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EP-4159044-B1 - HEATING SYSTEM FOR COLD DRINK APPARATUS AND METHODS OF USE

EP4159044B1EP 4159044 B1EP4159044 B1EP 4159044B1EP-4159044-B1

Inventors

  • KADYK, JEFFERY W.
  • MORTON, Joel

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220930

Claims (15)

  1. A cold drink system (30) comprising: at least one beverage hopper (32) having at least one wall defining an interior volume for retaining a quantity of beverage product in solution for chilling to at least a partially frozen condition and dispensing therefrom; a closed drum (216) contained within the beverage hopper, the closed drum (216) having a wall (218) with an inside surface (45) and defining a cavity (220) therein fluidly separated from the interior volume of the hopper, the closed drum wall (218) having an outside surface (46) configured to contact the beverage solution retained in the interior volume of the beverage hopper; an auger (38) configured to move relative to the outside surface of the closed drum (216) to remove at least partially frozen beverage product from the outside surface when the beverage product is chilled; and a temperature control assembly (200), the temperature control assembly including: a cooling system (140) for controllably cooling the beverage product to at least a partially frozen condition; and a heating system (160) for controllably raising the temperature of the partially frozen beverage product; wherein the cooling system (140) and the heating system (160) are retained within the cavity (220) of the closed drum (216) and configured to change the temperature of the outside surface (46) of the closed drum (216) to control the temperature of the beverage product; wherein the cooling system (140) includes a refrigeration coil (222) coupled to the inside surface (45) of the wall (218), and wherein the heating system (160) includes a heater (164) retained within the cavity (220) of the drum (216) directly coupled to the refrigeration coil (222).
  2. The cold drink system (30) of claim 1, wherein the heating system (160) is an electronic heating system (164).
  3. The cold drink system (30) of claim 1, wherein the heater (164) is selected from the group consisting of an electric resistive heater or a forced air heater.
  4. The cold drink system (30) of claim 3, wherein the heater (164) is retained within the cavity (220) of the closed drum (216) via a bracket (176).
  5. The cold drink system of claim 4, wherein the bracket (176) of the heater is thermally coupled to the refrigeration coil (222).
  6. The cold drink system (30) of claim 5, wherein the refrigeration coil (222) is coupled to the inside surface (45) of the wall (218) by a thermally-conductive epoxy (224) and the bracket is coupled to the refrigeration coil (222) by the thermally-conductive epoxy (224).
  7. The cold drink system of claim 1 or of any of claims 2 to 6, wherein the cavity (220) of the closed drum (216) is otherwise substantially filled with an insulating material.
  8. The cold drink system (30) of claim 1 or of any of claims 2 to 7, wherein the system (30) further comprises: a second beverage hopper, closed drum, auger, cooling system, and heating system, for retaining a quantity of a second beverage product in solution for chilling and dispensing therefrom; and, optionally or preferably, wherein the first and second beverage hopers are retained on a single beverage dispensing apparatus.
  9. The cold drink system (30) of claim 8, further comprising at least one controller for controlling the operation of the cold drink system (30), wherein the first and second heating systems can be independently controlled by the at least one controller to raise or lower the temperature of the separate beverage products retained in each of the hoppers, respectively.
  10. The cold drink system (30) of claim 1 or of any of claims 2 to 9, wherein the system (30) further includes a temperature sensor (230) for detecting the temperature of the beverage product retained in the hopper.
  11. A method of controlling the temperature of a beverage product retained in a beverage hopper (32) of a cold drink system (30) according to any of claims 1-10, the method comprising the steps of: providing a cooling system (140) comprising a refrigeration coil (222); controllably cooling the beverage product to form an at least partially frozen beverage product condition, the cold drink system (30) including a closed drum (216) within an interior volume of the hopper (32), the cooling system (30) being retained within the closed drum (216) and being configured to controllably transfer heat from the beverage product to controllably form and maintain the at least partially frozen beverage product in the at least partially frozen condition for a first time period; and providing a heating system (160); controllably heating the at least partially frozen product for a second time period to form a generally liquid product, the closed drum (216) of the cold drink system (30) including a heating element of the heating system configured to transfer heat via conduction to cooling refrigeration coil (222) to thaw the at least partially frozen product, detecting when the thawed beverage product has reached a predetermined thawed condition, and maintaining the predetermined thawed condition for a third period of time before cooling the beverage product to form an at least partially frozen product again, wherein the refrigeration coil (222) is coupled to the inside surface of the wall (218), and wherein the heating system (160) includes a heater (164) retained within the cavity of the closed drum (216) directly coupled to the refrigeration coil (222).
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises the steps of: providing a second beverage hopper, closed drum, cooling system, and heating system, for retaining a quantity of a second beverage product in solution for chilling and dispensing therefrom; controllably cooling the second beverage product retained in the second hopper to form a second at least partially frozen product, the second hopper containing the second closed drum, the second cooling system configured to transfer heat from the second beverage product to form and maintain the second at least partially frozen beverage product in an at least partially frozen condition for a first time period; and controllably heating the second at least partially frozen product for a second time period to form a second generally thawed product, the second closed drum including a second heating system configured to transfer heat to the second partially frozen product to cause the second partially frozen product to thaw, detecting when the thawed beverage product has reached a predetermined thawed condition, and maintaining the second thawed beverage mixture in the unfrozen state before cooling the second beverage mixture to form a second partially frozen product again.
  13. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further includes providing a controller coupled to the cooling system and heating system and configured to control the cooling and heating steps, and wherein the controller can independently control the cooling and heating steps occurring in the first and second hoppers.
  14. The method of claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the method further includes only heating one of the first and second at least partially frozen beverage products when the other of the first and second at least partially frozen beverage products remains in the at least partially frozen condition.
  15. The method of claim 11 or of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the heating step further includes transferring the heat to an outside surface of the closed drum that is in direct contact with the partially frozen product and the partially frozen product being circulated within the hopper.

Description

Cross Reference and Priority Claim This application claims priority to United States Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/250,838, filed on September 30, 2021, titled "Heating System for Cold Drink Apparatus and Methods of Use". Field of the Disclosure The present invention relates to an system, and method for producing a chilled or at least partially frozen beverage product, often referred to as a slush beverage or "granita", and more particularly to a system and method for providing heat to such an apparatus to controllably raise the temperature of the chilled or partially frozen beverage product to produce a thawed condition and then controllably rechilling the beverage product. Background of the Disclosure A variety of apparatuses have been designed to produce chilled beverages as well as to produce beverages which are in a "slush" form. Some of these apparatuses are referred to as "granita" machines. Generally, the term cold drink apparatus will be used herein to refer to the slush, granita, or similar apparatus that reduces the temperature of a beverage product to a condition where the product is generally fluid but a portion of which is at least partially frozen in the overall fluid mixture. Such apparatuses can be used to produce slush beverages from a variety of products including fruit juices, coffee-based beverages, tea-based beverages, as well as beverages containing alcohol. Such apparatuses include a chilling portion, and some form of blade or auger that moves relative to the chilling portion to strip the frozen product off and circulate the beverage along the chilling portion. Circulation of the beverage along the chilling portion helps to reduce the temperature of the beverage mixture thereby approaching a slush consistency. An example of such an apparatus is described and illustrated in U.S. Patent No. 6,430,952, which issued on August 13, 2002. Slush beverages or granita have a consistency that is achieved by controlling a combination of the temperature of the liquid and the solids/syrup content in the liquid. For example, the solids/syrups content may be in the form of coffee solids, as well as sugar or fruit syrup solids. Such apparatuses typically use torque to sense the consistency of the slush mix as it approaches a freezing point. The torque is sensed by twisting of the motor itself and pivoting, thereby tripping a switch coupled thereto. The switch deactivates the cooling system. Maintaining the desired consistency of the ice crystals of granita beverages is important to maintaining the quality of such beverages. For instance, if the ice crystals are maintained in a frozen state for too long, the sugar in the crystals may begin to disproportionately migrate to the outside of the crystal, leaving portions of the ice crystal with less or no sugar or syrup and causing the consistency of the ice crystal to be lessened. Accordingly, the granita beverage may ideally be at least partially thawed or fully thawed from time to time to permit the sugar or syrup to redistributed within the beverage in a liquid format, and the liquid subsequently refrozen in the granite apparatus to form new ice crystals with more consistency of the sugar/syrup. Such thawing and refreezing process can permit the quality of the granita beverage to be maintained over a longer duration of time. Adjustment of the consistency of the slush is also a concern. In other words, if an operator wishes to increase or decrease thickness of the consistency of the slush ice crystals, the apparatus must either increase its chilling effect or reduce its chilling effect. In various systems, such adjustment may be made by adjusting a screw and spring arrangement associated with the rotation of the motor. But the spring is difficult to adjust and is typically located within the housing of the apparatus. Such adjustment is inconvenient and very cumbersome to accurately monitor while operating the apparatus. Accordingly, there is a need for alternative methods of adjusting the temperature changing effect of such apparatuses. In addition, typical granita devices require a significant amount of time devoted to set up, cycling of product, and maintenance of the equipment to provide for optimal quality of product produced. For example, as mentioned, in order to provide for optimal quality, the granita product may be required to be thawed and refrozen on a regular or consistent basis, thereby making the time it takes to produce quality product a reoccurring concern. Moreover, at the beginning of an operating day after an extended period of non-use, the apparatus must be started up and the solution refrozen. Alternatively, the mixture may be maintained in its frozen state, with the quality of the product being diminished if it remains in such a state for too long. Typically, the machine is turned off and the chilling process must be started anew at the beginning of each day, which can cause undesired downtime. EP3305090B1 relates to