Aquarium Beverage Dispenser With Concealed Isolated Flow Path
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing beverage dispensers are typically uninteresting to look at and use, lacking an element of entertainment or novelty.
Innovation Solution
A beverage dispensing system that creates the illusion of dispensing aquarium water by using a faux aquarium tank with a manually operable dispensing valve and fluidically isolated conduits to deliver beverages while maintaining the appearance of aquarium water.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a beverage dispenser uses a transparent tank to hold beverage, then the beverage source is visible and straightforward, but the dispenser becomes boring and lacks entertainment value
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or illusion by making the aquarium tank appear to contain beverage while actually containing water. The tank is positioned and designed to look like a beverage container, creating a deceptive visual copy that entertains users while the actual beverage flows through concealed piping from a separate source.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a beverage dispenser conceals the actual beverage source to create surprise, then user engagement increases, but the system complexity increases with hidden conduits and isolation mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate functional segments: the aquarium tank serves as a visual decoy containing water, while the actual beverage supply is separated into its own concealed piping system. The flow line is segmented into concealed portions that route beverage from the source through the tank wall and to the dispensing valve, isolating the beverage mechanism from the visual display element.
Solution Approach 2:
The aquarium tank acts as an intermediary or mediator between the concealed beverage source and the dispensing point. It provides the visual illusion while the concealed conduits mediate the actual beverage flow, separating the visual function from the functional beverage delivery mechanism.
3Reliability
If beverage flow line is fluidically isolated from aquarium water, then beverage purity is maintained, but the system requires complex sealing and isolation at conduit entry points
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit passing through the aquarium tank wall utilizes sealing mechanisms that create fluidic isolation through the tank wall material. The system employs sealed penetrations or flexible sealing arrangements at the points where conduits enter and exit the tank, maintaining beverage purity by preventing contamination from the aquarium water while keeping the isolation mechanism relatively simple.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides an entertaining and novel user experience by dispensing beverages while concealing the actual beverage source, enhancing user engagement and surprise.
Implementation Method 1
an elongate conduit that extends through the rearward portion of the sidewall of the aquarium tank, traverses an interior region of the aquarium tank, and extends through the forward portion of the sidewall for fluid communication with the dispensing valve; wherein the elongate conduit and the dispensing valve together define a beverage flow line that is fluidically isolated from the interior of the aquarium tank and any aquarium water held therein
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments are described of a beverage dispensing system configured to give the illusion it dispenses aquarium water.