Bulk ingredient batching

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12428281-B2
Application number	US-202318324756-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2023
Priority date	May 26, 2022
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

A production line for bottling a liquid product includes an ingredient preparation and batching system. The ingredient preparation and batching system includes a pre-mix station including a holding tank configured to store a hydrated ingredient. The ingredient preparation and batching system also includes a batch tank fluidly coupled to the pre-mix station and configured to receive a predetermined quantity of the hydrated ingredient from the holding tank. The production line also includes a bottling line fluidly coupled to the batch tank and configured to receive a batch of the liquid product from the batch tank and dispense the batch of the liquid product into a plurality of containers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An ingredient preparation and batching system for use with a beverage liquid bottling line, the ingredient preparation and batching system comprising:
a first pre-mix station including a first holding tank configured to permit hydration of a first ingredient of a beverage therewithin and store the first hydrated ingredient, wherein the first ingredient comprises an ingredient selected from a group consisting of sucrose, dextrose, and citric acid;
a second pre-mix station including a second holding tank configured to permit hydration of a second ingredient of the beverage therewithin and store the second hydrated ingredient, wherein the second ingredient is different from the first ingredient; and
a batch tank fluidly coupled to the first pre-mix station and the second pre-mix station, the batch tank configured to
receive a predetermined quantity of the first hydrated ingredient from the first holding tank,
receive a predetermined quantity of the second hydrated ingredient from the second holding tank, and
store a batch of the beverage including at least the first hydrated ingredient and the second hydrated ingredient.

2. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 1 , further comprising a third pre-mix station including a third holding tank configured to store a third hydrated ingredient different from the first hydrated ingredient and the second hydrated ingredient, wherein the batch tank is further configured to receive a predetermined quantity of the third hydrated ingredient from the third holding tank.

3. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 1 , further comprising a flow meter configured to detect a flow rate of the first hydrated ingredient received into the batch tank.

4. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 3 , further comprising a pump configured to convey the first hydrated ingredient from the first holding tank to the batch tank.

5. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 4 , further comprising a controller in electrical communication with the pump and the flow meter, the controller configured to operate the pump and the flow meter to convey the predetermined quantity of the first hydrated ingredient from the first holding tank to the batch tank.

6. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 5 , further comprising a user interface in electrical communication with the controller and configured to communicate a recipe of the beverage to the controller.

7. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 1 , further comprising a hopper fluidly coupled to the batch tank and configured to dispense a predetermined quantity of a minor ingredient into the batch tank.

8. The ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first pre-mix station further includes a mixer configured to mix the major ingredient with water to produce the first hydrated ingredient.

9. A production line for bottling a liquid product, the production line comprising:
the ingredient preparation and batching system of claim 1 ; and
a bottling line fluidly coupled to the batch tank and configured to receive a batch of the beverage from the batch tank and dispense the batch of the beverage into a plurality of containers.

Assignees

• Niagara Bottling Llc

Inventors

• Shukla Abhishek
• Chen Steven Kuo-Chuan

Classifications

• B67C3/22

  Details · CPC title

• B67C2003/226

  Additional process steps or apparatuses related to filling with hot liquids, e.g. after-treatment · CPC title

• B67C3/007

  Applications of control, warning or safety devices in filling machinery (flow-control B67C3/28) · CPC title

• B67C3/20

  with provision for metering the liquids to be introduced, e.g. when adding syrups (measuring volume, or volume flow, in general G01F) · CPC title

• B67C3/204 Primary

  using dosing chambers · CPC title