AU697925B2 - A portable beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: PIA ADVERTISING PTY. LTD.

009 724 725) ii i1 j Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: DAVID FOSTER CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

A PORTABLE BEVERAGE COOLING AND DISPENSING APPARATUS Details of Associated Provisional Applications: Nos. PN1262 and PN5479 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: sb, ~LCL r ~LI IIC- s~ V, 0, k A 4 4x.4 M__t 1 1 1 This invention relates to a portable beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus and particularly relates to an apparatus which can be wheeled about and which can dispense cooled beverages such as beer, other types of carbonated beverages, or non-carbonated beverages.

In hotels and saloon bars, large quantities of beverage such as beer are dispensed. The beer is stored in kegs or barrels which are typically located some distance away from the hotel or saloon bar and the barrels are uncooled. A dispensing line which is typically steel conduit extends from the barrel to a dispensing tap located in the bar, and the dispensing line is cooled to cool the beer as it flows from the keg to the tap. While this arrangement is useful in bars, it is non-portable and therefore finds no application in situations where portability is required.

,It is known to provide cooled beer or other beverage at functions such as weddings, sporting venues and the like. At these functions, a keg is 15 purchased and is rolled into a particular position. The keg remains uncooled, and a dispensing line is attached t the keg and typically a gas bottle is also T provided to pressurise the keg contents. The dispensing line passes through a separate cooling system which is positioned away from the keg, and which cooling system is usually filled with icere to cool the beerage as it passes through the delivery ine. While this arrangement allows bulk beverage to be S dispensed on site such as at weddings an sporting venues, the arrangement is not portable and once set up it generally stays in place throughout the entire day.

The present invention has been developed to provide a portable ba 25 beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus where beverage containers or 'kegs can be placed within a cabinet which also contains a cooling medium S which can cool the beverage kegs or containers and also cool the delivery line I and where the apparatus can be easily moved from place to place rather than being restricted to one position.

In one form, the invention resides in a portable beverage cooling and n dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a bottom wall and a side wall or side walls to define an internal space, at least part of the internal space is no p ra l an on e s t u itg n r ly s a s i pl c th o g o tt e nie 4. day The pr s n in enio h s b e de e o e to p vi e a or bl bvrgcolnandipnigaprtsweebvrgcotieso keg can be plcdwti aie hc asotisacoigmdu -wh *i can *T cool the*' beverag keg or co t iner an als oo l ther' del--* *p rive ryf li 3I'."W(M'tl 1' 1 I 4 s ii l l ,.4 li 3 being insulated against heat transfer from the outside of the cabinet, the internal space being configured to accept at least one beverage container and also to allow a cooling medium to cool the at least one container, the apparatus further having a delivery line to pass beverage from the at least one container to the outside of the container, at least part of the delivery line being in a heat exchange relationship with the cooling medium within the cabinet, and a dispensing tap on the outside of the cabinet and operatively connected to the delivery line to allow cooled beverage to be dispensed from the cabinet.

The cabinet may comprise a hollow container which may be rectangular, circular or other shape when viewed in plan. A suitable type of container is one which is substantially rectangular when viewed in plan and which comprises a base wall and four side walls to define an internal space which is watertight.

The cabinet may be provided with wheels to allow it to be moved from place to place. It is preferred that the cabinet comprises a pair of spaced apart wheels, the wheels being axially aligned and positioned adjacent a bottom rear wall of the cabinet. This allows the cabinet to be tilted rearwardly and then wheeled around. The arrangement of the wheels is preferably such that the bottom wall of the cabinet engages with the ground surface when the cabinet is in a substantially upright position. The arrangement is not unlike the .o positioning of wheels on rublbti and recycling bins known in Australia as "wheelie bins".

An upper port;",, o zhe cabinet may be provided with at least one :handle and the hcr dle i; oreferably positioned above the wheels to facilitate tilting of the cabinet and rrovrg the cabinet along its wheels.

The internal sprc< is at least partially insulated from the outside temperature of the cabinet,. This can be achieved by using any type of insulating material. The insulating material may be separately formed and inserted into the inti *-Al spqce, and/or the cabinet walls may themselves be sufficiently insulated he irsulation is preferably one which does not absorb the cooling mclirm, and if the cooling medium comprises ice, it is preferred that the insulation material is one which does not absorb water. Suitable L'i insulating materials will be apparent to persons skilled in the art and may comprise expanded polystyrene.

The insulation may be made separately from the cabinet and configured such that it ran be inserted into the cabinet to fit snugly against the internal side walls and bottom wall, or may be poured in liquid form and allowed to expand totally filling and adhering to internal cavity walls formed as if the external and internal space is a two wall container, one being larger than the other to form a cavity between the two walls. The insulation may itself have an internal space which is configured to accept at least one beverage container. This internal space may be cylindrical, square, or oblong when viewed in plan and may have sufficient size dimensions of length and height to accommodate the at least one beverage container, or perhaps a number of beverage containers, while still having sufficient area to accommodate the cooling medium such as ice. It is preferred that the insulation extends from the bottom wall of the cabinet to at least along the side wall and preferably close towards the top wall of the cabinet.

The delivery line to pass beverage from the container to the outside of the cabinet may comprise flexible tubing and may be of sufficient length such that beverage passing through it is cooled by heat exchange with the cooling medium prior to being dispensed. The delivery line may be coiled within the internal space and in contact with the cooling medium. The length of the delivery line will be dependent on the volume of beverage to be passed therethrough and the amount of cooling medium, but a length of 5m to can be considered to be suitable. The tubing may be of a food grade plastic, or of stainless steel.

The dispensing tap may comprise any type of tap for dispensing beverages, and may be positioned on an end of a tap riser.

The at least one container in the apparatus may be pre-pressurised to facilitate dispensing of the beverage therefrom. Alternatively, the container may be non-pressurised and a separate gas bottle or like source of pressurising fluid may be associated with the apparatus to pressurise the beverage within the container. The gas bottle may be positioned externally to

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the cabinet but may be attached thereto to allow it to be wheeled around with the cabinet.

The cabinet may have a rear wall which supports a gas bottle holder.

The holder can comprise a tube, cage, clamp or like arrangement into which the gas bottle can be inserted and held.

If necessary, a metal or reinforced plastic frame work can be attached to the rear wall of the cabinet to reinforce it, and the gas bottle holder can be attached to the framework.

To reduce possible back strain in lifting the relatively heavy gas bottle, the gas bottle holder may be moveable between a first position where the gas bottle is held in a substantially upright manner, and a second turned position where the gas bottle is in a substantially horizontal position. In the second position, the gas bottle can be more readily removed from the holder and with less strain.

A further advantage in having the gas bottle holder moveable is that it can allow the lid of the cabinet to swing fully open without striking the gas bottle or gas bottle holder.

To provide additional stability to the apparatus, there may be provided a stabilising leg. The stabilising leg may be positioned adjacent a rear wall of S: 20 the cabinet. The stabilising leg may be attached relative to the gas bottle holder. The stabilising leg may be moveable between a stabilising use position and a tucked away storage position where the apparatus can be moved from place to place by being tilted and wheeled about.

The cabinet may comprise a top wall which can overlie upper parts of the side wall to close off the internal space. The top wall may comprise a removable lid to allow the cooling medium, beverage container(s) and the like to be positioned within the internal space. The lid may be hinged to a side wall of the cabinet, or may be simply removed therefrom. The top wall may comprise a tray on which glasses can be positioned. The dispensing tap suitably extends from the top wall.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which J I 'TQ l J 1 i0 a I m tr- l' l 4 1 i I N 6 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portable beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Figure 1 with the top removed to show the internal features.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a variation of the apparatus of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the apparatus of Figure 3 showing the gas bottle holder and the stabilising leg.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figure 1 there is shown a portable beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus 10. Apparatus comprises an outer cabinet 11 which has a bottom wall 12, front wall 13, opposed side walls 14,15, and a back wall 16. Walls 12 16 are integrally formed from plastics material to define a watertight hollow bin. Walls 12-16 have a thickness to allow the cabinet to have structural stability, and the 15 thickness will of course provide a degree of insulation to the internal volume of the bin. However, the wall thickness is mostly insufficient to provide sufficient insulation and therefore additional insulation is provided as illustrated in Figure 2 and which shall be described in greater detail below.

Cabinet 11 is made portable by a pair of opposed plastic wheels 17,18 20 which are fitted to a steel axle (not shown) which passes underneath the bin and adjacent the bottom of back wall 16. Wheels 17,18 are axially aligned and are positioned adjacent the bottom of back wall 16. A pair of handles 19,20 a are provided on rear wall 16 and adjacent an upper portion of rear wall 16, and it can be seen that by pulling handles 19,20 the cabinet can be pivoted around 25 the wheel axle such that bottom wall 12 is off the ground surface and the I cabinet can be simply wheeled from place to place. The wheels are sized and configured such that when then the cabinet is in a substantially upright position as shown in Figure 1, bottom wall 12 is on the ground which positions the cabinet against further movement.

Cabinet 11 is provided with a top wall 21 which is in the form of a lid which can be removed from the remainder of the cabinet to expose the inside.

Lid 21 is made from stainless steel and can either be entireiy removed from ~1~8 7 the remainder of the cabinet, or can be hinged to a rear wall to be movable between open and closed positions.

A neoprene or rubber seal can be added to the underside of the lid to seal the lid to the remainder of the bin to prevent condensation build-up inside the bin. Additionally, the lid can be locked to the remainder of the cabinet if desired which could make the apparatus more suitable for use in hire purposes. Extending through top wall 21 is a riser 22 also made from stainless steel and riser 22 supports two dispersing taps 23,24 (it should be appreciated that the number of dispensing taps can vary). Under dispensing taps 23,24 is provided a drainage, drip, or splash tray 25, and these trays are known in the art. Behind riser 22 can be positioned a plastic coated wire tray or rack 26 in which clean or used glasses can be placed. Top wall 21 has an antidrip rim to prevent any spillage from dribbling off the top wall in an n 'unsightly manner.

15 Referring to Figure 2 there is shown the inside of the cabinet. Inside cabinet 11 is provided an insulated insert 27. The insulated insert can be separately formed and pressed into the inside of cabinet 11. The insert ",'**comprises solid polystyrene foam insulation, which is configured to provide a central cylindrical space 28. Space 28 has a surround wall 29 formed from 20 steel. The steel surround wall allows beverage containers, cooling medium o and the like to be routinely placed in and removed from space 28 without damaging the foam insulation.

Within space 28 can be located one or more beverage containers such as beer kegs and the like. For instance, the internal space can contain two litre beer kegs, or a single 50 litre beer keg. The or each keg 30,31 is fitted to a flexible plastic delivery line 32 which allows beverage to pass from the keg to a coupling associated with riser 22 and ultimately to the dispensing taps 23,24. In the embodiment, 15m of delivery line is provided with most of the line being coiled around and positioned within the internal space 28. A cooling medium such as ice can be added to space 28 to substantially fill it and this will cool the kegs and also cool beverage passing through the delivery line.

If the kegs are not pressurised, an external gas bottle (not shown) can ms MM

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8 be provided and coupled to the kegs to pressurise the kegs. A gas regulator can be used and this type of arrangement is known.

To set up and install the apparatus, 2kg of ice is placed into the bottom of space 28. The cabinet is pivoted about wheels 17,18 to a substantially horizontal position and top wall 21 is removed or hinged to an open position.

A beer keg is inserted into space 28 and then the cabinet is pivoted back to its upright position (it should be appreciated that for smaller kegs, it may be possible to simply lift the keg into the space), but for larger kegs such as litre kegs, a useful feature of the current invention is that the cabinet can be pivoted to the horizontal position to allow the keg to be rolled or pushed inside space 28.

Once the cabinet is in the upright position, the adaptor, dispenser line and gas lead fitting are attached and the system is charged with gas, to about Ice is added to space 28 and around the keg and sufficient ice is added to completely fill space 28. The delivery lines are pre-coiled around space 28 and are totally buried in the ice. Top wall 21 is then attached making sure that the delivery lines curved and not kinked, and the top wall is secured in place.

The cabinet may have an umbrella attachment to allow a beach umbrella to be attached to the cabinet and erected over the top to shade the cabinet and especially the top wall.

Test results of the apparatus are given below. The test results showing the outside temperature in degrees centigrade, the time, the samples, the amount of beverage drawn from the apparatus, and the temperature of the beverage.

mew Temperature Time Sample No. Draw Temperature 38.8 0 C 1.15pm 1 Jug 6.8°C 37.5°C 2.30pm 2 200ml 6.4°C 35.0°C 3.30pm 3 200ml 6.2C 32.0°C 4.30pm 4 Jug 5.8°C 31.5°C 5.30pm 5 200ml 5.3°C 31.0°C 6.30pm 200ml 31.0CC 6.3Opm 200m1 5000 9 29.0°C 7.30pm 7 200ml 26.0°C 8.30pm 8 200ml 5.3 0

C

Internal Temperature of the unit was a constant 5 degrees The unit was packed with 10kg of ice at commencement and after hours and after dispensing an entire 50 litre keg there was still 4.5kg of ice in useable condition.

The apparatus will find use in breweries, hotels, clubs, hire companies, catering companies, sporting venues, seminars, motels, functions, weddings and private sales.

Figures 3 and 4 show an alternative embodiment of the invention and like numbers have been used to identify like parts of Figures 1 and 2. The vanitions in Figures 3 and 4 differ principally in the provision of a gas bottle holder 40 (see Figure 4) which is positioned on the rear wall 16 of the cabinet.

As the cabinet body may be formed from relatively thin wall plastics, gas bottle holder 40 is attached to a framework 41 which may be formed from metal or reinforced material. Gas bottle holder 40 comprises a metal or plastic tubular sheet of generally cylindrical design and into which the gas bottle 42 can be 20 inserted. Gas bottle 42 is therefore protected by holder 40 against knocks and j the like. Holder 40 is of a particular length to allow the valves and operating i".i :mechanisms on top of gas bottle 42 to extend from the top of holder 40 and therefore able to be manipulated.

K Gas bottle holder 40 can move between a first upright position as illustrated in Figure 4, and a second turned position (not illustrated) where gas bottle holder 40 is turned or pivoted to a substantially horizontal position. In the second position, the gas bottle 42 can be more readily removed without having to lift the entire gas bottle from holder 40. Also, in the turned position, lid 21 can be opened to a greater degree without striking the gas bottle 42 or holder As illustrated in Figure 4, the apparatus has a stabilising leg Stabilising leg 45 is pivotable between a used positioned as illustrated in Figure 4 and a substantially horizontal tucked-away folded or storage position (not shown) where the stabilising leg is in a substantially horizontal position s~ c i and can be held there by clip 46 clipping on to a projection 47. Stabilising leg is attached to part of framework 41 and extends some distance away from wheels 18 to provide a good degree of stability against tipping of the entire apparatus.

As illustrated in Figure 3, this variation of the invention has double wheels on each side of t .abinet to allow the unit to be rolled over relatively soft ground without sinkirng into the ground.

It should be aporeciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims (11)

1. A portable beverage cooling and dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a bottom wall and a side wall or side walls to define an internal space, at least part of the internal space being insulated against heat transfer from the outside of the cabinet, the internal space being configured to accept at least one beverage container and also to allow a cooling medium to cool the at least one container, the apparatus further having a delivery line comprising tubing to pass beverage from the at least one container to the outside of the container, at least part of the delivery line being in a heat exchange relationship with the cooling medium within the cabinet, and a dispensing tap on the outside of the cabinet and operatively connected to the delivery line to allow cooled beverage to be dispensed from the cabinet.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cabinet is provided with wheels to allow it to be moved.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a single axle is provided with wheels on the end of the axle, the axle extending adjacent a bottom -d rear wall of the cabinet to allow the cabinet to be tilted rearwardly about the axle and wheeled about. 2 4. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein an upper portion of the cabinet has a handle positioned above the wheels to facilitate tilting of the cabinet and moving the cabinet along its wheels. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bottom wall of the cabinet sits on the ground when the cabinct is in an upright position.

6. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the internal space of the cabinet has a lower portion provided with heat insulating material.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein tha insulating material has an opening in which a beverage container can locate.

8. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the delivery line is tubing or coiled tubing having an optimal length of 5m to 20m, and having a portion adapted to contact the cooling medium to cool beverage passing through the delivery line. S9. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, 'n the cooling COJ <ZL19~ 12 medium comprises ice. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cabinet has a top wall which closes off the internal space, the top wall comprising a removeable lid.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the dispensing tap extends from the top wall. 12 The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims including an external holder for a gas bottle.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the external holder is moveable 10 between a first position where a gas bottle is in an upright position and a second position where the gas bottle is in a substantially horizontal position.

14. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cabinet has a stabilising leg to reduce inadvertent tipping of the cabinet.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the stabilising leg is moveable between a use position and a tucked-away storage position. S: 16. The apparatus of claims 14 or 15, wherein the stabilising leg is attached :e :to the external holder for the gas bottle.

17. The apparatus of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the delivery line comprises flexible tubing. S. 20 18. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. DATED this 8 th day of September 1998 PIA ADVERTISING PTY. LTD. By their Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. P ~-*-~huiI AUSTRALIA I I I b-- rl; _il 13 ABSTRACT A portable beverage dispensing device has a pair of ground wheels to allow the device to be tilted and wheeled about, an insulated interior to hold a beverage container, a delivery line inside the container, a cooling medium such as ice in the container, an optional stabilising leg and a delivery tap on the top lid. D