Apparatus for Dispensing a Flowable foodstuff
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Accused Products
Abstract
A disposable ingredient cartridge for beverage dispense apparatus (FIG. 5) comprises a moulded plastic two-piece shell 33a, 33b with an ingredient reservoir 34. A one-way valve 35 leads into the reservoir 34 for filling the reservoir 34 with ingredient. Two non-return valves 36, 37 lead into and out of a chamber 38 and a pump piston 39 attached to a drive member 40 connectable to an external drive (not shown) via the piston shaft 41 is movable within the chamber 38 to vary the size of the chamber 38. In use, when the drive member 40 is driven in one direction, the piston 39 moves drawing ingredient from the reservoir 34 through non-return valve 36 into chamber 38 and, when the drive member 40 is driven in the other direction, the piston 39 pushes the ingredient out of chamber 38 through non-return valve 37 down a flexible tube 42 and out of a tip valve 43. The tip valve 43 is attached to a mounting piece 44 receivable by the apparatus such that the tip valve will be in a flow of diluent. The cartridge has a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag 43a which contains coded information relating to the fluid contained within the reservoir 34, for example the fluid type and its concentration, and the apparatus has a reader for reading the tag 43a.
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Citations
83 Claims
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1-52. -52. (canceled)
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53. A beverage dispenser for dispensing a flowable foodstuff and, optionally, a selected volume of one or more additional ingredients for enhancing the flavour or nutritional value of the base beverage, the dispenser comprising:
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a) means to supply a metered amount of the base beverage b) a plurality of disposable reservoirs each containing an additional ingredient and each having an associated disposable dosing device adapted to dispense, through a non-return valve, a selected volume of additional ingredient; and
c) means to enable the user optionally to cause the dispenser to dispense a selected one or more of said additional ingredients into the base beverage, wherein the disposable reservoir has associated therewith an identification means comprising information pertaining to at least one of;
the volume of the ingredient in the reservoir, the shelf life of the ingredient, the active shelf life of the ingredient, data identifying the ingredient to be bona fide, non compatibility with other ingredients and the maximum allowable dose size; and
wherein the apparatus contains a means for automatically reading and utilising said information comprised in the identification means in the control of the dispense of said additional ingredients. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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56. (canceled)
Specification