Dispensing Apparatus

US5697527A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Fluid Management, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Anthony Michael Altieri · Deerfield Beach, US
• John Lewis Fortin · Gurnee, US
• Richard Bothmann · Round Lake, US
• Sandra Jean Liakus · Fort Wayne, US
• Philip DiGangi · Schaumburg, US
• Dietrich M. E. Heyde · Naperville, US
• John R. Petersen · Cedar Falls, US
• James Mayer · Parker, US
• Errol Olsen · Waterloo, US
• Robert T. Stewart · Verona, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 22, 1996
• Grant date: Dec 16, 1997
• Expiry date: Jul 22, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F05C2251/10
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A machine for dispensing a plurality of ingredients includes stepped arrays of canisters providing a source of materials. The bottom ends of the canisters are generally coplanar, and are positioned immediately above a low profile drive train mounted on a tray. A drive train includes two spaced arrays of pumps with a motor providing a common drive for the pumps, mounted between the arrays. A valve tray is located above the canisters and includes a low profile dispense head, an array of tubing members arranged side-by-side in a common, generally horizontal plane, and an array of dispense valves attached at the back of the valve tray. The dispense valves are coupled to the pumps by pairs of fluid lines, so as to circulate materials between the pumps and dispense valves.