Patent Application
20240002207
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for dispensing a fluid, such as, systems and methods for dispensing fluid from a container at room temperature or at temperatures colder than room temperature.
Certain beverages are prepared with liquids that need to be frequently dispensed and/or kept at temperatures lower than room temperature. These liquids can include dairy or non-dairy. These liquids can be positioned within a container.
However, the process of dispensing liquids from a container can be time consuming and labor intensive. The process can include moving the container from a storage area to an area for use. The process can also include opening the container, such as unscrewing or uncapping a cap of the container. The process can also include tilting or rotating the container to pour the liquid out of the container, such as with a spout or opening. The process can also include pouring the liquid into a secondary container. The process can also include a dispensing mechanism, such as a pump. Furthermore, these processes can use equipment that requires cleaning in place to maintain sanitary standards.
Additionally, the container may need to be stored at safe temperatures to keep product integrity and prevent spoilage. This can create operation inefficiencies for baristas by requiring opening and closing a refrigerator to remove and return the containers. Traditional refrigeration can also be costly to execute and sometimes access to refrigeration is not possible.
The systems, methods and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein.
A dispensing system can include a container defining an interior and including a first portion and a second portion. A bag can be positioned within the interior of the container, the bag configured to contain a first fluid therein. An inlet can be positioned on the container, the inlet configured to allow a gas or a second fluid into the interior of the container. A lid can be coupled to the container. The lid can include a valve, wherein the valve is configured to move between an open position and a closed position. An end of the bag can extend through the valve. The end of the bag can define a passage in communication with an opening through which the first fluid contained in the bag can be dispensed. In the open position, the valve can be configured to dispense the first fluid through the opening. In a closed position, the valve can be configured to prevent dispensing of first fluid through the opening. The valve can be configured to open and close at a specific pressure within the container.
In some configurations, the bag can include a flexible material. The end of the bag can include a tip. The tip can be flexible. The inlet can be configured to allow the gas or the second fluid from a source into the interior of the container. The dispensing system can include a controller in communication with the inlet or the source to control a flow of the gas or the second fluid from the source into the interior of the container. The valve can include a pinch valve. The gas or the second fluid can include air. The valve can be biased to the closed position. The container can be hermetically sealed. An amount of the first fluid dispensed can be based on an amount of the gas or the second fluid injected into the interior of the container through the inlet. The dispensing system can include a cylinder. The cylinder can be positioned on a first portion of the container. The cylinder can be configured to receive a predetermined amount of the gas or the second fluid from the interior of the container. The cylinder can be configured to inject the gas or the second fluid into the interior of the container. The dispensing system can further include a controller in communication with the cylinder. The cylinder can be configured to receive the predetermined amount of the gas or the second fluid from the interior of the container or inject the gas or the second fluid into the interior of the container based on instructions from the controller. The valve can be configured to sense a property of a flow rate of the first fluid being dispensed or leaking through the valve. The valve can include a fixed side with a load cell. The valve can include a spring or actuated pinch bar. The dispensing system can further include a controller in communication with the valve, wherein the valve is configured to communicate the flow rate of the first fluid being dispensed or leaking through the valve. The dispensing system can further include a pressure or flow controlled valve along or before the inlet to volumetrically control an amount of the gas or the second fluid supplied to the interior of the container.
In yet another aspect, a dispensing system for dispensing a liquid can include a sealed container. A flexible bag can be positioned within the sealed container. The flexible bag can include an interior configured to contain a liquid therein. An inlet can be positioned on a portion of the sealed container. The inlet can be configured to allow a gas or fluid into the interior of the sealed container. The dispensing system can further include a valve. A portion of the flexible bag can extend through the valve. The valve can be configured to move between an open position and a closed position at a specific pressure within the sealed container. In the open position, the valve can be configured to allow fluid to flow through the portion of the flexible bag that extends through the valve to dispense the liquid.
In some configurations, the dispensing system can include a lid. The lid can include the valve. The valve can be a pinch valve. The portion of the flexible bag that extends through the valve can be a flexible tip.
In one aspect, a method of dispensing a fluid from a dispensing system can include increasing a pressure within a container in which a bag containing a fluid is positioned therein. Increasing the pressure within the container can cause a valve to open to allow the fluid to be dispensed from the bag. The method can include reducing the pressure with the container to cause the valve to close and stop a flow of the fluid from the bag. In some configurations, the valve can be a pinch valve.
In yet another aspect, a dispensing system for dispensing a liquid can include a sealed container. A bag can be positioned within the sealed container. The bag can include an interior containing a liquid therein. The dispensing system can include an inlet to the sealed container. The inlet can be configured to allow a gas or fluid into an interior of the sealed container. The dispensing system can include a valve for controlling a flow of liquid out of the bag. In an open position, the valve can be configured allow the liquid to flow out of the bag to dispense the liquid. The valve can be configured to open and close at a specific pressure within the sealed container.
Various embodiments are depicted in the accompanying drawings for illustrative purposes, and should in no way be interpreted as limiting the scope of the embodiments. Various features of different disclosed embodiments can be combined to form additional embodiments, which are part of this disclosure.
Various dispenser systems and methods are described below to illustrate various examples that may achieve one or more desired improvements. These examples are only illustrative and not intended in any way to restrict the general disclosure presented and the various aspects and features of this disclosure. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those discussed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments shown, but is instead to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features that are disclosed or suggested herein.
For example, many of the embodiments are described in the context of dispensing a liquid from a container at room temperature or at temperatures colder than room temperature. However, certain features and aspects of the disclosure may also have utility in dispensing fluid at temperatures above room temperature or from liquid bases at above room temperature. Many of the embodiments described herein involve dispensing liquid, such as milk or a non-dairy liquid. For instance, in some embodiments, the liquid may be milk, cream, almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, other alternative milks, other plant-based liquids, coffee, tea, juice, or hemp extract. In some embodiments, the liquid may be a flavor, sauce, or syrup such as for ingredient for a beverage or food product. In some embodiments, the dispenser can be used to deliver other ingredients, such as solids or fluids of various viscosities or textures.
With reference to
The system can further include an air (or other gas or fluid) inlet 18 positioned on a first or top portion 14 of the container 11. A pressure/flow controlled valve (not illustrated) can be positioned after, along or before the air inlet 18 to volumetrically control the amount of air (or another gas or fluid) supplied to the container 11. The air inlet 18 and the pressure/flow control valve can control both the pressure and air (or other gas or fluid) flow from an air (or other gas or fluid) pump or other air pressure source (e.g., an air or other gas or fluid storage tank) into the interior of the container 11. Air from the air pump (or other source) can be injected into the container 11 through the air inlet 18. The air flow into the container 11 will increase the pressure in the interior of the container 11. As pressure is increased in the interior of the container, the bag 12 can be compressed and liquid contained in the bag 12 can open the pinch valve 13 in the lid 22. When the pinch valve 13 in the lid 22 is opened, liquid can be dispensed from the interior of the bag 12, through the opened pinch valve 13 of the lid 22, and out of the opening in the flexible tip 22 of the bag 12.
The pinch valve 13, 13′ can be configured to open and close at specific pressures. For example, in certain embodiments, the pinch valve can close at a pressure equal to or between 0 bar and 6 bar within the interior of the container 11. As previously described, pressure of the liquid in the interior of the bag 12 can be increased due to the flow of air through the air inlet 18 and into the interior of the container 11. When the pressure is increased, the pinch valve is opened. Additionally, the amount of air injected into the system 10 through the air inlet 18 can determine the amount of fluid dispensed. In certain embodiments, the amount of fluid dispensed from the system can be between or equal to or between from 0.1 oz/sec to 4 oz/sec. As liquid is dispensed through the opening of the tip 22, the pressure in the container 11 will decrease as the volume of the bag 12 decreases, which will in turn force the pinch valve to close and stop liquid from being dispensed. For example, in an embodiment, air flow into the container 11 increases pressure within the container and increases pressure on the bag 12 and the fluid therein forces the pinch valve open. When the amount of fluid dispensed reaches the desired amount, the air flow through the inlet is shut off and the pressure in the bag can be reduced as the volume of the bag 12 within the outer member 11 decreases. With the reduced pressure, the pinch valve can close.
The lid 40 can be positioned on a second or bottom portion 36 of the container 31. The lid 20 can be positioned on the flexible end or tip 42 of the bag 32. The lid 40 can include an integrated valve or pinch valve 13 as described above. The pinch valve 13 of the lid 40 can open and close an opening of the flexible tip 42 of the bag 32. The flexible tip 42 of the bag 32 can extend through the pinch valve in the lid 40. The pinch valve in the lid 40 can then be positioned on the flexible tip 42. In the closed position, the pinch valve squeezes the opening of the flexible tip 42 closed to prevent dispensing through the opening of the flexible tip 42. In the open position, the pinch valve releases the opening of the flexible tip 42 to permit dispensing through the opening of the flexible tip 42. In this manner, the pinch valve of the lid 40 can open and close the opening of the flexible tip 42. The pinch valve can operate to close and open the container 32 without contacting the liquid dispensed from the bag 32 even during dispensing of the liquid. The system 30 can also include an cylinder 44 positioned on the first or top portion 34 of the outer member 31.
The system 30 can include an air inlet 38 positioned on a first or top portion 34 of the container 31. The air inlet 38 can allow air to flow from an air source (e.g., a pump or pressurized air supply) to supply air into the interior of the container 31 (as described above with reference to
The pinch valve can be configured to open and close at specific pressures. As previously described, pressure of the liquid in the interior of the bag 32 can be increased due to the flow of air through the air inlet 38 and into the interior of the container 31. When the pressure is increased, the bag 32 is compressed and the pinch valve is opened. Additionally, the amount of air injected into the system 30 through the air inlet 38 can determine the amount of fluid dispensed. In certain embodiments, 0.1 oz/sec to 4.0 oz/sec of air can be dispensed from the bag 32. As liquid is dispensed through the opening of the flexible tip 42, the pressure in the container 31 will decrease, which will in turn allow the pinch valve to close and stop liquid from being dispensed.
When the air supply (which can be an air pump or air source) supplying air to the inlet stops providing air, the cylinder 44 of the embodiment of
As used herein, the term “beverage” has its ordinary and customary meaning, and includes, among other things, any edible liquid or substantially liquid substance or product having a flowing quality (e.g., juices, coffee beverages, teas, milk, beer, wine, cocktails, liqueurs, spirits, cider, soft drinks, flavored water, energy drinks, soups, broths, combinations of the same, or the like).
Conditional language, such as “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z. Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, and at least one of Z.
Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” should generally be interpreted to include one or more described items. Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended to include one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devices can also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations. For example, “a processor configured to carry out recitations A, B, and C” can include a first processor configured to carry out recitation A working in conjunction with a second processor configured to carry out recitations B and C.
The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are used inclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additional elements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Likewise, the terms “some,” “certain,” and the like are synonymous and are used in an open-ended fashion. Also, the term “or” is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the list.
The terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” as used herein represent an amount close to the stated amount that still performs a desired function or achieves a desired result. For example, in some embodiments, as the context may dictate, the terms “approximately”, “about”, and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is within less than or equal to 10% of the stated amount. Numbers preceded by a term such as “about” or “approximately” include the recited numbers and should be interpreted based on the circumstances (e.g., as accurate as reasonably possible under the circumstances, for example. For example, “about 1 gram” includes “1 gram.” In the embodiments described in this application, terms such as “about” or “approximately” within the specification or claims that precede values or ranges can be omitted such that this application specifically includes embodiments of the recited values or ranges with the terms “about” or “approximately” omitted from such values and ranges such that they can also be claimed without the terms “about” or “approximately” before the disclosed range. The term “generally” as used herein represents a value, amount, or characteristic that predominantly includes, or tends toward, a particular value, amount, or characteristic. As an example, in certain embodiments, as the context may dictate, the term “generally parallel” can refer to something that departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 20 degrees and/or the term “generally perpendicular” can refer to something that departs from exactly perpendicular by less than or equal to 20 degrees.
Overall, the language of the claims is to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims. The language of the claims is not to be limited to the non-exclusive embodiments and examples that are illustrated and described in this disclosure, or that are discussed during the prosecution of the application.
The following example embodiments identify some possible permutations of combinations of features disclosed herein, although other permutations of combinations of features are also possible.
Although certain aspects, advantages, and features are described herein, it is not necessary that any particular embodiment include or achieve any or all of those aspects, advantages, and features. For example, some embodiments may not achieve the advantages described herein, but may achieve other advantages instead. Any structure, feature, or step in any embodiment can be used in place of, or in addition to, any structure, feature, or step in any other embodiment, or omitted. This disclosure contemplates all combinations of features from the various disclosed embodiments. No feature, structure, or step is essential or indispensable In addition, although this disclosure describes certain embodiments and examples of beverage systems and methods, many aspects of the above-described systems and methods may be combined differently and/or modified to form still further embodiments or acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure.
Also, although there may be some embodiments within the scope of this disclosure that are not expressly recited above or elsewhere herein, this disclosure contemplates and includes all embodiments within the scope of what this disclosure shows and describes. Further, this disclosure contemplates and includes embodiments comprising any combination of any structure, material, step, or other feature disclosed anywhere herein with any other structure, material, step, or other feature disclosed anywhere herein.
Furthermore, certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations, one or more features from a claimed combination can, in some cases, be excised from the combination, and the combination may be claimed as a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
For purposes of this disclosure, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. Not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
Some embodiments have been described in connection with the accompanying drawings. The figures are drawn to scale, but such scale should not be interpreted to be limiting. Distances, angles, etc. are merely illustrative and do not necessarily bear an exact relationship to actual dimensions and layout of the devices illustrated. Components can be added, removed, and/or rearranged. Further, the disclosure herein of any particular feature, aspect, method, property, characteristic, quality, attribute, element, or the like in connection with various embodiments can be used in all other embodiments set forth herein. Also, any methods described herein may be practiced using any device suitable for performing the recited steps.
Moreover, while components and operations may be depicted in the drawings or described in the specification in a particular arrangement or order, such components and operations need not be arranged and performed in the particular arrangement and order shown, nor in sequential order, nor include all of the components and operations, to achieve desirable results. Other components and operations that are not depicted or described can be incorporated in the embodiments and examples. For example, one or more additional operations can be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the described operations. Further, the operations may be rearranged or reordered in other implementations. Also, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single product or packaged into multiple products.
In summary, various illustrative embodiments and examples of beverage dispensing systems and methods have been disclosed. Although the systems and methods have been disclosed in the context of those embodiments and examples, this disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or other uses of the embodiments, as well as to certain modifications and equivalents thereof. This disclosure expressly contemplates that various features and aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be combined with, or substituted for, one another. Accordingly, the scope of this disclosure should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodiments described above, but should be determined only by a fair reading of the claims that follow as well as their full scope of equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/367537, filed Jul. 1, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63367537 | Jul 2022 | US |
