Systems and methods of custom condiment dispensing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019185313-A1
Application number	US-201916280649-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 20, 2019
Priority date	Sep 12, 2016
Publication date	Jun 20, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods of custom condiment dispensing include a reservoir of base condiment and a plurality of flavoring reservoirs. A first pump is pneumatically connected to the reservoir of base condiment. The second pump is pneumatically connected to at least one flavoring reservoir of the plurality of flavoring reservoirs. A nozzle is fluidly connected to the reservoir of base condiment and fluidly connected to the plurality of flavoring reservoirs. The nozzle is configured to simultaneously dispense the base condiment and at least one flavoring therethrough. A controller receives the user selections of the base condiment and the at least one flavoring and operates the first pump and the second pump to dispense base condiment and at least one flavoring.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A custom condiment dispenser comprising:
a reservoir of base condiment; a plurality of flavoring reservoirs; a first pump pneumatically connected to the reservoir of base condiment; a second pump pneumatically connected to at least one flavoring reservoir of the plurality of flavoring reservoirs; a nozzle fluidly connected to the reservoir of base condiment and fluidly connected to the plurality of flavoring reservoirs, the nozzle configured to simultaneously dispense the base condiment and at least one flavoring therethrough; a user interface operable to receive user selections of a base condiment and at least one flavoring; and a controller operatively connected to the user interface, the first pump, and the second pump, wherein the controller receives the user selections of the base condiment and at least one flavoring and operates the first pump and the second pump to dispense base condiment and at least one flavoring of the user selection.

22 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the nozzle is configured to produce laminar flow and shear mixing between the base condiment and the at least one flavoring.

23 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 further comprising an input device, the input device operable to receive an input of a recipe ID that specifies the base condiment and at least one flavoring as the user selection.

24 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the controller creates a recipe ID representative of the user selections of the base condiment and the at least one flavoring and the controller operates the user interface to present the recipe ID to the user.

25 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 24 , wherein the recipe ID is a quick response (QR) code.

26 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the controller operates the first pump to initiate dispense of the base condiment, the controller operates the second pump to mix the at least one flavoring into the base condiment, and the controller stops the second pump to stop the dispense of the at least one flavoring before the controller stops the first pump to stop the dispense of the base condiment.

27 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the second pump is pneumatically connected to a first flavoring reservoir of the plurality of flavoring reservoirs, and further comprising a plurality of flavoring pumps, the second pump being one of the plurality of flavoring pumps, a flavoring pump of the plurality of flavoring pumps is pneumatically connected to each of the plurality of flavoring reservoirs.

28 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the reservoir of base condiment is a first reservoir of base condiment and the nozzle is a first nozzle and further comprising:
a second reservoir of base condiment, the second reservoir of base condiment filled with a base condiment different from a base condiment in the first reservoir; a third pump pneumatically connected to the second reservoir of base condiment; and a second nozzle fluidly connected to the second reservoir of base condiment and fluidly connected to the plurality of flavoring reservoirs; wherein upon receipt of a user selection, the controller operates either the first pump or the third pump in conjunction with the second pump to dispense the selected condiment.

29 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 28 , further comprising:
a first valve disposed between a first flavoring reservoir of the plurality of flavoring reservoirs and the first nozzle; and
a second valve disposed between the first flavoring reservoir and the second nozzle;
wherein the controller operates the first valve and the second valve to selectively direct the flavoring from the first flavoring reservoir between the first nozzle and the second nozzle.

30 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 28 , wherein the nozzle comprises:
a base inlet axially centered in the nozzle; a mixing chamber axially centered within the nozzle and fluidly connected to the base inlet; a plurality of flavoring inlets arranged in the nozzle radially exterior of the base inlet; and a plurality of flavoring passageways that extend radially interior the nozzle to the mixing chamber to fluidly connect the flavoring inlets to the mixing chamber.

31 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 21 , wherein the nozzle further comprises:
a nozzle sleeve defining an exterior of the nozzle; a nozzle insert secured within the nozzle sleeve; a base inlet axially centered in the nozzle insert; a mixing chamber axially centered within the nozzle insert and fluidly connected to the base inlet; a plurality of flavoring inlets extending from the nozzle insert; and a plurality of flavoring passageways that extend radially interior into the nozzle insert to fluidly connect the flavoring inlets to the mixing chamber.

32 . A custom condiment dispenser comprising:
a first reservoir; a second reservoir; a first pump pneumatically connected to the first reservoir; a second pump pneumatically connected to the second reservoir; a first nozzle fluidly connected to at least one of the first reservoir and the second reservoir; a second nozzle fluidly connected to at least one of the first reservoir and the second reservoir; a user interface operable to receive a user selection of a condiment to dispense; and a controller operatively connected to the user interface, the first pump, and the second pump, wherein the controller receives the user selection of the condiment to dispense and operates at least one of the first pump and the second pump to dispense the user selection of the condiment from the first nozzle or the second nozzle.

33 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 32 , wherein the first nozzle is fluidly connected to the first reservoir and the first pump operates to dispense from the first reservoir through the first nozzle, and the second nozzle is fluidly connected to the second reservoir and the second pump operates to dispense from the second reservoir through the second nozzle.

34 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 33 , wherein the first nozzle is further fluidly connected to the second reservoir and the second nozzle is further fluidly connected to the first reservoir, and further comprising:
at least one first valve disposed between the first reservoir and the first and second nozzles; and at least one second valve disposed between the second reservoir and the first and second nozzles; wherein in response to the user selection of the condiment to dispenser, the controller operates the at least one first valve to selectively direct flow from the first reservoir to the first nozzle or the second nozzle or the controller operates the at least one second valve to selectively direct flow from the second reservoir to the first nozzle or the second nozzle.

35 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 32 , wherein the first reservoir contains a first sauce and the second reservoir contains a second sauce, the first sauce being different from the second sauce, and the user selection of the condiment to dispense comprises at least a selection of at least one of the first sauce and the second sauce.

36 . The custom condiment dispenser of claim 35 , wherein the first nozzle is fluidly connected to the first reservoir and to the second reservoir and when the user selection of the condiment to dispense comprises the first sauce and the second sauce, the controller operates the first pump to provide the first sauce to the first nozzle, then the c

Assignees

• Cornelius Inc

Inventors

• Bertness Elizabeth
• Fortunato Nancy
• Veltrop Loren

Classifications

• B01F13/1061

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B01F13/1069

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B67D7/02

  for transferring liquids other than fuel or lubricants · CPC title

• B67D1/0048

  with baffles · CPC title

• B67D1/0044

  for mixing inside the dispensing nozzle · CPC title