Patent Application
20060231565
The invention relates to a vending machine and more particularly to a vending machine for cooling food products such as beverages.
Vending machines include an interior which houses food products and is cooled by a refrigeration system. The food products are disposed in the interior to be commonly cooled. A heat exchanger is disposed in the interior and one or more fans blow air across the heat exchanger to cool the air in the interior. The cooled air then cools the food products concurrently. In a basic design of a beverage machine, the machine is divided into two chambers—the lower chamber to house the refrigeration system, generally a vapor compression system, and the upper chamber to house the stack of beverage cans or bottles. The beverage cans and bottles are loaded vertically or horizontally and then dispensed by gravity into the dispensing chute. The entire upper chamber is cooled in these machines.
Vending machines generally are made in three sizes—small, medium and large. Typically the beverage can capacity of the small machines is 100 to 300 cans, of the medium 300 to 800 cans and of the large 800 to 1,500 cans. The steady state power consumption to maintain the machines at the beverage dispensing temperature in the range 36° F. to 38° F. is 325 W for small, 800 W for the medium and 1,200 W for the large machines. The steady state energy consumption is a component of the cost associated with operating the vending machine.
The invention provides a vending machine for cooling food products. The vending machine includes a housing defining an interior. The vending machine also includes a plurality of holding members substantially thermally isolated from one another and disposed in the interior. Each of the plurality of holding members includes inner and outer hollow members telescopically engaged with one another to define an inner cavity with an opening operable to communicate an individual food product and an outer cavity with an inlet and an outlet spaced from the inlet. The vending machine also includes a refrigeration system disposed outside of the interior and fluidly communicating individually with each of the outer cavities to cool each of the inner cavities.
Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to
Referring now to
Each of the holding members 18 is structured similarly and operates similarly. Referring to
The inner hollow member 20 and inner cavity and food product are cooled by directing cooling fluid from the refrigeration system 34 through the outer cavity 28. Cooling fluid enters the outer cavity at the inlet 30. A plurality of guide members 44, 44a, 44b, 44c extend in the outer cavity 28 from the inner hollow member 20 to the outer hollow member 22. The guide members 44, 44a, 44b, are the same length, shorter than the inner and outer hollow members 20, 22, and the guide member 44c is as long as the inner and outer hollow members 20, 22. The guide members 44, 44b are axially offset from the guide member 44a wherein the guide members 44, 44b are disposed closer to the inlet 32 than the guide member 44a and the guide member 44a is disposed closer to the opening 26 than the guide members 44, 44b. Based on this arrangement, the fluid path defined in the outer cavity 28 is contorted. Fluid enters a portion 60 of the outer cavity 28 between the guide members 44b and 44c and travels the length of the outer cavity 28 to the end of guide member 44b. The fluid turns in the direction arrow 62, moving through an opening defined between the end of the guide member 44b and the end cap 56, to a portion 64 of the outer cavity 28 between the guide members 44b and 44a. Fluid travels the length of the portion 64 and turns in the direction arrow 66, moving through an opening defined between the end of the guide member 44a and the end cap 58, to a portion 68 of the outer cavity 28 between the guide members 44a and 44. Fluid travels the length of the portion 68 and turns in the direction arrow 70, moving through an opening defined between the end of the guide member 44 and the end cap 56, to a portion 72 of the outer cavity 28 between the guide members 44 and 44c. Fluid travels the length of the portion 72 and exits the outer cavity 28 through the outlet 32.
During movement through the contorted path of the outer cavity, the cooling fluid absorbs thermal energy from the food product 12 and the inner cavity 24 through the inner hollow member 20. The exemplary embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of fins 42 extending in the outer cavity 28 from the inner hollow member 20 towards the outer hollow member 22 to enhance heat transfer between the cooling fluid and the food product 12 and the inner cavity 24. An insulating sleeve 74 encircles and insulates the holding member 18 to further enhance the efficiency of heat transfer.
As shown in
The refrigeration system 34 communicates with each outer cavity individually. In other words, the refrigeration system 34 can communicate fluid to any single outer cavity 28 or to any combination of outer cavities 28. As demonstrated by the exemplary embodiment, the invention can advantageously direct cooling fluid only to those cavities where heat transfer is required, enhancing the efficiency of the vending machine 10. For example, if a first food product 12 in first holding member 18 empties more rapidly and is filled more frequently than a second food product 12 in a second holding member 18, the second product 12 is less likely to warm when the door 54 is opened to fill the first holding member 18.
Referring to
The vending machine 10 also includes a support frame 46 having a plurality of pivoting shelves 76 wherein each shelf 76 is operable to receive at least one of the plurality of holding members 18. Each of the shelves 76 of the exemplary embodiment of the invention hold a plurality of holding members 18. The shelves 76 are disposed in parallel and pivot concurrently. The shelf 76 pivots about a pivot axis 78 between a dispensing position shown in
As shown best in
A flexible fluid connection 48 is disposed between the plurality of holding members 18 and the refrigeration system 34. The connection 48 accommodates relative movement between the holding members 18 and the refrigeration system 34 when the shelves 76 move between the dispensing position and the loading position.
In the present invention an entirely new design of the beverage vending machine is presented. Its features include placement of an array of cans or bottles in an insulated tubular cooler, placement of an array of tubular coolers in the upper chamber of the vending machines, a mechanism to load and dispense individual cans or bottles into or out of the tubular coolers, a dispensing mechanism to deliver the can or bottle to the dispensing chute and a control mechanism to cool only those tubular coolers, which need cooling. In the present invention machine only the tubular coolers are cooled rather than the entire upper chamber. The temperature outside the tubular coolers within the chamber could be 50° F. or higher whereas the temperature inside the cooler is at the desired level of 36° F. to 38° F. The energy efficiency of the present invention machine stems at least partially from the fact that it provides cooling of the individual cans housed in the insulated tubular coolers and only when needed. This enables downsizing the refrigeration system and reducing the operating cost of the vending machine.
While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
