Proportioning pump including integral orifice

Abstract

Mix and air combine in a mixing chamber of a housing of a frozen product system to form a mixture. A cap received in one end of the housing includes an air inlet, a mix inlet, and two mixture outlets. An integral orifice received in the air inlet regulates the amount of air that flows into the mixing chamber. A gasket positioned adjacent the cap provides a liquid tight seal that prevents air and mix from entering the mixing chamber when the mixture is dispensed from the mixing chamber and to prevent the mixture from exiting the freezing cylinder while air and mix are drawn into the mixing chamber. The gasket includes an air valve, a mix valve, and two mixture valves. An adapter draws air into the pump through an air hole and draws mix into the pump through a mix hole. A piston slides in the mixing chamber to dispense the mixture through mixture holes. The cap includes a plurality of protrusions that engage holes in the adapter to ensure proper alignment of the cap and the adapter. The gasket also includes a protrusion that engages a cavity in the cap to ensure proper alignment of the gasket with the cap.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 391,678, which was filed on Mar. 18, 2003.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to a proportioning pump having an integral orifice that controls the proportion of fluid in a mixture. More specifically, this invention relates to a proportioning pump employed in a frozen product system to regulate the amount of air combined with a mix to create a frozen product. [0003] A proportioning pump controls the proportion of a fluid in a mixture. The proportioning pump commonly employs an orifice to regulate the proportion of the fluid in the mixture. For example, a first fluid and a second fluid are mixed in a mixing chamber to form a mixture. If the proportion of the first fluid is to be regulated, the first fluid flows through an orifice prior to entering the mixing chamber, and the second fluid flows unrestricted into the mixing chamber. The orifice ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a pump for creating frozen products by combining air and mix. The pump includes a piston and a housing with a mixing chamber. The piston slides in the housing to change the volume of the mixing chamber. The pump has a cap with an air inlet, mix inlet, and two mixture outlets. A gasket with valves prevents air and mix from entering the mixing chamber when dispensed. An adapter draws air and mix into the mixing chamber and dispenses the mixture into a freezing cylinder for cooling and preparation of the frozen product. A check ring regulates the pressure in the freezing cylinder. The cap and gasket have protrusions to ensure proper alignment. The pump creates suction to seal the mixture valves and prevents air and mix from leaking into the mixing chamber. The pump creates pressure to seal the air valve and mix valve and prevents air and mix in the air tube and mix tube from leaking into the mixing chamber. The technical effects of the invention are improved efficiency and accuracy in creating frozen products."

Problems solved by technology

A drawback to the prior art pumps is that during assembly, the components of a pump used to create soft serve ice cream can be confused with the components of a pump used to create milkshakes.

For example, if the orifice of a milkshake pump is accidentally assembled in the soft serve ice cream pump, not enough air is combined with the mix.

Therefore, the orifice is exposed to air and can dry out over time.

If the orifice dries out, the air passage can be blocked, reducing the amount of air flowing through the orifice, affecting the consistency of the resulting frozen product and the frozen product overrun.

As overrun decreases, the amount of profit on the frozen product can decrease, as there is less air and more mix in the frozen product per unit volume, which can decrease profit because more mix is used.

In the prior art, the gasket is complex and includes several components, increasing the complexity of assembly of the pump.

There are several drawbacks to the proportioning pump of the prior art.

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