Adaptive defrost control for frozen product dispensers

1. A frozen product dispenser, comprising:

a freeze barrel;

means for delivering liquid product into said freeze barrel;

a refrigeration system operable in chilling cycles to freeze product in said freeze barrel;

means for dispensing frozen product from said freeze barrel;

means for defrosting said freeze barrel;

means for monitoring the values of at least two variable parameters of said frozen product dispenser that are each representative of a need to defrost said freeze barrel; and

means responsive to the values of at least two of said parameters for initiating operation of, and for adaptively adjusting the times of operation of, said defrosting means in defrost cycles,

wherein the value of product throughput comprises one of said at least two variable parameters to which said initiating and adjusting means is responsive to adaptively adjust said time interval tD between the end of one defrost cycle and the beginning of the next defrost cycle of said defrosting means, such that as product throughput increases, tD is decreased, and as product throughput decreases, tD is increased.

2. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said defrosting means comprises means for operating said refrigeration system in defrost cycles.

3. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said defrosting means comprises an electric heater for defrosting said freeze barrel in defrost cycles.

4. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein the other of said at least two variable parameters comprises at least one of: (1) the time duration of the last defrost cycle; (2) the maximum temperature reached at an outlet from an evaporator of said refrigeration system during the last defrost cycle; (3) the viscosity of product in said freeze barrel; (4) the type and composition of liquid product delivered into said freeze barrel; (5) the ambient temperature; (6) the frequency of electric power supplied to operate the refrigeration system; (7) the frequency that a compressor of said refrigeration system operates in chilling cycles; and (8) the time for which said refrigeration compressor runs during chilling cycles.

5. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said initiating and adjusting means, in response to the value of the at least one other of the at least two variable parameters to which it is responsive, adjusts tD by a lesser amount than it does in response to the value of product throughput.

6. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said initiating and adjusting means is responsive to a value of product throughput above a predetermined value to inhibit operation of said defrosting means.

7. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said initiating and adaptively adjusting means initiates operation of said defrosting means in a defrost cycle upon lapse of a default time Td from the end of the last defrost cycle, irrespective of the values of said at least two variable parameters.

8. A dispenser as in claim 1 wherein said means for initiating and adaptively adjusting operates according to the algorithm:

NDt=LDt+tD

where:

NDt=the time of day of the next defrost period;

LDt=the time of day of the last defrost period; and

tD=Dt+A·(7.25−tT1)+B·(Tmax−Y)+C·(4−VISC)+D·(BRIX−13)=the time between the last and the next defrost cycles,

and where:

tT1=the time required to reach a selected outlet temperature of a freeze barrel evaporator during the last defrost cycle;

Tmax=the maximum freeze barrel evaporator outlet temperature achieved during the last defrost cycle;

Y=an evaporator outlet temperature control limit that terminates a defrost cycle;

VISC=a selected product viscosity set point for said freeze barrel;

BRIX=a brix set point for said freeze barrel representative of the ratio of components of the liquid product delivered into said barrel; and

A, B, C and D are coefficients.

9. A dispenser as in claim 1 , wherein said means for initiating and adaptively adjusting is responsive to the time required to complete a current defrost cycle of said freeze barrel being greater than a target time Tt to decrease said time interval tD until the next defrost cycle, and is responsive to the time required to complete a current defrost cycle of said freeze barrel being less than said target time Tt to increase said time interval tD until the next defrost cycle.

10. A method of operating a frozen product dispenser, comprising the steps of:

delivering liquid product into a freeze barrel;

operating a refrigeration system in chilling cycles to freeze product in the freeze barrel;

dispensing frozen product from the freeze barrel;

defrosting the freeze barrel;

sensing the values of at least two variable parameters of the frozen product dispenser that are each representative of a need to perform said defrosting step; and

controlling and adaptively adjusting the times between performance of said defrosting step in accordance with the sensed values of at least two of the parameters,

wherein the value of product throughput comprises one of the at least two variable parameters to which said controlling and adaptively adjusting step is responsive to adaptively adjust the time interval tD between the end of one performance of said defrosting step and the beginning of the next performance of said defrosting step, such that as product throughput increases, tD is decreased, and as product throughput decreases, tD is increased.

11. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said defrosting step comprises operating the refrigeration system in defrost cycles.

12. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said defrosting step comprises operating an electric heater to defrost the freeze barrel.

13. A method as in claim 10 , wherein the other of the at least two variable parameters sensed by said sensing step comprises at least one of: (1) the time duration of performance the last defrosting step; (2) the maximum temperature reached at an outlet from an evaporator of the refrigeration system during performance of the last defrosting step; (3) the viscosity of product in the freeze barrel; (4) the type and composition of liquid product delivered into the freeze barrel by said delivering step; (5) the ambient temperature; (6) the frequency of electric power supplied to operate the refrigeration system; (7) the frequency of operation of a compressor of the refrigeration system in chilling cycles; and (8) the time for which the refrigeration compressor runs during chilling cycles.

14. A method as in claim 10 , wherein wherein said controlling and adjusting step, in response to the value of the at least one other of the at least two variable parameters to which it is responsive, adjusts tD by a lesser amount than it does in response to the value of product throughput.

15. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said controlling and adjusting step is responsive to a value of product throughput above a predetermined value to inhibit operation of said defrosting step.

16. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said controlling and adaptively adjusting step initiates performance of said defrosting step upon lapse of a default time Td from the end of performance of the last defrosting step, irrespective of the values of the at least two variable parameters.

17. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said controlling and adaptively adjusting step operates according to the algorithm:

NDt=LDt+tD

where:

NDt=the time of day for performance of the next defrosting step;

LDt=the time of day when performance of the last defrosting step ended; and

tD=Dt+A·(7.25−tT1)+B·(Tmax−Y)+C·(4−VISC)+D·(BRIX−13)=the time between termination of performance of the last defrosting step and initiation of performance of the next defrosting step,

and where:

tT1=the time required to reach a selected outlet temperature of a freeze barrel evaporator during performance of the last defrosting step;

Tmax=the maximum sensed evaporator outlet temperature achieved during performance of the last defrosting step;

Y=an ending evaporator outlet temperature control limit;

VISC=a selected product viscosity set point for the freeze barrel;

BRIX=a brix set point for the freeze barrel representative of the ratio of components of the liquid product delivered into the barrel; and

A, B, C and D are coefficients.

18. A method as in claim 10 , wherein said controlling and adaptively adjusting step is responsive to the time required to complete performance of a current defrosting step being greater than a target time Tt to decrease the time interval tD until performance of the next defrosting step, and is responsive to the time required to complete performance of a current defrosting step being less than the target time Tt to increase the time interval tD until performance of the next defrosting step.