AU668560B2

AU668560B2 - Portable beverage dispenser assembly

Info

Publication number: AU668560B2
Application number: AU39947/93A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ashley Grant Bulmer
Original assignee: NAT PLANNER NO 28 Pty Ltd
Current assignee: NATIONAL PLANNER NO 28 Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1992-05-29
Filing date: 1993-05-31
Publication date: 1996-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 2013-05-31
Also published as: AU3994793A

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT F~ol,,,al'FlanVv M 0. a 4L-L- KwlcoonA I ?lot-, 1* TI T-TA Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated Provisional Application No: The following statement is a full of performing it known to me: k 1VIt~ftFI., CDLX T 1Y L) Ashley Grant Bulmer TREVOR DREDGE ASSOCIATES Patent Trade Mark Attorneys 13th Floor, 379 Queen Street BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 (GPO Box 1339, BRISBANE, 4001) "Portable Beverage Dispenser Assembly" Australian Patent Application No. PL2692 filed 29 May, 1992.

description of this invention, including the best method i 1 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a portable beverage dispenser assembly having features which enable it to be used in bar-like fashion for dispensing carbonated beverages.

Carbonated beverages are usually sold at sporting events or the like in cans or where the sporting venue includes permanent bar facilities, the beverages are dispensed on draught into glasses and sold by the glass. In more remote locations, the beverages are sold by the can or in the case of beer, a keg, gas bottle and ice arrangement can be used for dispensing the beer on draught through a so-called "temprite" being the trade name of the typical device used for dispensing carbonated beverage in a cool state from a keg. Prior arrangements for setting up a temporary bar generally prove inconvenient involving tents and the like, the present invention has been devised with the object of providing a portable beverage dispenser assembly which can be used to dispense carbonated beverages conveniently on draught and in similar fashion to the way in which beverages are dispensed from a bar.

In one aspect therefore, the present invention resides in a portable beverage dispenser assembly comprising in combination a portable beverage container storage means for storing a plurality of separate bulk beverage containers, the assembly having a beverage dispenser means connected to a beverage delivery conduit set up for dispensing the beverage on dr&aught and which communicates with one or more of the bulk beverage containers, the beverage dispenser means being positioned to enable a person standing adjacent the assembly to selectively operate the dispenser means to dispense beverage from the assembly. To this end, the assembly can range in size from a box-like assembly that can be manoeuvred about on casters by say, two men, to a trailer mounted assembly which can carry say, sixteen beer kegs and is drawn behind a car. There is therefore within the scope of the invention, a range of assembly sizes each being suited to a particular occasion or purpose. The assembly is typically of narrow construction so that the assembly can be moved indoors. The 30 assembly can be slightly wider than a single beer keg or in the case of a typical trailer mounted assembly, a width of about 1400mm is most suitable because two kegs can be located in the storage means side by side. The container storage I\ /2'3

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3 means at 1400mm wide is safe for the road at a height of 1800mm and is still narrow enough to pass through double fire doors for use in say, a conference centre.

The portable beverage dispenser assembly is typically used for dispensing beer, spirits and cordial based carbonated beverages in bar-like fashion and has particular but non-limiting application for sporting events and other functions where a bar is required on a temporary basis. The assembly typically includes a refrigeration unit to keep the beverages cold. To this end, the container storage means can be a cold box or alternatively, the beverage delivery conduits can circulate the beverage through the refrigeration unit to cool a beverage as it is being dispensed.

The portable beverage container storage means is typically a box-like container having an interior between opposed side panels defining respective opposed dispensing and loading sides. The dispensing means is positioned on the dispensing side and the loading side typically has a door enabling access to the interior. The interior is typically dividing into a beer keg storage area, a wine container storage area and a cordial syrup container storage area. Each area contains locating means for a plurality of kegs in the keg storage area, wine containers in the wine storage area and syrup containers in the syrup storage area so that different beers, wines and cordials can be dispensed from the assembly.

20 Where the assembly is of the'type having the beverage delivery, conduits circulating through the refrigeration unit, the refrigeration unit and syrup storage *pp areas are preferably located adjacent one another to minimise the length of travel a. a of syrup between the syrup storage area and the refrigeration unit. The beer keg S• storage area typically includes a plurality of keg locating means so that kegs can be easily and positively located for transport purposes. The wine container storage area and the syrup container storage area typically includes shelves, racks i or the like so that the individual containers can be stored and located in predetermined positions relative to pumps which are required to deliver the wine a or syrup to the respective dispensers. The beverage dispenser means are typically those which are used in bars and include beer taps, wine taps, soda/syrup mixers and where applicable, beverage and syrup pumps are employed within the storage means. In a preferred form, all the dispensers are located on one side of i NT 4 the storage means although dispensers can be employed on more than one side.

The dispensing side typically includes a beverage dispenser means support which holds a plurality of beverage dispensers in operative positions. A cover panel is preferably employed to cover the beverage dispensers which typically protrude from the storage means so they are exposed and accessible for use.

Thus, the cover panel is spaced from the storage means to provide room for the dispensers. The cover panel typically is hinged to the storage means so that in use, the cover panel can be swung out from a vertical position where it covers the dispensers to a horizontal position to form a canopy adjacent the dispensing side of the storage means. The dispensing side preferably includes a retractable bar. Preferably, the assembly when in use includes a demountable bar assembly which is typically spaced from the dispensing side and below the canopy formed by the cover panel. The cover panel is preferably hinged or otherwise coupled to the storage means so that when the cover is being used as a canopy, the canopy is higher than the storage means to provide additional headroom. The canopy can be extended by using suitable extensions such as a canvas awning.

The assembly preferably includes a drip tray below or formed as part of the storage means to collect any accidentally discharged beverage which may occu r due to faulty containers, condensation and so forth. This precaution is important 20 when the assembly is used indo6rs and also prevents pollution.

The beverage delivery conduits are typically part of a carbon dioxide .'*driven beverage dispensing system including beer, soda/syrup and wine conduits .I4 which uses an external source of water, typically from the mains for the soda/syrup based softdrinks and for flushing the beer lines for cleaning purposes.

A pressure regulator is employed to control the water pressure and to cut off water if power to the system shuts down. As an added safety feature, a safety valve is included in the carbon dioxide line to shut off gas if pressure in the gas line drops below a predetermined value which can occur when say a beer keg ruptures.

In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings and wherein:- )IFT 0 k Z/V -F Figure 1 is a pictorial view illustrating a portable beverage dispensing assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figures 2 and 3 are opposite side views of a further embodiment of a portable beverage dispensing assembly according to the present invention; Figures 4 to 7 are schematic views illustrating the internal layout of the assembly of Figures 2 and 3; Figure 8 is a schematic part and view illustrating the assembly of Figures 2 and 3 where the cover is in its operative position as a canopy; Figure 9 is a schematic drawing illustrating part of a beverage delivery circuit suitable for dispensing beverage in the assembly of Figures 2 and 3 where Figure 9 represents that part of the circuit adjacent the front wall of the assembly of Figures 2 and 3; Figure 10 is a view similar to that of Figure 9 but illustrating that part of the circuit adjacent the dispensing side of the assembly; and Figure 11 is a similar view to Figures 9 and 10 but illustrating that part of the circuit adjacent the roof of the assembly.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figure 1, there is illustrated a portable beverage dispenser assembly 10 which in this case is in the form of a box 11 which is shown removably located in a box trailer 12. The assembly 20 comprises a portable beverage container storage means in the form of the box 11 and in this case, from one to four beer kegs can be stored within the box 11. The assembly 10 has beverage dispenser means which in this case include beer taps :13 and 14, a spirit rack 15 (shown holding four spirit bottles 16, 17, 18 and 19), S and a post-mix soda/syrup hand operable dispenser 20 so that the assembly 25 provides all of the main elements required and normally anticipated in a 0O permanent bar but in a portable assembly. As can be seen, the assembly is compact and by hitching the trailer to a car, the assembly can be moved quite easily between different operative positions. The assembly illustrated in Figure :ii 1 is quite compact and small with the box 10 including a removable top 21 30 enabling kegs to be placed inside the container and for syrup and/or wine to be placed inside the container as well. A beverage delivery system driven by carbon dioxide is used and carbon dioxide cylinders can also be placed inside the 1 4-

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container 11. A refrigeration unit through which the beverage flows prior to being dispensed is also housed within the container 11. This refrigeration unit can be an ice based system or can be an electrical or otherwise powered unit.

Figures 2 to 7 illustrate a further embodiment of the present invention and in this case, there is illustrated an assembly 22 which has all the basic features of the assembly illustrated in Figure 1 but is much larger. In this embodiment, the box 23 and trailer 24 are built as an integrated unit with the lowermost portion of the trailer forming a drip tray 25 as a precaution against accidental discharge of beverage within the box 23. Figure 2 illustrates the dispensing side of the assembly 22 and in this case, a plurality of beverage dispensers are employed along the dispensing side panel 26, these are variously post-mix soda/syrup dispensers 27, spirit racks 28, beer taps 29 and wine taps 30, so as can be seen, the assembly allows a plurality of different kinds of spirits to be dispensed, up to four different kinds of beer, up to three different kinds of wine and a plurality of different soda based softdrinks.

In the Figure 2 illustration, the dispensers are shown exposed for use but a full length cover 36 is hingedly connected to the upper edge 31 of the box 23 and swings down to cover the panel 26 but when open, forms a canopy. This is more clearly seen in Figure 8 and referring now to Figures 2 and 8, as can be 20 seen when the cover is lifted, a fetractable bar 32 protrudes from the panel 26 and for transport purposes, the bar can be moved to the retracted position at 33.

A brace 34 is used to support the retractable bar 33 relative to a protruding shelf The cover panel 36 shown in phantom at 37 doubles as a canopy and as can be seen is hingedly coupled to the roof 38 at 31 by a right angle section 39 so 25 that when operatively positioned as shown in Figure 8, the cover panel 36 is above the box 23 in order to provide additional headroom. The retractable bar 32 extends the full length of the box 23 as does a demountable bar 40 which is formed as part of a detachable structure compromising a pair of posts 41 and supported at each end by pairs of legs 42 and 43. The demountable bar 40, post 41 and legs 42 and 43 all fold to provide a compact assembly which can be stored on the top of the box 23 for transportation purposes. In the illustrated embodiment of Figure 8, the assembly is wired electrically and is provided with o *oo 00 00 0# 0 900 00 0 00 0 0 0 1 7 a plurality of downlights 44 and 45 which extend along the assembly as shown to light the bar area.

The other side of the assembly 22 is illustrated in Figure 3 and this simply comprises a full length door 46 which is hinged about its poper edge at 47 and can be opened to load the box 23. An electrical refrigera" 'n unit 47 is located at the front of the trailer 24 and in this case, a tandem trailer employing pairs of wheels 48 and 49 is used.

The interior layout of the box 23 is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 and as can be seen, the interior 50 is divided into three storage areas, namely a beer keg storage area 51, a wine storage area 52 and a cordial syrup storage area 53. Each of the storage areas will be described in more detail below. The beer storage area 51 comprises a plurality of beer keg locating means in the form of parallel frame members 54, nine of which are employed in this case so that the beer keg storage area can accommodate sixteen kegs, six of which are shown at 55. In the illustrated embodiment, four kegs are shown connected in series and thus, four different kinds of beers can be dispensed via the taps 29 illustrated in Figure 2.

The wine storage area comprises a shelf 56 on which three wine containers 57, 58 and 59 are situated with a spare container being shown at 59a. Each of the containers 57, 58 and 59 are in communication with respective wine pumps 20 61 and 62. The syrup storage area includes a shelf 63 so that six separate syrup containers can be stored in the syrup storage region 53 with three containers above the shelf 63 and three containers below. Associated with each container 64 is a syrup pump 65 so that syrup along with soda can be delivered via the refrigeration unit 47 through to the dispensers 27 where mixing selectively takes 25 place.

Other features illustrated in Figure 5 include a water filter shown at 66 and 0 a pair of compressed carbon dioxide gas cylinders at 67. The various containers illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 are of course part of a beverage delivery conduit system for draught beverage which is driven by the carbon dioxide from the cylinders 67 via conduits through the refrigeration unit 47 to the respective dispensers illustrated on the panel 26 in Figure 2. To this end, conduits travel along the front wall 68, along the panel 26 and along the top panel 38 and this '"NT O 8 conduit system is described below in terms of these respective panels where Figure 9 illustrates the conduit arrangement in relation to the front panel 68, the conduit arrangement in relation to the panel 26 being shown in Figure 10 and in relation to the panel 38 is shown in Figure 11.

Referring firstly to Figure 9 and where appropriate, like numerals have been used to illustrate like features, as can be seen, the panel 68 includes an aperture 69 which is located adjacent the refrigeration unit 47 and all beverage delivery conduits travel out through the hole 68 and return through the hole 69 to the interior of the box. The beverages returning from the refrigeration unit 47 travel along an insulated multi-circuit line shown generally at 70 while all the conduits from the containers are shown generally at 71. Water enters the container 23 from an external source at 72 and travels through a pressure regulator shut off valve 73, through the water filter 66 and then is delivered to the refrigeration unit through the hole 69. Carbon dioxide is delivered from the cylinders 67 via a low pressure shut off valve 74 and via gauges 75, 76, 77 and 78 and associated valves to the operative parts of the system. The gauge 76 includes a valve for setting the pressure of carbon dioxide delivered to the syrup pumps 65. The gauges 75 and 77 are associated with valves for delivering carbon dioxide for dispensing wine while the gauge 78 is associated with valves 20 for delivering carbon dioxide for'the dispensing of beer. The four CO; lines for the four sets of four beer kegs are shown at 79 in Figure 11 and panel 38 also has associated therewith a conduit 80 with connectors 81 providing provision of water flush for the beer lines. This is done simply by connecting the beer lines to the conduit 80 at the connectors 81 and flushing water through the beer lines.

25 Carbon dioxide can then be used to blow the excess water out of the beer lines.

Once the cooled beverage has left the refrigeration unit, it is delivered to the dispensers as shown in Figure 10 which illustrates the inside of panel 26 as previously described in relation to Figure 2 and where appropriate, like numerals have been used to illustrate like features.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing 9 from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

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Claims

1. A portable beverage dispenser assembly comprising in combination a portable beverage container storage means for storing a plurality of separate bulk beverage containers, the assembly having a beverage dispenser means connected to a beverage delivery conduit set up for dispensing the beverage on draught and which communicates with one or more of the bulk beverage containers, the beverage dispenser means being positioned to enable a person standing adjacent the assembly to selectively operate the dispenser means to dispense beverage from the assembly, the assembly being a box-like assembly that can be manoeuvred about on wheels being dimensioned and arranged so that the assembly can be manually moved indoors through a pedestrian entrance door, 0 and the width of the assembly ranges from slightly wider than a single beer keg to slightly wider than two beer kegs. 0 o a

2. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein said wheels being in the form S000 0o 00 of casters and the assembly being slightly wider than a beer keg. o 3. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein said assembly being a trailer mounted assembly and having a width so that two beer kegs can be located side by side in the storage area. 0 00 0 0 4. The assembly according to claim 3 wherein the assembly has a width of about 1400mm. The assembly according any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the container

0600. storage means is a cold box or the beverage delivery conduits circulate the beverage through a refrigeration unit to cool a beverage as it is being dispensed. 6. The assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the portable beverage container storage means is a box-like container having an interior between opposed side panels defining respective opposed dispensing and loading sides, the dispensing means being positioned on the dispensing side and the loading side having a door enabling access to the interior. 7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein the interior is divided into a beer keg storage area, a wine container storage area and a cordial syrup container storage area, each ar a containing locating means for a plurality of kegs in the keg storage area, wine containers in the wine storage area and syrup containers in the syrup -N x p "i storage area so that different beers, wines and cordials can be dispensed from the assembly. 8. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the assembly has the beverage delivery conduits circulating through a refrigeration unit, the refrigeration unit and syrup storage areas being located adjacent one another to minimise the length of travel of syrup between the syrup storaige area and the refrigeration unit. 9. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the dispensing side includes a beverage dispenser means support which holds a plurality of beverage dispensers in operative positions and a cover panel is employed to cover the beverage dispensers which typically protrude from the storage means so they are exposed and accessible for use, the cover panel being I. 1spaced from the storage means to provide room for the dispensers. 4et. The assembly according to any one of the preceding claims which, when a. in use, includes a demountable bar assembly spaced from the dispensing side and .below a canopy formed by the cover panel, the cover panel being hinged or otherwise coupled to the storage means so that when the cover is being used as *00 aa canopy, the canopy is higher than the storage means to provide additional headroom. j 00 "11. The assembly according to any one of the preceding claims including r .".drip tray below or formed as part of the storage means to collect any accidentally discharged beverage which may occur due to faulty containers, condensation and so forth. DATED this 23rd day of February, 1996. AUSTRALIAN MOBILE BAR SERVICES PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys INTELLPRO Trevor 31 May, 1993 71 I: t ABSTRACT A portable beverage dispenser assembly in the form of a box 11 which is removably located in a box trailer 12. The assembly comprises a portable beverage container storage means in the form of the box 11 and in this case, from one to four beer kegs can be stored within the box 11. The assembly 10 has beverage dispenser means which include beer taps 13 and 14, a spirit rack 15 (shown holding four spirit bottles 16, 17, 18 and 19), and a post-mix soda/syrup hand operable dispenser so that the assembly 10 provides all of the main elements required and normally anticipated in a permanent bar but in a portable assembly. o. r oir. r rr r e D o rr rr I ir r r rrr r rr I r I i" i