|Número de publicación||US7147134 B2|
|Tipo de publicación||Concesión|
|Número de solicitud||US 10/320,614|
|Fecha de publicación||12 Dic 2006|
|Fecha de presentación||17 Dic 2002|
|Fecha de prioridad||20 Feb 2001|
|También publicado como||US20030089740|
|Número de publicación||10320614, 320614, US 7147134 B2, US 7147134B2, US-B2-7147134, US7147134 B2, US7147134B2|
|Inventores||J. Antonio Gutierrez, Balakrishna Reddy, Robert Greene|
|Cesionario original||Nestec S.A.|
|Exportar cita||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Citas de patentes (37), Citada por (11), Clasificaciones (26), Eventos legales (5)|
|Enlaces externos: USPTO, Cesión de USPTO, Espacenet|
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/193,996, filed Jul. 15, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/788,652, filed Feb. 20, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,121, the content of which applications is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The invention relates to a device and method for dispensing flowable materials from flexible containers and, more particularly, to a device and method for more accurately, uniformly and rapidly heating/cooling a food product and for delivering the food product at a desired controlled temperature from a flexible container.
Heated or refrigerated dispensers for delivering liquid or semi-liquid food products are commonly used in foodservice restaurants, catering, convenience stores and other commercial or public food establishments. The known dispensers are usually adapted for receiving food bags in a housing and to deliver the food by using pumps and/or gravity forces to a dispensing area.
Certain food product, such as cheese sauces and the like, usually requires to be served at warm temperature to adapt to culinary habits and/or to improve the digestion of fat. Other food products are adapted to be stored at ambient such as UHT cream, sterilized salad dressing or pudding but are desirable to be served at a refrigerated state. These food products are also usually low acid food which may be easily subjected to bacterial spoilage when opened, whereby heating or cooling permits storing the food in safer bacteriological conditions. The products usually need to be stored in aseptically hermetic flexible packages such as pouches, which are opened at the time the product is dispensed. Traditionally, the pouches are usually of relatively large size, in general of several kilograms, thus requiring a relatively long time before obtaining a controlled hot/cool temperature acceptable for serving.
One disadvantage of having a long heat-up/cooling-down time is that a fully warm/cool food bag may not be rapidly available when the demand for food exceeds the warming/cooling operation time for the new bag. Another disadvantage is when the bag is opened before the product reaches a sufficiently safe temperature level, i.e., about 60° C. in the case of hot product or below 4–6° C. for refrigerated products, the risk of bacterial contamination or spoilage seriously increases.
For instance, the American NSF standards require that potential hazardous food products having a pH level of 4.6 or less be rethermalized, i.e., heated from refrigerated or ambient state to an elevated temperature of not less than 140° F., must be capable of heating the food product to that temperature within four hours. For example, by using existing commercial equipment, the average heat-up time for large size pouches is more than 2 hours, most often more than 5 hours and sometimes more than 10 hours before the center part of the pouch can reach an acceptable warm temperature of 60° C. from ambient.
In order to meet with the regulations, prior solutions consisted of pre-warming the bag in a hot water bath or in microwave oven, then transferring the preheated bag to the dispensing unit where the bag remains temperature controlled. However, this is not satisfactory as it requires an additional piece of equipment for heating available. A water bath is usually cumbersome and requires a long time to warm up. Microwave heating also suffers from non-homogeneous heating problems with formation of cold and hot spots in the food. It also requires manipulation and surveillance by the foodservice operators to transfer the food pouch from the microwave unit to the holding unit. Finally, it is required to invest in microwave ovens of sufficiently large capacity and of wide radiation fields to accommodate large size pouches.
Similarly, for sterilized food products that are desirable to be served refrigerated, it is frequent that the foodservice operator cannot count on a refrigerating room for pre-cooling the food due to lack of space or for economical reasons.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,317 to Wheeler relates to a heated dispensing apparatus for dispensing products at an elevated temperature which allows packaging of the product in a container, such as a flexible bag, with a discharge tube extending therefrom. The dispenser includes a receptacle with an outlet opening in the lower portion thereof and a pump adjacent to the outlet opening. A heater is provided for heating the food bag in the receptacle and the discharge tube passing through the pump and maintaining both the bag and the tube at a desired elevated temperature. The receptacle is arranged to accommodate the reception of so-called “bag-in-box” type of package as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the patent. This type of package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,173,579 and 4,796,788. The box portion of the “bag-in-box” type package is not required for use with the dispensing device. The bag itself is usually a bulky flexible bag with a fitment protruding on one side of the bag. The bag is arranged in the receptacle so that only the side with the fitment is positioned adjacent to a sloped heated bottom wall of the receptacle with the fitment of the bag passing through the outlet opening which ends or extends by a discharge tube. Due to the position of the bag in the receptacle, the thermal transfer from the receptacle to the bag remains relatively poor, thereby leading to excessive heat-up time when cold and large size bags are loaded for rethermalization. Furthermore, the heating pattern cannot be obtained uniformly within the product and a heat gradient is likely to form with the warmer side in contact with the receptacle and the colder side opposite. As a result, the food product may experience browning and darker spots, which consequently affect the quality and shorten the shelf life of the food product.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,733 to Wheeler notices the heating of the food product by pure conduction transfer as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,317 does not always provide an optimal uniform heating and may make the internal and external receptacle surfaces extremely hot thereby increasing the difficulty of handling the dispenser. Therefore, it proposes to replace the conduction means by convection heating means using a rear heating assembly to continuously circulate heated air into the internal cavity around the receptacle for the bag to maintain the food product at elevated temperature. However, the time necessary for heating a large capacity bag from ambient to a temperature of serving remains a significant problem with such a device as well. A heating gradient is also likely to occur as the bag presents both heat sink zones and air contact zones of large surfaces due both to the type of bag and to the manner the bag rests in the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,935 relates to a viscous food dispensing arid heating/cooling assembly which is adapted to receive large food reservoirs of the “bag-in-box” type in a manner similar to the previous patent references; the improvement consisting in a specific air flow circulation to heat both the reservoir and the discharge tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,157 to Gehl proposed a dispensing unit with a heated hopper which is sized to receive two superposed “bag-in-box” type bags: a lower dispensing food bag resting flat along a bottom sloped wall with its fitment oriented horizontally and operatively connected to a dispensing unit and a second bag placed on top of the lower bag to serve as a weight for promoting gravity flow from the lower dispensing food bag and to precondition the second food bag. Due to the relatively thick material mass created by the superposition of two bulky bags, the time for heating the bag is very long. Similarly, more thermal energy is required for constantly maintaining the bags at warm temperature. The food will also experience a heat gradient with quick apparition of brown and dark spots. In this prior art device, a preheating compartment may be provided in the hopper to preheat a food bag more rapidly. The dispensing bag can then spread out in the hopper below the preheating compartment for dispensing purpose. The manner the bag spreads out in the hopper is similar to the previously discussed patents. Such heating and dispensing configuration has several shortcomings. Firstly, the heating of the dispensing bag is not optimized due to the spreading out of the bag along the sloped bottom wall and therefore is energy consuming. Secondly, the evacuation of food from the dispensing food bag is relatively poor despite the provision of the sloped geometry for supporting the dispensing bag. Thirdly, the preheating compartment is likely to provide a reduction of the heat-up time but not in a magnitude that can really be considered as a major advantage of the device. Fourthly, the hopper and its preheating compartment is configured to render the positioning and removal of the dispensing bag relatively uneasy in hot conditions because the preheating compartment partly obstructs the passage when the operator needs to have access to the dispensing bag. Fifthly, handling of hot bags in the device may create risks of bums for the operator, in particular when touching hot parts of the hopper.
German company Herman Roelofsen GmbH manufactures food dispensing units comprising a relatively wide box-shaped aluminum container adapted to receive a flexible food bag. The bag is loosely housed within the container and a bar inserted in two slots of the container hangs up the bag to avoid collapsing of the bag within the container. The container fits within a heating metal compartment of the unit which is heated by flexible heating devices. Due to heat loss in the transitions and air gaps from the heaters to the food, the dispensing unit has poor heating performance on large size bags with an heat-up time of more than 10 hours from ambient state for cheese sauce bags. Therefore, microwave preheating of the bag is required before the bag can be installed in the dispensing unit.
The invention relates to a dispensing device having an enhanced capacity for controlling the temperature of a flowable food product. A first pair of opposed surfaces of the device are spaced from each other, preferably by at most about 10 cm, and more preferably by less than about 8 cm, for maintaining the pouch substantially in a standing position, with the opposed surfaces arranged to allow heat to be transferred to or from the pouch. A temperature altering device is associated with the pouch for heating or cooling the pouch by transferring the heat to or from the pouch with respect to the opposed surfaces. A food delivery mechanism, such as a pump, is associable with the pouch for selectively delivering portions of food from the pouch.
In a preferred embodiment, the spacing between the opposed surfaces is at most about 40% of the size of the height thereof to support the pouch, and more preferably at most about 30% of the height. In one embodiment, the spacing is at most about 20% of the height, and is preferably at least about 5% of the height. Where the heights are different, the height used in the ratio is preferably the shorter of the heights. The opposed surfaces preferably have a width measured normal to the spacing and height, the width being at least about three times the size of the spacing.
The opposed surfaces can be directly heated or cooled by the temperature altering device and can be configured for sufficiently contacting extensive walls of the pouch to for directly transferring heat therebetween. A pair of spaced internal surfaces are preferably disposed for facing the extensive walls of the pouch. The internal surfaces comprise the contact surfaces, which have a preferred area of between about 80% and about 98% of the internal surfaces.
In one embodiment, the opposed surfaces are arranged in intimate contact with the extensive walls of the pouch. The temperature altering device in an embodiment comprises thick film heating elements or embedded or sandwiched resistive elements in a solid metal matrix, and opposed walls comprise the opposed surfaces and the matrix.
In another embodiment, the temperature altering device is configured for transferring the heat by convection and can include a convection heater. In turn, the convection heater may include an air heater and a blower that is configured for blowing heated air from the air heater to the opposed surfaces. Preferably, the device has a housing in which the opposed surfaces are housed in association with the temperature altering device. The housing is configured for removably receiving a plurality of cassettes, each of which comprises the first pair of contact surfaces. The housing is also configured for directing the heated air in a plurality of paths around the cassettes.
One or more removable cassettes of the device is preferably receivable in the housing and comprises the first pair of contact surfaces and a bottom support surface disposed form supporting a bottom side of the pouch in the standing position. In one device embodiment, the temperature altering device and the opposed surfaces are configured for transferring the heat through the opposed surface to or from the pouch.
The details of the preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the appended drawings figures, wherein:
The invention provides a dispensing device that confers an improved heating/cooling output over the existing devices of the prior art, in particular, reduces the heat-up/cooling-down time significantly and is easy to hold the product at the desired controlled temperature while not being more energy consuming than existing equipment. A dispensing device of the invention can promote uniform heating/cooling within the bag or pouch with no significant heating/cooling gradient, therefore, preventing from quality and safety issues and increasing the shelf life of the product when installed in the unit. The device can also ensure more continuity in delivering a food product at a desirable controlled temperature, i.e., heated or refrigerated temperature, and convenience for the foodservice operator.
Further the inventive device can avoid having to control the temperature of the food in a separate unit so as to preheat/pre-cool the food in a microwave oven/refrigerator. A dispensing configuration is provided in which product evacuation is improved with a minimum of non-dispensable residue left in the bag or pouch. Handling of the food containers from an operator's point of view is improved while minimizing the operator's manipulation and minimizing hazards such as risks of bums with the bag and/or hot parts of the device.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is a food dispensing device having an enhanced capacity far controlling the temperature of a flowable food product comprising:
a housing defining an interior cavity;
a first pair of opposed thermal conductive surfaces delimiting a spacing therebetween adapted for receiving a first pouch having two extensive walls; said thermal conductive surfaces being substantially oriented within the housing so that the pouch substantially remains in a standing position while the thermal conductive surfaces being arranged to intimately contact said extensive walls of the pouch;
means for controlling temperature of said first pair of opposed thermal conductive surfaces; and
means adapted to operatively connect to the first pouch for selectively delivering portions of food from the first pouch.
In a preferred embodiment, the dispensing device further comprises at least a second pair of opposed thermal conductive surfaces delimiting a spacing there between adapted for receiving a second pouch having two extensive walls; said thermal conductive surfaces being substantially oriented within the housing so that the pouch substantially remains in a standing position while the thermal conductive surfaces being arranged to intimately contact said walls of the pouch.
Preferably, the spacing for receiving the pouch of the thermal conductive surfaces of the first pair and, even more preferably of the first and second pairs, is equal to or less than 40 mm, even preferably of about 35 mm or less. A limited spacing as defined allows the food product to spread along the heating surfaces regardless of the pouch capacity while eliminating the areas of higher thermal inertia in the food product. Such spacing has proved both to promote a rapid heat-up of the pouches and to require less energy for constantly maintaining the pouches at an elevated temperature. Therefore, it also contributes to more uniformly and accurately control the temperature of the food product with reduction of heat gradients. Consequently, it is made possible to eliminate the hot spots which normally create local browning of the food, thereby affecting its quality and shelf life. The temperature of the food product can also be maintained substantially constant over time, thereby similarly ensuring a longer shelf life. Although not expressly limited to large capacity pouches, the invention promotes a more efficient, accurate and rapid heating of the food product, i.e., in less than 2 hours from ambient, when the pouches contain more than 2.0 Kg; and even more than 2.5 Kg. of food product.
Preferably, the first and second pairs of opposed thermal conductive surfaces are parts of removable cassettes which may further comprise a bottom surface and an outlet opening, preferably arranged in the bottom surface, to allow a discharge tube of the flexible pouch to pass there through. The cassettes are removable from the housing, thereby facilitating the exchange of cassettes for replacement of the pouch by a new pouch and/or to change the relative location of the cassettes within the housing so that one cassette which was held in a preheating mode 5 may be installed in a dispensing mode and inversely.
In a preferred mode, at least two identical cassettes are provided within the housing to offer the possibility to have a first dispensing cassette and a second preheating cassette; the dispensing cassette being removable to be replaced by the preheated cassette at any required time after the food in the preheated cassette has reached an acceptable elevated temperature within the housing. Preferably, the first cassette is positioned in the housing in a position adapted to a dispensing mode; e.g., whereby the outlet opening of the cassette may preferably substantially aligned with the valve means. The first cassette is also constantly maintained at the right elevated temperature while dispensing the food. Preferably, the second cassette is positioned in the housing in a preheating mode where the outlet opening of the cassette is substantially offset with respect to the valve means. Still in a preferred mode, the first and second cassettes are configured in parallel in the housing to permit one cassette to be replaced by the other more easily. The cassettes may preferably be removable from the housing by sliding motion of the cassette(s) in a primary direction after opening of the housing. It is meant that the same modularity approach can be applied for cooling of the pouch; i.e., using dispensing refrigerated cassette(s) and pre-refrigerating cassette(s) which can be exchanged one by the other to ensure a continuity in the supply of refrigerated product and, therefore, more convenience to the foodservice operator.
For food that needs to be served warm, the means for controlling the temperature of the thermal conductive surfaces may preferably be heating means to heat the product in the pouches. Importantly, heating is provided to the thermal conductive surfaces so that the thermal conductive surfaces serve as primary conductive heaters for the pouch. For that, the heating means may be resistive heating elements directly coupled to said opposed thermal conductive surfaces and/or air forced convection means adapted to provide hot air substantially surrounding the thermal conductive surfaces.
In an embodiment, the thermal conductive surfaces may comprise at least a first and second resistive heating set which are capable of being selectively operated to provide at least two different power modes. In this way, it is made possible to accomplish a two-mode heating of the food product; i.e., a first heat-up mode whereby the food can heat up quickly by receiving a higher heating power and a second holding mode, whereby the food can be maintained at the desired elevated temperature by receiving a comparatively lower heating power. The two modes may be carried out by selectively operating the first and second resistive sets using suitable controlling and thermostatic means.
The heating means may also pass through the valve means to maintain the product at elevated temperature in the tubing of the pouch as already taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,317. As taking part of the uniform and rapid heating capacity of the device of the invention, the convection means preferably comprises a series of flow paths which distribute hot air along the thermal conductive surfaces. Of course, it may be possible to combine resistive heating means and convection means in the same device.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a dispensing device for dispensing flowable food product comprising:
a housing defining an interior cavity;
at least one pair of removable identical cassettes within the housing; each being adapted for receiving a pouch containing food; said cassettes comprising pairs of opposed thermal conductive surfaces wherein the surfaces delimit together a spacing adapted to receive a pouch;
means for controlling the temperature of said at least pair of cassettes; wherein the cassettes are interchangeable.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a dispensing device for rapidly and efficiently heating/cooling a flowable food product whereby removable cassettes are provided for receiving a pouch containing food; the cassettes comprising pairs of opposed thermal conductive surfaces wherein the surfaces delimit together a spacing adapted to contact a pouch and means for controlling the temperature of said at least pair of cassettes:
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for rapidly heating/cooling and delivering a flowable food comprising:
providing a pouch comprising two extensive walls connected together by a plurality of peripheral edge portions to form a closed interior for the food of relatively narrow profile; and a fitment to deliver the flow of food through an outlet; said fitment being sealed across one edge portion of the pouch;
positioning said pouch between two opposed vertically oriented thermal conductive surfaces delimiting a spacing therebetween adapted for receiving the pouch with the extensive walls intimately contacting the thermal conductive surfaces;
controlling temperature of the food contained in the pouch by conduction transfer from the two thermal conductive surfaces to the pouch;
providing valve means to selectively control the flow of food from the pouch.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a method for ensuring a steady supplying in warm food product within a dispensing device comprising:
providing a pair of cassettes containing food within a container, said cassettes being interchangeable within the dispensing device;
providing heat to each of said cassettes to warm the food product;
dispensing food from one of said heated cassettes while holding the other cassette warm.
Referring generally to
The valve means 13, 14 may encompass various manual or mechanical actuated valves or pumping systems. Examples of very simple manual valves are “cloth-pin” style valves. However, when the viscosity of the food product is such that the product cannot be dispensed by gravity forces only and/or when an accurate flow control of the food to dispense matters, it is required that a pump assembly, preferably a volumetric positive displacement pump assembly such as a peristaltic pump, be used, as shown in the drawings.
In a preferred aspect of the invention, the housing comprises a plurality of individual narrowly profiled cassettes 18 which are vertically arranged within the housing to form a series of cassettes 180,181, 182, 183 arranged in parallel within the housing. Each cassette is adapted to accommodate a complimentarily profiled food pouch or bag 2 as shown in
In other words, the housing is configured to have operational dispensing locations 100, 103 and preheating locations 101, 102 for receiving removable cassettes to enable the exchange of cassettes from one location to the other depending upon the needs to dispense or preheat the pouches contained into the cassettes. The preheating locations 101, 102 may or may not be directly adjacent the operational dispensing locations 100, 103 for the cassettes. The locations depend upon how the pumping assemblies 13, 14 are configured underneath. Preferably, the operational dispensing locations 100, 103 are provided at both lateral ends of the housing while the preheating locations 101, 102 are grouped in the center of the housing so that sufficient room can be left in the dispensing area 17 between two dispensing tubes 210, 211. The operational dispensing location is preferably a place within the housing where the cassette, and more particularly its outlet opening becomes, when properly installed, substantially vertically aligned to the pumping assembly. Similarly, a preheating location is preferably a place where the cassette becomes substantially vertically offset when installed with respect to the pumping assembly. However, a preheating location may also be a place vertically corresponding to a pumping assembly placed below where, in that event, the pumping assembly would be mechanically or electrically disconnected and/or in a standing-by position. For example, it could be envisioned to have a number of valves or pumping assemblies equivalent to the number of cassette's locations although this would increase significantly the cost of the device. In a preheating mode, the cassettes may either be in heat-up phase, i.e., below the requested serving temperature, or in a holding phase; i.e., having reached the requested temperature but being hold warm until the dispensing pouch is emptied.
As a preferred mode, the cassettes are removable from the housing simply by sliding motion along a primary direction, e.g., either horizontally or vertically, after the dispensing device has been opened. For instance, in the first embodiment of
As illustrated in
Experimental tests have shown that the heat-up time was directly influenced by the spacing “s” between the two thermal conductive surfaces in such a configuration almost irrespective of the pouch capacity.
Experimentation has shown that the spacing “s” for successfully heating a large size pouch containing food at ambient or refrigerated state in less than 2 hours, should preferably be at most about 10 cm, more preferably at most about 8 cm, still more preferably at most about 6.5 cm, still more preferably at most about 5.5 cm. In other embodiments, the spacing “s” can be at most about 4 cm, and can even be of less than about 35 mm, or less than about 30 mm, depending on the use of the embodiment. The heating time may also slightly vary as a function of the intrinsic thermal conductivity of the food product, but has been found to be relatively fast within these parameters.
The preferred cassette 18 has a spacing “s” that is at most about 40% of the height “h” of the interior of the cassette 18, in which the pouch 2 is received, and more preferably at most about 30%. In another embodiment, the spacing “s” is at most about 20% of the height “h”. Preferably, the spacing “s” is at least about 5% of the height “h”, and more preferably at least about 15% thereof. The height “h” is preferably measured at the tall portion of the interior of the cassette 18, from the bottom wall 72 near the outlet opening instead of on the slope 720. Furthermore, the preferred internal length of the cassette interior, and the width “w” of the opposed internal surfaces of the side walls 70, 71, in the embodiment of
Foodstuff may have a thermal conductivity that varies from about 0.2 to 1.0 W·m−1·K−1. As an example, cheese sauce has a thermal conductivity “k” of about 0.5 W·m−1·K−1.
In order to provide a sufficient contact with the pouch, the thermal conductive surfaces of the sidewalls 70, 71 should preferably represent from about 80 to about 98%, preferably of 85 to 95%, of the total internal surface of the cassette available to contact with the pouch. As an example, for accommodating a pouch of from 2.7 to 3.2 Kg, the cassette should have two opposed thermal conductive surfaces of about 900 cm2 each, thereby representing 85% of the total surface of the cassette.
Heating of the cassette is preferably carried out by resistive heating elements 85. The resistive elements may be integrated in the sidewalls 70, 71 and preferably in all the walls 70 to 74 of the cassette. The walls of the cassette may comprise a solid matrix of any suitable material which can repeatedly withstand temperatures up to about 100° C. during an extensive period of time. As solid matrix, it is meant any sort of homogeneous layer(s) or laminate(s) of supporting material to which are secured resistive element(s). The heating elements may be wire(s), fibers, mat(s), woven or unwoven fabric(s), grid(s), etched foil(s) or any suitable resistive element(s). The elements may be provided to the solid matrix in a variety of shapes such as continuous or discontinuous strand(s), strip(s), tube(s), patch(es), or any other suitable shapes.
In a preferred embodiment, the heating resistive elements are electrical resistive wires embedded or sandwiched within a solid material matrix forming the walls 702, 703 as illustrated in
The solid matrix may be a highly thermal conductive metal such as aluminum, steel stainless steel, copper or any other suitable metal including electrically insulated resistive elements. The material matrix for the walls may also be advantageously made of shapeable or moldable materials such as heat resistant polymer materials. The polymer material may be selected from the group consisting of polyetherimide, polyimide, PEEK, fluoropolymers, polyphtalamide, polyphenylenesulfide (PPS), polyester, epoxy and combinations thereof. A suitable polyimide material may be Kapton® manufactured and sold by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The resistive elements should preferably be positioned within the solid matrix at a distance relatively close to the heating surface of the cassette. Preferably, when a polymer resin is used, the resistive elements should not be distant from the internal heating surfaces of the cassette more than 1.5 mm, preferably 1.0 mm, even more preferably, 0.6 mm so as to keep a good heat transfer toward the pouch.
The resistive elements 85 may be fabricated of nickel-chrome, nickel-chrome-iron, nickel-copper, nickel-iron or any other materials that is commonly known and available that has enough resistance to the flow of electricity to produce substantial heat and high enough melting temperature to withstand heat when electricity is applied therein. In a preferred embodiment, the resistive heating elements are wire wound elements that are created by spiraling fine resistance wires around fiberglass cord. The element is then laid out in a pattern within the solid polymer matrix which can be conformed to the three-dimensional shape to form the cassette. Those elements have proved to have good physical strength and flexibility for the intended application.
In another embodiment, the resistive heating elements are etched foil elements. Those elements are created by acid etching a circuit in metal resistance alloy foil, i.e., nickel alloy foil, and supported by the solid matrix.
In a preferred mode of the invention, each cassette 18 is supplied with heating elements to accomplish a two-mode heating. Two-mode heating refers to the fact that in one mode, the cassette is heated at a higher power level and in another mode, the cassette is heated at a comparatively lower power level. As illustrated in
Controlling of the heat-up mode and holding mode could be controlled by one or more temperature-measuring device, strategically positioned within or on the inside of the cassette. A controlling assembly may be further provided in the dispensing device to receive the temperature measured by the thermostat(s) thereby switching off the booster heater when the measured temperature reaches a predetermined temperature set point corresponding to the serve-able temperature.
The electrical resistive density of the cassette may advantageously be varied as a function of the location along the walls. Variation of the power density may be required to fit specific heating requirements and/or patterns depending upon various factors such as the pouch geometry and dimensions, the type of food, thermal loss and heat rise, etc. As a matter of example illustrated in
Watt per cm2 and the third power density may be from about 0.026 Watt per cm2. As a result, a bag of from 2.5 to 3.5 Kg may be constantly heated at a temperature of about 65° C. with temperature variations of less than 5° C. As illustrated, the power density may be adjusted by various means such as by varying the resistive wire density and/or the cross-section of the resistive wires. As a matter of example, the spacing between two wire strands of a loop may be reduced to increase the wire density (length of wire per unit surface) and consequently increasing the resistance of the zone as the resistance is a function of L/S (L is the length and S is the section of the wire strand). The section of the wire strands may also be varied as the resistance is inversely proportional to the section or width.
It is not an absolute requirement to provide the front, rear and bottom walls with heating elements as they provide relatively smaller surfaces of contact with the pouch. In addition, the pouch does not necessarily need to intimately contact those walls. In particular, the pouch may have sealing portions where no significant portions of food product are retained which may contact the secondary walls 72–74, therefore rendering the heating elements not necessary in these areas. In other words, the total power available for heating the dispensing device being usually restricted by electrical regulations, it is preferred to distribute the heating power onto the primary surfaces of contact of the cassette rather than on the secondary surfaces which do not necessarily well contact the pouch.
In an alternative (not illustrated), the heating resistive elements could be “thick” film elements coupled to the thermal conductive walls. “Thick” film, means film elements which comprise a thick conductive track applied by oxidized metal substrate with a dielectric layer adhered to the metal substrate such as a glaze. A thick film circuit layout is applied by silk-screen printing in which a conductive track constituting the heating element by itself is printed. The technique of manufacturing consists in depositing an ink, consisting of a solvent and a mixture of metals and/or metal oxide(s). The metal(s) and/or metal oxide(s) may be chosen among the group consisting of palladium, copper, nickel, platinum, silver or even carbon may be used. The heat resistive element is terminated by a welded electrical contact portion 84 to make possible the connection to the electrical circuitry of the dispensing device. The contact portion 84 is preferably directly plugged into an electrical connection in the rear of the housing as a response to the sliding motion of the cassette within the housing.
The elevated temperature of serving is usually adjusted above 140° F. to comply with NSF standards for manual food and beverage dispensing equipment. Usually, the temperature variation will preferably not exceed + or −8° F., even preferably + or −5° F. However, it is advantageous to maintain temperature variations as low as possible in order to prevent formation of hot spots in the food product. The heating and storage configuration of the invention meets this need as more accuracy may be obtained in the temperature control. The temperature may be controlled either by a single thermostat installed in the housing or preferably, individually, by separate thermostats coupled to one side of each cassette.
The fitment assembly 22 is preferably a device for effecting transfer of the food material from the body 20 of the pouch to the area of dispense by piercing the pouch by means of piercing means. More particularly, the fitment assembly comprises a fitment member 220 comprising a portion having a bore 222 and a base end 223 capable of being attached to the pouch. The fitment assembly further comprises a spout member 221 comprising a piercing end 224 and a portion of tube 225 capable of mating in coaxial relationship with the portion of bore of the fitment member so as to form mating surfaces. The device further has a locking assembly adapted to lock the fitment and spout members together in a position whereby the piercing end is in piercing engagement within the pouch. Preferably, the locking assembly is of the type capable of being engaged by the action of pushing the spout fitment within the fitment. The locking assembly may, for instance, be a snap-fitting assembly which comprises at least one raised surface capable of resiliently engaging a recess surface as a response to the axial pushing of the spout member within the assembly. The lower end of the piercing member comprises a gland to which may be connected the dispensing tube 21. In order to avoid immediate spillage of the food product when piercing of the film or membrane of the pouch has been carried out, the distal end of the tube is sealed or crimped. Such a preferred configuration of fitment is precisely described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/698,318, the content of which is included here by reference.
The fitment configuration of the pouch allows to maintain the pouch hermetically closed when the pouch is maintained in a preheating mode in its preheating location. As shown in
While the foregoing description represents the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various additions and/or substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In particular, the preferred embodiment has been described in the context of controlling the temperature of the food product by essentially heating of a food product. The invention could also apply to controlling the temperature by cooling the food product to a desired serving temperature. For example, TEC cooling units using Peltier effect could be utilized to provide a compact conductive transfer to the conductive surfaces. In an alternative, cooling could also be provided by conventional evaporative cooling using a refrigerant in a circuit which is compressed, condensed and evaporated in loop. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be used with many modifications of structure, forms arrangement, proportions, materials, and components used in the practice of the invention and which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements, without departing from the principles of the preset invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefor to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
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|US6761285 *||8 Feb 2002||13 Jul 2004||Claudio Bertone||Automated apparatus for dispensing a liquid whitener and a liquid additive in a cup or the like|
|Patente citante||Fecha de presentación||Fecha de publicación||Solicitante||Título|
|US8042711 *||25 Oct 2011||Mettler-Toledo Ag||Dosage-dispensing device with a receiving device for an insertion unit|
|US8857666 *||15 Abr 2011||14 Oct 2014||Edward L. O'Keefe, JR.||Wine dispensing system|
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|US20050274121 *||29 Abr 2005||15 Dic 2005||Adventus Consumer Products, Llc||Thermoelectric food product dispenser|
|US20080190518 *||13 Feb 2008||14 Ago 2008||Mettler-Toledo Ag||Dosage-dispensing device with a receiving device for an insertion unit|
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|US20100230431 *||22 Sep 2008||16 Sep 2010||Lhd Vending Systems||Improved food dispensing method and apparatus|
|US20110253746 *||20 Oct 2011||O'keefe Jr Edward L||Wine dispensing system|
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|US20140169774 *||18 Dic 2012||19 Jun 2014||General Electric Company||Water heating assembly for a refrigerator appliance|
|US20150129611 *||11 Nov 2014||14 May 2015||TRV Dispense, LLC||Soft Food and Beverage Dispenser|
|Clasificación de EE.UU.||222/146.1, 222/146.5|
|Clasificación internacional||B67D3/00, B67D1/08, B67D1/00, B67D1/10, B67D7/80|
|Clasificación cooperativa||B67D1/0801, B67D3/0022, B67D2210/00028, B67D7/80, B67D3/0029, B67D1/108, B67D3/0009, B67D2210/00118, B67D1/0861, B67D1/0004, B67D1/0857|
|Clasificación europea||B67D1/08D2C, B67D1/08D, B67D3/00H, B67D3/00C, B67D1/00E2, B67D3/00F, B67D1/10D, B67D7/80|
|17 Dic 2002||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: NESTEC S.A., SWITZERLAND
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:GUTIERREZ, J. ANTONIO;REDDY, BALAKRISHNA;GREENE, ROBERT;REEL/FRAME:013592/0731;SIGNING DATES FROM 20021113 TO 20021204
|12 May 2010||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|25 Jul 2014||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|12 Dic 2014||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|3 Feb 2015||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 20141212