WO2006092783A2

WO2006092783A2 - Drinking water dispenser

Info

Publication number: WO2006092783A2
Application number: PCT/IL2006/000255
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yuval Amiram
Original assignee: Gazoz Soda Bar Ltd
Priority date: 2005-03-01
Filing date: 2006-02-26
Publication date: 2006-09-08
Also published as: WO2006092783A3

Abstract

Drinking water dispenser including a non-carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit with a drinking water reservoir and a thermostat controlled refrigeration circuit with an evaporator coil coiled around the drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing chilled non-carbonated drinking water, and a carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit with a carbonator in flow communication with the drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing chilled carbonated drinking water. The carbonator is cooled by heat conduction with drinking water reservoir's external surface for substantially equalizing its temperature with the surface temperature of the drinking water reservoir's exterior surface for cooling its carbonated drinking water contents to about the same temperature as the drinking water reservoir's non-carbonated drinking water contents.

Description

DRINKING WATER DISPENSER

Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to drinking water dispensers for dispensing non- carbonated and carbonated chilled drinking water.

Background of the Invention

Drinking water dispensers for dispensing non-carbonated and carbonated chilled drinking water include a non-carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit having a drinking water reservoir and a thermostat controlled refrigeration circuit with an evaporation coil coiled around the drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing non-carbonated water chilled to a temperature of between 4⁰C and 9°C. Such drinking water dispensers also include a carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit having a carbonator in flow communication with their drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing carbonated drinking water also chilled to a temperature of between 4⁰C and 9⁰C for proper retention of carbonation in poured carbonated drinking water. Failure to dispense carbonated drinking water suitably chilled will cause partial or total loss of carbonation.

Such drinking water dispensers commercially available from Cosmetal Sistemi Di Refrigeraz Ltd, Italy (www.cosmetal.com) include an evaporator coil ^• coiled around their drinking water reservoir for cooling its non-carbonated drinking water contents, and their carbonator for cooling its carbonated drinking water contents. However, this approach is problematic due to the fact that their drinking water reservoirs and carbonators typically differ in temperature by a few degrees Celsius such that in the case their refrigeration circuit is controlled by sensing the temperature of their drinking water reservoir, consumption of non- carbonated drinking water can lead to their carbonator freezing over with possible permanent damage. Against this, in the case that their refrigeration circuit is controlled by sensing the temperature of their carbonator, non-carbonated drinking water may not be sufficiently chilled. Another approach for dispensing carbonated chilled drinking water includes using a drinking water reservoir as a heat sink for energy conservation purposes. US Patent No. 4,597,509 to Pereira illustrates and describes a drinking water dispenser with a transfer line immersed, in a refrigerated drinking water reservoir for cooling carbonated drinking water immediately prior to its dispensing, however, this requires apertures to be formed in a drinking water reservoir leading to sealing problems, and the like. US Patent No. 4,764,315 to Brusa illustrates and describes a drinking water dispenser in which a carbonator itself is immersed in a refrigerated drinking water reservoir, however, this impedes access to the drinking water reservoir for cleaning purposes, maintenance purposes, and the like.

Yet other approaches for dispensing chilled carbonated drinking water are illustrated and described in US Patent No. 5,310,088 to Burrows, US Patent No. 5,549,219 to Lancaster, US Patent No. 5,839,291 to Chang, US2004/0168465 to Renken et al., JP9188395 entitled Circulation Cooling Method and Unit for Beverage Dispenser, JP2002128197 entitled Beverage Dispenser, and JP2003030737 entitled Beverage Supplying Device and Carbonator.

Summary of the Invention r

The present invention is for drinking water dispensers including a non- carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit having a drinking water reservoir and a thermostat controlled refrigeration circuit with an evaporator coil coiled around the drinking water dispenser for selectively dispensing chilled non- carbonated drinking water, and a carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit with a carbonator in flow communication with the drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing chilled carbonated drinking water. The carbonator is cooled by heat conduction with the drinking water reservoir's exterior surface for substantially equalizing the former's temperature with the latter' s surface temperature thereby precluding the aforesaid problems arising in the case of a few degrees Celsius temperature difference therebetween, and additionally affording convenient access to both the drinking water reservoir and the carbonator.

The present invention preferably employs drinking water reservoirs and carbonators designed for side by side intimate contact for direct heat conduction. The drinking water reservoirs and the carbonators can have flat or curved contact surfaces. Alternatively, the present invention can be readily implemented with existing drinking water reservoirs and carbonators which both typically have circular transverse cross-sections by way of a heat exchange interposer disposed therebetween with oppositely directed concave shaped cylindrical contact surfaces for ensuring sufficient contact area. Existing drinking water dispensers for dispensing chilled non-carbonated drinking water can be retrofitted using a conversion kit to convert them to drinking water dispensers for dispensing chilled carbonated and non-carbonated drinking water in accordance with the present invention. The present invention is particularly suitable for low volume drinking water dispensers of both the point of use type connected to water mains and the bottle type for the so-called Home Office Delivery market, but can also be implemented for high volume point of use drinking water dispensers.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In order to understand the invention, and to see how it can be carried out in practice, preferred embodiments will now be described, by way of non- limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which similar parts are likewise numbered, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially cut away pictorial representation of a drinking water dispenser with a first preferred cooling arrangement of a carbonator in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the drinking water dispenser of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a close-up view of the carbonator cooling arrangement of the drinking water dispenser of Figure 1; Fig. 4 is a close-up of a second preferred carbonator cooling arrangement in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 5 is a close-up of a third preferred carbonator cooling arrangement in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

Figure 1 shows a drinking water dispenser 1 including an upright cabinet 2 for supporting an inverted water bottle 3 for feeding a non-carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit 4 including a drinking water reservoir 6 having a circular transverse cross section with a convex shaped cylindrical exterior surface 7 and retaining non-carbonated drinking water. The drinking water reservoir 6 is preferably made of stainless steel but alternatively can be made out of plastic material. The drinking water reservoir 6 is preferably removable from the cabinet 2 for cleaning and maintenance purposes but¹ alternatively may be a permanent fixture. The drinking water reservoir 6 is in flow communication with a manually operated cold water faucet 8 for selectively dispensing chilled non- carbonated drinking water, and a hot water tank 9 having a manually operated hot water faucet 11 for selectively dispensing hot drinking water. The drinking water dispenser 1 includes a conventional thermostat controlled refrigeration circuit 12 having a compressor 13, a condenser 14, an expansion valve 16, and an evaporator coil 17 for cooling the drinking water reservoir 6 to about 4⁰C (see Figure 2). . . ., .

The drinking water dispenser 1 includes a carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit 18 having a water pump 19 connected to the drinking water reservoir 6, a regulated CO₂ cylinder 21, and a carbonator 22 connected to the water pump 19 and the CO₂ cylinder 21 and in flow communication with a manually operated soda faucet 23 for selectively dispensing chilled carbonated drinking water. Suitable carbonators include inter alia the DES Ultra Carb 1000 carbonator commercially available from \ Cornelius, Inc., USA (www.cornelius.com). Suitable water pumps, are available from Shurflo, LLC, USA (www.shurflo.com). The carbonator 22 has a concave shaped cylindrical exterior surface 24 for intimately contacting the drinking water reservoir's exterior surface 7 for cooling its carbonated drinking water contents by heat conduction to about the same temperature as the chilled non-carbonated drinking water. The exterior surface 24 has a peripheral channel 26 for receiving the evaporator coil 17, and may or may not touch the evaporator coil 17.

The carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit 18 includes a pump control device 27 for selectively operating the water pump 19 to supply water from the drinking water reservoir 6 to the carbonator 22 when its carbonated water level drops below a predetermined level. A thermostat 28 senses the temperature of the carbonator 22 for operating the refrigeration circuit 12. A pump protection device 29 senses the level of non-carbonated drinking water in the drinking water reservoir 6 for precluding operation of the water pump 19 on the condition that the level drops below a predetermined height. Figure 4 shows a drinking water reservoir 6 and a carbonator 22 having square transverse cross sections and flat exterior surfaces 31 and 32, respectively. The exterior surface 32 is formed with a channel 33 similar to the channel 26. The exterior surface 31 and the exterior surface 32 are in direct contact for cooling the carbonator 's carbonated drinking water contents by heat conduction to about the same temperature as the drinking water reservoir's non-carbonated drinking water.

Figure 5 shows a drinking water reservoir 6 with the convex shaped cylindrical exterior surface 7 and a carbonator 22 with a convex shaped cylindrical exterior surface 34, and a heat exchange interposer 36 having a pair of opposite concave shaped cylindrical exterior surfaces 37 and 38 interposed between the drinking water reservoir 6 and the carbonator 22 for efficiently conducting heat from the latter to the former for cooling the carbonator 's contents. The exterior surface 37 is formed with a channel 39 similar to the channel 26. While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications, and other applications of the invention can be made within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Claims:

1. A drinking water dispenser comprising:

(a) a non-carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit including: i) a drinking water reservoir having an exterior surface and retaining non-carbonated drinking water, ii) a thermostat controlled refrigeration circuit with an evaporation coil coiled around said exterior surface for cooling said drinking water reservoir, iii) a first manually operated faucet in flow communication with said drinking water reservoir for selectively dispensing chilled non-carbonated drinking water; and

(b) a carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit including: i) a carbonator in flow communication with said drinking water reservoir for carbonating non-carbonated drinking water therefrom, and cooled by heat conduction with said exterior surface for substantially equalizing its temperature with said exterior surface's surface temperature for cooling its carbonated drinking water contents to about the same temperature as the drinking water reservoir's non-carbonated drinking water contents, and ii) a second manually operated faucet in flow communication with said carbonator for selectively dispensing chilled carbonated drinking water.

2. The dispenser according to Claim 1 wherein said carbonator is in direct contact with said exterior surface for substantially equalizing the former's temperature with the latter' s surface temperature by heat conduction.

3. The dispenser according to Claim 1 and further comprising a heat exchange interposer deployed between said carbonator and said exterior surface for substantially equalizing the former's temperature with the latter's surface temperature by heat conduction.

4. The dispenser according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 and further comprising a pump protection device for precluding operation of a water pump of said carbonated drinking water dispensing circuit on the condition that the level of non-carbonated drinking water in said drinking water reservoir drops below a predetermined height.