Water supply connector of beverage dispenser

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure include a connector that connects a beverage dispenser to an external water supply source. The connector includes a backflow prevention device that allows only water to flow from the external water supply source to the beverage dispenser. Some aspects of the connector also include a pressure regulator configured to reduce the pressure of the incoming water to a desired pressure. The connector is configured to be attached to a suitable surface, such as the rear of the beverage dispenser.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a beverage dispenser. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for connecting a beverage dispenser to an external water supply source.

Background Art

[0002] Beverage dispensers are used to provide beverages to users upon request. They generally require a connection to an external source of potable water. The beverage dispenser mixes this water with various concentrates, additives, and carbon dioxide gas to produce the desired beverage. Connecting an appliance such as a beverage dispenser to an external water source is facilitated by two main elements. First, a backflow prevention device is usually required by regulation. The backflow prevention device functions to prevent fluid from within the beverage dispenser from flowing back into the external water supply source. This prevents the external water supply source from being contaminated. Second, a pressure regulator is often included in the connection between the appliance and the external water supply source to ensure that the water supplied to the beverage dispenser is maintained at the desired pressure. The external water supply source can be adjusted to the desired pressure and often is so adjusted, but a separate pressure regulator can be used to ensure that the components within the dispenser are not subjected to excessive water pressure in situations where external water pressure regulation is not working well or is inconsistent. Therefore, a backflow prevention device and a water pressure regulator are required at the piping connection between the beverage dispenser and the external water supply source.

[0003] In some embodiments, the beverage dispensers disclosed herein are intended for light commercial use (i.e., office use) or home use. In these situations, it is desirable for the beverage dispenser to be installable by an end user and not require a skilled plumber. This minimizes installation costs and time and improves the end user experience. Thus, it is also desirable for the backflow prevention device and the water pressure regulator to be incorporated into a single device that can be easily connected to the beverage dispenser and an existing water supply source.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] One aspect of a water supply connector for a beverage dispenser according to the present disclosure includes a cylindrical housing, a first end housing disposed at one end of the cylindrical housing, a second end housing disposed at a second end of the cylindrical housing, and first and second fluid connection portions configured to fluidly connect the interior of the cylindrical housing to external piping, the first and second fluid connection portions each being disposed at a distal end of one of the first end housing and the second end housing, and a backflow prevention device including a check valve disposed in the first end housing and the cylindrical housing, the backflow prevention device being configured to allow only water flow from the first end housing to the second end housing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate the present disclosure and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure and to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present disclosure.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Hereinafter, reference will be made in detail to representative aspects shown in the accompanying drawings. References to "an aspect", "one aspect", "exemplary aspects", etc. indicate that the described aspects may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all aspects necessarily include those specific features, structures, or characteristics. Further, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same aspect. Moreover, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in relation to one aspect, the impact of such feature, structure, or characteristic on other aspects, whether explicitly described or not, is presented as being within the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[0007] Simplifying the connection of the external piping of a beverage dispenser is achieved by a single integrated valve connector. This connector includes a backflow prevention device that ensures that fluid cannot flow from the beverage dispenser into the external piping. Some aspects of this connector also include a pressure regulator to ensure that the water supply pressure is within the required range. The connector has an externally accessible connector that enables quick interconnection between the connection of the external piping and the beverage dispenser. The connector also includes a mounting mechanism sized to enable the connector to be attached to the outer surface of the beverage dispenser and to ensure that the connector does not extend too far from the beverage dispenser. Thus, the disclosed connector provides the benefit of including a simple and easily installed piping connector that shortens the installation time of the beverage dispenser.

[0008] Referring to FIGS. 1-4, one aspect of a beverage dispenser 1 includes a housing 100. As illustrated in the figures, the housing 100 (also referred to as the clad portion 100) can be formed as a right prism with a front wall 101, a rear wall 102, a right wall 103, a left wall 104, a top wall 105, and a bottom wall 106 (collectively the "housing walls"). The housing 100 can also be formed in a non-rectangular shape, such as a cylindrical shape, a spherical shape, or another prismatic shape having six or more sides. The housing walls can be formed from one continuous element or from a number of elements joined together integrally (e.g., metal sheets or plastic partitions). Further, the housing walls can include an opening for accessing the interior of the housing 100, but can also include attachment points for elements mounted to the outer or inner surface of the walls. The housing walls can be formed from any suitable material, including, for example, aluminum, steel, and plastic materials. The housing walls can be joined together integrally using any suitable method, such as adhesives, welding, or mechanical fasteners, or connectors.

[0009] For the purposes of the present disclosure, and merely for reference convenience, the directions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 are defined as follows. The height direction is the direction extending perpendicularly to the top wall 105 and the bottom wall 106, the width direction is the direction extending perpendicularly to the right wall 103 and the left wall 104, and the depth direction is the direction extending perpendicularly to the front wall 101 and the rear wall 102.

[0010] In some embodiments, the housing 100 may be sized to be suitable for placement in an atypical dispenser location, such as, for example, a countertop in an office pantry, a break room, or a home kitchen. Counters have a standard depth of 60 centimeters (23.6 inches). Most kitchen counters have wall cabinets built above the counter at a low height of 16 inches in some cases. Additionally, the space on the counter is limited, and dispensers wider than 18 inches are too wide for most home kitchens. For these reasons, in some embodiments, the housing 100 may not exceed 16 inches in the height direction, 18 inches in the width direction, and 23 inches in the depth direction. Further, in these embodiments, the beverage dispenser 1 may weigh less than 45 pounds without any removable mounting consumables. These embodiments have the advantage of being easily positioned in atypical locations such as the countertop described above. As discussed in detail below, these compact embodiments of the beverage dispenser 1 include all the components necessary for dispensing beverages inside the housing 100. Specifically, neither consumables (e.g., beverage concentrate, CO2 gas canister, alkali chamber, and water filter) nor dispensing elements (e.g., pump, valve) are located outside the housing 100. These embodiments of the beverage dispenser 1 still require external connections to a power source and a water source for operation.

[0011] As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the beverage dispenser 1 includes a dispensing zone 120 configured to receive a container 2. The nozzle 124 is disposed on the front wall 101 within the dispensing zone 120. The drip tray 122 is also disposed on the front wall 101 within the dispensing zone 120. The drip tray 122 includes a surface 123 configured to support the container 2 under the nozzle 124 while the container 2 is being filled. The surface 123 includes openings forming a grid that allows any drips or overflows to flow through the surface 123 into the body of the drip tray 122. The display 800 is also disposed on the front wall 101 above the nozzle 124. The display 800 can be used to control the mode of operation of the beverage dispenser 1 and to display information regarding the operation of the beverage dispenser 1.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 3A, in some embodiments, the housing 100 includes one or more removable panels or doors that allow access from the outside to the interior of the housing 100. For example, in some embodiments, the housing 100 includes access doors 107 and 108 (on the right wall 103). The access doors 107 and 108 (collectively the "access doors") cover the corresponding wall openings of the housing 100 that allow a user to access the interior of the housing 100 and access the replaceable consumables of the beverage dispenser 1. The access doors can be made of any suitable material, and are removably fastened to the corresponding walls of the housing 100 using hinges, mechanical fasteners, or any other suitable method for removably attaching the access doors. The doors can be locked in the closed position by a key, or can be maintained in the closed position by a magnet or other latching mechanism. FIG. 3A is a side view of FIG. 3 with the access doors 107 and 108 removed to show an exemplary arrangement of the removable consumables accessible through the access doors. As shown in FIG. 3A, six concentrate containers 401 are shown inside the access door 107, and inside the access door 108, one CO2 gas cylinder 301, one alkali chamber 601, and one water filter 501 are shown. Each of these consumables is easily accessible and quickly replaceable by any inexperienced user when empty or consumed, as described in detail below. The number and type of consumables present within the housing 100 can vary depending on the features and capabilities included in a particular embodiment of the beverage dispenser 1.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the rear wall 102 may include various external connections. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a power cord 130 can be seen that is configured to plug into an outlet suitable for providing power to the beverage dispenser 1. A power switch 131 and a hot water switch 132 control the flow of power to the elements of the beverage dispenser 1. A water inlet 134 is provided in the rear wall 102 to receive cold water from a water source. A CO2 inlet 135 is also provided in the rear wall 102 to receive an external source of CO2 for carbonation purposes when an internal CO2 gas cylinder 301 is considered insufficient for a large community in a large office space. A cold water drain 136 and a hot water drain 137 are also located in the rear wall 102 to drain water from the internal chiller water tank and from the hot water tank, respectively, whenever the dispenser has to be moved, repositioned, or repackaged and transported. Finally, FIGS. 3 and 4 also show a drip tray drain 138. Some of these connections may be optional in some embodiments of the beverage dispenser 1. Additionally, the access door 109 (on the rear wall 102) serves to provide maintenance access for repairing and inspecting the internal components of the housing 100, such as the main PCB board and the IoT communication board for cellular, wireless, Bluetooth connections.

[0014] The connector 200 for the beverage dispenser 1 is shown in FIGS. 5-7, and FIG. 9. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the connector 200 is formed from a housing 202 disposed centrally and formed in a stepped cylindrical shape. The first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206 are attached to each end of the housing 202, and they are also formed in a generally cylindrical shape. The first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206 are separable from the housing 202. They are attached to the housing 202 via a pair of nuts 208, one on each of the first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206. After the first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206 are placed in contact with the housing 202, the nuts 208 are slid over the distal ends of the first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206 and threaded onto corresponding threads on the outside of the housing 202. The nuts 208 enable the connector 200 to be separated into its components using basic hand tools by removing the nuts 208 and separating the first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206 to access the internal elements of the connector 200 for cleaning and maintenance. This improves the ease of maintenance of the connector 200 and thus the end-user experience.

[0015] The fluid connection portion 201 is disposed at the distal end of each of the first end housing 204 and the second end housing 206. The fluid connection portion 201 is configured to fluidly connect to an incoming water source (for the fluid connection portion 201 disposed on the first end housing 204) and to fluidly connect to the beverage dispenser 1 (for the fluid connection portion 201 disposed on the second end housing 206). The fluid connection portion 201 can include suitable piping connection elements, such as threaded elements or quick-connect fittings, to facilitate the fluid connection.

[0016] Mount 209 is disposed on housing 202 and is configured to enable connector 200 to be attached to a suitable support surface. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, there may be four mounts 209, each formed as a protrusion extending from housing 202. Each mount 209 can have an opening for receiving a fastener (e.g., a screw), and the fastener can pass through the opening and be used to fix mount 209 (and thus connector 200) to a suitable support surface. For example, connector 200 may be fixed to the rear of beverage dispenser 1 in this way. In some embodiments, the overall height of connector 200 measured from the bottom of mount 209 to the topmost part of connector 200 may be 50 millimeters or less. This ensures that connector 200 does not extend too far when attached to beverage dispenser 1.

[0017] The embodiment of connector 200 includes a backflow prevention device 210, which is configured to prevent fluid from passing through connector 200 and entering an external water supply source. Backflow prevention devices are often required by regulations regarding appliances that are permanently connected to public water supplies.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 7, backflow prevention device 210 comprises two main elements, a strainer 216 and at least one check valve 212. Strainer 216 is disposed upstream of check valve 212 (i.e., closer to the distal end of the first end housing 204) and functions to filter contaminants from the incoming water. Strainer 216 can be constructed from any suitable material such as a metal or plastic mesh and can be sized to filter out contaminants larger than a desired size (e.g., 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 microns). By doing so, strainer 216 reduces the likelihood that contaminants will clog check valve 212 or ultimately enter beverage dispenser 1. Strainer 216 is arranged to be easily accessible when the first end housing 204 is removed, improving access for cleaning and maintenance of strainer 216.

[0019] The check valve 212 functions to allow fluid to flow only in a single desired direction (i.e., from the first end housing 204 towards the housing 202). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, there are two check valves 212 arranged in series with respect to the water flow. However, other embodiments of the backflow prevention device 210 can have a single check valve 212 or three or more check valves 212. A detailed view of an exemplary check valve 212 is shown in FIG. 8. The piston 213 is biased by a spring 214 against a piston seat 215 and is closed. Water normally enters from the left in FIG. 8 and pushes the piston 213 open against the spring force of the spring 214, which allows water to flow through the check valve 212. In a backflow situation, water enters the check valve 212 from the right in FIG. 8. In this situation, the biasing of the spring 214 presses the piston 213 against the piston seat 215, preventing water from flowing through the check valve 212. In some embodiments, the backflow prevention device 210 may be configured to withstand a desired backflow pressure. This means that the backflow prevention device 210 successfully blocks backflow up to a certain pressure. For example, the backflow prevention device 210 may be configured to function at a high backflow pressure of 200 PSI.

[0020] FIG. 7 also shows a pressure reducing valve 220. The pressure reducing valve 220 functions to adjust the pressure of the incoming water to a pressure desirable for operation within the beverage dispenser 1. For example, the pressure reducing valve 220 may be configured to adjust the pressure to about 55 PSI ± 10%. In one embodiment, the pressure reducing valve 220 has a valve 222 that is biased closed by a spring 224. The spring force of the spring 224 is calibrated to allow the valve 222 to allow water to flow only up to a desired pressure (e.g., 55 PSI). In some embodiments, the spring force of the spring 224 can be adjusted by a threaded element on which the spring rests, which can adjust the length (and thus the spring force) of the spring 224, for example.

[0021] Figures 5 through 7 also show the water hammer section 300. The water hammer section 300 is inserted between the backflow prevention device 210 and the pressure reducing valve 220, fluidly connecting them, and is also formed as a cylindrical passage from which a water hammer outlet 302 branches approximately midway between the backflow prevention device 210 and the pressure reducing valve 220. The water hammer section 300 (and the water hammer outlet 302) is configured to address potential water hammer problems by allowing various elements such as additional piping connections, water hammer prevention devices, or other elements to be attached to the connector 200 (via the water hammer outlet 302).

[0022] In addition to the aspects of the connector 200 described above, two further aspects are available. In the second aspect, the connector 200 does not include the pressure reducing valve 220. The space previously occupied by the pressure reducing valve 220 in the above aspect remains unprovided in the housing 202 and the second end housing 206. This aspect of the connector 200 is suitable for use in situations where hydraulic pressure fluctuations are unlikely to occur. By removing the pressure reducing valve 220 from the connector 200, the manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced while maintaining the necessary backflow prevention function. Removing the pressure reducing valve 220 can also increase the flow rate through the connector 200.

[0023] A further aspect of the connector 200 shown in Figure 9 does not include the water hammer section 300. In this aspect, the pressure reducing valve 220 and the backflow prevention device 210 are arranged adjacent to each other. This means that the connector 200 can be made shorter in the axial direction of the housing 202.

[0024] The elements of the connector 200 can be constructed from any suitable material. For example, the cylindrical housing 202, the first end housing 204, and the second end housing 206 can be constructed from a metallic material or a plastic material. Internal elements such as the check valve 212 or the pressure regulating valve 220 can also be constructed from a metallic material or a plastic material.

[0025] The method of connecting the above-described embodiment of the connector 200 begins with fluidly connecting the connector 200 via the fluid connection portion 201 to an external water supply source and the beverage dispenser 1. This can be done by using a suitable pipe connection (e.g., a push-in quick connection or a threaded element). Next, the connector 200 is physically fixed to the beverage dispenser 1 using the mount 209 and suitable fasteners.

[0026] It should be understood that the section "Detailed Description of the Invention" rather than the sections "Summary of the Invention" and "Abstract" is intended to be used for interpreting the claims. The sections "Summary of the Invention" and "Abstract" may show one or more but not all exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as conceived by the inventors, and thus are not intended to limit the present invention and the appended claims in any way.

[0027] The foregoing description of specific embodiments will fully disclose the general nature of the present invention such that others can, by applying the knowledge of those skilled in the art, readily modify or adapt such specific embodiments for various applications without undue experimentation and without departing from the general concepts of the present disclosure. Accordingly, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and scope of the equivalents of the disclosed embodiments based on the teachings and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the language and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and thus the language and terminology used herein should be interpreted by those skilled in the art from the perspective of the teachings and guidance of this specification.

[0028] The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A water supply connector for a beverage dispenser, comprising: a cylindrical housing; a first end housing disposed at a first end of the cylindrical housing; a second end housing disposed at a second end of the cylindrical housing; a first fluid connection portion and a second fluid connection portion configured to fluidly connect the interior of the cylindrical housing to an external pipe, wherein the first fluid connection portion is disposed at a distal end of the first end housing, and the second fluid connection portion is disposed at a distal end of the second end housing; a backflow prevention device including a check valve disposed in the first end housing and the cylindrical housing, the backflow prevention device being configured to allow only water flow from the first end housing to the second end housing; A water supply connector comprising the above.

2. The water supply connector according to claim 1, further comprising a pressure regulating valve disposed in the cylindrical housing and the second end housing and configured to regulate the pressure of water supplied to the connector to a desired pressure.

3. The water supply connector according to claim 1, further comprising a strainer disposed in the first end housing upstream of the check valve, the strainer being configured to remove contaminants from the water flow.

4. The water supply connector according to claim 1, further comprising a first nut and a second nut respectively provided on one of the first end housing and the second end housing and engaged with a thread disposed in the cylindrical housing to fix the first end housing and the second end housing to the cylindrical housing. The first end housing and the second end housing are separable from the cylindrical housing by removing the first nut and the second nut respectively.

5. The water supply connector according to claim 1, further comprising a mount connected to the cylindrical housing, the mount being configured to receive a fastener for fastening the water supply connector to a support surface.

6. The water supply connector according to claim 5, wherein the overall height of the water supply connector measured from the bottom of the mount to the top of the connector is less than 50 millimeters.

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