IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0297539
(2007-04-17)
|
등록번호 |
US-8162294
(2012-04-24)
|
우선권정보 |
GB-0607979.2 (2006-04-21) |
국제출원번호 |
PCT/GB2007/001388
(2007-04-17)
|
§371/§102 date |
20081216
(20081216)
|
국제공개번호 |
WO2007/129010
(2007-11-15)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
1 인용 특허 :
8 |
초록
▼
There is described a water carbonation apparatus in which two carbonation units (10, 11) are linked to a volumetric control unit (9) which stores a volume of carbonated water ready for use. When carbonated water is to be discharged, the stored carbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) is
There is described a water carbonation apparatus in which two carbonation units (10, 11) are linked to a volumetric control unit (9) which stores a volume of carbonated water ready for use. When carbonated water is to be discharged, the stored carbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) is discharged, while simultaneously carbonated water from one of the carbonation units (10, 11) is discharged into the other carbonation unit (11, 10) is filled with uncarbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9), and a volume of uncarbonated water is drawn from a water supply (2) into the volumetric control unit. The volumetric control unit (9) in one embodiment comprises a pair of piston and cylinder assemblies which together define four internal chambers (21, 22, 23, 24), the pistons being linked together such that the volumes of the four internal chambers vary at the same rate.
대표청구항
▼
1. An apparatus for producing a supply of carbonated water, comprising: supply means (2) for receiving a supply of uncarbonated water;discharge means (5, 8) for discharging carbonated water;a first carbonating unit (10) having a charging inlet (53) for uncarbonated water and a delivery outlet (54) f
1. An apparatus for producing a supply of carbonated water, comprising: supply means (2) for receiving a supply of uncarbonated water;discharge means (5, 8) for discharging carbonated water;a first carbonating unit (10) having a charging inlet (53) for uncarbonated water and a delivery outlet (54) for carbonated water;a second carbonating unit (11) having a charging inlet (56) for uncarbonated water and a delivery outlet (57) for carbonated water;a volumetric control unit (9) operable in a first mode:to deliver a volume of carbonated water to the discharge means (5), to receive a like volume of carbonated water from the delivery outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit, to receive a like volume of uncarbonated water from the supply means (2), and to deliver a like volume of uncarbonated water to the second carbonating unit (11); andoperable in a second mode:to deliver a volume of carbonated water to the discharge means (5), to receive a like volume of carbonated water from the delivery outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit, to receive a like volume of uncarbonated water from the supply means (2), and to deliver a like volume of uncarbonated water to the first carbonating unit (10). 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the volumetric control unit comprises first, second, third and fourth internal chambers (22, 21, 23, 24) of variable volume wherein the sum of the volumes of the first and second chambers (22, 21) is equal to the sum of the volumes of the third and fourth chambers (23, 24), and wherein; the first chamber (22) is selectively connectable to the discharge means (5, 8) or to the outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit (10);the second chamber (21) is arranged to receive water from the water supply means (2) and is adapted to discharge water to the inlet (56) of the second carbonating unit (11);the third chamber (23) is arranged to receive water from the water supply means (2) and is adapted to discharge water to the inlet (53) of the first carbonating unit (10); andthe fourth chamber (24) is selectively connectable to the discharge means (5, 8) or to the outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit (11);the arrangement being such that when the first chamber (22) is connected to the discharge means (5, 8), the fourth chamber is connected to the outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit (11), and when the fourth chamber is connected to the discharge means (5, 8), the first chamber is connected to the outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit (10). 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the volumetric control unit comprises first and second piston and cylinder assemblies (15, 18; 16, 19), the first and second chambers (22, 21) being defined by the volumes of the first cylinder (15) on respective sides of the first piston (18), and the third and fourth chambers (23, 24) being defined by the volumes of the second cylinder (16) on respective sides of the second piston (19), the first and second cylinders being of substantially equal cross-section, and the first and second pistons being linked by a common piston rod (20). 4. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the selective connection between the first chamber (22) and the discharge means (5, 8) or the outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit (10) is made by means of a first servo-operated valve (12), and the selective connection between the fourth chamber (24) and the discharge means (5, 8) or the outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit (11) is made by means of a second servo-operated valve (13), and wherein control means (14) responsive to the position of the piston rod (20) are arranged to operate the first and second servo valves (12, 13). 5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first and second servo valves (12, 13) are operated by water pressure, and the control means (14) comprises a slide valve operable in a first position to supply water pressure to one servo valve and to vent the other servo valve, and in a second position to supply water pressure to other servo valve and to vent the one servo valve, the slide valve being movable from its first position to its second position and vice versa in response to movement of the piston rod (20). 6. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first and second servo valves (12, 13) are electrically operated, and the control means (14) comprises a control circuit operable to actuate the servo valves, the control circuit being responsive to a sensor detecting the position of the piston rod (20). 7. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the piston rod (20) extends outside the pistons (15, 16), and wherein movement of the piston rod is adapted to drive or control a metering pump. 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a plurality of metering pumps and a selector of mechanism for selecting one or more of said plurality of metering pumps, the selected one or more metering pumps being driveable or controllable by the movement of the piston rod. 9. An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a discharge valve (60), and wherein: a first carbonator valve (62) which, when open, provides connection between the first chamber (22) and the outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit (10);a second carbonator valve (61) which, when open, provides connection between the fourth chamber (24) and the outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit (11); andthe discharge valve (60) in a first position provides communication between the first chamber (22) and the discharge means (60c), and in a second position provides communication between the second chamber (24) and the discharge means (60c);and wherein the discharge valve (60) is linked to the first and second carbonator valves such that when the discharge valve (60) is in its first position, the first carbonator valve (62) is closed and the second carbonator valve (61) is open, and when the discharge valve is in its second position, the first carbonator valve (62) is open and the second carbonator valve (61) is closed. 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the discharge valve (60) has a third position in which neither the first (22) nor the second (24) chamber is connected to the discharge means (60c). 11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the linkage between the discharge valve (60) and the first and second carbonator valves (62, 61) includes a lost motion device. 12. An apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the discharge valve is resiliently biased towards its third position. 13. An apparatus according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the discharge valve and the carbonator valves are moved by actuators controlled by a control circuit in response to a user input. 14. A method of providing a supply of carbonated water from a carbonation apparatus comprising: supply means (2) for receiving a supply of uncarbonated water; discharge means (5, 8) for discharging carbonated water;a first carbonating unit (10) having a charging inlet (53) for uncarbonated water and a delivery outlet (54) for carbonated water;a second carbonating unit (11) having a charging inlet (56) for uncarbonated water and a delivery outlet (57) for carbonated water;a volumetric control unit (9);the method comprising operating the apparatus in a first mode to simultaneously deliver a volume of carbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) to the discharge means (5), discharge a like volume of carbonated water from the delivery outlet (54) of the first carbonating unit to the volumetric control unit (9), to receive a like volume of uncarbonated water from the supply means (2) into the volumetric control unit (9), and to deliver a like volume of uncarbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) to the second carbonating unit (11);and subsequently operating the apparatus in a second mode to simultaneously deliver a volume of carbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) to the discharge means (5), discharge a like volume of carbonated water from the delivery outlet (57) of the second carbonating unit into the volumetric control unit (9), to receive a like volume of uncarbonated water from the supply means (2) into the volumetric control unit (9), and to deliver a like volume of uncarbonated water from the volumetric control unit (9) to the first carbonating unit (10).
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.