Claims
- 1. A beverage brewing system, comprising:
- a base;
- a brewer mounted to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- a serving cart assembly having a cart with means for rolling the cart across the floor;
- a serving dispenser mounted on the cart for receipt of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser; and
- means for guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet said guiding means including:
- a pair of brewer guide members mounted to the base adjacent the floor and extending forwardly from the aft housing;
- a pair of cart guide members attached to the serving cart adjacent the floor for guding engagement with the pair of brewer guide members, respectively, to laterally guide the cart and serving dispenser into proper lateral alignment.
- 2. The beverage brewing system of claim 1 in which the pair of cart guide members have a pair of stop members extending outwardly from a center portion of the cart to blockingly engage forward ends of the brew guide members, respectively, to achieve correct depth alignment of the serving cart with the brewer.
- 3. The beverage brewing system of claim 1 including
- a second brewer mounted to the base alongside the one brewer with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at the relatively elevated position with respect to the floor, and
- a third brewer guide member attached to the serving cart spaced from a middle one of the pair of cart guide members for guiding engagement with the pair of cart guide members to guide the cart into proper alignment with the second brewer.
- 4. The beverage brewing system of claim 2 including another cart with a pair of cart guide members substantially identical to the one serving cart for guiding engagement with either of two sides of the middle guide member.
- 5. The beverage brewing system of claim 3 including
- a double serving cart,
- a double serving dispenser mounted on the cart for simultaneous receipt of brewed beverage from both the one and other brewer when properly aligned thereunder, and
- a double cart guide member attached to the cart at a location for guiding engagement with at least one of the brewer guide members.
- 6. The beverage brewing system of claim 5 in which said double cart guide is located for guiding engagement with the middle brewer guide member.
- 7. The beverage brewing system of claim 5 in which said double cart guide member is a female guide member with an opening for receipt of the brewer guide member.
- 8. The beverage brewing system of claim 5 in which the opening is canted for causing guided receipt of the middle guide member through the opening.
- 9. A beverage brewing system, comprising:
- a base;
- a brewer mounted to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- a serving cart assembly having a cart with means for rolling the cart across the floor;
- said cart having a pair of forward wheels and a pair of cart guide members protectively mounted on outer sides of the pair of forward wheels respectively;
- a serving dispenser mounted on the cart for receipt of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser; and
- means for guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet.
- 10. A beverage brewing system, comprising:
- a base;
- a brewer mounted to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a preselected, fixed distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a preselected, fixed releatively elevated, position with respect to a floor;
- a serving cart assembly having a cart with means for rolling the cart across the floor;
- a serving dispenser mounted on the cart for receipt through air of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser; and
- means for guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt through air and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet;
- said guiding means includes a cart guide members atttached to the cart and brewer guide member attached to the brewer, said cart guide members having beveled ends slanted inwardly toward each other to cammingly engage forward edges of the brewer guide members, respectively, to guide the serving cart into correct lateral alignment.
- 11. A beverage brewing system, comprising:
- a base;
- a brewer mounted to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- a serving cart assembly having a cart with means for rolling the cart across the floor;
- a serving dispenser mounted on the cart for receipt of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser including connectors for releasably holding the dispenser against sliding movement relative to the cart and to locate the dispenser in a preselected position relative to the guiding means; and
- means for guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet.
- 12. A beverage brewing system, comprising:
- a base;
- a brewer mounted to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- a serving cart assembly having a cart with means for rolling the cart across the floor;
- a serving dispenser mounted on the cart for receipt of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser; and
- means for guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet;
- said guiding means including
- a male guiding member attached to one of the brewer and the cart, and
- a female guiding member attached to another of the brewer and the cart for guiding receipt of the male member.
- 13. The beverage brewing system of claim 12 in which the male guiding member is attached to the brewer.
- 14. The beverage brewing system of claim 12 in which the female member has a canted opening for causing guide engagement with a forward end of the male guiding member.
- 15. The beverage brewing system of claim 14 in which the cart has a forward stop member for engagement with the brewer to achieve correct depth alignment.
- 16. A method of dispensing a freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:
- rolling an empty serving dispenser into guided horizontal alignment with a beverage brewer;
- horizontally aligning a beverage outlet of a beverage brewer with an outlet of the serving dispenser by mechanically guiding the inlet of the serving dispenser into alignment beneath the beverage outlet of the beverage brewer with at least one pair of mating guide members respectively carried by the brewer and the dispenser; and
- dispensing the freshly brewed beverage at the remote serving location.
- 17. The method of claim 16 including the step of disabling rolling movement of the dispenser with a brake to maintain the proper alignment.
- 18. A method of dispensing a freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:
- mounting a brewer to a base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor on wheels including a pair of forward wheels;
- rolling a serving cart assembly having a cart across the floor;
- mounting a serving dispenser on the cart for receiving a of brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser; and
- guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for direct receipt and storage of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet said step including the steps of guiding;
- guiding the serving cart assembly with a pair of brewer guide members to mounted the base adjacent the floor and extending forwardly from the aft brewer housing and cooperating with a pair of cart guide members attached to the serving cart adjacent the floor for guiding engagement with the pair of brewer guide members, respectively, for laterally guiding the cart and serving dispenser into proper lateral alignment.
- 19. A method of dispensing a freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:
- mounting a brewer to a base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- rolling a serving cart assembly having a cart across the floor on wheels including a pair of forward wheels;
- guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for directly receiving and storing of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet with a pair of cart guide members protectively mounted on outer sides of a pair of forward wheels, respectively attached to the cart and brewer guide members attached to the brewer.
- 20. A method of dispensing a freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:
- mounting a brewer to the base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- rolling a serving cart assembly having a cart across the floor;
- mounting a serving dispenser on the cart for receiving a brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser; and
- guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for directly receiving and storing of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet with cart guide members having beveled ends slanted inwardly toward each other to cammingly engage forward edges of the brew guide member respectively to guide the serving cart into correct lateral alignment.
- 21. A method of dispensing a freshly brewed beverage, comprising the steps of:
- mounting a brewer to a base having an aft housing, a forward housing with a beverage outlet mounted to the forward housing a distance away from the aft housing and supported by the base at a relatively elevated position with respect to a floor;
- rolling a serving cart assembly having a cart across the floor;
- mounting a serving dispenser on the cart for receiving a brewed beverage from the beverage outlet into an inlet nozzle on the serving dispenser; and
- guiding the serving cart assembly into proper alignment with the inlet nozzle of the serving dispenser directly beneath the beverage outlet for directly receiving and storing of freshly brewed beverage from the beverage outlet with a male guiding member attached to one of the brewer and the cart, and
- attaching a female guiding member attached to another of the brewer and the cart for guiding receipt of the male member.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application, Ser. No. 60/026,275, filed Sep. 18, 1996, and entitled "Brewer Systems, Apparatus and Methods of Operations and Use", the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
US Referenced Citations (6)