Inverted Beverage Dispenser Gravity Flow Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dispensing systems for chilled beverages are complex, inefficient, and unsuitable for sub-zero temperatures, often diluting the beverage and obscuring visual advertising features, while also requiring multiple bottles to be opened simultaneously and occupying valuable space.
Innovation Solution
A compact apparatus with a display cabinet that holds bottles in an inverted position, featuring a refrigerator for chilling and individually connectable dispensers that dispense beverages by gravity, allowing for precise metering and maintaining the beverage's temperature, while also incorporating light sources for enhanced advertising and visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex dispensing system with multiple components (nitrogen generator, cooling system, stoppers with nitrogen line and supply line) is used to preserve and dispense chilled beverages, then the beverage can be kept at controlled temperatures and preserved, but the device complexity increases significantly and the path for liquid becomes long causing losses
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the complex machinery (nitrogen generator, cooling system, stoppers with lines) from the display area. Instead, simple inverted bottles are placed directly in the display cabinet, eliminating the complex path for liquid while maintaining beverage preservation through the cabinet's cooling system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into independent bottles that can be individually managed. Each bottle is inverted and connected to a simple dispenser, allowing independent operation and eliminating the need for a complex centralized system with long liquid paths.
2Temperature
If bottles are stored in a refrigerator or freezer to achieve low temperatures for serving, then the beverage temperature can be controlled, but the distinctive visual characteristics (colour, brand name, logo, original bottle shape) are hidden and advertising efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The bottles are inverted and positioned in a vertical orientation within the display cabinet, changing their spatial arrangement from horizontal storage in freezers to vertical display. This dimensional change allows the bottles to be visually prominent while still being cooled by the cabinet's refrigeration system.
Solution Approach 2:
The display cabinet acts as an intermediary that provides both cooling (temperature control) and visual display functionality. The transparent or translucent cabinet walls allow light to pass through, illuminating the bottles and their distinctive characteristics while the cooling system maintains the required low temperatures.
3Temperature
If a circulation system with pump and manifold is used to cool and dispense beverages, then the beverage can be chilled and served, but the contents of bottles are mixed and a plurality of bottles must be opened at the same time for pure product serving
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses individual inverted bottles with separate dispensers for each bottle, eliminating the shared manifold and circulation system. This segmentation allows each bottle to be operated independently, maintaining product purity and simplifying operation - users only need to open one bottle at a time rather than multiple bottles simultaneously.
4Illumination intensity
If a display container that is cooled from the atmosphere is used, then the served alcoholic drink can be displayed, but the container becomes ice-covered causing water spills and obscuring distinctive marks or advertisements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the beverage from the display container and places it directly in inverted bottles within the display cabinet. This eliminates the display container's surface area that would otherwise become ice-covered and cause condensation problems, while still allowing the beverage to be displayed through the transparent cabinet and bottles.
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
The solution provides a simple, efficient, and space-saving method for dispensing chilled beverages at precise temperatures, preserving the beverage's purity and visual appeal, while allowing for single-bottle operation and enhanced advertising through light guidance and metered dispensing.
Implementation Method 1
a refrigerator for chilling the enclosed volume of the cabinet and the at least one bottle received therein
Implementation Method 2
The at least one dispenser is configured to dispense beverage on demand from a bottle connected to it by gravity
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus (1) for dispensing chilled beverage is disclosed comprising: a display cabinet (2) defining an enclosed volume (3); at least one holder (14, 16) for holding at least one bottle (13) containing a beverage within the enclosed volume; a refrigerator (19) for chilling the enclosed volume of the cabinet and the at least one bottle received therein; and at least one dispenser (20) for dispensing beverage from a bottle, individually connectable to individual ones of the at least one bottle. The at least one holder is configured to hold the at least one bottle in an inverted position. The at least one dispenser is configured to dispense beverage on demand from a bottle connected to said dispenser under the influence of gravity.