The present invention relates to a new constructive solution of a refrigerating cell, dimensioned for the holding and dispensing of drinks which are indicatively contained in not rigid pockets or packages and with standardized capacity, being designed in particular to avoid as much as possible the thermal dispersion usually due to the presence of the actuating device of the tap, and to avoid the dispersion of the drink from the mouth of the tap.
It is the main feature of the present invention to provide for the carrying out of a refrigerating, or thermal treatment, cell, which is provided with a front opening, for the insertion and replacement of the standardized drink packages, said cell opening being equipped with a connector having the upper edge intended to contact a mouth of a tap of the piston type, to which a collar is applied, self centering and able to be accommodated in a fork which is present at an end of the support grid of the drink package to be used, beside at an edge which is present in a jacket integral to the cell opening and intended to hold and direct said connector and an actuating leverage of said tap, in order to allow the dispensing of the drink, without said tap, under the effect of the leverage movement, undergoing such vertical flexures to hinder or reduce the opening of the tap and without having thermal dispersions due to the remote activation of the tap.
It is known that some food drinks, for example table wine, or fruit juices, beside being available in bottles and packages, for example, a one-litre package, are also available in packages, for example, 3- or 5-litre packages, which allow substantial savings in the bottling step and, therefore, on the cost for the consumer, the quality of the liquid contained being equal.
Nevertheless, while the standard bottles allow an easy pouring of the drink in each glass, the larger packages are heavy and hard to handle, therefore require the presence of a tap, located at the base thereof, in order to be able to dispense the liquid without moving the package.
Among the several tap types available for this use, the piston ones turned out to be particularly efficient and widespread, which are essentially composed of an inlet mouth with flanging, to be applied at the base of one of the package walls, and of an orthogonal tap body, inside which a cylinder acting on a membrane is made slidable, in order to determine its opening or closure position on the underlying dispensing funnel, essentially in accordance with the teaching of EP 0 432.070.
According to the solution proposed in this patent, the piston movement, in order to allow the drink dispensing, is ensured by the manual lifting of a pair of side brackets, projecting from the tap body and being integral to the piston, said piston being associated to an elastic means which, in reaction to the lifting action, goes back to the closure position, whenever the action of manually lifting the brackets and the piston thereof ceases.
Usually, the standardized package for wine or other drink to be gradually poured is located on a support plane, for example, on the lunch or dinner table of the family or the group of people who use it, and it is not removed anymore, until the depletion thereof, to be then replaced by another similar package of the same drink, again provided with a tap thereof of the described type.
More advantageously, dealing with wine or other drink which is to be drunk at a proper temperature, it would be necessary to put each time the package in a refrigerating cell, in order to be then located on the dispensing site at each lunch or dinner but, actually, this system is hardly followed, for the unease it determines, beside the fact that, in the depletion step of the contents, in any case the problem arises of a second package to be refrigerated.
For this drawback, the state-of-the-art technique tried to find a remedy by making a refrigerating cell in which the drink container is firmly positioned in the refrigerating space thereof, while a particular dispensing tap thereof, as a sleeve, is entrapped by a vertically rotatable bracket, and while an underlying eccentric lever carries said tap from its closure position to the opening or drink dispensing position, such as proposed by FR 2.744.996.
According to this solution, while ensuring a sufficient rigidity of the tap, compared to the flexible surface of the container supporting it, a substantial thermal dispersion is caused on the cell wall where the tap is located, due to the room required by the horizontal translation movement of the control lever of the tap, rapidly hindering the refrigerating action of the cell.
Still according to said known solution, the gap between the dispensing hole of the tap and the support plane, for example, of the glass, determines a dispersion of the drink, which only partially centres the glass, also dirtying the support base of the cell and requiring, in any case, a frequent cleaning also of non-easily accessible parts.
On the other hand, irrespective of the thermal dispersion, when placing the drink container inside an isolated space, while using a tap of the type corresponding to the above-mentioned patent EP 0 432.070, the activation of the piston fins of such tap always requires the presence of an activation leverage at a relative distance, since said fins are not directly reachable by the operator's hand.
Leverages are known, although not currently applied to containers stored in controlled temperature cells, having the object to make the activation of the fins of the tap piston easier, by directly acting with the glass in aligning step with the mouth of the tap, and such leverages being applied to an angular bracket, which has a vertical wall against which a tap flange abuts, with the aim to avoid its vertical flexure, when the leverage biases its fins for the drink dispensing control.
In practice, said solution, even though not applicable to freezing compartments, does not prevent the tap to vertically move and to make the dispensing condition always uncertain, always requiring the involvement of both hands, in order to achieve the necessary stability.
The presence of this leverage further poses the drawback that, by increasing the gap between the dispensing mouth of the tap and the glass position, a dispersion of the drink and a not always perfect cleaning of the positioning space for the glass occur.
Another problem that in current leverage devices arises, even if applied to not refrigerated drinks, is given by the difficulty to be able to rapidly replace the empty container, so that the new tap is positioned in contact with the leverage always in the ideal conditions of rigidity and operation.
It is the main task of the present invention to be able to provide a refrigerating, or in any case a thermal treatment, cell, for the housing and a gradual dispensing of drinks, which cell ensures the best preservation of the inner temperature thereof, without substantial thermal dispersions due to the presence of a control device or leverage at a relative distance, for the activation of the dispensing tap.
Within the scope of this task, another important object of the present invention is to be able to activate the control leverage of the drink dispensing without its bias causing a flexure or a vertical translation of the tap, therefore always ensuring the best stability conditions of the tap and the control of the drink quantity and outlet direction.
A further object of the invention is to be able to provide a refrigerating or thermal treatment cell for drinks, the dispensing of which is made possible by using a single hand, for example, in the aligning of the glass against the leverage base.
Another important object of the invention is to be able to associate to the dispensing mouth of the tap a sleeve or connector which come along with and direct the coming out of the drink to the glass, avoiding the dispersions and the consequent poor cleaning, in relation to the height or gap with said glass and, therefore, to the leverage length.
Again, another object of the present invention is to be able to ensure the constant interchangeability of the packages to be applied to a single connector and the tap control leverage thereof,
The proposed task, and the other specified objects are in fact perfectly achieved by the present invention, which provides the carrying out of a refrigerating or thermal treatment cell, which is provided with a front opening equipped with a connector thereof, vertically moveable and having the upper edge intended to contact the outlet edge of the tap, such tap being pre-fastened to the treatment space of the cell and, therefore, self-centered to a fork or bracket, integral to the opening, which bracket makes it vertically rigid, due to the fact of engaging on a collar with shoulder which is preventively applied to the outlet end of the tap of the package of the drink to be dispensed.
A better understanding of the present invention and a verification of the achievement of the specified objects thereof is proposed and illustrated below, according to a preferred, although not exclusive, constructive embodiment thereof, also with the aid of 9 schematic Figures shown in the four annexed tables in which:
In all the Figures, the same details are represented, or are meant to be represented, with the same reference number.
According to the constructive solution schematically illustrated in the several specified
Said cell (1) is essentially composed of an inner space (11) which is closed on all sides, apart from the front side, where an opening (12) is hinged which has an upper part (12a) projecting from the lower part and provided with a small intermediate junction plane (12b), said opening (12) also having the function of allowing the insertion and placement of the stock containers (C2) and (C3), and of the container (C1) which is used, by suitably placing it on the grid or sloping base (13).
With reference to
Of course, different constructive solutions of similar cells (1) could be restricted to the holding of a single package (C1) or of a different number of such packages (C), by consequently adapting the dimensions and capacity of cell (1).
In
It is known that the dispensing control of the tap (R) is allotted to the lifting of its fins (R2) which can be easy, where manually carried out, but becomes not very reliable when it is carried out with control leverages at a relative distance, since each lever, by biasing the fins (R2) upwards, tends to vertically move and bend the tap (R), causing poor dispensing efficacy and a shifting of the outlet axis of the drink.
It is clear that, by wishing to ensure a constant temperature of the drink of the container (C1) included in the cell (1), the tap (R) is intended to stay inside the isolated space (11), and it is therefore necessary to apply a leverage which, by acting from outside the cell (1), does not have spaces with substantial thermal dispersion, while ensuring the rigidity of the tap (R) even in the case of a biasing of such leverage.
Underlying the present invention the very problem of securing the tap (R) arises, both in order to be able to apply thereto a spaced control leverage for the drink dispensing, and in order to be able to apply thereto a sleeve which drives the dispensed drink to the nearest point of the glass (B) or collecting vessel, wishing to avoid that these devices may essentially affect the thermal seal of the cell (1), all of that by using packages (C) and taps (R) of a commercial type.
The achievement of these objects is made possible by the application, on the outlet mouth (R3), of the standard tap (R), of a collar (20), as exemplified in
From the same
With reference to
In particular, from
The upper edge (31) of the jacket (30) extends in the shape of a circular crown only along part of its circumference, for example along 180°, having only an abutting function, as described below, while a suitable notch (32) defines the height of the remaining part of jacket (30) adjacent to said edge (31).
Said jacket (30) is further provided with a radial hole (33) allowing the passage of the tip of a flexible sleeve or connector (34), and with suitable radial holes for the application of fastening screws (35) of a perforated disk (36) having holes, for the closure of the bottom of the jacket (30).
Said jacket (30) accommodates therein a cylinder (40), provided with a hole (41) which, by axially starting from the upper and raised surface (42), comes out radially, in order to be able to accommodate the flexible sleeve (34), which is intended to come out also from the hole (33) of the jacket (30), along a pre-established length.
Said cylinder (40) is inserted from the jacket (30) base and stays entrapped therein by the fastening of the perforated disk (36), with its screws (35), the disk (36) being biased upwards by at least one elastic means (43) having an end resting on the drilled disk (36) and the opposite end accommodated in the recess (44) of said cylinder (40).
The position of maximum height which is achievable by the cylinder (40), inside the jacket (30), is defined by the presence of a plug (45) which rests its fulcrum to a lever (54), and which is acting in co-operation with a plug (46) which is fastened to the lower end of the jacket (30), as illustrated below.
With particular reference to
A control handle or lever (50) is rigidly integral to a plate (51), by being, for example, welded thereto, with suitable inclination.
Said plate (51) has one of its ends hinged to the plug (46) of the jacket (30), and has a pin (52), on its opposite end, which is entrapped in a slot (53) at an end of the lever (54), which rests its fulcrum to the pin (45) of the cylinder (40).
With specific reference to
Still with reference to
From the standard resting position of
The same biasing of the handle (50), however, causes the lifting of the vertical shafts (61) and (62), with consequent sliding in the seats of the cylinder (40) and edge (31), in order to effect the desired lifting of the fins (R2), by which the opening of the tap (R) and the dispensing of the drink of the container (C1) are controlled, while, upon ceasing the bias on the handle (50), the immediate lowering of the shafts (61) and (62) occurs, hence closing the tap (R).
From what has been until now described it is inferred how, in fact, the presence of the leverage (50)-(51)-(54) on the pins (45) and (46), and the shafts (61)-(62), beside the presence of the jacket (30) with the cylinder (40) and the sleeve (34) thereof, make possible a control of the tap (R) from a limited distance, thereby ensuring a substantial thermal sealing of the cell (1), and without dispersion of the drink to be dispensed along the gap from the tap (R) to the glass (B), in accordance with various specified objects.
With particular reference to
It has already been indicated that the container (C1) is preventively fastened in the correct position on the grid (13) inside the space (11) of the cell (1), by being positioned therein by means of saddles or guides dimensioned in relation to the container capacity, for example for 3- or 5-liter packages, and said grid (13) being able to be made liftable, for the housing of other stock packages (C2) and/or (C3).
The end (130) of said grid (13), in suitable axial position of the cell (1), has a projection (131) which is shaped as a fork or semicircular crown, having a co-axial hole (132) which is opened on the inner side of one shoulder (133) thereof.
The same projection (131) has an opened undercut or flaring (134) concentric to said hole (132), which is always open towards the inner side of the shoulder (133).
A little hook (135) is hinged to the wall (133) of the projection (131), and is associated with an elastic means (136), in order to be able to bend and thus accommodate the edge of a flange (R4) which is usually present in each tap (R), in order to allow a first fastening of the tap (R) in its correct position on the grid (13), at the time of positioning the package (C1).
In order to be able to arrange the flange (R4) in the pre-fastening little hook (135) of the tap (R), it is necessary to accommodate at the same time the base diameter of the collar (20), already applied on the outlet edge (R3) of said tap (R), in the seat (132) of the grid (13) and consequently accommodate its shoulder (21) in the flaring (134) of its end (131), thus ensuring both the vertical and the horizontal locking thereof.
A light pressure on the little hook (135) allows overcoming the force of the elastic means (136), thereby lightly lifting the flange (R4) and unlocking the tap (R) from the little hook (135) and the fork (131).
At the time of closing the opening (12), the semi-cylindrical or fork edge (31) of the said (30) is in superimposition with the end (131) and its fork hole (132) of the grid (13), cooperating so as to avoid any vertical oscillations, also in the bias step of the leverage on the fins (R2) of the tap (R) which is locked thereto.
At the same time, the raised edge (42) of the cylinder (40) is inserted in the flaring (134) of said end (131), causing a further radial locking of the tap (R), co-operating with the pre-fastening of the hook (135).
With the snugly locking of the tap (R), both to the fixed end (131) of the grid (13), and to the mobile edge (31) of the opening (12) of the cell (1), and to the transversal hook (135), the control at a relative distance of the fins (R2) of the tap (R) is made possible, which tap stays inside the space (11) at a controlled temperature, without causing the thermal dispersion for the drink which is contained in the container (C1), beside being able to dispense the drink to the edge of the collecting glass (B), by means of the flexible sleeve or connector (34), in accordance with the specified objects.
Of course, the constructive solution until now described and illustrated is to be meant, as already specified, merely indicative and not limiting.
It is, in fact, possible, for example, to provide another leverage, of a known type, in any case adapted to locate the sleeve (34) against the mouth (R3) of the tap (R) and to actuate the small levers (R2) of the tap (R), as well as it is possible to produce taps (R) which are already provided with an outlet mouth (R3) integrating the shape of the collar (20) and of the shoulder (21) thereof.
As already cited, with reference to
In particular, in
A pin (46′), integral to the plate (51′), allows for the hinging of a handle (50′) the eccentric end of which can bias upwards the plate (51′) until contacting the base side of the box (40′), overcoming the resistance of the springs (43′), while a suitable telescopic intermediate guide allows the appropriate verticality thereof.
A jacket (30′) is shaped so as to be able to stably and removably hold said box (40′) with the sleeve (34′) and the base plate (51′), letting only the bottom handle (50′) and the ends of the shafts (61′) and (62′) project, beside the end of said sleeve (34′).
Said jacket or container (30′) is provided with an upper surface (31′) with semicircle central opening which is adapted to accommodate the tap (R) base, while between said surface (31′) and the top of the box (40′) another pair of springs (43″) is interposed, which are wrapped to the shafts (61′)-(62′) and abutting against the inner surface of the plane (31′), in order to impart stability to the resting or closure position of the handle (50′).
Said jacket (30′) is then housed in a container (49) which allows the housing and fastening thereof to the inner surface of the lower part of the opening (12), so that from said opening (12) only the final end of the sleeve (34′) and the handle (50′) project.
According to this first constructive variation, in the space underlying the upper surface (31′) of the jacket (30′), a projection (131′) of the end (130′) inserts itself, which is secured to the grid (13) of the cell (1) by means of a appropriate base.
Said projection (131′) is semi-circular-fork-shaped, having its co-axial hole (132′) on the inner side of the shoulder (133′) thereof, where the collar (20) of the tap (R) is intended to be housed, in the same way as was already illustrated for the first version.
According to this second version, as a replacement of the small hook (135), for the first locking of the tap at the end (130′) of the grid (13), the presence of a lock bolt (135′) is provided which, by sliding along a special guide of the end (131′) slips manually into the undercut (R4) of the tap (R), thus ensuring an identical first locking.
According to this constructive solution, upon the movement of the handle (50′) a lifting of the plate (51′) is achieved, as well as a lifting of the sleeve (34′) mouth at the dispensing mouth (R3) of the tap (R) and a lifting of the shafts (61′) and (62′), which thereby act upon the fins (R2) of the tap (R), in order to effect its opening and the conveying of the drink of the container (C1) into the sleeve (34′), then in the glass (B) below.
As the illustrated one, other constructive variations are possible, for example providing the application of the tap (R) on the short side of the package (C), so as to be able to reduce the cell (C) height and to exploit its depth at best.
Again, it is possible to provide cells (1) which are provided with a space (11) adapted to accommodate only one package (C1), and completed, for example, by the presence of a handle, which makes the transport thereof easy in each dispensing situation of the refrigerated drink.
These and other similar modifications or adaptations are in any case to be intended as falling within the originality of the invention which is designed to be protected.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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BL2006A000025 | Jul 2006 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2007/006388 | 7/18/2007 | WO | 00 | 1/15/2009 |