EP0007877A1 - Draught-dispensing head for an apparatus distributing even beverage quantities - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a filling head for a device for dispensing drinks and especially carbonated drinks. The head comprises a spout formed by a tubular element 10 of vertical axis, the internal section of which progressively increases downwards, from the inlet port of the sparkling water to the outlet port and a chute 20 disposed under said tubular element in a slightly inclined position relative to the horizontal, the passage of the concentrated liquid jet in substantially vertical flow being in front of the chute and downstream from its end.

Description

The present invention relates to a draw-off head for a device for dispensing drinks produced from a concentrate such as a syrup and in particular carbonated drinks using a carbonated water produced by the dispensing device.

The apparatus for dispensing carbonated drinks generally comprises a refrigeration unit, a gasification unit and a unit for distributing and mixing the two liquids constituting the beverage. The filling head is part of this last unit.

Two distribution and mixing systems are currently most often used.

In the first system, the concentrate is stored in a tank, such as a metal container. At each consumption, a predetermined volume of concentrate is pumped into the tank and sent through a first tube of the dispensing head, while the dilution liquid, in particular chilled sparkling water, is delivered at the same time in a second tube. Water can thus be sent into a spout fitted with a divergent nozzle and a side syrup injection channel. Mixing begins in the dispensing head and continues during the fall to and inside the consumer container. The device includes as many tanks and dispensing heads as there are fragrances available.

According to another known solution, the sparkling water passes through a vertical tube whose end is closed and the lower end of the cylindrical wall pierced with regularly distributed holes. These holes are closed by an external stack of horizontal washers. Under the pressure of the sparkling water, these washers rise and allow the sparkling water to pass around their periphery. The sparkling water flows in a sheet and meets the concentrate brought in by a neighboring nozzle; if, on the contrary, its flow speed is made low enough, it passes under these washers to return constituting a concentric flow to the feed tube and mixing with the concentrate supplied by a coaxial tube of smaller diameter.

In the second system, the concentrate is stored in packages containing the dose of concentrate just necessary for the preparation of the drink. In this case, a single dispensing head is used for all the perfumes. The packaging is opened and emptied directly at the dispensing head. The two liquids meet in space during the fall towards the consumption container. This, especially in the case where carbonated water is used, is not done without difficulties.

Originally, the concentrated syrup was delivered vertically through the opening and the carbonated water by an inclined spout. The main difficulty of such a distribution lies in the fact that the jet of carbonated water is not very controllable in direction and that, the jet of concentrated syrup can also deviate, the two fluids risk not meeting before reaching the container, which affects the homogeneity of the mixture.

To overcome these drawbacks, it has been proposed to bring the sparkling water through a horizontal tube opening into a chamber in the shape of a horizontal crown, concentric with the vertical channel through which the concentrate is delivered. The crown is pierced with vertical holes of conical shape widening downwards and arranged concentrically. After passing through these holes, the sparkling water is collected on an inverted cone which brings it towards the center towards the flow of concentrated syrup, with which it mixes.

The present invention relates to a dispensing spout which can be used both on apparatus with a reservoir and on apparatus with separate doses and its aim is to dissociate the dispensing spout from the rest of the dispensing head, to reduce the speed of flow of sparkling water and cause a blow on a first mixture with the concentrate as soon as they fall towards the container, even in the event of accidental modification of the path of the con centered, while minimizing the degasification of sparkling water.

To this end, the draw-off spout according to the invention breaks up a tubular element oriented downwards and whose internal section progressively increases in this direction from the sparkling water inlet orifice to the outlet orifice , a chute arranged under said tubular element in a slightly inclined position relative to the horizontal and preferably a grid fixed above the chute so as to distribute the flow of carbonated water over the entire width of the chute, the passage of the concentrated liquid jet in a substantially vertical flow located in front of the chute, and downstream from its end.

The diverging part of the tubular element can be of circular section, but it can also have any shape, for example rectangular or conical with an elliptical section.

• La figure 1 est une vue en coupe axiale du bec de soutirage selon un premier mode de réalisation ;
• La figure 2 est une vue en élévation de face du bec de soutirage de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 3 est une variante de réalisation du bec de soutirage de la figure 1 ;
• La figure 4 est une vue en coupe axiale du bec de soutirage de la figure 1, réalisé en matière plastique ;
• La figure 5 est une vue en élévation de face du bec de soutirage de la figure 4, la grille étant supposée enlevée ;
• La figure 6 est une vue en coupe suivant la ligne VI-VI de la figure 4 ;
• La figure 7 est une vue en coupe axiale d'une autre variante de réalisation du bec de soutirage, et
• La figure 8 est une vue en coupe suivant la ligne VIII-VIII de la figure 7.

Several embodiments will now be described with reference to the appended drawings, which are in no way limiting, and in which:

• Figure 1 is an axial sectional view of the tapping spout according to a first embodiment;
• Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the tapping spout of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is an alternative embodiment of the drawing spout of Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is an axial sectional view of the tapping spout of Figure 1, made of plastic;
• Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the spout of Figure 4, the grid being assumed removed;
• Figure 6 is a sectional view along line VI-VI of Figure 4;
• FIG. 7 is a view in axial section of another alternative embodiment of the withdrawal spout, and
• FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the withdrawal spout comprises a metallic tubular part 10 admitting an axis of vertical symmetry. To the upper part of the piece 10 is fixed, for example by screwing, a metal tubular end piece 12 on which the end of a conduit connected to a production unit can be adapted soda water, not shown. The bore 14 of the nozzle 12 has a relatively small diameter and is extended, in the part 10, by a frustoconical axial channel 16, widening down to the lower end of the part. The frustoconical divergent 16 plays the role of progressive pressure reducer for carbonated water. The ratio of the outlet section to the inlet section is of the order of 16.

At the base of the piece 10 is fixed, by means of screws 18, a chute 20 slightly inclined downward relative to the horizontal. A grid 22, inclined on the chute 20, defines therewith a chamber 24 open downwards. The grid 22 is fixed to the part 10 using a screw 26. In operation, the sparkling water arrives through the nozzle 14 under a fairly high pressure which practically corresponds to that of the saturator. It gradually relaxes in the frustoconical divergent 16, then it falls into the chute 20 where it is distributed over the entire width of the chute by the grid 22, before flowing to the consumption container, not shown.

The concentrated syrup fillet flows vertically in front of the chute according to arrow F, and mixes with sparkling water.

Thus, even in the event of an accidental deviation of a few millimeters from the path of the thread relative to the normal path, the syrup trickle nevertheless falls into the flow of sparkling water as it leaves the chute.

With a continuous saturator, a given system of pipes and a measuring device, the Applicant was able to obtain, at the outlet of the draw-off nozzle according to the invention, carbonated water having a residual gasification rate of 4.5 to 4 , 7 volumes, while this rate is only 3.9 to 4 volumes with a single pipe. This result is particularly important for syrups which require high residual gasifications of the order of 4.5 volumes.

The gasification can be made weaker, or even eliminated, by reducing the volume of carbonated water supplied or by injecting still water into the carbonated water. For this purpose, the part iD comprises a lateral channel 28 inclined downward relative to the vertical axis of the withdrawal spout and opening into the frustoconical diverging 16. In the channel 28 is fixed a nozzle 30 on which comes s' adapt a tubing connected to a still water tank.

The draw-off nozzle shown in FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 1 only in that in the frustoconical diverging portion 16 is fixed, by any suitable means not shown, a conical piece 32 intended to further improve the flow of carbonated water.

Figures 4 and 6 show a tapping spout made of molded or machined plastic. The chute 20 is constituted by an independent part fixed to the part 10 by means of screws 34.

With reference to Figures 7 and 8, the flared channel has, in section, a rectangular shape. The hollow part is made up for this purpose of two plates 36 and 38 of identical shapes and each having, on one of the faces, a depression 40 and 42 respectively, a few millimeters deep, in the form of an isosceles trapezoid, at the small base of which is connected to the bore 44 of the nozzle 46 for supplying carbonated water. The plates 36 and 38 are assembled by means of screws 48 by superimposing their faces which carry the depressions 40 and 42. These then define between them a cavity 50 of constant and relatively small thickness, the section of which widens gradually. A chute 52 and a grid 54 are fixed to the part thus obtained, as indicated in FIG. 7. The plate 42 is pierced with a channel 56 for the supply of still water. Of course, one of the plates can be flat on its two faces, and the other include a depression of depth equal to the desired thickness of the flared cavity.

As indicated, the flared channel which follows the end piece 46 can have any other shape of section, for example elliptical.

In the particular case of devices which prepare drinks from tanks, a racking rack is fitted by type of drink, therefore by tank. It is also possible to envisage using a single withdrawal nozzle and making the syrup supply tubes arrive by gathering them in a bundle.

In the case of devices using unit doses, only one nozzle is necessary.

Claims (10)

1.- Tapping head for dispensing apparatus for carbonated drinks produced from a concentrate and a dilution liquid mixed by the dispensing apparatus, equipped with a spout comprising a divergent tubular element, the internal section of which progressively increases downward, from a water inlet orifice to the outlet orifice, and characterized by a chute arranged under said tubular element in a position slightly inclined relative to the horizontal, the passage of the jet concentrated liquid in a substantially vertical flow located in front of the chute and downstream from its end. 2.- withdrawal head according to claim 1, characterized in that a grid is fixed above the chute so as to better distribute the flow of water over the entire width thereof. 3.- withdrawal head according to claim 1, characterized in that the bore of the tubular element is of frustoconical shape. 4.- withdrawal head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular element consists of a single piece of metal or plastic, molded or machined. 5.- withdrawal head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a conical part can be adapted with play inside the frustoconical bore. 6.- withdrawal head according to claim 1, characterized in that the bore of the tubular member has a rectangular section flared downward. 7.- withdrawal head according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the tubular element consists of two pieces in the form of a wafer, each wafer having on one of its faces a depression of constant depth and in shape of isosceles trapezium, the two plates being assembled, by gluing or by means of screws, along the faces which carry the depressions in order to form a cavity of constant thickness and the section of which widens gradually. 8.- withdrawal head according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the tubular element consists of two pieces in the form of a wafer, one of the wafers being flat on its faces, and the other wafer with a depression on one side _s trapezoidal isosceles ion and of depth equal to the desired thickness of the tapered recess. 9.- withdrawal head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a tubular end piece, of internal section substantially equal to the small section of the flared bore, is adapted to the entry of the tubular element. 10.- withdrawal head according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tubular element has a main channel for the supply of sparkling water and a lateral channel for the supply of still water, the latter channel being inclined downward relative to the axis of the tubular element and opening into the flared bore.

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