Frozen food product dispensing machines having removable spigots

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10973241-B2
Application number	US-201916657889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 18, 2019
Priority date	May 17, 2017
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

A frozen food product dispensing machine includes a housing, and a freezer barrel and a cover defining a food product volume configured to contain food product. The cover defines a passage fluidly coupled to the food product volume. The machine further includes a spigot disposed within the passage and translatable along a longitudinal axis between a first position and a second position, and an actuator coupled to the spigot by an actuator interface. The spigot prevents a flow of food product through the passage when in the first position and allows the flow of food product through the passage when in the second position. The actuator is configured to selectively move the spigot between the first position and the second position. The spigot is configured to be removed from the cover while the cover is coupled to the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A frozen food product dispensing machine, comprising:
a housing;
a freezer barrel;
a cover coupled to the housing, the freezer barrel and the cover defining a food product volume configured to contain food product, wherein the cover defines a passage fluidly coupled to the food product volume;
a spigot disposed within the passage and translatable along a longitudinal axis between a first position and a second position, the spigot including an actuator interface; and
an actuator coupled to the spigot by the actuator interface;
wherein the spigot prevents a flow of food product through the passage when in the first position, wherein the spigot allows the flow of food product through the passage when in the second position, wherein the actuator is configured to selectively move the spigot between the first position and the second position, and wherein the spigot is configured to be removed from the cover while the cover is coupled to the housing.

2. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the spigot is selectively coupled to the actuator, and wherein the spigot is configured to be decoupled from the actuator when the spigot is removed from the cover.

3. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 2 , wherein the spigot is configured to be decoupled to from the actuator by rotating the spigot about the longitudinal axis.

4. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the spigot is configured to move away from the actuator when the spigot is removed from the cover.

5. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 4 , wherein the spigot is configured to move along the longitudinal axis when the spigot is removed from the cover.

6. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the food product is configured to be dispensed through a lower end portion of the passage, and wherein the spigot is configured to pass through the lower end portion of the passage when the spigot is removed from the cover.

7. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 6 , wherein the actuator interface is configured to pass through the lower end portion of the passage when the spigot is removed from the cover.

8. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the spigot further defines a first groove and a second groove extending around a circumference of the spigot, wherein the first groove is configured to receive a first resilient member, and the second groove is configured to receive a second resilient member, each configured to seal against an inner surface of the passage, wherein the passage is fluidly coupled to the food product volume by a feeding passage, and wherein the first resilient member is disposed on one side of the feeding passage and the second resilient member is disposed on an opposing side of the feeding passage when the spigot is located in the first position.

9. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the spigot defines a groove extending along the longitudinal axis, wherein the cover includes a pin extending into the passage and configured to extend into the groove.

10. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 9 , wherein the groove is a first groove, wherein the spigot further defines a second groove intersecting the first groove, wherein the pin is fixed relative to the cover, and wherein the spigot is selectively rotatable by aligning the pin with the second groove.

11. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 10 , wherein the spigot further defines a third groove intersecting the second groove, and wherein the pin is configured to travel along the third groove following rotation of the spigot to remove the spigot from the passage.

12. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 9 , wherein the groove is a first groove, wherein the spigot further defines a second groove extending along the longitudinal axis and configured to receive the pin.

13. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the food product volume is a first food product volume, wherein the passage is fluidly coupled to the first food product volume by a first feeding passage, wherein the passage is fluidly coupled to a second food product volume by a second feeding passage, wherein the spigot defines a groove configured to receive a resilient member configured to seal against an inner surface of the passage, and wherein the resilient member fluidly decouples the first feeding passage and the second feeding passage when the spigot is in the first position.

14. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 1 , wherein the spigot is configured to be selectively decoupled from the actuator by rotating the spigot about the longitudinal axis from a first orientation to a second orientation, wherein in the first orientation, the actuator interface engages the actuator to couple the spigot to the actuator, and wherein in the second orientation, the spigot is translatable along the longitudinal axis without the actuator interface engaging the actuator.

15. A frozen food product dispensing machine, comprising:
a housing;
a first freezer barrel and a second freezer barrel;
a cover coupled to the housing, wherein the first freezer barrel and the cover define a first food product volume, wherein the second freezer barrel and the cover define a second food product volume, and wherein the cover defines a first passage fluidly coupled to the first food product volume and a second passage fluidly coupled to the second food product volume;
a first spigot disposed within the first passage and translatable along a first axis;
a second spigot disposed within the second passage and translatable along a second axis;
a first actuator coupled to the first spigot and configured move the first spigot to control a flow of food product along the first passage; and
a second actuator coupled to the second spigot and configured move the second spigot to control a flow of food product along the second passage,
wherein the first spigot is configured to be selectively decoupled from the first actuator and removed from the cover while the second spigot is coupled to the second actuator.

16. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 15 , wherein the first passage and the second passage extend parallel to one another, and wherein the first spigot is configured to move along the first axis when the first spigot is removed from the cover.

17. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 15 , wherein food product is configured to be dispensed through a lower end portion of the first passage, and wherein the first spigot is configured to pass through the lower end portion of the first passage when the first spigot is removed from the cover.

18. The frozen food product dispensing machine of claim 15 , wherein the first spigot is configured to be selectively decoupled from the first actuator by rotating the first spigot relative to the first actuator.

19. A method of disassembling a frozen food product dispensing machine, comprising:
providing the frozen food product dispensing machine including:
a housing;
a freezer barrel;
a cover coupled to the housing, the freezer barrel and the cover defining a food product volume, wherein the cover defines a passage fluidly coupled to the food product volume;
a spigot disposed within the passage and translatable along a longitudinal axis, the spigot including an actuator interface; and
an actuator coupled to the spigot by the actuator interface and conf

Assignees

• The Vollrath Co Llc

Inventors

• Wetenkamp Ken

Classifications

• A23G9/281 Primary

  at the discharge end of freezing chambers · CPC title

• A23G9/282

  for dispensing multi-flavour ice-creams · CPC title