US1373075A - Carbonating and dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

D. *HUMPHREY.

CARBONATING AND DISPENSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FlLED JULY 24, I9I8. 1,373,075.

2 $HEETSSHEE12.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921.

IN V EN TOR. D fY Z/MFMQEYI A TTORNE YS.

PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID HUMPHREY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CARBONATING AND DISPENSING APPARATUS.

Application filed July 24," 1918.

T0 (lilac/10m it may concern.

Be it known that I, DAVID HUMPHREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carbonating and Dispensing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference to a beverage carbonating and dispensing apparatus, and the object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient apparatus for carbonating a beverage during the time that it is being dispensed or drawn from a tap or faucet, and which is also adapted to both carbonate and liquefy a frothy product suitable for serving as an effervescent drink. In other words, the invention is especially adapted to carbonate either a pla n beverage, or a syrup mixture with plain water as the basis of the drink. It must also be understood that the pressure of syrup in a mixture creates a tendency in the combination to foam and froth when. forced agitation and carbonation takes place, and in that event more or less special liquidizing of the mixture must be resorted to before attempting to draw it off for drinking purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional'elevation of one form of my improved apparatus for carbonating and dispensing such beverages as ginger beer or ale. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper portion or dome of the carbonating and dispensing vessel and in which a frothy product is also adapted to be liquefied. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation of a modification of the apparatus, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of the top of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the coupling head and plug and trip mechanism shown in connection with the float in Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the said mechanism reverse to that shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of said head lengthwise with the plug in section and the means connected with the plug, and Fig. 8 is a plan view of said head.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I show a vessel or container comprising the upper or glass portion or dome 2 and a preferably cast metal base or body 5 and said vessel serves as a carbonator for dispensing effervescent bev- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921.

Serial No. 246,444.

erages from a faucet or tap 3 by way of a draft pipe 4. connected to the sald cast base member 5. The glass dome 2 has an annular outwardlyflaring flange 6 at its bottom seated upon and sealed within a grooved rubber ring 7 at the top of base 5, and a sectional annular plate 8 and screws 9 clamp said gasket and dome removably in place upon said base member.

.The end 10 forms part of a cooling coil ll in receptacle 12, and connects with the bottom of base 5 by a union nut 13 engaged in said base, and a pipe 14: projects upwardly through the center of the vessel from said pipe connection 10 to near the top of dome 2 to convey the liquid to a valvecontrolled discharge head 15 in the top of the dome. Said head has a concavo-convex collar 16, and a concavo-convex spreader v plate 17 is adj ustably secured upon the stem of said head over collar 16 and above ori- .fices 19 in said stem or neck to discharge the liquid outwardly and downwardly in canopy form visibly within the glass dome 2. The liquid passes from pipe 14 through an irregular passage 18 in head 15 before issuing at the small orifices or openings 19 between said collar and spreader. and a screw threaded stem shaped valve 20 located in the tubular stem or extension 21 serves to regulate the amount of liquid discharged.

A complete shut-off of the liquid through head 15 is effected by a slidable valve 22. Fig. 2. entering the liquid'passage 18, and opening and closing of the said valve is governed by an annular float 23 riding on the liquid in the vessel and connected by a valve stem or rod 24 with said valve 22. The float 23 is hollow and has a tubular center loosely sleeved over pipe 14, and when the liquid in the vessel rises above a predetermined level the float is raised and valve 22 moved upward until the point thereof closes on valve seat 25. The said float and valve thus govern the quantity of 1i uid in the vessel at any one time.

he base 5 is provided with a relatively reduced neck 26 at its bottom and in the center of which is an integral tubular eX- tension 26 providing a liquid discharge about pipe 14 to pipe 4. and an annular porous member 27 is set into the space between said tubular extension and the wall of neck 26 adapted to pass gas under pressure but not liquid. The said member 27 may be of a porous wood, such as box wood or other material of equal porosity and such that. a carbonating gas from a charging tank 28 will pass through the same but which also is so dense as to prevent the escape of liquid back from the vessel through the same. In the construction shown the said block is forced into and fills the neck :26 except an annular space 29 at the bottom thereof which becomes a pressure space or area for the gas from the tank 28 through the pipe 30 which enters the bottom of said neck. The draft or discharge pipe 4 for the liquid communicates with a separate chamber 31 at the base of tube 26 and which is open to the interior of the vessel so as to take the liquid from about the top, of the block. and since the carbonating gas works up through said block the liquid drawn oil proceeds from a specially created gas zone where ebullition and effervescence is immediate and of the greatest value to the outgoing beverage.

A non-carbonated liquid. or a previously carbonated mixture. may be treated in this Way to provide a live and effervescent drink at the tap. The advantage is also great where there is danger of the liquid contents of the vessel becoming stale and unpalatable by protracted standing in the vessel, regardless of any previous treatment of the liquid. The pressure and quantity of gas admittedis under a more or less sensitive control by a valve 32 at the top or outlet of tank 28, and if the volume or pressure in the vessel becomes excessive relief is obtained through the perforated neck 21 on head 15 and the performed screwcap 33 thereon outside the dome 2 and which is in seating relation with the top of dome 2, see Fig. 2.

A spring pressed valve 35 within cap 33 is adapted to seat on neck 21 to control the escape of gas from vessel A. the nut 36 on the screw-threaded stem of said valve providing adjustment of spring 38 for different pressures.

somewhat simplified and possibly a preferable form of the invention in found in sheet 2. In this form numerous details in the other form are omitted. As the means for uniting the sections 2 and 5 of the vessel and in which, in the present form I seat one upon the other with a suitable gasket between and depend exclusively upon the central pipe 14 and its end connections for binding said parts together. The bottom of base member has a neck 26 and a stub tube 26 therein as before, but pipe 14 is engaged in a coupling head 40 and a pipe extension 41 engages in the bottom of said head and has the connection 10 and 13 at its lower end outside the bottom of base 5.

- jcction 47.

Pipes 4 and 30 also connect with said base and operate as in Fig. 1. though the outer connections thereof are omitted.

The said coupling member or head 10 has a central bore or passage controlled by a transversely disposed plug 42, and which is planned to be automatically opened and closed by the means shown according to the position or elevation of the float 223. The said means comprise a trip mechanism having a lever H, which is pivoted between its ends at 4.6 on a fixed projection -17 and is connected at one end by rod 4H with the float 23 and has a bifurcatml or forked opposite end 49 adapted to engage a pin or projection 51 on a bell crank 52 having its shaft rotatably mounted transversely in the outer end of projection 47 and adapted to actuate trip lever 50 rigid with the opposite end of said shaft on the other side of protension spring .33 engages one end of trip lever 50 and is attachcdlo an an arm 54 from coupling 40 at its other end and exerts a constantpull on lever 50 as it is tilted back and forth across the dead center in the opening and closing of valve 42. In this case the dead center is the pivot of lever 50 in the crank shaft 52. and the change of position occurs through the float. That is when the float descends. say to position shown in Fig. 3. the valve opened by reversing all the operating parts to the positions in Figs. 5 and 8. which represent the open position of the valve. Then as the 'vessel fills and the lloat rises it will at last draw the free end of lever -11 upward proportionately and the forked end thereof will rotate the crank 52 and reverse the position of lever 50. This is ll(.((llll])llSllQ(l locally as to valve/l2 by a lateral projection 57 on its larger end in position to be engaged with one of the fingers 58 on lever 54 and lrotating Said valve accordingly. The rotation of said valve is limited by an open slot 59 thereon and a pin 60.

This modification is also changed somewhat at the top of the apparatus where the stem 21 thereof is shown as having escape orifices 19 corresponding to the like orifices in Fig. 1 and small vents higher up within the vessel and the cap 33 is seated on the vessel and screwed onto the stem 21 and also slightly perforated for venting purposes. It is not planned in this instance to maintain any gas pressure as such in the vessel and the actual carbonating gas supply really is through pipe 30 and the porous wood filler 527 as in the other form of the apparatus, shown in Fig. 3. During such inflow or thereafter. more or less carhonization may be caused to take place bv admitting gas from the carbonating tank. In fact, the flow of gas may be constant in greater or less degree. as the relief valves for the containing vessel are adapted to safeguard against excessive pressures. Such inflow of gas causes carbonizing of the liquid in the vessel, and the opening of the faucet or tap causes Withdrawal of liquid from the vessel at the immediate zone of carbonizing, thereby making it possible to dispense a live and effervescent drink without excessive foaming or frothing results. Consequentl an apparatus of this kind aifords an e cient and inexpensive method of mixing and dispensing effervescent beverages at refreshment stands, either outdoors or indoors, and in any quantities and for any length of time, the product being always at its best and thoroughly carbonated as it is being drawn.

Where the supply for the containing vessel is a syrupy carbonated product delivered under the pressure of carbonating gas, it isdischarged into the vessel in a frothy condition and is liquefied in the vessel in the presence of the carbonated, gas. In that event the liquefied productis also a carbonated product, which is placed in a state of ebullition and further carbonated upon Withdrawal of the beverage from the faucet or tap.

What I claim is:

1. In a carbonating and dispensing apparatus, a liquid container having a liquidoutlet, a carbonating gas connection for said container opento a circumscribed area around said outlet and a porous plug through which the gas enters the container.

2. In a carbonating and dispensing apparatus, a closed vessel having a neck at its bottom and a porous body in said neck adapted to have gas forced through the same, an outlet pipe for said vessel having its intake on a plane next above said porous body and a gas pressure device open to a space in said neck beneath said body.

3. In a carbonating and dispensing apparatus, a 1i uid bontainer. having a liquid draw ofl out et at its bottom-and a porous body surrounding said outlet adapted to pass gas under pressure, and a source of supply for carbonating gas discharging into the container through said porous body.

4. In a carbonating and dispensing a paratus, a liquid container comprising a ase and a dome and an intake pipe extending upward into the dome of they container, a valve to control the discharge from said pipe into said container, a float operatively connected with said valve, and a cap 'at the top of said container adapted to relieve the container of excess gas.

5; In a carbonating and dispensing apparatus, a liquid container having an intake pipe exten ing into the top thereof, a head on said pipe having dischargeoutlets, a float surrounding said pipe and guided thereby, a valve to control the passage of fluid through said pipe and a link connecting the float With said valve.

6. In a carbonating and dispensing apparatus, a liquid container comprisin a base having a gas intake and a liquid ischarge therein and a liquid supply pipe extending centrally through said container into the top portion thereof and a discharge head at the top of said pipe, a float sleeved on said pipe, a valve to control the flow of liquid through said pipe and a link connecting said float and valve.

7. In a carbonating and dispensin apparatus, a vessel having a liquid inta e cen trally thereof with a discharge head at its top adapted to spray the liquid and a car'- bonating gas supply connection and a draft pipe, a valve for said liquid intake, a float within said vessel and a rod connecting said float with said valve.

Signed at Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga, and State of Ohio, this 13 day of July, 1918.

DAVID HUMPHREY.

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