US Patent:
20080251533, Oct 16, 2008
Inventors:
Thomas E. Giles - Orfordville WI, US
William L. Pursell - Madison WI, US
Neil D. Roiland - Deerfield WI, US
David Timpel - Deerfield WI, US
International Classification:
B67D 5/30
B67D 5/08
B67D 5/16
Abstract:
A beverage dispenser has a faucet with a spout, a fitting for connection to a beverage supply, and a lever operated valve. A servo motor, coupled to the lever, operates the faucet and proportionally controls the flow of the beverage. That proportional flow control manages the amount of beverage foaming. A flow sensor has a magnetic turbine within the faucet and a Hall effect element that magnetically senses turbine motion and produces a signal indicating an amount of beverage flow. A keypad enables service personnel to designate various portions of the beverage to automatically fill serving containers of different sizes. A control circuit responds to activation of the keypad and to the flow sensor by operating the servo motor to dispense the related quantity of the beverage.