Beverage dispensing apparatus having fluid director

• US 6,896,159 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2001
• Issued: 05/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Beverage Works, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Beverage Works, Inc.
• Inventors: Crisp, Harry Lee III, Duff, Todd Erik
• Primary Examiner(s): Fischetti, Joseph A.
• Application Number:
  US10/007,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20030097314A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,271 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28, 222/146.6, 222/129.1, 222/325, 222/399, 222/61, 222/1, 623/90
• US Class Current: 222/146.6
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0021 the components being mixed at the time of dispensing, i.e. post-mix dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0057 Carbonators
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0858 using compression systems
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 2001/082 arranged in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 2210/00036 for use with or in refrigerators
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 2210/0006 Manifolds
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 23/126 Water cooler
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2323/023 Door in door constructions
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2331/803 Bottles
• CPC Class Codes: F25D 2400/06 Refrigerators with a vertical mullion
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

The present invention provides a beverage dispensing apparatus for a residential refrigerator. The beverage dispensing apparatus includes a drink supplier including a drink supply canister holder for holding a plurality of drink supply canisters, a plurality of valve actuators for causing the drink supply to be selectively released from the drink supply canisters, a water supplier for selectively supplying carbonated water and non-carbonated water for producing the beverages, a gas supplier for supplying CO₂ gas to carbonate the carbonated water provided by the water supplier and for supplying CO₂ gas or other gas for pressurizing the drink supply canisters to provide a consistent flow rate of the drink supply from the drink supply canisters, a fluid director for facilitating the mixing of the drink supply from one of the drink supply canisters and the carbonated or non-carbonated water from the water supplier and one or more beverage requesters for enabling users to request one of a plurality of beverages.

Claims

1. A beverage dispensing apparatus for a refrigerator, said beverage dispensing apparatus comprising:

a fluid director mounted in the refrigerator, said fluid director having a plurality of channels, the channels having upper ends commonly located with one another and lower ends commonly located with one another, said upper ends and lower ends being positioned above a beverage collecting support surface;

a drink supply canister holder mounted in the refrigerator at least partially above said upper ends of said channels, said drink supply canister holder adapted to hold a plurality of drink supply canisters, each of the drink supply canisters including a drink supply discharge end having a drink supply outlet valve operable between an open position and a closed position wherein;

(a) each of the drink supply discharge ends is positioned above and spaced apart from the upper end of one of the channels; and

(b) the drink supply outlet valve of said drink supply discharge end is not in direct fluid communication with said channel;

at least one beverage requester connected to the refrigerator;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the refrigerator, said water supplier adapted and positioned so as to selectively direct carbonated water or non-carbonated water into one of said channels through air from a position above the upper end of said channel when the beverage requester is activated; and

a drink supply outlet valve actuator mounted in the refrigerator and operably connected to each of said drink supply outlet valves, said drink supply outlet valve actuator adapted to selectively cause the drink supply outlet valve of one of the drink supply discharge ends to open and dispense drink supply from said drink supply discharge end, through air and then into the channel below said drink supply discharge end when the beverage requester is activated.

2. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, which includes, for each of the channels located below one of the drink supply outlet valves, an air gap between said channel and said drink supply outlet valve.

3. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fluid director is positioned directly below the drink supply canister holder.

4. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drink supply canister holder is movably mounted in the refrigerator.

5. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, which includes a drink supply canister holder access door connected to the refrigerator.

6. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, which includes a drink supply canister holder access door pivotally connected to the refrigerator.

7. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, which includes a drink supply canister holder access door slidably connected to the refrigerator.

8. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drink supply canister holder includes means for securely maintaining the drink supply canister.

9. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drink supply canister holder includes a movable drink supply canister securing member.

10. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 9, which includes a drink supply canister access door movably connected to the refrigerator and the drink supply canister securing member.

26. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, which includes a separate beverage requester for each drink supply canister adapted to be held by the drink supply canister holder.

27. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the beverage requester includes a user interface.

11. A beverage dispensing apparatus for a refrigerator, said beverage dispensing apparatus comprising:

a fluid director mounted in the refrigerator, said fluid director having a plurality of channels, the channels having upper ends commonly located with one another and lower ends commonly located with one another, said upper ends and lower ends being positioned above a beverage collecting support surface;

a drink supply canister holder mounted in the refrigerator at least partially above said upper ends of said channels, said drink supply canister holder adapted to hold a plurality of drink supply canisters each including a drink supply discharge end having a drink supply outlet valve operable between an open position and a closed position wherein;

(a) each of the drink supply discharge ends is positioned above and spaced apart from the upper end of one of the channels; and

(b) the drink supply outlet valve of said drink supply discharge end is not in direct fluid communication with said channel;

at least one beverage requester connected to the refrigerator;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the refrigerator, said water supplier adapted and positioned so as to selectively direct carbonated water or non-carbonated water into one of said channels through air from a position above the upper end of said channel when the beverage requester is activated; and

a plurality of drink supply outlet valve actuators mounted in the refrigerator and operably connected to said drink supply outlet valves, wherein each drink supply outlet valve actuators is adapted to selectively cause the drink supply outlet valve of any one of the drink supply discharge ends to open and dispense drink supply from said drink supply discharge end, through air and then into the channel below said drink supply discharge end when the beverage requester is activated.

12. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 11, which includes an air gap between each of the drink supply outlet valves and each of the channels located below each of said drink supply outlet valves.

13. A beverage dispensing apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a drink supply canister holder mounted in the housing and adapted to hold a plurality of drink supply canisters, each of the drink supply canisters having a drink supply discharge end including a drink supply outlet valve;

a fluid director mounted in the housing at least partially below the drink supply canister holder, said fluid director including a plurality of channels, the channels having upper ends commonly located with one another and lower ends commonly located with one another, said upper ends and lower ends being positioned above a beverage collecting support surface, each of the lower ends being positioned so as to be spaced apart from and located below one of the drink supply discharge ends wherein the drink supply outlet valves of said drink supply discharge ends are not in direct fluid communication with said channels;

at least one drink supply outlet valve actuator mounted in the housing and operably connected to each of said drink supply outlet valves, said drink supply outlet valve actuator adapted to selectively actuate and open the drink supply outlet valve of one of the drink supply discharge ends to cause a flow of drink supply from said drink supply canister discharge end, through air and then into the channel located below said drink supply canister discharge end;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the housing, said water supplier including at least one water valve actuator, the water supplier adapted and positioned so as to cause a flow of carbonated or non-carbonated water from the water supplier into one of said channels through air from a position above the upper end of said channel;

a CO₂ gas supplier mounted in the housing and connected to the water supplier;

a controller in communication with the drink supply outlet valve actuator and the water valve actuator; and

a beverage requester in communication with the controller.

14. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 13, wherein the CO₂ gas supplier includes means for fluidly connecting to the drink supply canisters to pressurize the drink supply canisters.

15. A refrigerator including a beverage dispensing apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a fluid director mounted in the housing, said fluid director having a plurality of channels, the channels having upper ends commonly located with one another and lower ends commonly located with one another, said upper ends and lower ends being positioned above a beverage collecting support surface;

a drink supply canister holder mounted in the housing at least partially above said upper ends of said channels, the drink supply canister holder being adapted to hold a plurality of drink supply canisters, each of said drink supply canisters having a drink supply discharge end including a drink supply outlet valve operable between an open position and a closed position wherein;

(a) each of the drink supply discharge ends is positioned above and spaced apart from the upper end of one of the channels; and

(b) the drink supply outlet valve of said drink supply discharge end is not in direct fluid communication with said channel;

at least one beverage requester connected to the housing;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the housing, said water supplier adapted and positioned so as to selectively direct carbonated water or non-carbonated water into one of said channels through air from a position above the upper end of said channel when the beverage requester is activated; and

at least one drink supply outlet valve actuator mounted in the housing and operably connected to each of the drink supply outlet valves, said drink supply outlet valve actuator adapted to selectively cause the drink supply outlet valve of one of the drink supply discharge ends to open and dispense drink supply from said drink supply discharge end, through air and then into the channel below said drink supply discharge end when the beverage requester is activated.

16. A refrigerator having a beverage dispensing apparatus, said refrigerator comprising:

a housing;

a fluid director connected to the housing, said fluid director having a plurality of channels, the channels having upper ends commonly located with one another and lower ends commonly located with one another, said upper ends and lower ends being positioned above a beverage collecting support surface;

a drink supply canister holder connected to the housing at least partially above said upper ends of said channels, said drink supply canister holder adapted to hold a plurality of drink supply canisters, each said drink supply canister having a drink supply discharge end including a drink supply outlet valve operable between an open position and a closed position wherein;

(a) each of the drink supply discharge ends is positioned above and spaced apart from the upper end of one of the channels; and

(b) the drink supply outlet valve of said drink supply discharge end is not in direct fluid communication with said channel;

at least one beverage requester connected to the housing;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the housing, said water supplier adapted and positioned so as to selectively direct carbonated water or non-carbonated water into one of said channels through air from a position above the upper end of said channel when the beverage requester is activated;

at plurality of drink supply outlet valve actuators mounted in the housing and operably connected to the drink supply outlet valves, wherein each drink supply outlet valve actuator is adapted to selectively cause the drink supply outlet valve of one of the drink supply discharge ends to open and dispense drink supply from said drink supply discharge end, through air and then into the channel below said drink supply discharge end when the beverage requested is activated.

17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the refrigerator is a residential refrigerator.

18. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein the water supplier includes a carbonation tank.

19. A beverage dispensing apparatus for a refrigerator, said beverage dispensing apparatus comprising:

a fluid director mounted in the refrigerator, said fluid director having at least one channel;

a drink supply canister holder mounted in the refrigerator at least partially above said channel, said drink supply canister holder adapted to hold at least one drink supply canister having a drink supply outlet valve, the drink supply canister holder including a movable drink supply canister securing member;

a drink supply canister access door movably connected to the refrigerator and the drink supply canister securing member, wherein the drink supply canister access door and the drink supply canister securing member each have an open position and a closed position, and means for opening of the drink supply canister access door to cause the drink supply canister securing member to be in the open position and for closing of the drink supply canister access door to cause the drink supply canister securing member to be in closed position;

a beverage requester connected to the refrigerator;

a carbonated and non-carbonated water supplier mounted in the refrigerator, said water supplier adapted to selectively direct carbonated water or non-carbonated water into said channel when the beverage requester is activated; and

a drink supply outlet valve actuator mounted in the refrigerator, said drink supply outlet valve actuator adapted to selectively cause the drink supply outlet valve to dispense drink supply from said drink supply canister into said channel when the beverage requester is activated.

20. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the drink supply canister holder access door is pivotally connected to the refrigerator.

21. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the drink supply canister holder access door is slidably connected to the refrigerator.

22. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the fluid director is removably mounted in the refrigerator.

23. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 19, which includes a fluid director access door connected to the refrigerator.

24. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 23, wherein the fluid director access door is pivotally connected to the refrigerator.

25. The beverage dispensing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the fluid director includes a one-piece molded polymer member.