Single serve dispenser for a powdered nutrient

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9752912-B2
Application number	US-201615009632-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2016
Priority date	Jan 28, 2016
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

The dispenser disclosed herein serves a single serving of a powdered nutrient contained within a container having multi-servings of the powdered nutrient. The dispenser has a metering device that operates as a ball valve or guillotine to dispense a single serving of the powdered nutrient into a water container. The dispenser also has a support surface that can be lowered and raised back up in order to fit a water container under the metering device and a distal tip of the metering device into a mouth of the water container so that no powdered nutrient spills out of the water container during transfer of the powdered nutrient from the metering device to the water container.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A dispenser system for dispensing a single serve of a powdered nutrient, the dispenser system comprising:
a container for holding two or more servings of the powdered nutrient, the container having an opening and a first part of a fastening system;
a metering unit for measuring the single serve of the powdered nutrient and dispensing the measured powdered nutrient from a dispensing tip of the metering unit, the metering unit having a second part of the fastening system wherein the first and second parts are removably attachable to each other so that the container is removable from the metering unit when the container is empty and a new container filled with the powdered nutrient is attachable to the metering unit;
a bottle for receiving the measured powdered nutrient dispensed from the dispensing tip, the bottle defining a mouth which is larger than the dispensing tip so that the mouth of the bottle does not contact the dispensing tip when the dispensing tip is inserted into the mouth of the bottle; and
a stand for holding the metering unit above a surface, the stand including a support surface that is traversable between a biased up position and a down position, the down position allowing the mouth of the bottle to slip under the dispensing tip while the bottle pushes down on the support surface and the biased up position wherein the bottle is positioned on the support surface with the dispensing tip at least partially inserted into the bottle and the mouth of the bottle not contacting any part of the dispenser system including the dispensing tip,
wherein a height of the bottle is greater than a first distance defined between an end of the dispensing tip and the support surface when the support surface is in the biased up position and less than a second distance defined between the end of the dispensing tip and the support surface when the support surface is in the down position.

2. The dispenser system of claim 1 wherein the metering unit defines a measuring cup that is a ball with a cavity with a volume equal to the single serve of powdered nutrient.

3. The dispenser system of claim 2 wherein the measuring cup is rotatable at least 180° so that the measuring cup is fillable with the powdered nutrient then rotated 180° to empty the powdered nutrient in the measuring cup into the bottle.

4. The dispenser system of claim 1 wherein the metering unit has a guillotine traversable between an opened position and a closed position, the powdered nutrient filling a cavity of the metering unit when the guillotine is traversed to the opened position and preventing a flow of the powdered nutrient to the cavity when the guillotine is traversed to the closed position.

5. The dispenser system of claim 4 wherein the guillotine is biased to the closed position.

6. The dispenser system of claim 1 wherein the metering unit has a rotateable auger for flowing the powdered nutrient from an upper cavity to a lower cavity.

7. The dispenser system of claim 1 further comprising a vibration unit for facilitating removal of the powdered nutrient from the metering unit into the bottle, the vibration unit being attached to the metering unit.

8. The dispenser system of claim 1 wherein the first part of the fastening system is a screw thread and the second part of the fastening system is a mating screw thread.

9. The dispenser system of claim 1 wherein the stand includes a spring underneath the support surface arranged to bias the support surface in the biased up position.

10. A method of dispensing a single serve of a powdered nutrient from a container to a bottle comprising:
measuring the single serve of the powdered nutrient in a metering unit to which the container is removable attached;
receiving the bottle on a support surface of a stand that holds the metering unit such that the bottle is underneath a dispensing tip of the metering unit and the support surface is at a down position;
releasing the support surface such that the support surface traverses to a biased up position in which the bottle is raised above the down position to a predetermined level, the dispensing tip is at least partially inserted into a mouth of the bottle, and the mouth of the bottle does not contact any part of the dispensing system; and
dispensing the measured powdered nutrient from the dispensing tip into the bottle.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the dispensing includes rotating a measuring cup of the metering unit at least 180° to empty the measured powdered nutrient from the measuring cup into the bottle.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the measuring includes moving a guillotine from a closed position, at which flow of the powdered nutrient from the container to a cavity of the metering unit is prevented, to an opened position to fill the cavity with the powdered nutrient.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the guillotine is biased to the closed position.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the dispensing includes rotating an auger such that the powdered nutrient flows from an upper cavity of the metering unit to a lower cavity of the metering unit.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the dispensing includes vibrating the metering unit to facilitate removal of the measured powdered nutrient from the metering unit into the bottle.

16. A dispenser for dispensing a single serve of a powdered nutrient, the dispenser comprising:
a container for holding two or more servings of the powdered nutrient, the container having an opening and a first part of a fastening system;
a metering unit defining a measuring cup for measuring the single serve of the powdered nutrient and dispensing the measured powdered nutrient from a dispensing tip of the metering unit, the metering unit having a second part of the fastening system wherein the first and second parts are removably attachable to each other so that the container is removable from the metering unit when the container is empty and a new container filled with the powdered nutrient is attachable to the metering unit;
a stand for holding the metering unit above a surface, the stand including a support surface that is traversable between a biased up position and a down position, the down position allowing for a mouth of a water bottle to slip under the dispensing tip while the water bottle pushes down on the support surface and the biased up position wherein the water bottle is positioned on the support surface with the dispensing tip at least partially inserted into the water bottle and the mouth of the water bottle not contacting any part of the dispenser system.

17. The dispenser of claim 16 wherein the measuring cup is a ball with a cavity with a volume equal to the single serve of powdered nutrient, the measuring cup being rotatable at least 180° so that the measuring cup is fillable with the powdered nutrient then rotated 180° to empty the powdered nutrient in the measuring cup into a water bottle.

18. The dispenser of claim 16 wherein the metering unit has a guillotine traversable between an opened position and a biased closed position, the powdered nutrient filling the measuring cup when the guillotine is traversed to the opened position and preventing a flow of the powdered nutrient to the measuring cup when the guillotine is traversed to the closed position.

19. The dispenser of claim 16 further comprising a vibration unit for facilitating removal of the powdered nutrient from the measuring cup into a water bottle, the vibration unit being attached to the metering unit.

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Assignees

• Singer Nicholas J

Inventors

• Singer Nicholas J

Classifications

• G01F15/18

  Supports or connecting means for meters · CPC title

• G01F13/005

  comprising a screw conveyor · CPC title

• A23L2/39

  Dry compositions · CPC title

• A23L2/52

  Adding ingredients (adding preservatives A23B70/10) · CPC title

• B67D1/00

  Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught (B67D3/00 takes precedence; apparatus for making beverages A47J31/00) · CPC title