Frozen beverage dispenser

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10743563-B2
Application number	US-201514873649-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2015
Priority date	Oct 2, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A frozen beverage dispenser includes a housing, a hopper configured to store a beverage product, a freezing chamber, a front cover removably coupled to the housing, a refrigeration system, an auger positioned within the freezing chamber, a drive configured to rotate the auger, an air inlet formed near the bottom of the housing, a single air outlet formed near the rear and the top of the housing, a fan for drawing air through the air inlet into the interior of the housing and exhausting air from the interior of the housing through the single air outlet, a spigot fluidly coupled to the freezing chamber, the spigot including a valve and an outlet wherein with the valve in a closed position, frozen beverage does not pass through the valve and with the valve in an open position, frozen beverage passes through the valve and exits through the outlet of the spigot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A frozen beverage dispenser for dispensing a frozen beverage product, comprising:
a housing having a bottom, top, side walls, a front panel, and a rear panel, the housing defining an interior;
a hopper configured to store a beverage product;
a freezing chamber positioned within the interior of the housing, the freezing chamber fluidly coupled to the hopper;
a front cover removably coupled to the housing to close a front end of the freezing chamber;
a refrigeration system configured to refrigerate the beverage product in the freezer chamber to form the frozen beverage product;
an auger positioned within the freezing chamber;
a drive configured to rotate the auger about an auger rotation axis thereby causing the auger to circulate the beverage product within the freezing chamber;
an air inlet formed near the bottom of the housing;
a baffle positioned proximate the air inlet and within the interior of the housing to block a straight line path for sounds exiting the interior of the housing through the air inlet, the baffle being positioned to define at least two paths for air to flow around the baffle;
a single air outlet formed near the rear and the top of the housing;
a fan positioned within the interior of the housing, the fan for drawing air through the air inlet into the interior of the housing and along the at least two paths and exhausting air from the interior of the housing through the single air outlet; and
a spigot fluidly coupled to the freezing chamber, the spigot comprising a handle, a valve, and an outlet, with the handle coupled to the valve to control operation of the valve;
wherein with the valve in a closed position, the frozen beverage product does not pass through the valve; and
wherein with the valve in an open position, the frozen beverage product passes through the valve and exits through the outlet of the spigot.

2. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the auger comprises a central body, a plurality of arms, and a plurality of scrapers, wherein each of the arms extends from central body to one of the scrapers, and wherein the central body, arms, and scrapers are formed as a single unitary plastic body.

3. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the handle is movable among three positions so that with the handle in the first position the valve is in the closed position, with the handle in the second position the valve is in the open position, and with the handle in the third position the valve is in the open position, wherein the first position of the handle is located between the second and third positions of the handle.

4. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the handle is configured so that an operator pulls the handle toward the operator to move the handle to the second position to dispense the frozen beverage product from the outlet of the spigot and pushes the handle away from the operator to move the handle to the third position to dispense the frozen beverage product from the outlet of the spigot.

5. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 4 , further comprising:
a spring that biases the valve to the closed position and the handle to the first position.

6. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the spigot is configured to be manually secured to and detached from the front cover without the use of tools.

7. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 6 , wherein the spigot is configured to be manually assembled and disassembled without the use of tools.

8. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the front cover includes an illumination device positioned to illuminate the front cover and the beverage product within the freezing chamber.

9. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 8 , wherein the front cover includes a plurality of pins extending from the cover and the pins are electrically coupled to the illumination device; and
wherein the housing includes a plurality of contacts, each configured to receive one of the pins of the front cover when the front cover is coupled to the housing, thereby electrically coupling the illumination device to an electrical system for powering the illumination device.

10. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet is one of a plurality of air inlets formed near the bottom of the housing.

11. A frozen beverage dispenser for dispensing a frozen beverage product, comprising:
a hopper configured to store a beverage product;
a freezing chamber fluidly coupled to the hopper;
a front cover for closing a front end of the freezing chamber;
a refrigeration system configured to refrigerate the beverage product in the freezer chamber to form the frozen beverage product;
an auger positioned within the freezing chamber;
a drive configured to rotate the auger about an auger rotation axis thereby causing the auger to circulate the beverage product within the freezing chamber; and
a spigot fluidly coupled to the freezing chamber, the spigot comprising;
a lock tab configured to couple the spigot to the front cover through 90 degree rotation of the lock tab relative to the front cover such that the lock tab is located on an exterior face of the front cover when the spigot is in a locked position;
a valve;
a handle coupled to the valve to control operation of the valve; and
an outlet;

wherein with the valve in a closed position, the frozen beverage product does not pass through the spigot;
wherein with the valve in an open position, the frozen beverage product passes through the spigot and exits through the outlet of the spigot;
wherein the handle is movable among three positions so that with the handle in the first position the valve is in the closed position, with the handle in the second position the valve is in the open position, and with the handle in the third position the valve is in the open position, wherein the first position of the handle is located between the second and third positions of the handle; and
wherein the handle is configured so that an operator pulls the handle toward the operator to move the handle to the second position to dispense the frozen beverage product from the outlet of the spigot and pushes the handle away from the operator to move the handle to the third position to dispense the frozen beverage product from the outlet of the spigot.

12. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 11 , further comprising:
a spring that biases the valve to the closed position and the handle to the first position.

13. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the spigot is configured to be manually secured to and detached from the front cover without the use of tools.

14. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 13 , wherein the spigot is configured to be manually assembled and disassembled without the use of tools.

15. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 11 , further comprising:
an illumination device positioned to illuminate the front cover and the beverage product within the freezing chamber.

16. The frozen beverage dispenser of claim 11 , wherein the valve moves horizontally when moving between the open position and the closed position.

17. A frozen beverage dispenser for dispensing a frozen beverage product, comprising:
a housing including a plurality of contacts electrically coupled to an electrical system;
a hopper configured to store a beverage product;
a freezing chamber fluidly coupled to the hopper;
a front cover removably coupled to the housing to close a front end of the freezing chamber, wherein the front cover includes an illumination device positioned

Assignees

• Pw Stoelting Llc
• The Vollrath Co Llc

Inventors

• Mohammed Aamer
• Wetenkamp Ken
• Koehl Richard

Classifications

• F16K31/602 Primary

  Pivoting levers, e.g. single-sided (F16K31/605 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F16K31/52408

  comprising a lift valve · CPC title

• A23G9/281 Primary

  at the discharge end of freezing chambers · CPC title

• A23G9/224

  Agitators or scrapers · CPC title

• F16K1/12

  with streamlined valve member around which the fluid flows when the valve is opened · CPC title