Patent Application
20070295748
One aspect of the present invention provides a beverage dispensing apparatus comprising a fluid chamber, a mouth piece connected to the fluid chamber, a trigger for dispensing a unit measured quantity of fluid from the fluid chamber to the mouthpiece in response to activation of the trigger, a counter for counting the unit measured quantities of fluid dispensed, and a display connected to the counter for displaying the unit measured quantities of fluid remaining in the fluid chamber.
The counter may comprise an integrated circuit chip for counting the unit measured quantities of fluid dispensed and for calculating the unit measured quantities of fluid remaining in the fluid chamber.
The apparatus may further comprise a switch which closes in response to activation of the trigger wherein the circuit chip detects the unit quantities of fluid dispensed by counting the switch closures.
The display may display the unit measured quantities of fluid dispensed.
The apparatus may further include an alarm for producing a signal in response to the absence of detecting fluid dispensed over a certain time interval.
The apparatus may further include an alarm for producing a signal in response to the unit measured quantities of fluid remaining falling below a certain amount.
According to another aspect of the invention a beverage dispensing apparatus is provided, comprising a fluid chamber, a mouthpiece connected to the fluid chamber for dispensing a unit measured quantify of fluid from the fluid chamber to the mouthpiece in response to activation of the trigger, and a timing device for producing an alarm signal in response to the dispensing of fluid at a rate below a certain dispensing rate.
The timing device may produce an alarm signal in response to the dispensing rate being below a certain dispensing rate of 8 ounces every 20 minutes.
The alarm signal may be an audible signal. The alarm signal may be a visible signal.
The timing device may be an integrated circuit chip.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a beverage dispensing apparatus is provided comprising a fluid chamber, a mouthpiece connected to the fluid chamber, a trigger for dispensing a measured quantity of fluid from the fluid chamber to the mouthpiece in response to activation of the trigger, a counter for counting the unit measured quantities of fluid dispensed, a display connected to the counter for displaying the unit measured quantities of fluid remaining in the fluid chamber, and a timing device for producing an alarm signal in response to the dispensing of fluid at a rate below a certain dispensing rate.
According to another aspect of the invention a container system for dispensing a beverage is provided comprising a housing for receiving a package containing a beverage having a certain volume of beverage fluid, a dispenser in the housing for connecting with the package and for dispensing a certain amount of beverage fluid from the package upon a single activation of the dispenser by a user, a circuit connected to the dispenser for maintaining a count of the amount of fluid dispensed, and a display connected to the circuit for displaying information representing the amount of fluid dispensed.
The display may display information representing the amount of fluid remaining in the package.
Nonrigid, disposable pouch 08 is inserted through a bottom hatch (not shown) into the rigid, reusable vessel 02 by a user. A rigid draw tube 20, shown in
The semirigid, disposable cartridge 10 is inserted through a bottom hatch (not shown) into the rigid, reusable vessel 02. The rigid draw tube 20, shown in
The mouthpiece 06 further includes the rigid draw tube 20 that is connected to the upper dispensing portion 12 for piercing and drawing the beverage from either the nonrigid, disposable pouch 08 or the semirigid, disposable cartridge 10 into the space containing the spring 16 and defined by the sleeve 17 between the upper dispensing portion 12 and the lower dispensing portion 14 due to pressure inside the nonrigid, disposable pouch 08 or the semirigid, disposable cartridge 10.
Alternatively, the rigid draw tube 20 runs down the inner wall of the rigid, reusable vessel 02 and connects to a needle on the bottom hatch (not shown). The needle pierces and draws the beverage from one of the nonrigid, disposable pouch 08 or the semirigid, disposable cartridge 10 into the space between upper dispensing portion 12 and lower dispensing portion 14 due to pressure inside the nonrigid, disposable pouch 08 or the semirigid, disposable cartridge 10.
When the user compresses the trigger 04, the upper dispensing portion 12 and the lower dispensing portion 14 move toward each other and compress spring 16. The space between the upper dispensing portion 12 and the lower dispensing portion 14 is reduced, causing the beverage to be dispensed from the mouthpiece 06 through the opening 18.
A one-way valve may be provided to keep the fluid from going back into the cartridge.
The alarm may also sound when the disposable pouch is empty (or close to being empty) and needs to be replaced. The alarm may also sound when the rate of dispensing exceeds the desired rate according to the 20/8 rule. The display may indicate the units dispensed/remaining by way of a bar in the display or a series of bars, the number indicating units dispensed/remaining. The alarms may be different in audio or visual characteristics for different types of status indicators. For example, the alarm indicating need for fluid may be a beep of a certain duration certain frequency or certain quantity (single or multiple beeps). The alarm for indicating units dispensed or remaining may have different characteristics.
The dispenser may also include a pouch sensor switch 38 which senses when a fresh pouch has been loaded into the dispenser, to reset the count in the microprocessor to a full count. This resetting may be done by opening the switch when the pouch is removed from the dispenser. This could open or interrupt a low voltage circuit. The microprocessor would register this event, and reset to an initial inactive state. When a fresh pouch is inserted, the switch would close, completing the low voltage circuit. The microprocessor would register this event and is now prepared to register trigger switch events and count the units of fluid dispensed. The microprocessor includes a power source such as a battery. The various components of the microprocessor, switches and display/alarm may be connected through electrically conductive filaments embedded within the body of the dispenser. The microprocessor can be programmed to allow a user to program the time interval at which an alarm signal would be generated. For example, if the user wanted alerts every 7 minutes, he/she could (during an initialization mode) close the trigger switch 7 times. The count could default to a default setting of 8, for example, if the user does not customize the count.
If the user does not take a drink within one minute of the alert signal, the alert signal could be generated again, with different characteristics, such as a multiple beep instead of a single beep. After another minute of failure to dispense, the alert signal would be different again.
The dispenser may also have means, by way of a switch or other means, to reset the beverage units remaining when a new porch is installed. The IC chip could include a user operable switch to reset when the pouch is installed, or the switch may close automatically upon loading the pouch.
The above invention has been described with specific embodiments, but a person skilled in the art could introduce many variations on these embodiments without departing from the spirit of the disclosure or from the scope of the appended claims. The embodiments are not to be read as limiting the invention or its application. Therefore, the claims should be interpreted commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention.
