Abstract: A machine for dispensing a soft-serve product comprises a freezer barrel (12), a mix hopper (14) for containing soft-serve mix (16) and being in flow communication with the freezer barrel so that soft-serve mix can flow from the mix hopper into the freezer barrel, a flow passage (42, 42.1) leading from the freezer barrel to a draw spout (64), and a beater assembly (20) for expelling frozen product from the freezer barrel via the flow passage to the draw spout. A solids hopper (52) for containing a flowable solid topping is further provided, and an archimedes screw (56) for feeding the solid topping from the solids hopper into the flow stream of soft-serve product as it passes through the flow passage. A vaned rotor (44) and a rotation sensor (80) meter the flow of soft-serve product through the flow passage and control the speed of a topping motor (60) driving the archimedes screw.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 21, 1998
Date of Patent:
November 14, 2000
Assignee:
Marcel Van Der Merwe
Inventors:
Marcel Van Der Merwe, Mark Henry Erasmus