Frozen confection dispenser and associated methods

Abstract

A dispenser for a soft-serve food product includes a housing having a dispensing chute and a piston having a head positioned therewithin. A lateral wall, the piston head, and a front door define an enclosed hollow space. The head is slidable within the lateral wall for squeezing a deformable container to dispense product through the chute. A system for preparing and dispensing a soft-serve food product includes a tempering freezer for raising a temperature of the food product from hard-frozen to a condition for soft-serve dispensing. An apparatus for packaging a soft-serve confection into a multiple-serving-size container for transport includes a blender for blending ingredients together to form a blended product and a device for transferring the blended product into a deformable container. The deformable container filled with the blended product is transferred into a substantially rigid mold and frozen to a hardened state for transport and retention.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A dispenser for a soft-serve food product stored in a deformable container having an opening, the dispenser comprising: 
 a housing comprising an inner lateral wall having a front edge defining a front opening;    a front door movably affixed to the housing and movable between an open position exposing the front opening and a closed position obscuring the front opening, the door comprising a dispensing chute;    a piston having a head positioned within the housing, the lateral wall, the piston head, and the front door in a closed position defining an enclosed hollow space, the head slidable within the lateral wall from a rear position wherein the hollow space comprises a maximum volume dimensioned sufficiently large to receive the deformable container in a filled state to a front position wherein the space comprises a minimum volume dimensioned for squeezing the deformable container to a substantially empty state;    a dispensing spout having a passage therethrough, engagable with the deformable container opening, and positionable in fluid communication with the dispensing chute for extruding a food product stored in the deformable container therethrough;    means for moving the piston between the rear position and the front position; and    means for actuating the moving means.    
     
     
         2 . The dispenser recited in  claim 1 , wherein the lateral wall is generally cylindrical and the piston head has a generally circular outer edge for closely engaging the lateral wall.  
     
     
         3 . The dispenser recited in  claim 1 , wherein the door is hingedly connected to the housing and further comprising a latch for retaining the door in the closed position.  
     
     
         4 . The dispenser recited in  claim 1 , wherein the dispensing spout is engagable with the deformable container opening at a first end and has an opening at a second end shaped for dispensing the food product in a desired conformation.  
     
     
         5 . The dispenser recited in  claim 4 , wherein the dispensing spout second end opening has a generally star shape for dispensing a “swirl”-shaped serving of the food product.  
     
     
         6 . The dispenser recited in  claim 1 , wherein the moving means comprises a motor positioned within the housing and connected in motion-causing engagement with the piston.  
     
     
         7 . The dispenser recited in  claim 6 , wherein the actuating means comprises a switch in actuating communication with the motor.  
     
     
         8 . The dispenser recited in  claim 7 , wherein the switch is adapted to actuate the motor for a predetermined time.  
     
     
         9 . The dispenser recited in  claim 7 , wherein the switch is adapted to actuate the motor when depressed and to turn off the motor when released.  
     
     
         10 . The dispenser recited in  claim 1 , further comprising means for retaining the enclosed hollow space at a temperature for dispensing the food product in a soft-serve state.  
     
     
         11 . The dispenser recited in  claim 10 , wherein the retaining means comprises a freezer apparatus settable to a temperature in a range of −20 to +20° F.  
     
     
         12 . The dispenser recited in  claim 10 , wherein the retaining means comprises a refrigeration coil positioned in surrounding relation to the lateral wall.  
     
     
         13 . The dispenser recited in  claim 12 , wherein the retaining means further comprises a second refrigeration coil positioned in surrounding relation to the dispensing chute.  
     
     
         14 . A soft-serve product dispensed by the dispenser of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         15 . A system for preparing and dispensing a soft-serve food product comprising: 
 a tempering freezer having an interior space dimensioned for admitting a deformable container adapted to contain a food product in a hard-frozen condition, the tempering freezer comprising means for raising a temperature of the food product from the hard-frozen condition to a condition for soft-serve dispensing; and    a dispenser comprising: 
 a housing comprising an inner lateral wall having a front edge defining a front opening;  
 a front door movably affixed to the housing and movable between an open position exposing the front opening and a closed position obscuring the front opening, the door comprising a dispensing chute;  
 a piston having a head positioned within the housing, the lateral wall, the piston head, and the front door in a closed position defining an enclosed hollow space, the head slidable within the lateral wall from a rear position wherein the hollow space comprises a maximum volume dimensioned sufficiently large to receive the deformable container in a filled state to a front position wherein the space comprises a minimum volume dimensioned for squeezing the deformable container to a substantially empty state;  
 a dispensing spout having a passage therethrough, engagable with the deformable container opening, and positionable in fluid communication with the dispensing chute for extruding a food product stored in the deformable container therethrough;  
 means for moving the piston between the rear position and the front position; and  
 means for actuating the moving means.  
   
     
     
         16 . The system recited in  claim 15 , wherein the temperature-raising means of the tempering freezer is adapted to raise a temperature of the food product from a first temperature in a range of −20 to +20° F. to a second temperature in a range of 17-23° F.  
     
     
         17 . The system recited in  claim 15 , wherein the temperature-raising means of the tempering freezer is adapted to raise a temperature of the food product from approximately 0° F. to approximately 18° F.  
     
     
         18 . The system recited in  claim 15 , further comprising means for filling the deformable container through the opening with the food product in a flowable state.  
     
     
         19 . The system recited in  claim 18 , further comprising means for blending together a generally homogeneous food product and a particulate additive in a mixing container, and wherein the filling means comprises means for transferring the food product in a flowable state from the mixing container into the deformable container.  
     
     
         20 . The system recited in  claim 18 , further comprising means for freezing the filled deformable container to a hardened state.  
     
     
         21 . The system recited in  claim 20 , further comprising a molding sleeve for maintaining the deformable container in a desired shape while resident in the freezing means.  
     
     
         22 . A soft-serve product dispensed by the system of  claim 15 .  
     
     
         23 . An apparatus for packaging a soft-serve confection into a multiple-serving-size container for transport comprising: 
 means for blending a plurality of ingredients together to form a blended confection product;    means for transferring the blended confection product into a deformable container having an opening;    means for placing the deformable container filled with the blended confection product into a substantially rigid mold; and    means for freezing the filled deformable container to a hardened state.    
     
     
         24 . A deformable container filled with the blended confection product packaged by the apparatus of  claim 23 .  
     
     
         25 . A method for packaging a soft-serve confection into a multiple-serving-size container for transport comprising the steps of: 
 blending a plurality of ingredients together to form a blended confection product;    transferring the blended confection product into a deformable container having an opening;    placing the deformable container filled with the blended confection product into a substantially rigid mold; and    freezing the filled deformable container to a hardened state.    
     
     
         26 . A deformable container filled with the blended confection product packaged by the method of  claim 25 .  
     
     
         27 . A method for dispensing a soft-serve food product comprising the steps of: 
 positioning a deformable container containing a soft-serve food product into an enclosed hollow space in a housing; and    activating a piston having a head positioned within the housing to slide within the enclosed hollow space from a rear position to move in a direction to squeeze the deformable container and cause the food product to be extruded from the deformable container through a dispensing spout.    
     
     
         28 . The method recited in  claim 27 , wherein the dispensing spout is engagable with the deformable container opening at a first end and has an opening at a second end shaped for dispensing the food product in a desired conformation.  
     
     
         29 . The method recited in  claim 28 , wherein the dispensing spout second end opening has a generally star shape for dispensing a “swirl”-shaped serving of the food product.  
     
     
         30 . The method recited in  claim 27 , further comprising the step of retaining the enclosed hollow space at a temperature for dispensing the food product in a soft-serve state.  
     
     
         31 . The method recited in  claim 30 , wherein the dispensing temperature is in a range of 17-23° F.  
     
     
         32 . A soft-serve product dispensed by the method of  claim 27 .  
     
     
         33 . A method for preparing and dispensing a soft-serve food product comprising the steps of: 
 raising a temperature of a deformable container containing a food product from a hard-frozen condition to a condition for soft-serve dispensing;    positioning the deformable container containing the soft-serve food product in the condition for soft-serve dispensing into an enclosed hollow space in a housing; and    activating a piston having a head positioned within the housing to slide within the enclosed hollow space from a rear position to move in a direction to squeeze the deformable container and cause the food product to be extruded from the deformable container through a dispensing spout.    
     
     
         34 . The method recited in  claim 33 , wherein the temperature-raising step comprises raising a temperature of the food product from a first temperature in a range of −20 to +20° F. to a second temperature in a range of 17-23° F.  
     
     
         35 . The method recited in  claim 33 , wherein the temperature-raising step comprises raising a temperature of the food product from approximately 0° F. to approximately 18° F.  
     
     
         36 . The method recited in  claim 33 , further comprising the step of filling the deformable container with the food product in a flowable state.  
     
     
         37 . The method recited in  claim 33 , further comprising the step of blending together a generally homogeneous food product and a particulate additive to form a blended product, and wherein the filling step comprises transferring the blended product in a flowable state into the deformable container.  
     
     
         38 . The method recited in  claim 33 , further comprising the step of freezing the filled deformable container to a hardened state.  
     
     
         39 . The method recited in  claim 38 , further comprising the step of maintaining the deformable container in a desired shape while performing the freezing step.  
     
     
         40 . The method recited in  claim 39 , wherein the maintaining step comprises placing the filled deformable container with the food product in a flowable state into a substantially rigid mold.  
     
     
         41 . A soft-serve food product prepared and dispensed by the method of  claim 33.