US20130192227A1 - Device and process for producing pressurized water and their use for producing beverages - Google Patents

Abstract

A device (1) for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising: a water heating and storing tank (5); a steam generator (6),—a cold water source (13); at least one pressurizable transfer tank (4) provided with: at least an inlet (14) for filling the tank (4) with water, an inlet (7) for introducing steam from the steam generator (6), and an outlet (8) for evacuating pressurized water; and separate valve means (31, 91, 71) to respectively fill the tank (4) with water, introduce steam in the tank, and evacuate pressurized water from the tank (4).

Description

BACKGROUND
• The present invention relates to a device for producing pressurized hot or cold water and its use to produce hot and cold beverages.
• Beverage production machines can produce beverages by mixing a food ingredient concentrate—either a powder or a liquid concentrate with a diluent such as hot or cold water. To provide more hygienic designs of such devices, product contact surfaces, loose parts requiring cleaning and maintenance, such as seals, impellers and the like are minimized. These machines beneficially utilize mixerless means, such as: a) spraying one of more of the ingredients under pressure thereby creating turbulent agitation to facilitate mixing; or b) creating a turbulent condition within an internal static mixing device.
• To accomplish the aforementioned requires the delivery of water under pressure to enable a good mixing of the diluent with the food concentrate and sometimes to foam the beverage that is formed from the dilution. The production of pressurized water is currently accomplished using mechanical water supply pumps and/or the pressure from the municipal water supply, in conjunction with other elements such as check valves, orifice restrictors, adjustable pressure regulators (all of which can adversely impact cost, space need and hygiene).
• In very small consumer personal use type beverage brewing/reconstituting/capsule appliances it is not uncommon for cold water to be pumped and then heated for the production of hot beverages. The inexpensive mechanical pumps that are used generate a lot of noise and although they are able to provide a high pressure delivery they have very limited flow capability. Alternatively, pumps capable of supplying pre-heated water are typically fairly expensive and subject to scaling. For commercial foodservice production machines that produce a large number of beverages per day, such as foodservice machines, the pressurization with such pumps cannot be achieved.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,637 describes a pump that provides hot water and steam in a single unit. However, this pump can only provide heated water on a batch dispensing basis and not a continuous flow of heated water. Due to this batch dispensing, it is difficult to sustain the delivery of more than 5 cups per minute. This rate is not an issue when the beverage is produced for domestic applications using a beverage ingredient cartridge but, this rate is too low when the beverage is produced from a beverage ingredient stored in a large container, such as a bag-in-box, for a foodservice application considering the higher beverage throughput needs where cups per unit time is a significant factor.
SUMMARY
• The present invention provides for the economical delivery of hot water at a high flow rate and high pressure on a sustained basis.
• According to an embodiment, a device is provided for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising:
• a water tank for heating and storing water;
• a steam generator;
• a cold water source;
• at least one pressurizable transfer tank provided with: at least an inlet for filling the tank with water; an inlet for introducing steam from the steam generator; and an outlet for evacuating pressurized water; and
• separate valve means to respectively fill the tank with water, introduce steam into the tank, and evacuate pressurized water from the tank.
• The pressurizable transfer tank is generally linked to the different sources of water by: at least a water line connecting the water tank and/or the cold water source to the pressurizable transfer tank; a cold water line connecting the cold water source to the pressurizable transfer tank; and a steam line connecting the steam generator to the pressurizable transfer tank.
• According to an embodiment of the device, the pressurizable transfer tank can be provided with a first and a second inlet for filling the tank with water, the first inlet filling the tank with hot water from the water tank and the second inlet filling the tank with cold water from the cold water source.
• The device in a preferred embodiment comprises valve means on each of the lines connected to the pressurizable transfer tank. The valve means are associated with the inlet for filling or introducing fluids into the pressurizable transfer tank, admit fluids into the pressurizable transfer tank, and prevent a reverse fluid flow. Preferably, a pressure relief valve can be installed at the outlet pipe of the pressurizable transfer tank.
• A line connection can be provided between the water tank and the steam generator. Then the steam generator can be fed with the hot water produced by the water tank acting as a hot water supply.
• Preferably, the device of the present invention comprises a controller that controls the separate valve means and monitors: the filling of the tank either with cold or hot water; the introduction of steam to pressurize water filled in the tank; and the evacuation of pressurized water.
• Preferably, the inlet for introducing steam into the pressurizable transfer tank is placed near the top side of the pressurizable transfer tank and steam distributor means are provided inside the tank near its top side. The steam distributor means evenly distributes the steam across the entire surface of the water thereby minimizing steam mixing with the water. It also minimizes the heating of ambient or chilled water in the tank. The steam distributor means can be a mesh screen or a manifold.
• According to another embodiment of the device, it comprises a first and a second pressurizable transfer tank and the inlet for filling the tank with water of the first tank is connected to the water tank and the inlet for filling the tank with water of the second tank is connected to the cold water source. This embodiment provides the advantage of constantly generating pressurized hot water and pressurized cold water either in the first or in the second tank. In contrast, the previous embodiment of the device only enables the successive production of pressurized hot water and then of pressurized cold water due to the existence of only a single tank. The tank must be totally empty before the temperature of the pressurized water can be modified.
• According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a machine for producing beverages comprising an apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient connected to the outlet of the device for producing pressurized hot or cold water as described above.
• The apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient can comprise: mixing means; at least a source of concentrated ingredient; ingredient dosing means; and dispensing means.
• The mixing means can be a mixing chamber with or without a whipper. Due to the pressure of the water introduced into the mixing chamber, efficient mixing can occur by a simple whirling of the water and food ingredient.
• In an embodiment, the mixing means, the ingredient dosing means and the dispensing spout can be integrated into a single cap connected to the source of concentrated ingredient, to the pressurizable transfer tank and to a motor. Such a cap is described in the application WO 2006/005401. The motor is connected to the ingredient dosing device to deliver a dose of ingredient.
• According to another embodiment, the machine can comprise a steam line connecting the steam generator of the device for producing pressurized hot or cold water also to the apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient. The steam line enables the delivery of steam, at the beverage machine side, to froth the beverage during or further to its production.
• Preferably, the volume of the pressurizable transfer tank of the device for producing pressurized hot or cold water is about the same volume of the intended size for the specific application to be produced by the machine, for example, a cup size. In that situation the pressurizable transfer tank can be totally emptied each time a beverage is produced. For larger cups, the beverage can be produced according to a batch procedure.
• According to an embodiment, the device of the present invention can comprise more than one pressurizable transfer tank, each presenting a different volume. The volume can depend on the type of beverage it is intended to deliver. For example, one pressurizable transfer tank can be defined for producing both espresso and long coffee; then the volume can be about 50 ml. Another pressurizable transfer tank can be defined for producing long coffee and Carafe's; then the volume can be about 250 ml. And another channel pressurizable transfer tank can be defined for producing carafe and catering; then the volume can be at least 1 l.
• According to another embodiment, the device of the present invention can comprise a pressurizable transfer tank wherein the volume can be adjusted for the type of beverage that is intended to be delivered by the machine.
• In an embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising: providing hot water; providing steam; providing cold water; filling a pressurizable transfer tank with either the cold or hot water, the tank comprising an outlet; and introducing steam into the tank so that steam pushes water in the tank through the tank outlet.
• The steam pushes the water in the tank through the tank outlet as it expands in the tank.
• The amount of pressure generated by the pressurized water is generally controlled at least by the pressure of the steam provided to the tank and/or the volume of the pressurizable transfer tank.
• Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
• FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a machine for producing beverages integrating an embodiment of a device for producing hot and cold pressurized water according to the present invention,
• FIGS. 2 and 3 are exploded views of a cap integrating mixing means, ingredient dosing means and a dispensing spout connectable to an embodiment of a device for producing hot and cold pressurized water according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Referring now to the figures,FIG. 1 schematically depicts a device1 comprising awater tank5 for heating and storing water having acold water source3 that can be, for example, domestic cold water from an ordinary pressurized utility water supply line. Thewater tank5 can be any kind of boiler that heats water without pressurizing it. The water tank provides hot water throughline10 to asteam generator6.
• In an embodiment, the device comprises a pressurizable transfer tank4 connected to: thecold water source3 through aninlet14 to provide cold water to the pressurizable transfer tank4; thewater tank5 through aninlet9 to provide hot water to the pressurizable transfer tank4; and thesteam generator6 through aninlet7 to provide steam to the pressurizable transfer tank4.
• The pressurizable transfer tank also comprises anoutlet pipe8. This outlet can be placed near the bottom of the tank4 so that all the water in the tank can be pressurized and dispensed. The orientation of the discharge tube and its position relative to the other parts of the device can be selected to adjust the quantity of the water being delivered.
• Valve means are provided to control the intake of the different fluids in the different parts of the device1 of the present invention: valve means11 and31 control the intake of cold water respectively in thewater tank5 and in the pressurizable transfer tank4; valve means101 and91 control the intake of hot water respectively in thesteam generator6 and in the pressurizable transfer tank4; and valve means71 control the intake of steam in the pressurizable transfer tank4.
• Valve means81 are also provided on thepipe8 for evacuating pressurized water from the pressurizable transfer tank4. The valve means81 are preferably a pressure relief valve. The valve means91 for the intake of hot water in the pressurizable transfer tank4 and the valve means31 for the intake of cold water in the pressurizable transfer tank4 can be typical open valves.
• The pressurizable transfer tank4 functions as follows. Depending on if hot or cold pressurized water must be produced, either intake valve means31 or91 is opened to fill the pressurizable transfer tank with hot or cold water coming either from thecold water source3 or from thewater tank5. Then when there is a need for pressurized water, valve means71 are opened to introduce steam in the pressurizable transfer tank and valve means81 are opened to allow pressurized water to flow out of the pressurizable transfer tank.
• Preferably, the pressurizable transfer tank4 comprises adistributor device12 to distribute steam coming from theinlet7 across the entire surface of the water in the tank4. This distributor device can be a grid.
• The pressure at which the water is evacuated from theoutlet8 depends from the amount of steam pressure introduced into the pressurizable transfer tank4. Typically, water with a pressure of at least 2 bar can be obtained at the outlet of thepipe8. The delivered pressure can be adjusted based on the steam pressure and temperature conditions.
• The device of the present invention preferably comprises acontroller13 that controls the opening and closing of the different valve means11,101,91,31,71, and81. Thecontroller13 particularly monitors: the filling of the pressurizable transfer tank4 either with cold or hot water; the introduction of steam to pressurize water filled in the pressurizable transfer tank4; and the evacuation of pressurized water from the pressurizable transfer tank4.
• According to an embodiment, two tanks4 can be used with one being connected only to the water tank as a water source, and the other being connected only to the cold water source as a water source.
• The device1 for producing pressurized water, such as described above, can be a part of a machine for producingbeverages2. The machine can comprise at least mixing means21 into which the pressurized water is introduced and mixed with a dose of a concentrated food ingredient delivered from a concentratedfood ingredient container23 using the dosing means22. The concentrated food ingredient can be either a powder or a liquid concentrate. The invention particularly concerns food ingredients that are either cold, chilled or hot, such as coffee, milk, chocolate, soup, tea, etc. Depending on the liquid or powder form of the concentrated food ingredients, thecontainer23 can be either a canister, a box or a pouch, such as a bag-in-box. The dosing means can be an auger or a rotating pierced plate or any other dosing means known for dosing powder. For liquid ingredients, the dosing means can be a pump that applies pressure on a flexible tube connecting thecontainer23 to the mixing means21.
• According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mixing means, the ingredient dosing means and the dispensing spout can be integrated in a single cap connected to the source of concentrated ingredient. The cap provides a connection to the pressurizable transfer tank4 that dilutes the pressurized water. The cap can also provide a connection to a motor to activate the dosing means.
• Because the water is pressurized, the mixing chamber can be a static mixing chamber without any whipping means. However, whipping means can also be present according to the present invention. The mixing chamber can comprise dispensing means24 to evacuate the beverage, such as a nozzle, which can improve the texture of the beverage or simply orient its flow to thefinal beverage container25.
• Optionally, the mixingchamber21 can be connected to at least thecold water source3, thecold water generator5 and/or thesteam generator6 by connecting the mixingchamber21, respectively, to the pipe17 that is connected to thecold water source3, to the pipe16 that is connected to thewater tank5 and to the pipe15 that is connected to thesteam generator6, in order to control: the temperature of the final beverage; the volume of the final beverage; or the texture of the beverage. Valve means102,92, and32 can be controlled by thecontroller13 depending of the desired properties of the final beverage. Texture essentially refers to the frothing/foaming of the beverage.
• FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a metering and mixingdevice100, in the form of a cap, which seals the opening of thecontainer23 when the container is in an inverted position with its opening facing downwardly. The cap also replaces the mixingchamber21 and the dispensing means24. The cap has atubular connecting portion101 equipped with connecting means such as an internal screw thread that complements connecting means on the container, that are also of a screw thread type, for example. Thedevice100 is preferably made of, among other things, two half-shells100A,100B assembled to one another along a parting line running more or less in the longitudinal direction of the ducts, particularly of the liquid duct and of the mixing chamber, circulating within the device. Thecap100 comprises a built-in metering pump for metering the liquid passing through theopening103.
• The pump is preferably a gear pump as described in WO-A-2006/005401. The pump is defined by achamber104 equipped with bearings at the bottom of each lateral surface of the chamber and able to guide tworotary elements105,106 cooperating in a geared fashion in order to form the moving metering elements of the pump in the chamber. Therotary element106 is a “master” element equipped with a shaft that is associated with a coupling means that is able to engage with complementary coupling means in the base station. Therotary element105 is the “slave” element which is driven in a direction that is opposite to that of the rotation of the master element so as to meter the liquid through thechamber104.
• The half-shells as so constructed and arranged such that thechamber104 is defined by assembly of the twoparts100A,100B. Thechamber104 may have a hollowfrontal part100B with a bottom surface defining one of the lateral surfaces. The other part encloses the chamber via a more or less flat surface portion. Liquid is thus metered through the liquid outlet duct.
• The device comprises aduct102 for supplying water which intersects the liquidfood ingredient duct107. Thisduct102 is connected to theoutlet pipe8 of the pressurizable transfer tank4 so that pressurized water can be introduced in the cap to mix with the food ingredient.
• According to an embodiment, thewater duct102 can also be connected to thecold water source3, thecold water generator5 and/or thesteam generator6 by connection of the mixingchamber21, respectively, to the pipe17 connected to thecold water source3, to the pipe16 connected to thewater tank5, and to the pipe15 connected to thesteam generator6. Thewater duct102 and the foodingredient metering duct107 are not directly positioned so as to intersect one another, but meet in the mixingchamber108. Thewater duct102 nevertheless is positioned such that its flow is directed toward the liquid flow, i.e., in the direction of the liquid outlet or slightly below. Alternatively, the liquid and diluent ducts can meet upstream of thechamber108 so that the same duct transports the fluids to thechamber108. Such a duct may be widened as to reduce the pressure drop and allow for an increase in the volume of the fluid before it extends into the mixingchamber108 proper. Restricting the width allows one to accelerate the water flow causing, due to the venturi phenomenon, a pressure at the meeting point that is lower than or equal to the pressure of the liquid in theliquid outlet duct107. When the pump is switched off, the equilibrium or differential pressures, ensures that the water crosses the metering point and travels as far as the chamber without moving back up inside the liquid duct. The liquid pump stops while the diluent continues to pass through the device, for example, towards the end of the drink preparation cycle in order to obtain the desired dilution of drink. Likewise, the diluent is used to regularly rinse the device. Thus the liquid, for example, a coffee or cocoa concentrate, is prevented from being contaminated in the container or the pump due to diluent being sucked back through theduct107.
• An air intake, defined by an air duct109 open to the outside, via a hole provided inhalf shell100A is preferably used when frothing of the liquid-diluent mixture is desired. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the air intake or channel109 can be positioned to intersect thewater duct102. Therefore, it is placed before the intersection of the liquid stream and diluent stream. The air intake109 may be positioned in the region of therestriction110. The water speed is such in that region that air is sucked in the water stream before the stream meets the liquid stream. Such a design reduces the risk of the air intake being contaminated with the diluted product coming in the air intake by accident.
• It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
• The device of the present invention provides the advantage of not only providing hot and/or cold pressurized water, but also steam and non pressurized cold or hot water. When it is coupled to a machine for producing beverages, it enables the production of a wide range of different beverages either hot or not, frothed or not, long or short.
• In the present application, “cold water” means ambient temperature water or chilled water.
• Pressurized water produced by the pressurization device of the present invention is also helpful in beverage producing machine comprising venturi devices to drawn in air for foaming.
• The device of the present invention in an embodiment can produce hot water at high flow rate (15-30 ml/s) on a sustained basis and at a pressure greater than 1 bar.
• It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

Claims (13)

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. Device for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising:

a water tank;

a steam generator;

a cold water source;

at least one pressurizable transfer tank comprising: an inlet for filling the tank with water, an inlet for introducing steam from the steam generator, and an outlet for evacuating pressurized water; and

separate valve means to respectively fill the tank with water, introduce steam in the tank, and evacuate pressurized water from the tank.

2. Device according toclaim 1 wherein the pressurizable transfer tank comprises a first and a second inlet for filling the tank with water, the first inlet filling the tank with hot water from the water tank and the second inlet filling the tank with cold water from the cold water source.

3. Device according to any ofclaims 1 to2 comprising a controller that controls the separate valve means and monitors:

the filling of the pressurizable transfer tank either with cold or hot water;

the introduction of steam to pressurize water filled in the pressurizable transfer tank; and

the evacuation of pressurized water from the pressurizable transfer tank.

4. Device according to any ofclaims 1 to3 comprising a fluid line between the water tank and the steam generator.

5. Device according to any ofclaims 1 to4 wherein the inlet for introducing steam in the pressurizable transfer tank is placed near the top side of the pressurizable transfer tank and steam distributor means are provided inside the tank near its top side.

6. Device according to any ofclaims 1 to5 comprising a first and a second pressurizable transfer tank and the inlet for filling the tank with water of the first tank is connected to the water tank and the inlet for filling the tank with water of the second tank is connected to the cold water source.

7. Machine for producing beverages comprising an apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient connected to the outlet of the device for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising:

a water tank;

a steam generator;

a cold water source;

at least one pressurizable transfer tank comprising: an inlet for filling the tank with water, an inlet for introducing steam from the steam generator, and an outlet for evacuating pressurized water; and

separate valve means to respectively fill the tank with water, introduce steam in the tank, and evacuate pressurized water from the tank.

8. Machine according toclaim 7 wherein the apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient comprises:

mixing means;

at least a source of concentrated ingredient;

ingredient dosing means; and

dispensing means.

9. Machine according to any ofclaims 7 to8 wherein the mixing means, the ingredient dosing means, and the dispensing spout are integrated in a single cap connected to the source of concentrated ingredient.

10. Machine according to any ofclaims 7 to9 comprising a steam line connecting the steam generator to the apparatus for preparing and dispensing a beverage from a concentrated ingredient.

11. Machine according to any ofclaims 7 to10 wherein the volume of the pressurizable transfer tank of the device for producing pressurized hot or cold water has a volume that is approximately the same as the smallest beverage to be produced by the machine.

12. Method for producing pressurized hot or cold water comprising:

providing hot water;

providing steam;

providing cold water;

filling a pressurizable transfer tank with either cold or hot water, the tank comprising an outlet; and

introducing steam into the tank so that the steam pushes water in the tank through the tank outlet.

13. Method according toclaim 12 wherein the pressure generated by the pressurized water is controlled by the pressure of the steam provided to the tank and/or the volume of the pressurizable transfer tank.

Images