Beverage Dispenser for Filling Cups With Automatic Level Responsive Shut-Off of Dispensing

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to a beverage dispensing head having an electrically conductive actuator lever that when pushed by a cup starts dispensing and which when contacted by beverage in the cup passes an electrical signal to a dispensing control circuit that automatically terminates dispensing, and also to a new conductive lever for a beverage dispensing head, and to a new beverage dispenser.

2. The Prior Art

The most relevant known prior art is L. D. McIntosh U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,963 of Nov. 4, 1975, which is owned by The Cornelius Company, assignee of the present invention, McIntosh is the original and first inventor of an automatic beverage dispensing system in which dispensing is started by the placement of a cup under a nozzle and against and into a movable conductive actuator lever, and then automatically terminated when the beverage in the cup reaches and touches the lever. The beverage reaching and touching the lever is electrically sensed via a small electrical potential sent into the cup and and then to the lever via the beverage in the cup. McIntosh will properly fill a cup regardless of how much ice is in it, regardless of the diameter of the cup and regardless of variations in the height of the cup.

A. M. Reichenberger U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,553 has application of a voltage potential upon the beverage in the dispensing head, and a conductive cup lever which will accommodate a range of different height cups.

J. E. Haynes U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,765 has two probes which are inserted into the cup to control a single filling level and give automatic shut-off at this single level.

H. R. Karlen U.S. Pat. No. 2,639,078 has a coffee machine in which the coffee pot carries a single level probe connectible to an electronic shut-off control.

D. Nickerson U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,645 has a two-level electronic fill control using either a short or tall probe inside of a beverage cup.

All of the foregoing have suffered from excessive complexity and the disclosed embodiments have not enjoyed commercial success, save for Karlen. Sanitation of the actuation lever has been a problem, as McIntosh, Reichenberger and the others all require the beverage to contact a conductive lever member, and insects and the like can land on these members and feed on the residual beverage left on the conductive lever. Some of the previous levers have been difficult to clean and keep sanitary. Sanitation is becoming more and more important with the re-emergence of draft beer and with the relatively new soft drinks containing high percentages of natural juices. Sanitation is now becoming acutely important with the emergence of viral disease transmission. The prior art is not sufficiently sanitary to work with 100 percent juice, high percentage juice soft drinks, or beer. Electrical shunting and feed back are also a problem because of cross-feed from adjacent valves, and because the prior art device must be washed and cleaned very carefully and then completely dried to prevent electrical malfunctions.

Push back of almost empty cups has also been a problem. The prior devices tend to push back an empty cup and then stop dispensing with an almost empty cup. The weight of an empty cup has not been enough to hold the actuator lever back, without the cup being manually held.

The concept of McIntosh in 1975 was very promising and was very well received, but further invention is needed to attain commercial success.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispensing head having an improved electrically conductive actuator lever for starting and stopping dispensing.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved actuator lever having a conductive probe, for a beverage dispensing valve.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a beverage dispensing valve actuator lever having a new and improved sanitary and highly reliable construction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sanitary beverage dispensing valve actuator having an electrically conductive and heated beverage level probe.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a semi-automatic beverage dispensing head with a sanitary conductive plastic actuator lever of reliable and simplified construction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved beverage dispensing valve having an improved structure for applying an electrical potential upon the beverage.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved beverage dispenser having improved cup rest structure for holding a cup against an actuator lever.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sanitary method of dispensing beverage with automatic termination of the dispensing at a precise level in a cup.

These and other objects of the invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon review of or use of the teachings herein.

According to the principles of the present invention, a beverage dispenser head having a nozzle, cup support, solenoid controlled valve, and electrical control circuit for the solenoid, has the improvement of a fulcrum in the valve body, an actuator lever extending down from the fulcrum with a dielectric journal mounted to the fulcrum and a conductive probe extending down from the journal, and an electrical lead connected to the probe at a level below the fulcrum.

A combination beverage level probe and dispensing actuator lever for a beverage dispensing head has a dielectric journal piece, an elongate electrically conductive probe secured to the journal piece, and structure for connection of an electrical lead to the probe.

A combination beverage level probe and dispensing actuator lever has an elongate electrically conductive metal tube having a closed upper and lower ends and structure for connection of an electrical lead, and suspension structure for rotatably hanging the tube from a dispensing head.

A beverage head combination beverage level probe and actuator lever has pivotal suspension structure, a hollow electrically conductive beverage level probe, having a leading edge for engaging a cup rim, an electric resistance heater element inside of the probe, a switch actuator, a first electrical lead from the probe, and a second electrical lead extending out of the probe from the heater.

A beverage dispenser combination beverage level probe and actuator lever has pivotal suspension structure, an elongate electrically and thermally conductive hollow metal tubular probe, a heater element in the tubular probe, a first lead from the probe, and a second lead out of the probe from the heater.

A beverage dispenser head with a nozzle, cup support, solenoid controlled valve, and electrical control circuit has an improved combination actuation lever and beverage level probe of electrically conductive plastic and a lead from the plastic lever to the control.

A beverage dispensing head having a valve body, nozzle, cup support, combination beverage level probe and actuator, and electrical control circuit has the improvement of an electrically conductive plug in the valve body and extending into a beverage passageway, and a source of electric potential connected to the plug.

An automatic shut-off beverage dispenser has a housing, a dispensing head mounted on the housing with the head having a combination beverage level probe and actuator lever, and a drip tray and cup rest having an improved structure for holding the cup against the lever.

A sanitary method of dispensing beverage into a cup and automatically shutting off beverage flow when the cup is filled has the steps of pushing back an actuator lever with a cup, terminating dispensing when the beverage in the cup reaches and makes contact with the lever by sending an electrical signal through the beverage and the lever to a control, withdrawing the cup from the lever, and heating the lever to keep it sanitary.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is set forth and shown by way of illustrative example.

FIG. 1 is an elevational side view of the beverage dispenser of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of the electrical circuitry of the structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational side view detail of the combination beverage probe and actuator lever of the dispenser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a broken apart view of the structure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is the structure of FIG. 3 with an optional heater for sanitation;

FIG. 6 is an elevational side view similar to FIG. 3, but with electrically conductive plastic componentry in the beverage dispensing valve.

The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when embodied in a beverage dispenser such as shown in FIG. 1 and generally indicated by the numeral 10. The dispenser 10 has a housing 12, at least one and preferably more beverage dispensing heads each of which is generally indicated by the numeral 14, a drip tray 16, cup a rest 18 and a beverage supply line 20 which is for connection to a source of beverage 22. The dispensing head 14, which will individually hereinafter simply be referred to as the head 14, is often commonly referred to as a dispensing valve. The most common forms of dispensers 10 have four, five or six discrete heads 14, but some dispensers 10 are seen with only one head 14, particularly when used for beer. A specific example of a head 4 such as used herein is the subject of Forrest Austin U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,675 entitled "Beverage Dispensing Valve". The head 14, if for a past-mix soft drink will have discrete water and syrup supply lines, even though only a single line is shown as though the head 14 were for beer or pre-mix soft drink. In a post-mix head 14, the water and syrup are dispensed concurrently, some heads 14 having one operating solenoid and some having two operating solenoids connected in parallel to work concurrently.

The head 14 has a valve body generally indicated by the numeral 24, a nozzle 26, at least one and most frequently two normally closed (NC) valves 28 which is or are connected to and are openable by a solenoid 30. The head 14 has a combination beverage lever probe and actuator lever generally indicated by the numeral 32 which is an important feature of the present invention and which will hereafter simply be referred to as the lever 32. The lever 32 has a dielectric switch actuator 34 which engages and closes a normally open (NO) switch 36 when the lever 32 is pushed rearward by a cup 38. The switch 36 causes the solenoid 30 to become energized to open the valve 28 and start dispensing of beverage into the cup 38. A low voltage potential is applied by an electronic control 40 through a second lead 80 to the beverage in the supply line 20 and when beverage in the cup 38 reaches and makes contact with the lever 32, an electrical signal is sent through the beverage and the lever 32 by the control circuit 40 which automatically terminates dispensing. This basic device is the subject of and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,963; incorporated hereinto by this reference thereto.

The lever 32 as shown in FIGS. 2-5 is suspended from a lever fulcrum 42 in the valve body 24 and at a level above the level of the nozzle 26. A dielectric plastic journal piece generally indicated by the numeral 44 has a dielectric hub 45 pivotally suspended on the fulcrum 42 and forms the upper portion of the lever 32. A dielectric front surface 46 of the journal piece 44 abuts against a dielectric backside of the nozzle 26 which gives a positive stop and location of the lever 32 with respect to the nozzle 26, as well as providing electrical isolation. The downward extending part of the lever 32 is a hollow stainless steel metal tube 48 mounted to the journal piece 44. The tube 48 is an elongate length of lightweight hollow tube having its bottom 50 spun and welded shut, and its top end flattened and closed into a mounting flange 52. The flange 52 has a slotted keyway 54 which is precisely fitted to a key 56 on the journal piece 44. A mounting screw 58 is driven through a terminal 60 of a control lead 62, and through an aperture 64 in the flange 52, and into a threaded bore 66 in the lower leg 68 of the journal piece 44 to selectively connect the lead 62 to the tube 48 and to fasten the lead 62, and tube 48 to the backside of the journal piece 44. After the screw 58 is driven in and tightened, a dielectric sheath 70 is slipped up and over the lower leg 68, the flange 52, terminal 60 and screw 58 and is shrunk onto the lever 32, flange 52, terminal 60 and screw 58 to positively lock and hold the assembly together and to electrically insulate the top of the tube 48. The lever 32 extends downward out of the valve body 24 through a drain port 72 in a floor of the head 14. The sheath 70 extends through the drain port 72 so that the electrically conductive tube 48 is not exposed in the valve body 24. The lower leg 68 and switch actuator 34 are on opposite sides of the journal piece 44 and are spaced from each other so that the tube 48 is entirely below the fulcrum 42, the switch actuator 34 and the switch 36 so that the electrically conductive tube 48 is electrically isolated from the fulcrum 42. The sheath 70 extends downward to at least the mid level of the nozzle 26 and protects the electric connection from splashing syrup and water. The lead terminal 60 is fastened to the lever 32 below the fulcrum 42 and the lead 62 runs up past the fulcrum 42. This construction minimizes flexing of the lead 62 and extends the life expectancy. The tube 48 is spaced rearward of the fulcrum 42 and has a rearward directed offset 74 which is to the rear of and below the nozzle 26 and which tends to keep a cup 38 spaced below the nozzle 26 so that beverage is not forced up onto the nozzle 26 and into the valve body 24 by a prankster. The tube 48 is very light and exerts minimum forward torque against the cup 38. This significantly helps to prevent the cup 38 from being pushed forward by the lever 32 and having the dispenser 10 prematurely shut off. The downward extending end of the tube 48 has a slightly flattened section which provides a flat leading surface 75 for engagement with the cup 38.

In the lever of FIG. 5, an electrical resistance heater element 76 is inside of the tube 48, and a pair of leads 78 from the heater 76 extended through and out of the tube 48 through an aperture below the flange 52. The heater 76 will heat the tube 48 to a temperature sufficiently high to keep insects off and to keep the tube 48 dry, sanitary, and free of contaminants. The heater 76 is spaced well below the valve body 24 so that little, if any, heat gets back to the beverage for prevention of warm-up and foaming of the beverage. This may enable refilling of glasses, beer mugs and glasses, mugs or pitchers whereas otherwise new pitchers would be required.

In FIG. 6, a preferred structure for applying an electric potential to the beverage is shown. A second lead 80 from the control circuit 40 is connected to a conductive plastic housing 82 of an adjustable beverage volumetric flow rate control valve generally indicated by the numeral. The lead 80 is conductively fastened to and connected to the conductive plastic housing 82 by a screw 86 driven into the valve body 24, the screw 86 holds the conductive plastic housing 82 in the valve body 24 to plug an opening leading into the beverage passageway 88. An alternative low cost, lightweight contiguous single piece plastic combination beverage probe and actuator lever 32A is also shown. The alternative plastic lever 32A and plastic flow control housing 82 are both molded of an electrically conductive FDA approved thermo-plastic such as carbon fiber-filled polycarbonate or nylon.

The alternative plastic lever 32A has a very light downward extending cup engaging portion 75A that is offset to the rear of the fulcrum 42. Again the forward moment of the lever 32A is minimized so that an empty cup 38 is not pushed back by the lever 32A. While this alternative lever 32A may not provide the exceptionally high degree of electrical isolation that is provided by the preferred lever 32, the alternative lever 32A is lower cost and may be commercially preferrable even though it may not be cleaned with a water spray and left wet as can the preferred lever 32. The plastic lever 32A may be cored out and may also have a heater 76 in it. The lead 62 is connected to the lever 32A by the screw 58 being tightened into an electrically conductive metal insert 79 embedded in the plastic lever 32A. The top of the alternative lever 32A may be dipped in a varnish or similar material to provide a dielectric exterior and electrical insulation from the fulcrum 42 and valve body 24 and nozzle 26.

The cup rest 18 as shown in FIG. 1 is tilted rearward towards the lever 32 to hold the cup 38 in a position biased against the lever 32. The rest 18 has transverse grate members 90 that have rear edges that face against the cup 38 bottom and tend to hold the cup 38 against the lever 32, and hold the cup 38 against the push back of the lever 32 so that the lever 32 does not push an almost empty cup 38 back and shut off the dispenser 10. The outer surfaces of the cup rest 18 are preferably dielectric to prevent cross circuitry from one dispensing head 14 to another when two or more adjacent heads 14 are concurrently dispensing. The cup rest 18 may be nylon coated steel as an example. The cup rest 18 has front and rear legs 92F, 92R. Tubular dielectric plastic spacers are secured to the front legs 92F to hold up the front of the cup rest 18 and tilt it toward the lever 32. The tilt, the grates 90 and the lightweight lever 32 all contribute to enable an almost empty cup to hold the lever 32 back.

The circuitry is shown in FIG. 2 wherein the control circuit 40 contains the control logic. A complete circuit is disclosed and explained in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,963. Briefly , line voltage of about 24 VAC is to be fed to a normally unenergized control 40 through the NO actuator switch 36. The switch 36 closes in response to pivotal movement of the lever 32 and the control 40 becomes energized and effects energization of the solenoid 30 and opening of the NC beverage valves 28 whereupon beverage flows into the cup 38. When the beverage in the cup 38 reaches the cup rim and contacts the lever 32, an electrical signal is sent from the second lead 80 through the conductive flow control housing 82, the beverage in the passageway 88 and nozzle 26, and the beverage in the cup 38 and the flowing stream beverage from the nozzle 26 to the cup 12, to the lever 32 and then up the first lead 62 to the control 40. When the control 40 receives the signal, the control 40 de-energizes the solenoid 30 and dispensing is automatically terminated. A time delay can be provided to take into account premature shut-off due to foam or bubbles on top of the real beverage level. Such a delay device is shown in Reichenberger U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,553. The heater 76 can be hooked directly to the supply power and can be continuously energized, or it can be under the control of a control gate 94 that may be a latchable timer, driven by the control 40. At each occurrence of dispensing, the heater 76 can be turned on for an appropriate time, and then turned off. If the dispenser 10 has not been used for some time, say an hour, the control 40 may turn off the heater 76 and it may stay turned off overnight until the first dispensing cycle in the morning. The exact criteria for operation of the heater 76 will depend to a great degree upon the environment, the local sanitation agencies, and the operator of the dispenser 10.

Although other advantages may be found and realized and various modifications may be suggested to those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.