Method and system for chilling and dispensing beverage

Abstract

A beverage circuit for cooling a beverage when the beverage flows through inside the circuit, the circuit comprising a hollow tube allowing the beverage to enter into or exit from the circuit; wherein the tube being wounded to form a plurality of multi-layered coiled columns, all of which being arranged substantially in parallel to each other and stacked together column-by-column, each of the coiled columns comprising a plurality of layers; wherein the tube having a cross-sectional width not exceeding 8 mm; and wherein each of the coiled columns having a layer-width not exceeding 80 mm; thereby allowing an entirety of the coiled columns to occupy a compact space while providing a substantial amount of external surface area for the portion of the tube along the coiled columns to allow rapid cooling of the beverage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A beverage circuit for cooling a beverage when the beverage flows through inside the circuit, the circuit comprising a hollow tube having an opening at each of two ends of the tube allowing the beverage to enter into or exit from the circuit;
 wherein the tube being wounded to form a plurality of multi-layered coiled columns, all of which being arranged substantially in parallel to each other and stacked together column-by-column, each of the coiled columns comprising a plurality of layers;   wherein the tube having a cross-sectional width not exceeding 8 mm; and   wherein each of the coiled columns having a layer-width not exceeding 80 mm;   thereby allowing an entirety of the coiled columns to occupy a compact space while providing a substantial amount of external surface area for the portion of the tube along the coiled columns to allow rapid cooling of the beverage.   
     
     
         2 . The beverage circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the cross-sectional width of the tube being between 6 mm to 8 mm. 
     
     
         3 . The beverage circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the layer-width of each of the coiled columns being between 60 mm to 80 mm. 
     
     
         4 . The beverage circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the portion of the tube running along the coiled columns having a length not exceeding 60 m. 
     
     
         5 . The beverage circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the entirety of the coiled columns being enclosable by a space defined as a rectangular cuboid of dimension approximately 400 mm by 400 mm by 80 mm. 
     
     
         6 . The beverage circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the tube is made of Grade 304 stainless steel. 
     
     
         7 . A beverage chilling and dispensing system for chilling a beverage, comprising:
 the beverage circuit of  claim 1 ;   a container for housing the beverage circuit;   a pool of coolant inside the container for immersing at least the entirety of the coiled columns;   a refrigerating circuit having a refrigerant agent therein, at least part of the refrigerating circuit being immersed in the pool of coolant to allow heat transfer between the beverage and the refrigerant agent through the coolant when the beverage is inside the coiled columns, thereby chilling the beverage and keeping the coolant at a low temperature;   a refrigerator connecting to the refrigerating circuit, for cooling the refrigerant agent after circulating in the pool of coolant, and feeding the cooled refrigerant agent back to the refrigerating circuit for re-circulating in the pool of coolant;   a pump for pumping a part of the coolant from inside the container to outside the container;   a beverage-temperature maintaining member outside the container, coupled to and positioned in proximity to a tap that releases the chilled beverage for user consumption, and receiving the part of the coolant from the pump, the maintaining member comprising a thermally-conductive tubular path through which the chilled beverage received from the beverage circuit is delivered to the tap, wherein the tubular path is enclosed by the part of the coolant to thereby maintain the chilled beverage at a low temperature before being released through the tap; and   a coolant-return path for returning the part of the coolant from the maintaining member back to the pool of coolant in the container, thereby forming a coolant circulating circuit to compensate for a temperature rise in the part of the coolant during maintaining the chilled beverage at a low temperature in the maintaining member.   
     
     
         8 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 7 , further comprising a beverage dispensing control and point-of-sale sub-system comprising:
 a database configured to preserve data including characteristics of the beverage to be dispensed, pricing scheme of the beverage, user identification information, and user payment information.   a central processor configured to retrieve from and save data to the database, receive input from and generate responses to a user through a user interface means, and by interacting with a controller, receive incoming data from a card and device reader for identifying and authenticating the user and processing payment information, receive and process measurement data from one or more flow meters, and execute a control sequence controlling one or more valves.   the controller;   the user interface means configured to display information and accept user inputs;   the card and device reader configured to detect and read cards or devices and feed the data read to the central processor;   one or more flow meters configured to measure beverage flow in the beverage circuit and feed measurement data to the central processor.   one or more latch or solenoid valve installed in the beverage circuit and configured to receive control signals from the controller for valve opening and shutting; and   one or more temperature sensors configured to measure temperature of the beverage at various points in the beverage circuit and feed measurement data to the central processor   
     
     
         9 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the central processor being implemented by a tablet personal computer and a backend personal computer; wherein tablet personal computer being configured to interact with the controller, execute control sequence, and run a graphical user interface as the user interface means; and the backend personal computer being configured to interact with the database and serve as an intermediary between the tablet personal computer and the database in retrieving data from and saving data to the database. 
     
     
         10 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the card and device reader being configured to detect and read cards or devices equipped with Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), or magnetic stripe technologies; and wherein the cards or devices including credit cards, debit cards, bankcards, stored-value cards, and personal identification cards or badges. 
     
     
         11 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the information displayed by the user interface means includes beverage temperature, beverage selection, beverage quantity poured, beverage quantity remained in the beverage chilling and dispensing system, beverage pricing, advertisements, newsfeeds, and user account information. 
     
     
         12 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the beverage dispensing control and point-of-sale sub-system being configured to execute a process comprising:
 the card and device reader detecting a staff user's identification card or badge and reading an identification data contained in the identification card or badge for a first time;   the central processor validating the identification data against pre-recorded user account data in the database;   upon positive validation of the identification data, the user interface means being unlocked allowing the staff user to enter a command to open the valves, thereby allowing the beverage to be poured from the beverage circuit to a beverage container for serving;   the card and device reader detecting the staff user's identification card or badge and reading the identification data contained in the identification card or badge for a second time;   the central processor validating the identification data against pre-recorded user account data in the database; and   upon positive validation of the identification data, the user interface being locked and the central processor, through the controller, sending a control signal for shutting the valves.   
     
     
         13 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the beverage dispensing control and point-of-sale sub-system being configured to execute a process comprising:
 the card and device reader detecting a customer user's identification card or badge and reading an identification data contained in the identification card or badge for a first time;   the central processor validating the identification data against pre-recorded user account data in the database;   upon positive validation of the identification data, the user interface means being unlocked allowing the customer user to enter a command to open the valves, thereby allowing the beverage to be poured from the beverage circuit to a beverage container for serving;   the card and device reader detecting the customer user's identification card or badge and reading the identification data contained in the identification card or badge for a second time;   the central processor validating the identification data against pre-recorded user account data in the database;   upon positive validation of the identification data, the user interface being locked and the central processor, through the controller, sending a control signal for shutting the valves; and   the central processor executes a payment process comprising deducting a money value for a total amount of the beverage poured from a pre-defined payment account associated with the customer user.   
     
     
         14 . The beverage chilling and dispensing system of  claim 8 , wherein the beverage dispensing control and point-of-sale sub-system being configured to execute a process comprising:
 the card and device reader detecting a customer user's identification card or badge and reading an identification data contained in the identification card or badge;   the central processor validating the identification data against pre-recorded user account data in the database;   upon positive validation of the identification data, the user interface means being unlocked allowing the customer user to specify a portion of the beverage to be poured, executes a payment process comprising deducting a money value for the portion of the beverage to be poured from a pre-defined payment account associated with the customer user, and to enter a command to open the valves, thereby allowing the beverage to be poured from the beverage circuit to a beverage container for serving; and   after the portion of the beverage is poured, the user interface being locked and the central processor, through the controller, sending a control signal for shutting the valves.