Claims
- 1. A beverage dispenser comprising:
- a housing forming a compartment,
- a beverage dispensing outlet mounted to the housing that dispenses a beverage, the outlet including a mixing valve that mixes potable water with a syrup to form the beverage, the mixing valve being adjustable to vary a mix ratio between the potable water and the syrup;
- a circuit board mounted in the compartment including electronic circuitry and coupled to the mixing valve to control the mix ratio between the potable water and the syrup;
- a removable splash plate mounted to the housing at a location proximate the beverage dispensing outlet that provides access to the circuit board in the compartment; and
- a shield intermediate the splash plate and the circuit board that protects the circuit board from the beverage when the splash plate is removed and beverage is being dispensed from the beverage dispensing outlet.
- 2. The beverage dispenser recited in claim 1, wherein the shield is transparent.
- 3. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 1, wherein the shield is flexible which allows a user to move the shield to gain access to the circuit board.
- 4. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 1, wherein the shield is vertically oriented and has a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion being fixed to the housing and the bottom portion being movable to provide access to the surface board.
- 5. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 1 further comprising a tray disposed beneath the outlet, wherein the splash plate is disposed between the outlet and the tray.
- 6. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 5, wherein the splash plate is rigid.
- 7. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 1 wherein the circuit board includes a potentiometer which controls the mixing valve and adjusts the mix ratio of the potable water and the syrup.
- 8. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
- a refrigerated compartment within the housing;
- a syrup container mounted within said refrigerated compartment adapted to hold syrup prior to being mixed with potable water;
- a syrup conduit connecting the syrup container and the beverage dispensing outlet; and,
- a potable water conduit which is connected to a supply of potable water and connects the potable water supply to the beverage dispensing outlet.
- 9. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 8 further comprising an ice bath tank disposed in the housing, wherein the potable water conduit is cooled by the ice bath tank.
- 10. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 8, wherein the shield is transparent.
- 11. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 8, wherein the shield is flexible.
- 12. The beverage dispenser as recited in claim 8 wherein the shield is vertically oriented and has a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion being fixed to the housing and the bottom portion being movable to provide access to the surface board.
- 13. A beverage dispenser comprising:
- a housing having an interior space including a refrigerated compartment adapted to receive a container that holds a syrup;
- a beverage dispensing outlet which disperses a beverage, the outlet including a mixing valve which mixes potable water and the syrup to form the beverage, said mixing valve being adjustable to vary a mix ratio between the syrup and the potable water;
- a syrup conduit mounted to the housing and coupled to the container that holds syrup;
- a potable water supply conduit that supplies the mixing valve with potable water, the potable water supply conduit being attachable to a supply of potable water;
- a circuit board disposed within the interior space of the housing and mounted to the housing; the circuit board being electrically coupled to the mixing valve and adapted to control the mix ratio of the potable water and syrup;
- a removable splash plate attachable to the housing that provides access through the housing to the circuit board in the interior space of housing; and
- a shield intermediate the splash plate and circuit board that protects the circuit board from the beverage when the removable splash plate is removed.
- 14. A beverage dispenser comprising:
- a cabinet having a frame and a removable plate;
- a circuit board mounted to the frame and enclosed within the cabinet;
- a shield coupled to the frame intermediate the circuit board and the removable plate, the shield comprising a material which is waterproof and at least partially transparent.
- 15. The dispenser of claim 14 wherein the circuit board is mounted vertically.
- 16. The dispenser of claim 14 wherein the shield includes a vertically oriented plastic sheet coupled to the frame, the sheet having a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion of the sheet being coupled to the frame, the bottom portion being movable relative to the frame.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/151,069 filed Nov. 10, 1993, now allowed.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1244907 |
Nov 1988 |
CAX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
151069 |
Nov 1993 |
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