WO2012052789A1

WO2012052789A1 - Arrangement for producing cooled drink enriched with carbon dioxide

Info

Publication number: WO2012052789A1
Application number: PCT/HU2011/000100
Authority: WO
Inventors: József TÖMÖR
Original assignee: Reginaqua Kft.
Priority date: 2010-10-21
Filing date: 2011-10-21
Publication date: 2012-04-26
Also published as: HU3939U; HU1000230V0

Abstract

An arrangement for producing carbonated cooled drink, comprising a carbonation chamber (1) for enriching liquid with carbon dioxide, said carbonation chamber (1) having a liquid inlet (11) connectable through a liquid conduit (2) onto a liquid source (F), a carbon dioxide gas inlet (12) connectable through a gas conduit onto a carbon dioxide gas source (G) and a liquid outlet (13) connectable with a liquid dispenser (A), said carbonation chamber (1) being in thermodynamic interrelation with a compressor-type cooling device, wherein a section (21) of said liquid conduit (2) with a linked coil section (71) of an evaporator conduit (7) of said compressor-type cooling device are spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1).

Description

ARRANGEMENT FOR PRODUCING COOLED DRINK ENRICHED

WITH CARBON DIOXIDE

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an arrangement for producing carbonated cooled drink, said apparatus comprising a carbonation container for enriching liquid, preferably a beverage, with carbon dioxide, and a cooling device being in thermodynamic relation with said carbonation container. By means of the arrangement of the invention, there can be realised an apparatus for cooling and carbonating of liquid, in particular for use in beverage dispenser automats.

Description of the Prior Art

There are known numerous methods for producing cooled beverages enriched with carbon dioxide. According to the product description No. 1/2003/HKT of Magyar Elelmiszerkonyv ("Hungarian Food Book"), saturation (enriching drink water by carbonic acid) can be made in different methods, e. g. by means of lying cylinder and mixing, or by means of standing cylinder and vaporisation. The sufficient enrichment shall result in a liquid comprising carbon dioxide in a density of mass of at least 7 gram/litre.

The essence of the spraying method is, that carbon dioxide is supplied into a carbonating container, and the liquid is sprayed, under significant pressure, into the carbonating container, wherein the corpuscles of the liquid admix with the carbon dioxide gas, effectively advancing the dissolution of carbon dioxide in the liquid.

US Patent No. 4,518,541 discloses an apparatus for aerating liquids, particularly for the preparation of carbonated beverages, having a carbonating chamber with electrically actuated valves controlling the flow of liquid and gas to and from the chamber, and a programmed electronic timer control device which controls said valves, enabling liquid to be carbonated and dispensed at the touch of a button.

For producing beverages enriched with carbonic acid, US Patent No. 4,719,056 discloses a carbonation method and apparatus, in which liquid (in particular water) is dispensed into a closed container serving as an aerating chamber, and carbon dioxide is introduced into the container part above the liquid surface. Carbonation is achieved by forcing carbon dioxide in gaseous form from an atmosphere thereof downwardly into a body of water to be carbonated, preferably by a rotor rotatable about a horizontal axis or other means. The carbon dioxide atmosphere is preferably maintained at a pressure. The degree of carbonation may be varied by varying the time for which the carbonation operation is carried on.

Hungarian Utility Model No. HU-2876 discloses an apparatus for preparing liquid enriched with gas, in particular for preparing aerated water, comprising a mixing vessel equipped with a mixing blade, said mixing vessel having a liquid inlet, a liquid outlet, a gas inlet and a gas outlet, said gas outlet being associated with or separated from said gas inlet, wherein said gas inlet and gas outlet, and said liquid outlet are equipped with valves. Further, the apparatus comprises means for providing pressure, connected with said valve of the gas inlet, and a control unit for controlling the operation of the valves and the function of the mixing blade, said control unit providing sufficient pressure in the mixing vessel by keeping the gas inlet valve open from finishing the feed of liquid into the mixing vessel when obtaining an amount of liquid sufficient to start the carbonation process, to the beginning of feeding the next amount of liquid into the mixing vessel. For producing cooled beverage, there is a chilled liquid container connected onto the liquid inlet of the mixing vessel. The refrigeration of the liquid does not take place inside the apparatus, but an outer refrigerator unit provides that chilled liquid is supplied into the mixing vessel.

Hungarian Utility Model No. HU-3792 discloses a control unit for dispenser apparatus, comprising a refrigerating and/or a heating unit, in particular for beverage dispenser automats dispensing chilled drinks, for example aerated mineral water, said control unit comprising an input gate, connectable with an energy supply network, and a supply unit having an output gate which is connectable with at least an energy consuming unit, and there is an energy transmitting channel between said input gate and said output gate, capable of transferring electric power between said input and output gates, wherein said supply unit has a case, and at least a portion of the power transmitting channel being arranged inside said case, which inside portion of said power transmitting channel being equipped with an interrupter, said interrupter being connected with an interferer unit having a data storage unit, an input unit, a display unit, a counter unit and a central unit being in information-transmitting connection with the aforesaid units.

HU-Patent No. 225,735 discloses an apparatus for carbonation and a method for aerating water. The apparatus comprises a carbonating chamber, a water supply, means for conducting and controlling water flow from said water supply to the carbonating chamber, and a carbon dioxide gas supply unit; the apparatus also comprises a control unit interconnecting the carbonating chamber with said carbon dioxide gas supply and controlling the carbon dioxide gas inflow into the carbonating chamber; the apparatus also comprises a rotatable mixer arranged inside the carbonating chamber, for mixing carbon dioxide gas with water, an expiratory valve for letting gas out from the carbonating chamber, and a dispenser valve being in connection with the carbonating chamber, for dispensing aerated water out from the carbonating chamber. The apparatus further comprises a control valve capable of increasing or decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide to at least two predetermined level. The apparatus can be connected with outside water cooler and beverage dispenser means, respectively. According to the method realizable by means of the apparatus, the carbonating chamber is partly filled with water, whereafter carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the chamber, into its area above the water surface, and the carbon dioxide gas is mixed with the water for a time period defined by a controller input signal, and finally the aerated water is dispensed from the carbonating chamber.

A deficiency of the aforementioned innovations is that the aerating / carbonating apparatus does not provide cooling of the beverage within the carbonating chamber; therefore, there is required a separate "outside" refrigerator for providing cooled beverage to be dispensed, which results in that the space demand of the known apparatus is significant.

The Object of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to develop an apparatus for carbonation, in which the cooling of a liquid to a defined temperature is achieved inside the apparatus, simultaneously with a carbonating process known per se, without needing any additional "outside means" for refrigerating. It is a particular aim with the invention, to realise a carbonating and cooling apparatus within a compact apparatus of low space demand, being expediently capable for use in beverage dispenser automats.

Accordingly, the technical challenge to be solved is to provide the physical and thermodynamic interconnection of a means for carbonation (preferably known in itself) with a means for cooling (also known in itself) in such a way that the liquid, while being carbonated, is continuously cooled as well, simultaneously with the process of carbonation.

The invention is based on the recognition, that the efficiency of cooling is significantly improvable and, at the same time, the sufficient time need of cooling can be diminished and also the space demand of the means for carbonation and the means for refrigeration can be reduced by use of an arrangement in which the evaporator of the means for refrigeration is physically engaged both with the liquid conduit (preferably a water conduit) of the carbonation means conducting liquid to be carbonated and cooled, and with a carbonation chamber of the carbonation means, whereby the cooling effect directly acts both upon the liquid flowing in the liquid conduit and upon the liquid being carbonated inside the carbonation chamber, resulting in that the process of refrigeration does not apart, either spatially or in time, from the process of carbonation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention has been realized by an arrangement for producing carbonated cooled drink, comprising a carbonation chamber (1) for enriching liquid with carbon dioxide, said carbonation chamber (1) having a

liquid inlet (1 1) connectable through a liquid conduit (2) onto a liquid source (F), a carbon dioxide gas inlet (12) connectable through a gas conduit (3) onto a carbon dioxide gas source (G), and a

liquid outlet (13) connectable with a liquid dispenser (A),

said carbonation chamber (1) being in thermodynamic interrelation with a compressor-type cooling device. According to the invention, a section (21) of said liquid conduit (2) with a linked coil section (71) of an evaporator conduit (7) of said compressor-type cooling device are spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1). The linked sections of the liquid conduit and of the evaporator conduit, wound spirally around the mantle of the carbonation chamber, are preferably fixed by soldering on the mantle surface of the carbonation chamber.

It is understood that

said liquid source is preferably a water container, but it can also be a water tap or any other liquid supplying or discharging means, known per se;

said carbon dioxide gas source is preferably a carbon dioxide gas bottle, known per se;

said liquid dispenser can be any dispensing or discharging device, also known per se, for example any of those used in beverage dispenser automats;

said carbonation chamber can be any device either known in itself or new, which is capable of carbonating, that is enriching liquid with carbon dioxide, by use of any technology, for example by spraying pressurized liquid into carbon dioxide gas, or by achieving dissolution of carbon dioxide gas in a liquid by means of mixing;

said compressor-type cooling device is also a preferably known device, for example a device having a preferably electric compressor, a condenser and an evaporator, operating so that the cooling liquid in the evaporator changes its aggregate condition into vapour, while removing heat from the medium to be cooled, then the vaporized cooling medium warms up due to being compressed by the compressor into liquid, and the heat released is dissipated in the condenser, then the liquid cooling medium returns into the evaporator, and cycle is repeated.

The object of the invention is achieved with the proposed arrangement by obtaining thermodynamic interrelation between the cooling device and the liquid to be cooled in an inventive new way, namely so, that a section of the conduit conducting the liquid to be carbonated and cooled, is physically linked with an evaporator coil section, and the linked sections of the liquid conduit and the evaporator coil are wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber, thereby becoming the cooling device, through its evaporator coil, into a direct heat exchanging interrelation both with the the liquid conduit conducting liquid from the liquid source to the carbonation chamber, and with the carbonation chamber containing liquid being carbonated and/or carbonated liquid prepared to be dispensed from the carbonation chamber, through its liquid outlet equipped with a liquid dispenser.

In a preferred arrangement of the invention, said liquid conduit is a conduit of heat- conductive material, preferably a copper pipe, having greater diameter than that of the evaporator conduit of the cooling device, the section of the liquid conduit wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber being physically linked and wound parallel with said linked coil section of the evaporator conduit, to obtain heat exchanging linkage between the liquid conduit and the evaporator conduit of the cooling device. For example, the liquid conduit can be a copper conduit having a diameter of 012x1 mm, while the evaporator coil is also a copper conduit having a diameter of 06x1 mm.

According to another advantageous arrangement of the invention, a section of the liquid conduit which continues the section of the liquid conduit wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber, is connected through a liquid pump to the liquid inlet of the carbonation chamber. In a further preferable embodiment of the invention, said linked coil section of the evaporator conduit wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber is continued in a return-conduit which is connected, through a cooling medium filter device serving for buffering liquid bump of a compressor of the cooling device and evaporating of remainder cooling medium, to the inlet of said compressor (4), while the outlet of the compressor (4) being connected, through a pressure pipe , to the condenser of the cooling device, the outlet of which being connected, through a cooling medium filter and a capillary tube to said evaporator conduit.

In the above arrangement, preferably, said pressure pipe is connected to spiral coils, for example to copper coils, being connected in series, which series of spiral coils being collaterally arranged inside the condenser of the cooling device. The spiral coils can be made for example of copper conduit having a diameter of 06x1 mm. The wall of the condenser is made e. g. of a zinc-coated sheet having a thickness of 1 mm.

According to an alternative embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention, said cooling devise comprises a blower-cooling-type condenser. The rotational speed of the cooling blower is for example 1,200 rotation/min, its performance e. g. 220V/41W.

According to another alternative, said cooling devise may comprise a liquid-cooling type condenser. In that latter case, said return-conduit (8) being in continuation of said linked coil section of the evaporator conduit wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber, has a curved section curved in S-shape, which S-shaped curved section is located in the cooling liquid within said liquid-cooled-type condenser. As cooling medium, it is recommendable to use an alcoholic fluid or simply cooling water.

The operation of cooling can be controlled in a known way, e. g. by means of a thermostatic or an electronic control unit.

The arrangement according to the invention preferably comprises a liquid pump for producing overpressure at the liquid inlet of the carbonation chamber, sufficient to spray the liquid into the carbon dioxide gas in the carbonation chamber. Said liquid pump is a device known in itself, preferably available in commerce.

In case of using a carbonating method of spraying liquid under pressure into the carbon dioxide gas in the carbonation chamber, it is recommendable to use a liquid pump generating an overpressure of 8 to 10 bar. If there is used a carbonation chamber, the operation of which is based on the method of mixing the carbon dioxide gas with the liquid, the arrangement shall be equipped with means for producing controlled overpressure in the chamber and a driven mixing blade device, preferably driven electrically.

With the arrangement of the present invention there is achieved a flowing-through type apparatus for carbonating and cooling of beverages, in which a means for carbonating known per se is interconnected with a cooling device, also known per se, both in a physical and in a thermodynamic meaning.

An essential advantageous effect of the present invention is that direct, simultaneous and continuous cooling is provided both through the liquid conduit conducting the liquid from the liquid source to the carbonation chamber, and through the carbonation chamber, that is before, during and after the carbonation, resulting in quicker and more effective cooling, and saving of energy. Another advantageous effect to be mentioned is that, thanks to the inventive arrangement of the evaporator conduit of the cooling device wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber, the space exploitation is efficient, the arrangement can be realised in reasonable measures, so it can be advantageously incorporated in automat beverage dispensers.

The features and the operation of the invention will be described now with reference of the accompanying drawing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the arrangement of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment comprising a blower- cooling type condenser;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the preferred embodiment comprising a liquid- cooling type condenser.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring to Fig. 1 , the arrangement has a carbonation chamber 1 , having a liquid inlet 1 1 , a carbon dioxide gas inlet 12 and a liquid outlet 13. A liquid source F of an automat beverage dispenser I (known in itself, not described in detail) is connected with a liquid conduit 2 of the arrangement, a conduit section 21 of which being spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1. The spirally wound section 21 is continued in a conduit section 22 which is connected on a liquid pump 3 which is connected with a liquid inlet 11 of the carbonation chamber 1. A carbon dioxide gas source G of said beverage dispenser I is connected through a gas conduit with a gas inlet 12 of the carbonation chamber 1. A liquid outlet 13 of the carbonation chamber 1 is connected with a liquid dispenser A of said beverage dispenser I.

The preferred embodiment shown in Fig.1 has a compressor-type cooling device comprising a compressor 4 connected through a pressure pipe 5 with a condenser 6 (or 6', respectively) and an evaporator having an evaporator conduit having a coil section 71 is spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1 physically linked and parallel with said section 21 of the liquid conduit 2 spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1. Said coil section 71 of the evaporator conduit 7 is continued in a return-conduit 8 which is connected to the compressor 4. The outlet of said condenser 6 (or 6', respectively) is connected, through a cooling medium filter 15 and a capillary tube 16, to said evaporator conduit 7.

Said carbonation chamber 1, liquid pump 3, compressor 4, condenser 6 or 6', as well as said liquid supply and gas supply units, and said dispenser A of the beverage dispenser I, are connected with and controlled by a control unit C, in a known manner.

Referring now to Fig. 2, said section 21 of the liquid conduit 2 with a linked coil section 71 of an evaporator conduit 7 of said compressor-type cooling device, are spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1. Said section 21 of the liquid conduit and said linked coil section of the cooling device are preferably soldered upon the mantle surface of the carbonation chamber 1. This arrangement provides very good heat exchange between the linked sections 21 and 71. As a result of the tie spiral winding, there is achieved a good direct thermodynamic relation between the evaporator coil section 71 and the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1. As shown in Fig. 2, said evaporator coil section 71 is continued in said return-conduit 8 which is connected, through a cooling medium filter device 14, to the inlet of said compressor 4. A pressure pipe 5 is attached on the outlet of the compressor 4, connecting the compressor 4 with a blower-cooling-type condenser 6 of the cooling device.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the condenser 6 comprises spiral coils 61 , 62 and 63, preferably of copper, connected in series, said series of spiral coils 61, 62 and 63 being collaterally arranged inside the condenser 6. The condenser 6 comprises a cooling blower 9, arranged to provide cooling effect by blowing to said collateral arrangement of said series of spiral coils 61, 62 and 63. The outlet of the condenser 6 is connected, through a cooling medium filter 15 and a capillary tube 16, to the evaporator conduit 7.

Referring now to Fig.3, the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 3 differs from the embodiment of Fig. 2 in that the cooling devise comprises a liquid-cooling-type condenser 6'. Similarly to the blower-cooling-type condenser 6, the liquid-cooling-type condenser 6' also comprises spiral coils 61, 62 and 63 connected in series and said series of spiral coils 61, 62 and 63 are collaterally arranged inside the condenser 6'. At the inlet of the condenser 6' the first spiral coil 61 is connected on the pressure pipe 5. At the outlet of the condenser 6', the third spiral coil 63 is connected, through a cooling medium filter 15 and a capillary conduit 16, to the evaporator conduit 7.

The return-conduit 8 connected on the coil section 71 of the evaporator conduit 7 wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1, has a curved section 81 curved in S-shape, said curved section 81 being traced through the cooling liquid in said liquid-cooled-type condenser 6'. In this arrangement, the cooling fluid flowing in said return-conduit 8 is pre- cooled in the condenser 6', before arriving, through a cooling medium filter 14, into the compressor 4, resulting in significant save of energy in the operation of the compressor 4.

The arrangement illustrated with reference to the drawing, works as follows.

Carbon dioxide gas is conducted from the gas source G into the carbonation chamber 1. The liquid to be carbonated and cooled is conducted from the liquid source F in the liquid conduit 2 through its section 21 spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1, parallel with the linked coil section 71 of the evaporator conduit 7. Due to an efficient heat exchange between the liquid flowing in the liquid conduit 2 and the cooling medium circulating in the evaporator conduit 7 of the cooling device, the liquid to be processed is cooled, while the coil section 71 of the evaporator conduit 7, wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1 also cools, through the mantle of the carbonation chamber 1, the liquid carbonated in the chamber. The process of cooling is preferably controlled by an electronic cooling temperature control device. The pre-cooled liquid is pressurized by means of the liquid pump 3 to a pressure of about 9 bar, and sprayed into the carbonation chamber 1 where the liquid is mixed with carbon dioxide gas, resulting in a sufficient carbonation. The carbonated liquid, preferably aerated water, is continuously cooled and ready to be dispensed from the carbonation chamber 1 through the liquid dispenser A of the beverage dispenser apparatus I. The operations are controlled preferably by the electronic control unit C.

It shall be noted that the invention described above can be varied of course in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Reference signs

A liquid dispenser means

C electronic control unit

F liquid source

G carbon dioxide gas source

I automat beverage dispenser

1 carbonation chamber

2 liquid conduit

3 liquid pump

4 compressor

5 pressure pipe

6 condenser

7 evaporator conduit

8 return-conduit

9 cooling blower

10 cooling liquid

1 1 liquid inlet

12 gas inlet

13 liquid outlet

14 cooling medium filter

15 cooling medium filter

16 capillary conduit

21 conduit section

22 conduit section

61 spiral coil spiral coil spiral coil linked section curved section

Claims

1. Arrangement for producing carbonated cooled drink, comprising a carbonation chamber (1) for enriching liquid with carbon dioxide, said carbonation chamber (1) having

a liquid inlet (11) connectable through a liquid conduit (2) onto a liquid source (F), a carbon dioxide gas inlet (12) connectable through a gas conduit onto a carbon dioxide gas source (G), and

a liquid outlet (13) connectable with a liquid dispenser (A),

said carbonation chamber (1) being in thermodynamic interrelation with a compressor- type cooling device, characterized in that a section (21) of said liquid conduit (2) with a linked coil section (71) of an evaporator conduit (7) of said compressor-type cooling device are spirally wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1).

2. Arrangement according to Claim 1, characterized in that said liquid conduit (2) is a conduit of heat-conductive material, preferably a copper pipe, having greater diameter than that of the evaporator conduit (7) of the cooling device, the section (21) of the liquid conduit (2) wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1) being physically linked and wound parallel with said linked coil section (71) of the evaporator conduit (7) to obtain heat exchanging linkage between the liquid conduit (2) and the evaporator conduit (7) of the cooling device.

3. Arrangement according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a section (22) of the liquid conduit (2) following the section (21) of the liquid conduit (2) wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1) is connected through a liquid pump (3) to the liquid inlet (1 1) of the carbonation chamber (1).

4. Arrangement according to any of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said linked coil section (71) of the evaporator conduit (7) wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1) is continued in a return-conduit (8) which is connected, through a cooling medium filter device (14) serving for buffering liquid bump of a compressor (4) of the cooling device and evaporating of remainder cooling medium, to the inlet of said compressor (4), the outlet of the compressor (4) being connected, through a pressure pipe (5), to the condenser (6, 6') of the cooling device, the outlet of which being connected, through a cooling medium filter (15) and a capillary tube (16), to said evaporator conduit (7).

5. Arrangement according to Claim 4, characterized in that said pressure pipe (5) is connected to spiral coils (61, 62, 63), preferably copper coils, connected in series, said series of spiral coils (61, 62, 63) being collaterally arranged inside the condenser (6, 6') of the cooling device.

6. Arrangement according to any of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said cooling devise comprises a blower-cooling-type condenser (6).

7. Arrangement according to any of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said cooling devise comprises a liquid-cooling-type condenser (6').

8. Arrangement according to Claim 7, characterized in that said retum-conduit (8) being in continuation of said linked coil section (71) of the evaporator conduit (7) wound around the mantle of the carbonation chamber (1), has a curved section (81) curved in S-shape, said curved section (81) being traced through the cooling liquid in said liquid- cooled-type condenser (6').

9. Arrangement according to any of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a liquid pump (3) for producing overpressure at the liquid inlet (1 1) of the carbonation chamber (1), sufficient to spray the liquid into the carbon dioxide gas in the carbonation chamber (1).