Coupling for connecting conduits in an automatic device for distributing a food product and connection pieces thereof.

The invention relates to a coupling for removably connecting a conduit for cleaning liquid to a conduit in an automatic device for distributing a liquid or semi- liquid food product, which coupling comprises a first male connection piece with a body provided with a passage to which the conduit connects and a female connection piece removably connectable to this male connection piece over the body, to which the cleaning conduit connects.

Such couplings are used with automatic devices for distributing soft-ice and the like. During normal operation the male connection piece is connected to a reservoir containing a liquid composition to connect the automatic device conduit to the reservoir. The composition is pumped from the reservoir, eventually whipped with air and cooled in a cooling element.

The male connection piece can be connected to the reservoir in different ways, for instance screwed to or in the neck of the reservoir or connected to this neck by other means.

With known automatic devices, the cleaning takes place by pumping up cleaning fluid from a reservoir in which the male connection piece is plunged.

In the Belgian patent application No. 92 00296 of the applicant, such an automatic device is described whereby the cleaning takes place by means of a cleaning conduit which has to be connected during cleaning to the automatic device by means of a coupling.

Couplings comprising a male and female connection piece for quickly and removably connecting conduits are generally known. With these known couplings the female connection piece connects closely to the male connection piece and the passage in the latter is located in the continuation of a passage in the female connection piece. These couplings can assure an efficient, leak-proof connection of the conduits, but do not allow an efficient cleaning of the male connection piece itself. This male connection piece which has been mounted in the reservoir containing the composition has to be cleaned on the inside as well as on the outside of its body, which is not possible with the known couplings.

The invention aims at providing in such a coupling for connecting conduits in an automatic device for distributing a food product, allowing a simple and efficient way of cleaning the automatic device conduit as well as the male connection piece.

To this end the female connection piece is a recipient which is open at one end, connecting with its open end in a leak-proof way to the body of the male connection piece, but surrounding with its closed end, with an interval, an extremity of the body of the male connection piece on which the passage-in this connection piece gives, while the recipient is provided in its wall and laterally with respect to the passage of the body, with a an opening for connecting the cleaning conduit, which opening gives on said interval.

This cleaning conduit consequently does not give directly on the passage through the body of the male connection piece, but on the interval between the outer wall of this body and the wall of the recipient, thus causing that, if cleaning liquid is supplied to the coupling, cleaning

liquid flows not only through the passage but also over the outside of the body of the connection piece, whereby additionally turbulence is caused between the recipient and the body.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, at least one electrode is mounted inside the body of the male connection piece, being electrically isolated from the body, one extremity of which is located in the passage of the body, the other extremity being a connection for an electric conductor for the connection to a measuring instrument.

When the male connection piece is connected to the reservoir with liquid composition, an idling message is obtained. With known automatic devices for distributing soft-ice, this idling message takes place by means of a vacuum system. Such a system, however, can only be used for rigid reservoirs. Nowadays, mainly supple bags are used. These bags would be sucked empty by the vacuum and block the outlet. According to the invention, no vacuum is used. Even if the supple reservoir is empty, it cannot get in contact with the measuring extremity of the electrode, which is protected by the body of the connection piece.

In an effective embodiment of the invention, a recoil valve is mounted in the passage of the body of the male connection piece, which valve, when the male connection piece connects the automatic device conduit to a reservoir, only allows a flow from the reservoir to the automatic device conduit.

In this embodiment, the passage is only open when liquid is pumped from the reservoir, and the passage is automatically closed if the male connection piece is

disconnected from the reservoir, so that no liquid can flow out of the conduit which is connected to it.

Preferably the recipient is provided at its bottom and opposite the passage with a pen which automatically pushes the recoil valve in the passage in open position when the recipient is connected to the body.

In this case, the recoil valve has no effect whatsoever on the. cleaning.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the male connection piece is provided with a connection piece for the automatic device conduit, which is mounted rotatably on the body, and the inside of which connects in a leak- proof way to the passage through this body.

The passage through the body is preferably located axially, while the body is profitably round.

In a preferred embodiment the coupling comprises means for removably connecting the recipient of the female connection piece and the body of the male connection piece together.

These means are effectively formed by two brace parts which are connected hingeably to the recipient and clutch around a part of the male connection piece when they are rotated towards each other.

The invention also relates to the connection pieces from the coupling according to one of the preceding embodiments, thus as well the female connection piece being evidently destined to be used in such a coupling, as the male connection piece being evidently destined to be mounted on a reservoir containing liquid composition

and/or destined to be used in a coupling according to one of the preceding embodiments.

In order to better show the characteristics of the invention, a preferred embodiment of a coupling for connecting conduits in an automatic device for distributing a food product and connection pieces therefor according to the invention, is described hereafter as an example without any limitative character whatsoever, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 represents a side-view of the coupling according to the invention during cleaning;

figure 2 represents a longitudinal section of the coupling from figure 1, on an enlarged scale;

figure 3 represents a section according to line III- III in figure 2;

figure 4 represents a section similar to that of figure 2, but of the male connection piece mounted on a reservoir.

The coupling represented in figures 1 to 3 consists of a male connection piece 1 and a female connection piece formed by a cylindrical recipient 2, mounted thereon. The coupling is destined for connecting an automatic device conduit for liquid for human consumption in an automatic device for distributing soft-ice and a cleaning conduit. The connection pieces are therefore made of stainless steel.

The male connection piece 1 comprises a round body 3 which is provided with an axial passage 4 and a junction piece

5 which is rotatably mounted on the body 3.

The junction piece 5 is formed by a tube with two tube parts 6 and 7 which are perpendicular to each other. The tube part 6 protrudes with one extremity loosely in the passage 4 and is provided at the outside of the body 3 with a flange 8 connecting to a sealing ring 9 which is mounted in a groove 10 concentrically surrounding the passage 4 in an extremity of the body 3. This tube part

6 is held in the passage 4 by means of a pen 11 protruding through a hole 12 in the body 3, directed transversally to the passage and located partly in this passage 4, and is partly located in a groove 13 which extends over the circumference of the tube part 6 at the hole 12. This pen 1 retains the junction piece 5 on the body 3 without interfering with its rotation.

At its extremity, the tube part 6 is provided around its circumference with a groove 14 in which a sealing ring 15 is located, which is pressed against the wall of the passage 4.

A supple part of an automatic device conduit, not represented in the figures, connecting to the blending pump of the ice-machine, is tightly slipped over the conduit part 7.

At the extremity against which the flange 8 is located, the body is provided with a concentric groove 16, which gives on the outside of the body 3 through a hole 17. Through this hole 17 and groove protrude two electric conductors 18 which are attached diametrically with respect to each other respectively with a screw 19 to the bottom of the groove 16 and with a screw 20 to an

electrode 21. This electrode 21, the upper side of which is located in the groove 16, is electrically isolated from the body 3 and protrudes transversely through this body into the extremity of the passage 4 away from the junction piece 5. This electrode 21 is part of an idling detection. When the extremity of the electrode which is located in the passage 4 is in contact with liquid, a different tension exists between the contacts formed by the screws 19 and 20 than when no liquid is in contact with the electrode.

The diameter of the body 3 decreases gradually towards an extremity, while the passage 4 shows a narrowing near the narrowest extremity of the body 3, forming a seat 22 of a recoil valve 23. This recoil valve comprises a valve body 24, which is pushed in the direction of the seat 22 by a spring 25, leaning on the extremity of the conduit part 6 located in the passage 4,

The above-described male connection piece 1 is, during normal operation of the soft-ice machine, connected to a bag 26 with a liquid composition, for instance for producing ice, as represented in figure 4. The body 3 mainly protrudes in the bag 26 and its thicker extremity against which the flange 8 is located, is clutched against the end of the neck of the bag 26 by means of an elastic clamping ring 27.

As long as liquid composition is present in the bag 26, the measuring extremity of the electrode 21 is moisturized during the pumping up of the composition and, as mentioned before, a tension difference originates between the contacts 19 and 20, which is supplied to a measuring instrument as a signal through a lead 18. When the bag 26 is empty, .the electrode 21 stays dry and thus an other

signal is supplied to the measuring instrument, so that this can signal that the bag 26 is empty.

When cleaning the automatic device conduit, the male connection piece 1 is disconnected from the bag 26 and connected to the female connection piece formed by the recipient 2.

This recipient 2 consists of a cylindrical open cask 28 on which near its open extremity an outwardly directed shoulder 29 is mounted. The recipient is fixed in the automatic device with this shoulder 29 so that the cask is directed horizontally with its symmetry axis. Near its open extremity, the cask 28 is provided with a groove 30 over its inner circumference, in which a rubber sealing ring 31 is located. By means of this ring 31, the cask 28 connects in a leak-proof way to a middle part of the body

3, with its outmost extremity against the end part with larger diameter of the body 3, as is clearly represented in figure 2.

Especially between the other end part with a smaller diameter than the middle part and the wall of the cask 28, and between the extremity of the body 3 and the bottom of the cask 28 an interval 32 is left over. In the wall of the cask 28 a hole 33 giving on this interval 32 is applied opposite the side wall of the body 3, namely near the shoulder 29. A cleaning conduit 34 is welded with its extremity in this hole and thus gives on the interval 32.

On the bottom of the cask 28 a pen 35 is located, which, when the recipient is slipped over the body 3, protrudes in the passage 4 and pushes the valve body 24 of the recoil valve 23 in open position, that is away from the seat 22.

Although the recipient is somewhat clutched on the body 3 with the sealing ring 31, it is held on this body 3 by means of two brace parts 36 which are hingeable around a mutual hinge pen 37 which is located on the shoulder 29. In the position rotated towards each other, these brace parts 36 clutch with a folded edge around the flange 8. Due to the horizontal disposition of the cask 28, the coupling is placed in such a way during cleaning that the passage 4 in the body 3 is directed almost horizontally and that the hinge pen 37 is located on top. The brace parts 36 then fall towards each other due to their own weight and remain around the connection piece 1.

To clean, the recipient.is slipped over the body 3 of the connection piece 1 in the position represented in figures 1 and 2, but with the brace parts 36 rotated open, which are immediately thereafter released and allowed to rotated towards each other so that they couple the connection piece 1 and the recipient to each other. When now cleaning liquid is supplied through the cleaning conduit 34, this liquid cannot flow straight in the passage 4, but needs to cover a detour with direction changes over the interval 32, so that turbulence is produced there.

The outside of the body 3 which gives on the interval 32 is, also due to this turbulence, cleaned thoroughly. Of course the passage 4 with the inside of the junction piece 5 and the automatic device conduit connected thereto are also thoroughly cleaned.

Not only can the coupling and uncoupling of the cleaning conduit and the automatic device conduit to be cleaned be executed fast and simply, but especially the cleaning of the latter conduit and the male connection piece 1 is very effective.

The present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described above and represented in the figures, but such a coupling for connecting conduits in an automatic device for distributing a food product and connection pieces thereof can be realized in different forms and dimensions without leaving the scope of the invention as described in claim 1.