The present invention relates to a beverage cartridge for use in a beverage dispensing system and to a beverage dispensing system per se.
It is well known that beverage dispensing machines make use of beverage-related fluid substances that are used in the preparation of a beverage for a user. The fluid substance may include but are not limited to coffee extracts, tea extracts, chocolate beverages or concentrates for their preparation, milk, flavors and the like. The beverage-related fluid substances are supplied to the dispensing machines in beverage cartridges. Since a dispensing machine will typically carry a range of beverage cartridges and a heavily used dispensing machine will need to be frequently re-stocked, the design of the mechanical interface between a beverage cartridge and the dispensing machine is a key design concern.
The present invention aims generally to address such concerns.
EP 1806314 discloses a beverage package that is removably dockable to a beverage dispensing machine. The beverage package comprises a container for a base liquid and a mixing device having an in-built pump. The pump is driven from the dispensing machine and the prepared beverage exits the mixing device from an outlet at the bottom of the mixing device.
With this background in mind, according to a first aspect, the present invention may provide a beverage cartridge for use in a beverage dispensing system, comprising:
a housing, and located within the housing, a container for accommodating a beverage-related fluid substance and a driven element;
a drive port via which a driving torque may be delivered to the driven element; and
a fluid outlet port via which the fluid substance may be expelled from the cartridge;
wherein the fluid outlet port and the drive port are located on the same side of the housing.
By locating the required input (drive) port and the required output (fluid) port on the same side of the housing, the present invention enables both the couplings connecting the cartridge to a dispenser to be relatively short, direct couplings which is beneficial in terms of simplicity of design and reliability.
According to a second aspect, the present invention may provide a beverage dispensing system, comprising:
a beverage cartridge according to the first aspect of the invention; and
a dispenser comprising a dispensing assembly having a mixer;
wherein the system comprises a drive coupling for transmitting torque from the dispensing assembly to the driven element and a fluid coupling for conveying fluid substance from the container to the dispensing assembly.
Preferably, the drive coupling has a longitudinal axis and the fluid coupling has a longitudinal axis, and said longitudinal axes are substantially parallel.
By providing parallel couplings which are located on the same side of the housing, the design of the dispensing assembly may be compact (as compared with a system in which the couplings are connected via different sides of the cartridge). In addition, the present invention enables the dispenser and cartridge to be connected by a push-fit arrangement in which the push direction is in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the couplings.
The fluid coupling may comprise a dispenser connection part and a cartridge connection part, and the drive coupling may comprise a dispenser connection part and a cartridge connection part. For either coupling, the junction between the dispenser connection part and the cartridge connection part may be inside the housing cartridge, outside the cartridge housing or at the respective port. Further, for either coupling, either the dispenser connection part may be a male part and the cartridge connection part a female part, or vice versa.
In a preferred embodiment, the cartridge connection part of the fluid coupling and the cartridge connection part of the drive coupling both project from their associated ports.
It is further preferred that the driven element is a pump for expelling and dosing the fluid substance from the cartridge. In this regard the pump advantageously is a rotating volumetric pump, such as a gear pump. Conveniently thereby rotation of the drive coupling by a drive unit in the dispenser provides the driving torque to rotate the pump located within the housing of the beverage cartridge.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a) and 2(b) show a top view and side view, respectively, of
a) and 3(b) show schematic side views of a beverage cartridge before and after connection to a dispensing assembly in a second beverage dispensing system.
A first beverage dispensing system 10 is shown in
The system 10 further comprises a disposable beverage cartridge 50. The cartridge 50 comprises an external housing 52 shaped like a regular, six-faced, oblong box. The cartridge 50 further comprises, located within the housing 52, a container (not shown) which accommodates a beverage-related fluid substance. The beverage-related fluid substance may comprise coffee extracts, tea extracts, chocolate concentrates or ready-to-drink fluid substances like milk. The cartridge 50 further comprises, located within the housing 52, a pump (not shown). Such pumps are conventional, but in conjunction with the present invention a positive volumetric displacement pump is preferred to enable accurate dosing. One of the faces designated 52a of the housing 52 is provided with a drive port 53a and a fluid outlet port 53b. The pump comprises a female drive connection part (not shown) which is adapted to receive the end of the drive axle 60. The positive displacement pump therefore is advantageously a rotating volumetric pump, such as a gear pump. The cartridge 50 further comprises a female fluid connection part (not shown) which is adapted to receive the end of the inlet conduit 30.
The cartridge 50 may be connected to the dispensing assembly 19 by first positioning the cartridge 50 such that the drive axle 60 is in alignment with the drive port 53a, and the inlet conduit 30 is in alignment with the fluid outlet port 53b and then moving the cartridge 50 towards the dispensing assembly 19 along the axes f, d, whereby the drive axle 60 passes through the drive port 53a and is pushed into driving engagement with the female drive connection part of the pump, and the inlet conduit 30 passes through the fluid outlet port 53b and is pushed into engagement with the female fluid connection part of the container, thereby putting the mixer 20 into fluid communication with the container. Thereafter, when the drive unit 58 is activated, the drive axle 60 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow R about its longitudinal axis d. The rotation of the axle 60 provides the driving torque to operate the pump which pumps the fluid substance from the cartridge 50 along the inlet conduit 30 to the dispensing assembly 19 where it is used in the preparation of a beverage. Preferably therefore the fluid substance is pumped in an accurate amount, so as to precisely dose it into the mixer 20.
It will be appreciated that by designing the cartridge 50 such that the external mechanical connections necessary for its operation are localized to the same side of the housing 15, the couplings between the dispenser assembly 19 and the cartridge 50 can be kept relatively short and direct which is beneficial in terms of design and reliability of those couplings, particularly the drive coupling. In addition, since the couplings both extend in one direction (along parallel axes), not only do the couplings themselves occupy a limited space, but they permit and encourage a compact design of the dispensing assembly 19 too. Furthermore, the parallel couplings enable the couplings to be established by a single push-fit operation connecting the constituent connection parts together substantially simultaneously.
When subsequently, parts similar to those described in relation to the first beverage system shown in
Parts of a second beverage dispensing system 10 are shown in
Other details of the dispensing assembly 19 are similar to those described in relation to the first beverage dispensing system but have been omitted from the drawings for diagrammatic simplicity.
The system 10 further comprises a refillable beverage cartridge 50. The cartridge 50 comprises an external housing 52 having a leading side 52a, a trailing side 52b, and four lateral sides 52c-f. Lateral side 52f is not visible in
The cartridge 50 may be connected to the dispensing assembly 19 by first positioning the cartridge 50 as shown in
It will be appreciated that such an arrangement allows an operator to load a fresh cartridge 50 simply by aligning the cartridge 50 with the loading channel 16a of one of the dispensing assemblies and then pushing it so that it slides into its operational position. Such a straightforward loading operation is readily achieved even in cramped conditions. As a result, the housing of a dispenser may be arranged to host a greater number of dispensing assemblies and the access to a given dispensing assembly may be relatively poor without placing too onerous a burden on the operator.
In other embodiments, instead of a pump, other types of driven element may be used. For example, in one embodiment, the fluid substance is stored with a pressurized head space and the driven element comprises a stirrer.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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EP09171273.7 | Sep 2009 | EP | regional |
The present application is a continuation of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/NL2010/050623 filed on Sep. 24, 2010; which claimed priority to European Application No. EP09171273.7 filed on Sep. 24, 2009, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/NL2010/050623 | Sep 2010 | US |
Child | 13427491 | US |