This invention refers to a faucet system for delivering beverages to a user.
There are faucet systems that are capable of providing a user with a variety of beverages via a single faucet spout, such as sparkling water, boiling or chilled water, flavored water or the like. However, the selection process of a specific beverage amongst all available beverages may be quite difficult for a user.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a faucet system that comprises an improved usability while ensuring a desired quality of the delivered beverages.
This object is solved according to the present invention, by a faucet system for delivering beverages to a user, wherein the faucet system comprises a first user interface which is connected to a first valve fluidically connected to a first inlet conduit and/or a second inlet conduit, and a first outlet conduit, wherein the first valve is configured to selectively at least partially open or close the first inlet conduit and/or the second inlet conduit such that either fluid supplied by the first inlet conduit or fluid supplied by the second inlet conduit or a mixture of these fluids or no fluid may be fed into the first outlet conduit, wherein mains water is supplied via the first inlet conduit and the second inlet conduit,
Advantageously, the first valve may be directly operated by a user using a mechanical handle. The first valve my be a mechanical or an electrical valve.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the first and second inlet conduits may merge at a point remote to the faucet and lead to the faucet as a mixed fluid via a common inlet conduit that may also be referred to as “the first inlet conduit”. In the case of a merging point of the first and second inlet conduits outside of the faucet, there is, consequently, no mixing of hot and cold mains water in the faucet. The second valve may preferably be an electrically operated valve but may, instead, also be a mechanical valve.
Especially, but not limited to this, the fluids that can be demanded using the second user interface, such as chilled water, hot water, and carbonized water, may be filtered before their supply to the spout outlet of the faucet. Preferably, these fluids are stored in respective tanks, as it is described in further detail below.
The present invention, thus, provides a faucet system with a more user-friendly interface. A user may, for example, either demand pure mains water by using the first user interface or demand one of the beverages options, for example sparkling water, by using the second interface or demand pure additive or flavored water by using solely the third interface or in combination with the second user interface (see below). Of course, it is also conceivable that a user may demand pure mains water and/or sparkling water without flavor by using the third interface. In the latter case, it may be advantageous that the first valve and/or the second valve are/is electronically controlled so that a corresponding signal from the third interface can be forwarded to the valve(s) resulting in the supply of the demanded beverage, such as pure mains water or flavored water. A respective signal may, for example, be forwarded from the corresponding user interface to a control unit. The control unit may then determine which valve and/or pump is to be activated and control an according activation.
A possible mode of interaction of a user with the faucet system according to the present invention may be as follows:
The second user interface and the third user interface may each comprise a separate control unit that are suitable to communicate with each other or may be connected to a common control unit.
In the present invention, a “selection possibility” may be, for example, pure unfiltered hot mains water, pure filtered chilled sparkling water, flavored filtered boiling water or any other possible combination of available fluids that are stored at or delivered to the faucet system.
Hence, the input unit may further be configured to also output the electrical signal based on which the at least one second valve fluidically connected to the second outlet conduit is operated.
For example, the second user interface may comprise a selection knob that is rotatable around a rotation axis and that is displaceable along the rotation axis. This way, the selection knob may be rotated until a desired beverage is selected, for example sparkling water, and then pressed towards the faucet base to confirm the current selection and to demand the supply of the selected beverage. A current and/or further possible selection possibilities may be displayed to a user at the second user interface directly. Additionally or as an alternative, a current and/or further possible selection possibilities may be displayed to a user at the third user interface.
In this regard, the selection knob may be arranged on a base of a faucet, wherein preferably the selection knob is arranged next to and on the substantially the same height level as the third user interface. This may facilitate a realization of an ergonomic and intuitive user interface.
In possible embodiments of the present invention, the third user interface may comprise a display that is configured to display at least a current selection to a user. The display may present additional information, such as a selection on the second user interface, as described above, a concentration of selected mixtures for a specific beverage, a temperature of a currently selected beverage, a status of consumables connected to or comprised in the faucet system, such as of at least one tank of a flavor, a CO2 tank or the like, a filter status, alerts, such as a low level alert of a tank, messages, such as a caution message informing about a hot beverage to be supplied to a user, etc.
Furthermore, the third user interface may comprise a touch screen and/or selection buttons configured to switch between and select one of the multiple available selection possibilities based on a corresponding user input. Using the touch screen and/or the selection buttons, a user may select a desired flavor/beverage. The user may then confirm a current selection by pressing a specific touch array/button or by pressing a selection button for a specific time period or by not interacting with the interface for a certain amount of time.
The mechanical handle may further be configured to adjust the flow rate of the fluid or mixture of fluids fed into the first outlet conduit. That is, by adjusting the mechanical handle the flow rate may be increased or lowered to a desired level.
It may be advantageous that each of the chilled water, the hot water, and the carbonized water may be stored in a separate tank, wherein each tank is provided with a separate second valve to which the second user interface is electrically connected, or wherein at least two of the tanks are provided with a shared second valve to which the second user interface is electrically connected, wherein each second valve fluidically leads to the second outlet conduit. Doing so, an electric signal output by the second or third user interface may be forwarded to a specific valve to separately supply fluid from an attached inlet conduit. In the case that two or more inlet conduits are connected to a shared valve, the fluids supplied via the inlet conduits may mix at the valve or the valve may be configured to only let one of the respective fluid pass selectively. By providing shared valves (for example multi-way-valves), a necessary space for and costs of the faucet system may be reduced.
The at least one liquid additive may be comprising flavor additive, health additive, such as vitamins, or a concentrated additive. An additive may be, for example, syrup, natural/artificial juice or the like.
In this respect, each liquid additive may be stored in a separate additive tank, wherein each additive tank is provided with a separate pump to which the third user interface is electrically connected, or wherein at least two of the additive tanks are provided with a shared pump to which the third user interface is electrically connected, wherein each pump fluidically leads to the third outlet conduit. The tanks may be adapted to be disconnected from the faucet system and replaced by another tank. This way, consumables, like the above-mentioned additives, may be restocked or may be replaced by a different additive, e.g. a different flavor.
At least two, in particular all three, of the first, second, and third outlet conduits may be leading to a spout of the faucet in a manner fluidically separated from each other. This can ensure that no residues of a beverage delivered at an earlier time are remaining in the faucet that might impact the quality of a desired beverage.
The first, second, and third outlet conduits may also be at least partially extendible or displaceable relative to a body of the faucet. By making the conduits displaceable out of the faucet, a so-called “pull-out faucet” can be realized having a spout outlet that is capable of being pulled closer to and object to be washed or to be supplied with the fluid delivered from the faucet.
In possible embodiments of the present invention, the third user interface may be located remotely to a faucet body and may be provided with a separate housing. For example, in the case of a third user interface being a touch screen, the touch screen may be attached to a surface, such as a wall or a kitchen top, in the vicinity of the faucet or may be a movable unit that can be freely placed at a desired location.
Additionally or as an alternative, the first user interface and/or the second user interface may also be located remotely to a faucet body and may be provided with a separate housing.
In this regard, at least one of the first user interface, the second user interface, and the third user interface may be communicating with the at least one pump wirelessly. This communication may, for example, use a Bluetooth-based protocol. As an alternative, the communication may be transmitted using a wire connection.
The present invention is further described in greater detail with respect to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
In
At the faucet base 12, a mechanical handle 18 is arranged here, as a first user interface, that is adapted to manipulate a first valve 20 (see
Both of the first inlet conduit 22 and the second inlet conduit 24 are connected in the shown embodiment to a water main 28. Additionally in the shown embodiment, a boiler tank 30 is installed in the second inlet conduit 24 such that water coming from the water main 28 can be heated and stored in the boiler tank 30. Thus, water at a temperature coming from the water main 28 can be delivered via the first inlet conduit 22 to the first valve 20 and water at a predetermined temperature according to the settings of the boiler tank 30 can be delivered via the second inlet conduit 24 to the first valve 20, wherein these fluids then mix in the first valve 20. Of course, it is also conceivable that the fluids from the first 22 and the second 24 inlet conduits can be mixed at a point upstream from the faucet base 12 such that only one inlet conduit is connected to the faucet base 12 conveying either the fluid from the first inlet conduit 22 or the fluid from the second inlet conduit 24 or a mixture of both. The first valve 20 may then only regulate a flow rate of the fluid supplied via the one inlet conduit.
At a side of the faucet base 12 that is diametrically opposite to the mechanical handle 18, a selection knob 32, as a second user interface, is arranged at the faucet base 12. The selection knob 32 is capable of being rotated around and displaced along an axis X, wherein it might be advantageous that the selection knob 32 comprises spring means that urge the selection knob 32 outwards with respect to the faucet base 12 into a resting position such that, after the selection knob 32 is pressed along the axis X towards the faucet base 12, the selection knob 32 automatically returns to this resting position.
In the example shown in
The beverage coming from at least one of the tanks 38a-38c is then supplied via a conduit 44 to the faucet base 12 and via a conduit 46 that is fluidically connected to the conduit 44 to the spout outlet 16 of the faucet system 10.
The faucet system 10, furthermore, comprises a third user interface 48 which is, in this embodiment, constituted by a touch screen having a disk shape (a circular outer edge), wherein the touch screen 48 is here arranged in the center of the faucet base 12. Additionally or as an alternative, the third user interface 48 or an additional third interface may be provided remotely from the faucet base 12 being connected to at least the control unit 34 of the faucet system 10 electrically by a respective wiring or wirelessly, for example via Bluetooth.
On the one hand, the third user interface 48 may be adapted to display at least a current selection and, advantageously, also further possible selection options that can be selected using the second user interface 32. On the other hand, the third user interface 48 may be adapted to receive a user input such as a selection of at least one additive, e.g. flavors, that a user may want to add to, for example, sparkling water.
Based on the selection performed by a user on the third user interface 48, an electric signal is forwarded to the control unit 34, wherein the control unit 34 then selectively activates at least one of pumps 50a, 50b and 50c, each connected to an associated additive tank 52a, 52b and 52c. Hence, in the example shown in
As can be seen in the partially sectional view of the spout outlet 16 and of the faucet 14 in
Here, a user may demand hot or cold mains water, or a mixture thereof, by using the first user interface 18 such that water at a desired temperature is mixed in the first valve 20 (or at a merging point upstream thereof) and then output via the conduit 26 over the spout outlet 16. By using the second user interface 32, a user may select, in the shown example, between filtered cold water, filtered hot water, and sparkling water by rotating and pressing the selection knob 32, wherein the confirmed selection is forwarded to the control unit 34 that is configured to control the valves 36-36c. Based on the opening of the valves 36a-36c, at least one of filtered cold water, filtered hot water, and sparkling water is delivered via conduit 46 to the spout outlet 16. Based on user input received via the third user interface 48, different additives, in this case syrup, minerals, or vitamins, may be selected. Similar to the use of the second user interface 32, a selection performed on the third user interface 48 is forwarded to the control unit 34 that is configured to activate at least one of the pumps 50a-50c such that at least one of the available additives is supplied via the conduit 56 to the spout outlet 16. The third user interface 48 may also present at least a current mixing option of water with at least one additive. Then, by sending a signal from the third user interface 48 to the control unit 34, at least one of the valves 36a-36c and at least one of the pumps 50a-50c may be activated simultaneously.
It shall be mentioned at this point that at least one additive may be supplied via the conduit 56 and the spout outlet 16, respectively, without fluid being supplied via the other conduits 26, 46 at the same time. This way, a user may add additive(s) to an already prepared beverage.
Furthermore, a user may adjust a flow rate of at least one of the fluids supplied to the spout outlet 16 using the third user interface 48 and/or may adjust a flow rate of hot/cold mains water by using the first user interface 18.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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22 169 508.3 | Apr 2022 | EP | regional |