spring to provide a restricted flow of carbonated water between the valve and the nozzle wall to the discharge end of the nozzle. We form the nozzle and the inlet member from a synthetic resin so as to avoid much of the need for close tolerances inherent in structures of the prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings which form part of the instant specification and which are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the carbonated water supply system of a carbonated-beverage-merchandising machine provided with our nozzle assembly.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of our nozzle assembly for carbonated-beverage-merchandising machines.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of our carbonator nozzle assembly with a part broken away taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of our carbonator nozzle assembly taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. @.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of our carbonator nozzle assembly taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the FIG. 1, in a merchandising machine for dispensing carbonated beverages, a cup 10 is delivered to a platform or tray 12 at a location at which it may receive charges of flavoring and carbonated water from a delivery system indicated generally by the reference character 14. The system 14 includes our improved carbonator nozzle indicated generally by the reference character 16 as well as a plurality of flavoring dispensing tubes 18 of a type known in the art.

The carbonated water system of a carbonated-beverage-merchandising machine includes a carbonator 20 of any suitable type known to the art. A pump 22 driven by a motor 24 supplies fresh water to the carbonator 20 through a line 26. Carbon dioxide from a bottle 28 is fed through a regulated valve 30 to the carbonator 20. In response to the water and carbon dioxide fed to the carbonator 20, it produces carbonated water in an outlet line 32. A normally closed valve 34 is adapted to be opened by a solenoid 36 in the course of a dispensing operation to deliver carbonated water to the nozzle 16. Since the arrangement thus far described, except for our new carbonator nozzle assembly 16, is known in the art, the machine will not be described in greater detail.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 5, the flavoring and carbonated water delivering assembly 14 includes an arm 38 supported on the frame (not shown) of the merchandising machine. Any suitable means such as metal screws 40 secure an ice-chute-mounting bracket 42 to the arm 38. Screws 44 or the like attach a nozzle- and flavoring-tube-supporting bracket 46 to the bracket 42. We form the bottom of bracket 46 as a generally horizontally extending plate 48 having a plurality of holes 50 for receiving the lower ends of the flavoring supply tubes 18 in a manner to be described. A screw 98 located in a slot 99 in a bracket 97 adjustably positions the bracket on plate 48. We form the bracket 97 with an opening 52 for receiving the lower end of nozzle assembly 16 to adjust for best mixture of the carbonated water with the flavoring syrup. Plate 48 is so shaped as to permit this adjustment. Screws 54 secure an upper guide plate 56 to a flange 58 on the upper edge of bracket 46. We provide the upper guide plate 56 with a plurality of holes 60 through which the flavoring supply tubes 18 extend. Plate 56 further includes an opening 62 through which the nozzle assembly 16 extends. In assembling the unit 14 the feed tubes 18 are inserted in openings 50 with annular flanges 64 thereon resting on plate 48 before the upper plate 56 is attached to the flange 58. When this latter operation is performed, the upper ends of the tubes 18 are guided through openings 60. It can readily be seen that the openings 60 are oriented with reference to the openings 50 so that the tubes 18 are directed toward a cup 10 positioned on the tray 12. In this manner, we insure that syrup delivered by the tubes will enter the cup.

The nozzle assembly 16 includes a tubular housing 66 provided with an internal bore 68 having an enlarged portion 70 forming a first internal shoulder 72. A second enlarged bore portion 74 is provided with internal threads for a reason to be described hereinafter. We form the housing 66 from any suitable dimensionally stable synthetic resin such for example as Lexan which is the registered trademark of the General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York for a thermoplastic polycarbonate resin.

The enlarged bore portion 70 of housing 66 receives a cylindrical valve 76 formed of any suitable material such for example as stainless steel. Valve 76 is hollow to receive the upper end of a spring 78 which bears between the shoulder 72 and the valve normally to urge the valve upwardly as viewed in FIG. 5.

The assembly 16 includes an inlet member 80 having a central bore 82 for receiving carbonated water from the line 32. An annular recess 84 adjacent the lower end of an inlet member 80 receives an O-ring 86 which prevents the escape of carbonated water upwardly out of the housing 66. The lower end 88 of the member 80 forms a seat for the valve 76. We provide member 80 with an externally threaded portion 90 adapted to be screwed into the bore portion 74 until the valve 76 engages seat 88 with the desired force.

Housing 66 includes an exterior shoulder 92 and a pair of radially outwardly extending lugs 94 spaced a short distance below the shoulder 92. In order to mount the assembly 16 on the bracket 46 the lower end is inserted first through opening 62 and thence downwardly through opening 52. Extensions 96 on opening 62 permit lugs 94 to pass through plate 56. Ultimately, shoulder 92 comes to rest on the upper surface of plate 56. The orientation of the assembly may be adjusted by moving bracket 72.

In operation of our carbonator nozzle, in connection with a machine such as that schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, carbonated water is supplied to the inlet of the normally closed valve 34. Upon the initiation of a dispensing operation, after a cup 10 has been delivered to a tray 12, solenoid 36 is energized in a manner known to the art to permit carbonated water to flow to the nozzle assembly 16.

The carbonated water thus fed to the nozzle inlet exerts sufficient pressure against valve 76 to move it away from seat 88. The carbonated water then flows past the seat and through the restricted space between the wall of the nozzle bore and the valve to be discharged into the cup.

For carbonated drinks the optimum temperature is about 40.degree. to 42.degree. F. At this temperature the volume of gas in the drink is about 3.5 percent.

When it becomes necessary to clean our nozzle assembly the clip 98 is removed to release the assembly. With hose 32 disconnected the inlet member 80 can be screwed out of the bore 74 and plug 76 and the spring easily removed. The parts may readily be reassembled in the same manner. The simplicity of our arrangement will readily be apparent. It includes only five parts: the nozzle, the inlet member, the valve, the spring and an O-ring.

It will be seen that we have accomplished the objects of our invention. We have provided a carbonator nozzle assembly which overcomes the defects of nozzles of the prior art used in carbonated-beverage-merchandising machines. Our assembly is easily cleaned. It permits adjustment of the degree of carbonation of the carbonated water. It is simple in construction and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of our claims. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in details within the scope of our claims without departing from the spirit of our invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and described.

Claims

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a machine for dispensing a carbonated beverage to a cup at a delivery location, a carbonated water supply system including in combination, a supply of carbonated water, an elongated nozzle body having a longitudinal passage extending from an inlet end to a discharge end of said body, means forming a seat in said passage intermediate said ends, a valve located in said passage, means biasing said valve into engagement with said seat, means mounting said body with the discharge end of said passage directed toward said location, and means responsive to initiation of a dispensing operation of said machine for coupling said source to the inlet of said passage, said mounting means comprising spaced plates, said plates being formed with respective offset openings through which said body extends.

2. A system as in claim 1 in which said plates are vertically spaced, said mounting means further comprising means for adjusting the relative positions of the offset openings.

3. In a machine for dispensing a carbonated beverage to a cup at a delivery location, a carbonated water supply system including in combination, a supply of carbonated water, an elongated nozzle body, said body having a longitudinal passage extending therethrough from one end to a discharge end thereof, means mounting said body with the discharge end of said passage adjacent to said location, a valve-seat-forming member, means mounting said member in said one end of said passage for adjustment of the position of said seat along the length of said passageway, said member having a passage leading from an inlet past said seat to said body passage, a valve located in said body passage between said seat and said discharge end, means biasing said valve into engagement with said seat normally to close said body passage, and means responsive to initiation of a dispensing operation of said machine for coupling said inlet to said supply to cause carbonated water to move said valve away from said seat and to flow around said valve to said discharge end.

4. A system as in claim 3 in which said member-mounting means comprise external threads on said member and internal threads in said one end of said body passage.

5. A system as in claim 3 in which said seat is annular and in which said body passage and said valve are cylindrical, and in which said biasing means comprises a shoulder in said body passage and a spring biased between said shoulder and said valve.

6. A system as in claim 3 in which said body-mounting means comprises spaced upper and lower plates, respective laterally offset openings in said plates, said upper plate opening having lateral extensions, an external shoulder on said body having a dimension greater than the size of said upper plate opening, and means for adjusting the relative positions of the offset openings.

7. In a carbonated-beverage-dispensing machine, a valve assembly including in combination, an elongated nozzle body formed of synthetic resin, said body having a longitudinal passage extending therethrough from one end to a discharge end thereof, a valve-seat-forming member made of synthetic resin, means mounting said member in said one end of said passage for adjustment of the position of said seat along the length of said passage, said member having a passage leading from an inlet past said seat to said body passage, a valve formed of metal located in said body passage between said seat and said discharge end, and means biasing said valve into engagement with said seat normally to close said body of passage.

8. An assembly as in claim 7 in which said seat is annular and in which said body passage and said valve are cylindrical, and in which said biasing means comprises an internal shoulder in said body passage and a spring biased between said shoulder and said valve.

9. An assembly as in claim 7 in which said synthetic resin is a polycarbonate resin.

10. In a machine for dispensing a carbonated beverage to a cup at a delivery location, a carbonated water supply system including in combination, a supply of carbonated water, an elongated nozzle body having a passage therein extending from an inlet end to a discharge end of said body, means forming a seat in said passage intermediate said ends, said passage comprising a cylindrical portion extending from said seat toward said discharge end, an elongated cylindrical valve having a diameter slightly less than that of said cylindrical passage portion, said valve located in said passage portion, a spring for urging said valve into engagement with said seat, means mounting said body with the discharge end of said passage adjacent to said location, and means comprising a normally closed on-off valve between said source and said inlet end and responsive to initiation of a dispensing operation of said machine for coupling said source to said inlet end to cause said cylindrical valve to move away from said seat thus to provide a restricted passage for the flow of carbonated water between the valve and the cylindrical passage portion wall.

11. A system as in claim 10 including means accessible externally of said passage for adjusting the position of said seat along the passage.