FIG. 3 shows a simplified schematic diagram of some components in the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 from a first viewing angle. FIG. 4 shows a simplified schematic diagram of some components in the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 from a second viewing angle.

As shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 4, the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 further comprises a cold air source device 210, a cold air tunnel 220, multiple air extraction devices, and multiple temperature sensors. For the convenience of description, only three air extraction devices 231, 233, and 235, and four temperature sensors 251, 253, 255, and 257 are shown in FIG. 2 as an exemplary embodiment.

In order to reduce the complexity of the drawing contents, only some components relevant to the material outlet chamber 105, the cold air tunnel 220, and the air extraction devices 231~235 are shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Moreover, the fluid output device 140 and the material output tube 150 are not shown in FIG. 4.

In this embodiment, the cold air source device 210 is located in the lower chamber 103, and comprises a refrigeration compressor 212 and an evaporation chamber 214. One or more cold air outlets 216 are arranged on a side of the evaporation chamber 214, and various appropriate evaporators (not shown in FIG. 2 for reducing the complexity of the drawing contents) may be further arranged inside the evaporation chamber 214.

The refrigeration compressor 212 may operate with the evaporators in the evaporation chamber 214 to generate cold air with a sufficiently low temperature inside the evaporation chamber 214 and to introduce a part of the cold air into the lower chamber 103 through the cold air outlet 216, so that the internal temperature of the lower chamber 103 can be maintained at the desired low temperature state (e.g., between 1 degree Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius). In this way, it can ensure that the material containers 180 in the lower chamber 103 can be kept at an ideal low temperature state, thereby extending the storage period of the fluid materials in the material containers 180.

In practice, each of the refrigeration compressor 212 and the evaporation chamber 214 may be realized with various appropriate existing devices.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cold air tunnel 220 is coupled between the cold air source device 210 and the material outlet chamber 105, and the cold air tunnel 220 is arranged to operably introduce the cold air generated by the cold air source device 210 into the material outlet chamber 105, so as to maintain the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105 below a predetermined temperature.

As shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 4, one terminal of the cold air tunnel 220 is coupled with one of the cold air outlets of the evaporation chamber 214, and another terminal of the cold air tunnel 220 is coupled with the material outlet chamber 105. In this embodiment, the cold air tunnel 220 comprises an air intake duct 221, an intermediate duct 223, and an air output duct 225.

The air intake duct 221 is coupled with the cold air source device 210 (e.g., the aforementioned evaporation chamber 214) and has an air inlet 227, and arranged to operably receive cold air generated by the cold air source device 210. The intermediate duct 223 is coupled between the air intake duct 221 and the air output duct 225. The intermediate duct 223 is arranged to operably direct the cold air transmitted from the air intake duct 221 to the air output duct 225. The air output duct 225 is coupled between the intermediate duct 223 and the material outlet chamber 105, and the air output duct 225 has an air outlet 229. The air output duct 225 is arranged to operably introduce cold air into the material outlet chamber 105.

In practice, the lengths and shapes of the air intake duct 221, the intermediate duct 223, and the air output duct 225 may be modified depending on the practical requirement. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2 through FIG. 4, the air intake duct 221 has an upwardly curved shape, the intermediate duct 223 has a substantially vertical shape, the air output duct 225 extends outward from an end terminal of the intermediate duct 223, and the cross-sectional area of the air output duct 225 is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the intermediate duct 223.

In this embodiment, the air output duct 225 of the cold air tunnel 220 is inserted into the material outlet chamber 105, so that a distance between the air outlet 229 and the fluid output device 140 is less than 20 centimeters (e.g., 18 centimeters, 15 centimeters, 12 centimeters, 10 centimeters, 5 centimeters, or the like). Such design ensures that the cold air outputted from the air outlet 229 can maintain a sufficiently low temperature when the cold air reaches near the fluid output device 140, so that the area near the fluid output device 140 can remain in the ideal low temperature state.

In this embodiment, the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 235 are respectively positioned on different positions on an airflow transmission path of the cold air tunnel 220, and utilized for enhancing the transmission efficiency of the cold air in the cold air tunnel 220 and for regulating the temperature of different areas inside the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 4, the air extraction device 231 may be positioned on the air inlet 227 of the cold air tunnel 220, and arranged to operably extract a part of cold air generated by the cold air source device 210 into the air intake duct 221. The air extraction device 233 may be positioned between the air intake duct 221 and the intermediate duct 223, and arranged to operably push cold air within the air intake duct 221 into the intermediate duct 223, so that the cold air enters the material outlet chamber 105 through the air output duct 225.

The air extraction device 235 may be positioned near a junction between the intermediate duct 223 and the air output duct 225, and arranged to operably extract a part of cold air within the cold air tunnel 220 into the upper chamber 101, thereby lowering the internal temperature of the upper chamber 101.

As shown in FIG. 2, the temperature sensor 251 is positioned in the upper chamber 101 and arranged to operably sense the internal temperature of the upper chamber 101. The temperature sensor 253 is positioned in the lower chamber 103 and arranged to operably sense the internal temperature of the lower chamber 103. The temperature sensor 255 is positioned in the material outlet chamber 105 and arranged to operably sense the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105. The temperature sensor 257 is positioned in the cold air tunnel 220 and arranged to operably sense the internal temperature of the cold air tunnel 220.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the side wall of the material outlet chamber 105 is provided with a pipe insertion port 360 and a reflow port 370. Multiple material transmission pipes coupled between the multiple pumps 110 and the fluid output device 140 (e.g., the material transmission pipes coupled between the multiple pumps 110 and the multiple material output tubes 150) pass through the pipe insertion port 360 and enter the material outlet chamber 105. Cold air in the material outlet chamber 105 can flow into the main body of the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 (e.g., flow into the upper chamber 101) through the reflow port 370.

In this embodiment, a center position of the reflow port 370 is purposefully arranged to be higher than a center position of the pipe insertion port 360. Such design ensures that the cold air with lower temperature can adequately fill most space in the material outlet chamber 105, thereby maintaining the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105 within an ideal range, such as between 1 degree Celsius and 4 degrees Celsius.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the side wall of the material outlet chamber 105 may further be provided with an air extraction device 337. The air extraction device 337 is arranged to operably extract a part of cold air in the material outlet chamber 105 into the upper chamber 101, so as to accelerate an internal airflow circulation of the cold air outputted from the air outlet 229 in the material outlet chamber 105.

In order to reduce the complexity of the drawing contents, other structures and devices within the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 are not shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4, such as the internal control circuit, electrical wires, signal lines, power supply apparatus, some material transmission pipes, some detergent transmission pipes, and relevant components and frames for supporting or securing the above components.

In operations, the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may dynamically adjust the operation of the aforementioned air extraction devices 231, 233, 235, and 337 according to the sensing results of the aforementioned temperature sensors 251, 253, 255, and 257.

For example, if the temperature sensor 255 detects that the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105 is higher than a first predetermined threshold value (e.g., 4 degrees Celsius, 4.5 degrees Celsius, or 5 degrees Celsius), the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may control the air extraction devices 231 and 233 to operate, so as to introduce more cold air into the material outlet chamber 105 through the cold air tunnel 220, thereby lowering the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105.

For another example, if the temperature sensor 251 detects that the internal temperature of the upper chamber 101 is higher than the first predetermined threshold value, the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may control the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 235 to operate, or control the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 337 to operate, so as to introduce more cold air into the upper chamber 101 through the cold air tunnel 220, thereby lowering the internal temperature of the upper chamber 101.

For another example, if the temperature sensor 251 detects that the internal temperature of the upper chamber 101 is lower than a second predetermined threshold value (e.g., 0.5 degree Celsius, 1 degree Celsius, or 1.5 degrees Celsius), the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may control the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 235 to suspend operation, or control the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 337 to suspend operation, so as to introduce less cold air into the upper chamber 101, thereby preventing the fluid materials from frosting or freezing due to excessively low internal temperature of the upper chamber 101.

For another example, if the temperature sensor 255 detects that the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105 is lower than the second predetermined threshold value, the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may control the air extraction devices 231 and 233 to suspend operation, so as to introduce less cold air into the material outlet chamber 105, thereby preventing the fluid materials from frosting or freezing due to excessively low internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105.

For another example, if the temperature sensor 253 detects that the internal temperature of the lower chamber 103 is higher than a third predetermined threshold value (e.g., 5 degrees Celsius, 6 degrees Celsius, or 10 degrees Celsius, or the like), or if the temperature sensor 257 detects that the internal temperature of the cold air tunnel 220 is higher than the third predetermined threshold value, the fluid material dispensing apparatus 100 may control the air extraction devices 231, 233, and 235 to suspend operation, so as to prevent the cold air tunnel 220 from introducing air with excessively high temperature into the material outlet chamber 105 or into the upper chamber 101. This situation usually occurs when the user opens the door of the lower chamber 103 or when the cold air source device 210 is undertaking the defrost process.

As can be appreciated from the foregoing descriptions, the output terminals of the multiple fluid outlets 142 for outputting the fluid material are exposed outside the material outlet chamber 105 and directly contact with the external environment, therefore the internal temperature of the material outlet chamber 105 may be easily influenced by the external environment.

However, by adopting the cooperation of the aforementioned cold air tunnel 220, multiple air extraction devices (e.g., the aforementioned air extraction devices 231~235, 337), and multiple temperature sensors (e.g., the aforementioned temperature sensors 251~257), the cold air generated by the cold air source device 210 can be introduced into the material outlet chamber 105 and into the upper chamber 101, thereby effectively maintaining the inner space of the material outlet chamber 105 and of the upper chamber 101 at an ideal low temperature state.

As a result, various fluid materials within the material transmission paths (e.g., the aforementioned material output tube 150, or other relevant transmission pipes or various connectors, or the lie) in the material outlet chamber