Keurig, Inc.

Data General Corporation

Charles F Squires

Richard B Streeter

Nicholas G Lazaris

William T Jacobs

Wendell L Knicely

A system for dispensing a metered volume of heated water to the brew chamber of a single serve beverage dispenser. The system includes: a storage tank for containing a supply of unheated water, a dispensing tank, and a delivery line communicating with the brew chamber and with the dispensing tank at an intermediate level demarcating the interior of the dispensing tank into upper and lower compartments wherein the volume of the upper compartment is equal to the metered volume. The system also includes a vent valve communicating via a vent line with the upper compartment, and a supply line connecting the storage tank to the lower compartment. An air pump is arranged to deliver pressurized air to the upper compartment. A water pump in the supply line is arranged to deliver water from the storage tank to the lower compartment. A heater for heating water is received in the dispensing tank. Sensing means for generating control signals indicative of the level and temperature of water in the dispensing tank; and a controller enabled by control signals generated by the sensing means and operative in response to a brew signal for operating the air and water pumps in conjunction with the opening and closure of the vent valve to fill the upper compartment with heated water displaced the lower compartment and to discharge the thus displaced heated water from the upper compartment to the brew chamber.

System for dispensing metered volumes of heated water to the brew chamber of a single serve beverage brewer

A system for dispensing a metered volume of heated water to the brew chamber of a single serve beverage dispenser. The system includes a storage tank for containing a supply of unheated water and a dispensing tank. A delivery line communicates with the brew chamber and with the dispensing tank at an intermediate level demarcating the interior of dispensing tank into upper and lower compartment. The volume of the upper compartment is equal to the metered volume. A vent valve communicates via a vent line with the upper compartment. A supply line connects the storage tank to the lower compartment. An air pump is arranged to deliver pressurized air to the upper compartment. A water pump in the supply line is arranged to deliver water from the storage tank to the lower compartment. A heater for heating water received in the dispensing tank. A sensing mechanism for generating control signals indicative of the level and temperature of water in the dispensing tank. A controller enabled by control signals generated by the sensing means and operative in response to a brew signal for operating the air and water pumps in conjunction with the opening and closure of the vent valve to fill the upper compartment with heated water displaced from the lower compartment and to discharge the thus displaced heated water from the upper compartment to the brew chamber.

An apparatus for incorporation in each memory-using component of a data processing system permits locking of a portion of the memory, which portion may be as small as a single location, for atomic read-modify-write operations while permitting unlimited access to the memory for read operations and access to all but the locked portion for non-atomic write operations.

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Newtonville, MA, United States of America

Charles F Squires