Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/40—Beverage-making apparatus with dispensing means for adding a measured quantity of ingredients, e.g. coffee, water, sugar, cocoa, milk, tea
  • A47J31/402—Liquid dosing devices
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J45/00—Devices for fastening or gripping kitchen utensils or crockery
  • A47J45/06—Handles for hollow-ware articles
  • A47J45/07—Handles for hollow-ware articles of detachable type
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
  • G05D—SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES
  • G05D11/00—Control of flow ratio
  • G05D11/02—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material
  • G05D11/13—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means
  • G05D11/135—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means by sensing at least one property of the mixture
  • G05D11/138—Controlling ratio of two or more flows of fluid or fluent material characterised by the use of electric means by sensing at least one property of the mixture by sensing the concentration of the mixture, e.g. measuring pH value

Definitions

• Method and device for detecting and checking the quality or properties of a mixture of fluids, in particular a food or domestic mixture
• the present invention refers to a method and a device for detecting and controlling the quality or properties of a mixture of fluids, in particular a food or domestic mixture, to be used advantageously though not exclusively in drink vendors.
• Some drinks such as for instance non-alcoholic drinks, consist of a mixture of at least two liquid ingredients, usually a concentrated syrup and water, the latter suitably diluting the syrup; in order to be supplied to the consumer said drinks can be prepared with the two following methods:
• - pre-mix system in which concentrated syrup and water are mixed by the producer of the drink, and the latter is supplied ready and possibly fizzing to the consumer, in a bottle or other container
• - post-mix system in which syrup and water are mixed directly by the consumer, or by an operator, on the spot where the drink is supplied.
• a post-mix system in which the invention described below can be advantageously used, is therefore based on the use of a drink vendor comprising a device mixing concentrated syrup and water (possibly added with gas) in the ratios as provided by the specific characteristics indicated by the producer of the drink.
• a main component of a post-mix system is therefore the device mixing the two components straight before being supplied to the consumer.
• Said mixing device typically comprises at least two electric valves, for water and syrup respectively, installed so as to operate together; the two aforesaid valves are gen- erally integrated into one module shaped as one multi-way valve or mixing valve.
• a mixing valve loses mixing accuracy as time passes, due to wear, scaling and deposits of substances, which result in an alteration of the organoleptic features of the drink. It is therefore quite common to perform a post-setting, carried out manually by the consumer or by an operator, so as to retrieve the correct operation of the system.
• the manual setting of the mixing valve is usually carried out by tasting the drink or as suggested by the consumer; it is therefore quite obvious that it is a wholly subjective operation exposed to a high level of inaccuracy; another drawback related to manual setting consists in that it usually requires time and is not generally easy to be carried out.
• control methods and devices based on the detection of hydraulic or chemical-physical properties of the water-syrup mixture have been proposed to this purpose.
• the mixing operation is regulated on the basis of the measurement of electric conductivity (see for instance US-A- 6,387,424) or refractive index (see for instance US-A-6,374,845) referred to the mixture of water and syrup, the detection of said parameters being carried out by means of sensors installed on the outlet of the device, i.e. downstream from the control valves for the ingredients.
• Said systems allow to carry out a measurement in real time on the liquid supplied to the user, so as to determine accurately the current mixing ratio between syrup and water and possibly to change it in case it differs from parameters pre-stored in the control system of the system.
• the measurements concerning conductivity and refractive index depend on external factors, first of all temperature variation, liquid pressure and, if present, the gas added to the mixture, which strongly modify the experimental result; in said light the aforesaid system should preferably be provided also with detecting means for said external factors.
• the quality of the fluid or of the mixture getting out of the post-mix mixing or vending device is subject to variations due to different > properties of the fluids or ingredients getting in.
• the post-mix mixing and supplying system is often subject to inaccuracies due to the variation of the features of the ingredients, as well as to the wear of the components, scaling or deposits jeopardizing the correct op- eration of the device or mixing valve; said inaccuracy in the mixing operation gives rise to a liquid having organoleptic features differing from those that are typical for the drink, thus making it necessary to carry out a manual setting, which is often inaccurate and subjective.
• Known methods for controlling mixing operations can therefore be inaccurate due to the mistake related to the measurement of the liquid volume, or due to variations related to the different nature of the mixture components.
• In said light measurement can be particularly difficult in case of syrups having a strong tendency to sedimentation, i.e. in which hardly soluble particles precipitate on the bottom of the syrup container; in this case the great difference of chemical- physical properties between the high sedimentation sampling area and the average fluid composition can give rise to great mistakes in the measurement and therefore in the control of mixing operations.
• the present invention envisages to carry out a new mixing device and a corresponding control method enabling to check in a fast, simple and accurate way the quality of the mixing operation taking place between two fluids, and in particular between at least two liquids forming a drink, so as to make the properties of the supplied mixture or drink constant.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a control and/or mixing device for post- mix dispensers carried out according to the invention
• FIG. 1 is a lateral view, partially sectioned, of the device in Figure 1;
• FIG. 3 is partially exploded view of the device in Figures 1-4;
• Figure 4 is an exploded view, on larger scale, of some components shown in Figure 3.
• the numeral 1 globally refers to a mixing device carried out according to the invention; in the case disclosed in the example, the device 1 is a double electric mixing valve for post-mix dispensers, designed to be used in a drink vendor. In said light the device 1 , therefore, is used for preparing a drink consisting of two liquid ingredients, in particular water and syrup, and is operative for
• the device 1 is designed to control the quality of the supplied mixture by detecting the acidity and/or basicity of said supplied mixture.
• the acidity of a liquid is conventionally expressed as pH, i.e. "negative logarithm of the concentration of H + ions", which in aqueous solvents varies for the most commons solutions from 0, corresponding to a strong acidity, to 14, cor- responding to a strong alkalinity or basicity.
• This principle is used in the mixing device 1 according to the present invention in order to check the mixing operation between the two ingredients (water and syrup) and, if needed, to optimize their composition.
• the pH of the resulting mixture i.e. of the supplied drink, is detected by means of a first pH sensor.
• the factors that can affect pH measurement in the application here exemplified are: - pH of syrup and pH of water at device inlet, constituting the mixture or drink;
• pH as operating parameter in the application described here presupposes that the pH of the components used to form a corresponding mixture, i.e. water and syrup, is known.
• said pH values can be obtained previously through conventional empirical or experimental analyses, and then be stored in memory means within the control system of the device 1 , preferably electronic memory means, schematically referred to with SC in Figure 2.
• the pH values of the mixture components can be measured directly through two further pH sensors operating or present inside the ducts through which water and syrup pass, respectively.
• V s syrup volume in the mixture
• V w water volume in the mixture
• V m mixture volume (V s +V w )
• the measurement system should be more accurate, it is prefer- able to take into consideration also the influence of temperature and to compensate its effect conveniently; indeed, the variation of system temperature results both in a variation of the sensibility of pH sensor or sensors, and a real direct effect on the analyzed sample, by modifying its dissociation balance and therefore its pH.
• the preferred embodiment of the invention will also envisage detecting means for the temperature of the mixture and of its single components, i.e. water and syrup.
• the control system SC will further be suitably programmed so as to compensate the influence of temperature on pH detection; this can be carried out in per se known ways, for instance using pre- stored data tables, or using fuzzy logic processing techniques.
• the method for controlling the quality of the mixing operation according to the invention can include the following steps or basic operations: i) determination (i.e.
• the pH values of the first and second liquid ingredient (step i), as well as the reference value or values for the mixture (step ii) can be previously calculated by means of experimental analyses and stored in the control logic supervising the operation of the mixing device 1; conversely, the pH value in the supplied mixture (step vi) will be detected directly through a corresponding sensor.
• the pH values of the first and second liquid ingredient (step i) can be detected directly through corresponding sensors.
• control logic of the system will correct the various pH values as a function of the temperature of the corresponding liquids.
• the device 1 comprises an interconnection element 2, shaped like a plate, designed for a rapid coupling with a drink vending machine, not shown; the interconnection element 2 can be carried out with known techniques, so as to enable a fast mechanical and/or hydraulic and/or electric connection of the de- vice 1 to its corresponding vendor.
• the interconnection element 2 defines two passages, each designed to be connected to a source of a liquid ingredient, which are supposed to be here water and syrup; said passages end up in the inner part of the interconnection element 2 into respective connection fittings, referred to with 3A and 3B, respec- tively.
• the opposite part of the interconnection element 2 defines two connecting portions, one of which is referred to with 4 and can be partially seen in Figure 3, for respective end portions 6A, 6B of two valve bodies, referred to with 5A and 5B, basically parallel to one another and defining a corresponding inner duct.
• the coupling end portions 6A, 6B of each valve body 5A, 5B are designed to be fitted onto the respective portions 4 of the plate 2, with the interposition of a respective sealing washer 7A, 7B; the fastening between the parts is carried out by means of screws, referred to with 8.
• each valve body 5A, 5B also defines a chamber 8A, 8B housing a corresponding actuating group.
• Each chamber 8A, 8B which in the example of Figure 5 is open upwards, has an inlet and an outlet, which are part of the aforesaid duct within the valve bodies 5A, 5B.
• Each chamber 8A, 8B is designed to house a respective shutter 11 A, 11B in Figure 3, actuated by means of a corresponding position-controllable actuator 13A, 13B, in particular a proportional electromagnet, arranged above the corre- sponding chamber 8A, 8B.
• each valve body 5A, 5B (one of which is referred to with 10 in Figure 3) is fitted sealingly into a corresponding passage 14A defined in a hooking element 14, basically cap-shaped, from which uprights 15 and hooking teeth D rise, the latter being designed to couple elastically with projections R de- fined on the sides of the two valve bodies 5A, 5B.
• the numeral 16 refers to a bracket, secured by means of screws 16A onto the ends of the uprights 15 of the hooking element 14, so as to keep the electromagnets 13A, 13B in position.
• the hooking element 14 is fitted onto an underlying manifold 17 and fastened to the latter by means of screws 14B, with the interposition of a suitable sealing washer;
• the manifold 17 contains two chambers 19A and 19B, which - referring to the exemplifying drawings - are open upwards, in the area where the outlets 10 of the two valve bodies 5A, 5B end up;
• said chambers 19A and 19B basically convey water coming from the outlet 10 of the body 5A and syrup coming from the outlet 10 of the body 5B into respective outlets, not visible in the fig- ures, which get in their turn, though being two separate ducts, into a common outlet body of the manifold 17, referred to with 20 in Figures 2 and 3.
• the outlet body 20 equipped with a peripheral washer 20A, is fitted into a passage 21 getting through a lower plate 22, hooked by means of elastic fins 22A to the manifold 17 and arranged in a basically perpendicular direction with respect to the hooking plate 2.
• the outlet body 20 is hooked to a supply nozzle, referred to with 23, for instance by means of a U-plug, referred to with 20B; the nozzle 23 can be moved or removed, for instance to cleaning purposes.
• the nozzle 23 contains inside a static mixer, carried out in a per se known way; in the exemplified case, as can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, said mixer com- prises an inner diffusing element 24, an outer body 23A containing a series of helical fins 25, and a pierced lower diffuser 26.
• the inner diffusing element 24 has a hollow cylindrical upper portion 27 and a basically conical lower portion 28; the upper end of the portion 27 is fitted into a corresponding seating defined in the outlet body 20 of the manifold 17, and the portion 28 has a series of passages 28A.
• the portion 27 has a corresponding inner duct, in hydraulic communication with the outlet of the chamber 19B, which ends up with some holes forming a spray for the syrup, as known from the state of the art.
• the presence of the lower diffuser 26 at the end of the nozzle 23 results in the formation within the nozzle of a chamber, referred to with CR in Figure 2, between said diffuser 26 and the inner diffuser 28; in said chamber CR, during supply, a temporary store of liquid can form, i.e. of the mixture consisting of water and syrup, despite the continuous flow of the latter through the passages of the lower diffuser 26.
• Said lower diffuser 26 has in particular a shape and/or a section slowing down and/or restraining at least a part of the mixed fluid for the time required for pH measurement; this without the formation of permanent liquid stagnations, which might result in measurement mistakes and/or non-hygienic conditions.
• the numeral 29 refers to a sensor detecting at least a chemical-physical property of the mixture passing through the chamber CR.
• the relevant quantity is pH and that the sensor 29 is connected or interfaced, in a per se known way, to the control system SC, through respective outlet wires, referred to with 29A.
• the sensor 29 comprises a housing or supporting body for a suitable pH meter, for instance a commercially available ISFET solid state sensor. It should be noted that, advantageously, such type of meter can also integrate directly detecting means for liquid temperature.
• the supporting body of the sensor 29 is fitted through into a respective opening 28B present in the conical portion 28 of the inner diffusing element 24, so that the aforesaid pH meter is located within the chamber CR; conversely, the upper end of the sensor 29 is fitted into or anyhow coupled sealingly with a corresponding seating defined in the body of the device 1 , i.e. an element integral with the aforesaid valve bodies, for instance in the manifold 17, a passage for the outlet wires 29A also starting from said seating.
• the mixing device 1 works as follows.
• the appliance integrating the device 1 acts by mixing a given amount of water and a given amount of syrup.
• the device 1 is therefore designed to adjust in a known way both the necessary amount of water, let in through the valve body 5A, and the necessary amount of syrup; said metering can take place for instance by means of suitable flow meters or by pro- portionally adjusting and/or by opening for a given time the intake duct within the valve body 5A, 5B, through the corresponding shutter 11 A, 11 B.
• connection 3A and 3B are then connected to the corresponding water and syrup sources.
• the control system SC suitably excites the electromagnet 13B; this results in that the shutter 11 B protruding into the duct within the valve body 5B is lifted, so as to conveniently open the respective inlet leading to the chamber 8B; the syrup then gets into the chamber 8B and flows through the outlet 10 into the respective chamber 19B of the manifold 17.
• the electromagnet 13B is excited in the way and as long as it is deemed as necessary in order to obtain the desired amount of syrup.
• control system SC excites basically in the same way also the electromagnet 13A.
• the water getting in from the connection 3A reaches the chamber 8A of the valve body 5A through the respective inlet 9 not closed by the shutter 11A and then gets out from the outlet 10 within the respective chamber 19A of the manifold 17.
• Syrup and water can then reach from said chambers 19A, 19B the nozzle 23; syrup gets through the inner duct within the cylindrical portion 27 of the dif- fuser 24, on whose bottom it is sent out radially towards the fins 25; the presence of the inner diffusing element 24 slows down and/or divides the water flow, in particular making said water get to the chamber CR through the passages 28A of the conical portion 28; water getting out from the passages 28A reaches the helical fins 25, which end the mixing operation with syrup, and the drink can thus flow through the holes of the lower diffuser 26 and be then supplied.
• the sensor 29 detects the pH of the mixture or drink in real time while supply is going on.
• the pH value thus measured is processed by the control system SC, and in particular compared with a reference value or range of reference values, which indicates the desired quality of the mixture. Should the detected pH value be different from the reference value or values, the position of one or both shutters 11A, 11B will be changed, so as to vary the water and/or syrup flow rate and thus correct the mixture composition until its pH, detected by means of the sensor 29, corresponds to the reference value or falls within the range of reference values.
• the pH values of water and syrup which are operating parameters required for the volumetric adjustment of said liquids, are pre-stored in the control system SC.
• the device 1 can be equipped with detecting means for the aforesaid chemical-physical property also for the two components of the mixture, i.e. water and syrup.
• each valve body 5A, 5B defines a positioning seating 30A, 30B for a respective sensor of the same physical-chemical quantity detected by the sensor 29, i.e. pH in the exem- plified case.
• said further sensors which are referred to in Figure 3 with 31 A and 31 B, comprise each a corresponding supporting body for a suitable pH meter, for instance an ISFET solid state pH meter.
• the sensors 31 A and 31 B are fitted sealingly into the seatings 30A, 30B so that the corresponding pH and temperature meters are within the inner ducts of the valve bodies 5A, 5B.
• the outlet wires CA and CB of the sensors 31A and 31 B are welded directly to corresponding conductive tracks of a corresponding printed circuit, referred to with 32, which is fastened in its turn onto the valve bodies 5A, 5B by means of screws 32A; also the wires 29A getting out of the sensor 29 are electrically connected to respective conductive tracks of the printed circuit 32; the tracks to which the wires CA, CB and 29A are linked are connected on the other end to one male connector 33 for the connection or interface, by means of a respective female connector and signal conveying cable, with the control system SC.
• the working of the device 1 in the embodiment comprising both the sensor 29 and the sensors 31 A and 31 B is similar to the one previously described, but for that in this case the pH values of water and syrup are detected directly instead of being pre-stored in the control system SC. It should further be pointed out that the known methods and devices for controlling the mixing amount, based on measurements of conductivity and refractive index as mentioned in the introduction to the present description, envisage a detection only on the outlet, i.e. on the supplied mixture or drink.
• the invention also envisages another method for checking the mixing quality, which can also comprise the detection of the chemical-physical properties of the fluids getting into the device, i.e. the following basic operations: i) pre-definition of a reference value or range of reference values of at least a chemical-physical quantity of a desired fluid mixture (for instance a drink), the reference value or range of reference values representing a desired quality of the desired mixture; ii) measurement of at least a first value of the chemical-physical quantity (in the example: pH, conductivity, refractive index, sugar percentage, and so on) of a first fluid ingredient to be used for preparing the desired mixture (water in the example); iii) measurement of at least a first value of the chemical-physical quantity
• a second fluid ingredient to be used for preparing the desired mixture (in the example: pH, conductivity, refractive index, sugar percentage, and so on) of a second fluid ingredient to be used for preparing the desired mixture (syrup in the example); iv) determination of control and/or adjustment parameters representing the flow rates and/or amounts of the first and second fluid ingredient required to obtain a mixture whose value of the chemical-physical quantity corresponds to the reference value or falls within the range of reference values, the determination of the control parameters being carried out as a function of the reference value or range of reference values and of the first measured values; v) addition of the first and second ingredient, with the control of their flow rates and/or amounts based on the control parameters determined, and mixing of the first and second ingredient so as to obtain and supply the desired mixture; vi) measurement of at least a value of the chemical-physical quantity of the supplied mixture; vii) processing of the measured value of the chemical-physical quantity of the supplied mixture, in particular by comparing it with the corresponding reference value or range of reference values; and vii
• each drink that can be obtained from the post-mix vendor is associated to a corresponding reference value of the relevant chemical-physical quantity, as stored in the control system SC (step i).
• Convenient selection means can be advantageously provided for the control system, so as to couple the mixing device according to the invention with the reference values of the drink to which it has been associated.
• control system can comprise the same number of selection devices, which can be configured for instance by the user or by the appliance operator.
• the control system SC After the request for a drink, the control system SC checks the relevant property of water and syrup getting in by means of the sensors 31 A and 31 B (steps ii and iii); on the basis of the respective values as measured the control system SC calculates the theoretical flow rates of water and syrup required for obtaining an optimal drink, i.e. whose value of the chemical-physical property corresponds to the reference value; water and syrup flow rates are then adjusted and the two ingredients are mixed so as to obtain the drink, which is then supplied (step v).
• the value of the relevant quantity of the supplied mixture is measured by means of the sensor 29 (step vi) and compared with the reference value for the desired drink (step vii); said measuring and comparing step is further necessary in order to compensate possible tolerances of the supply system (step viii), for instance positioning tolerances of the shutters 11 A, 11B, in order to ensure the highest level of accuracy as possible.
• the aforesaid operating steps can be varied or integrated, but for the final aim of optimizing the measurement and/or adjustment of the product or fluid getting out. Concerning this, it should be noted that in practice the properties of one or both products or fluids getting in can be measured continuously, processing again as a consequence new instantaneous reference parameters for the ad- justment of the mixture getting out.
• the aforesaid parameters can be varied as a function of possible instantaneous variations of the quality of one or both products getting into the device.
• Said variation of reference parameters is obviously carried out also as a function of said requirements of dose adjustment and/or compensation, for instance so as to compensate previous false adjust- ments and/or to compensate possible tolerances of the device.
• step i By using the aforesaid selection means it could further be possible to carry out a selection, for instance by the user, of a reference value (step i) among several predefined reference values, so as to obtain different mixing ratios, as desired. From the above it can be inferred that by measuring the relevant chemical-physical quantity or quantities of the mixture getting out through a suitable sensor, and by measuring through sensors the same quantity or quantities of the two ingredients getting in, it is possible to adjust the volumes of the latter by acting upon the corresponding adjustment valves, so as to obtain a mixture having the desired value of the relevant quantity or quantities. Also in this case the adjustment can be carried out using processing techniques known per se, for instance table methods or fuzzy logic procedures.
• the sensors 29, 31 A and 31 B could be pH sensors, as in the previous example, or refractive index sensors, sugar percentage sensors, or electric conductivity sensors, and so on, as a function of the relevant property.
• the conductivity of a fluid can be represented as the inverse of electrical resistance, and given the same measuring conditions, it depends on the ion concentration within the fluid; in general, conductivity increases as a function of concentration in the mixture; however, ion concentration is not the only factor determining the conductivity of a solution: conductivity, as a matter of fact, is affected by "ion migration speed". The speed with which a ion moves depends on several factors, among which its size, the viscosity of the solution and the temperature of the measurement.
• temperature is a parameter to be checked in order to obtain accurate conductivity measurements; by way of example it can be pointed out that a rise of 1 °C increases the conductivity of a liquid of about 2%; a temperature rise further reduces the viscosity of the solution and weakens the interaction between solute and solvent, thus making ion move- ment easier and increasing conductivity as a consequence. Since conductivity is greatly affected by temperature, it is then preferable to check also in this case measuring temperature and suitably compensate the conductivity values obtained. From the above it can therefore be inferred that it is possible to measure the values of conductivity of syrup and water to be mixed, as well as of the mixture consisting of the correct volumes of the components, in real time, while supply is going on. A measurement giving rise to anomalous values will then be interpreted as due to a mistake in the proportions of the mixed volumes, and the system will automatically correct the supplied volumes according to the parameters predefined in the managing program.
• the measured value of the chemical-physical quantity or quantities of the mixture will be compared by the control system SC with a corresponding reference value or with the pre-stored range of reference values as a function of the instantaneous properties of the fluids getting in. Should the measured value of the relevant quantity of the mixture be different from the reference value or values, the control system SC will change the position of one or both shutters 11 A, 11B, so as to vary the water and/or syrup flow rate and thus correct the mixture composition until the measured value corresponds to the reference value or falls within the range of reference values.
• the adjustment of the positioning of the shutters 11A and/or 11B will be here carried out both as a function of the measured value of the chemical-physical of water and/or syrup, and as a function of the reference value or range of reference values of the chemical- physical quantity of the mixture.
• the senor 29 is fastened directly to the part of the body of the device 1 supporting the supply nozzle 23.
• a sensor 29, whose shape differs from the one shown, can be secured directly to the body 23A of the nozzle 23; said sensor can be equipped with an electric cable and respective electric connector, which can be connected directly to the post-mix dispenser or to a different part of the body of the device 1, such as for instance an electric circuit or connector mounted close to the interconnection element 2.
• the male component of the connector secured to the nozzle 23 will be connected to the wires 29A of the sensor 29, whereas the female element fastened to the manifold 17 will be connected to the wires conveying the signal to the control system SC.
• the sensors 29 and/or 31 A and/or 31 B could be designed so as to transmit the respective measurements by means of a wireless connection, for instance by radio-frequency, so as to prevent the use of cables or connectors and possibly be fitted into protected areas of the device 1 , or completely "immersed" in the liquid to be measured.
• the sensors 29 and/or 31 A and/or 31 B will be associated to wireless signal transmission means, and the control system will be associated to means for receiving said signals.
• the measurements of chemical-physical properties of a fluid can depend on exter- nal factors other than temperature, such as the pressure of the liquid and of the gas possibly added to it.
• the control system SC can be associated also to means for detecting said factors, so as to calculate their influence on the detections of the relevant chemical-physical properties and conveniently compensate their effect.
• a mixture with too much syrup could be supplied; in such a case, having measured in a known way the flow rate of at least one of the supplied liquids (for instance water), it is possible to calculate and supply a further mixture with less syrup, so that the latter gets mixed in the glass with the one containing too much syrup, thus obtaining an optimal average value.
• the supplied liquids for instance water

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Devices For Dispensing Beverages (AREA)
• Accessories For Mixers (AREA)
• Investigating Or Analyzing Non-Biological Materials By The Use Of Chemical Means (AREA)

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• 2002
  • 2002-06-17 IT IT2002TO000519A patent/ITTO20020519A1/it unknown
• 2003
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  • 2003-06-13 WO PCT/IB2003/002677 patent/WO2003107109A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2003-06-13 CA CA002490179A patent/CA2490179A1/en not_active Abandoned
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