Automatic beverage dispensing system
Contents
1. and an automatic ice dispensing mecha nism 28 for dispensing different predetermined quanti ties of ice such as for small and large size cups The mechanism 28 can be any standard well known mechanism see U S Pat Nos 4 226 269 and 4 386 640 for example incorporated herein by reference includ ing for example three removable stop members 30 31 and 32 operated by three solenoids 33 34 and 35 re spectively FIG 9 shows the normal or start condition of the mechanism 28 with stop member 32 inserted in the ice chute 26 and with stop members 30 and 31 re tracted from the ice chute The solenoids 33 34 and 35 are unenergized in this condition To fill a large cup the stop member 30 is inserted and then the stop member 32 is withdrawn as shown in FIG 10 thus dispensing a full amount of ice into a large size cup 4 590 975 3 Similarly for a small size cup starting with the condi tion shown in FIG 9 the stop member 31 is inserted and then stop member 32 is withdrawn as shown in FIG 12 thus dispensing a small guantity of ice into a small cup The modular assembly 14 employs only two cup sizes small and large however other sizes and other numbers of sizes such as small medium and large can be used if desired The operation of the stop members is shown in FIGS 12 and 13 The stop member 32 is held inserted by a spring 50 and is retracted by the solenoid 35 The two stop members 30 and 31 operate differently from2. said ice dispensing means including an ice chute having a discharge opening extending through said cup chute opening 26 The apparatus as recited in claim 25 wherein said ice dispenser is an ice dispensing beverage dispenser having a plurality of valve assemblies 27 The apparatus as recited in claim 26 wherein said beverage dispenser includes one of said ice dispensers in each sidewall thereof and including a separate modular assembly connected to each side of said beverage dis penser 28 A method for automatically dispensing a beverage comprising the steps of a modifying a beverage dispenser of the type having a plurality of beverage dispensing valve assemblies and an ice dispenser by adding thereto an ice dis pensing chute extending from a side wall thereof and means for automatically dispensing ice from said chute and b attaching to said side wall a narrow automatic beverage dispensing modular assembly having a 15 20 25 30 35 45 30 35 65 10 height and depth substantially greater than its width said modular assembly including i means for automatically dropping a cup onto said conveyor means at a cup dropping station ii means for dispensing ice into said cup from said ice dispensing means iii means for dispensing a beverage into said ice filled cup and iv conveyor means for moving an ice filled and beverage filled cup from said cup dropping sta tion to an operator station a
3. 98 and causes the rod 86 to rotate which retracts the push arms away from the surface 80 As shown in FIG 3 the second subassembly 42 has a cup sensor 100 at the cup dropping station The sensor 100 includes a light source and a sensor to receive re flected light from a cup if present at the cup dropping station The sensor 100 generates a signal which is sent to a processor 102 The processor 102 is preferably a microprocessor which is part of a control circuit mounted behind the button arrangement on the front of the cover 58 The control circuit controls the filling of the cup 78 with ice and beverage and runs the con veyor to move the filled cup forward 4 590 975 5 second cup sensor 104 is located at the operator station 82 to detect the presence of a cup The sensor 104 also includes a light source and a sensor to receive reflected light from the surface of the cup If a cup is present at the operator station the control circuit will now allow the modular assembly 14 to again be oper ated until such cup has been removed FIG 14 shows a plurality of the modular assemblies 105 106 107 and 108 arranged side by side and con nected at their rear surfaces to an ice dispenser 109 For post mix use the ice dispenser 109 may also include a carbonator FIG 15 shows the time sequence which repeats itself during the automatic cycling of the modular assembly As will be seen from FIG 15 and from the above de scription of the
4. dispensing station the cap dispensing and sealing station or the beverage dispens ing station but these approaches have the overall disad vantage of being too large and or expensive for utiliza tion as a self contained compact post mix drink dis pensing system It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and easy way to add automatic beverage dispensing capability to an ice dispensing beverage dis penser It is another object of this invention to provide a narrow modular automatic beverage dispensing assem bly for attachment to an ice dispenser It is a further object of this invention to provide such a modular assembly with two separate subassemblies to provide greater flexibility in installing and interfacing with an existing beverage dispenser It is another object of the invention to provide such a modular assembly with a compact safe conveyor It is another object to provide an improved automatic ice dispenser SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automatic beverage dispensing apparatus com prising a modular assembly composed of two subas semblies for attachment to an existing beverage dis penser of the type having an ice dispenser The modular assembly includes an automatic cup dropper an auto matic beverage dispenser and an automatic conveyor The existing beverage dispenser is modified to add an ice chute extending from a side wall thereof and means for automatically dispensing different predet
5. posi tively pushing filled cups onto such an additional con veyor not shown The conveyor 56 includes a flat narrow horizontal cup supporting surface 80 adjacent the lower portion of the assembly 14 and extending from the cup dropping station 67 to an operator station 82 The surface 80 is stationary and the cups are moved by a shuttle arrange ment including a plurality of equally spaced apart trans verse push arms connected to a reciprocatable rod 86 The push arms are retractable during the return stroke of the shuttle arrangement by means of the rod 86 being mounted for turning movement about its longitudinal axis A cam follower 88 is connected to the rod 86 and is located adjacent to a cam 90 The back and forth movement of the rod 86 is con trolled by a gear motor 92 connected to the rod 86 by a lever mechanism 94 as shown in FIGS 5A and 6 A switch 96 is located as shown in FIG 5A adjacent to the lever mechanism 94 to turn off the gear motor 92 at the end of one rotation which produces one back and forth cycle of the rod 86 and push arms 84 The push arms 84 push the cups forward on the for ward stroke and are retracted away from the surface 80 during the return stroke by means of the cam cam fol lower arrangement of FIGS 6 7 and 8 The cam 90 pivots down as shown in FIG 7 during the forward stroke and then snaps back in place by a spring bias so that during the return stroke the cam follower 88 hits the cam surface
6. SMALL CYCLE RUN s LARGE CYCLE RUN gt vx INDUTS OUTPUTS MAN AUTO MODE SELECT D SMALL SELECT LARGE SELECT EMERGENCY STOP BPK CHECK FILL STATION ELECTRIC EYE CONVE VOR ELECTRIC EVE CONVEYOR INDEX SWITCH REFILL SLOT 1 REFILL SLOT 2 REFILL 2LOT 3 FILLING COMPLETI FIC A7 4 590 975 1 AUTOMATIC BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This invention relates to beverage dispensers and in particular to a modular automatic beverage dispensing assembly that can be added to an existing beverage dispenser 2 Description of the Prior Art Various techniques have been proposed for providing automated systems for dispensing soft drinks such as the utilization of conveyor type systems whereby cups are automatically introduced to a continuously moving conveyor which receives the cups and processes them forward through a cup filling station a cup capping station and a cup discharge station The cup filling means travels forward synchronously with the con veyor belt while filling the cups and a heat sealing de vice is provided whereby caps are heat sealed to the rims of the cups while traveling forward A discharge station is provided for automatically lifting and transfer ring the cups Other techniques provide elaborate ap proaches for fulfilling each phase of a drink dispensing system such as at the ice
7. United States Patent ma Credle Jr 54 AUTOMATIC BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM 75 Inventor William S Credle Jr Stone Mountain Ga 73 Assignee The Coca Cola Company Atlanta Ga 21 Appl No 620 192 22 Filed Jun 13 1984 B65B 4 52 WS une 141 1 141 84 141 174 58 Field of Search 141 129 191 141 84 1 12 94 95 198 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 2 580 257 4 1946 Tacchella s ssessessse 141 174 2 878 968 7 1955 Burgoyne 222 129 1 2 953 171 4 1958 Arnett et al 141 174 3 142 267 4 1961 Shofer 141 174 3 298 565 12 1963 Cease eee 221 13 3 364 959 12 1965 Herman et al 141 155 3 530 907 12 1967 Slass eere 141 174 11 Patent Number 4 590 975 4 Date of Patent May 27 1986 3 951 303 9 1973 Hobden et al 221 96 4 102 660 8 1976 Beckett et al u 62 344 4 174 742 11 1979 Murphey et al wae 141 174 4 198 831 1 1978 Barnard 4 226 269 12 1978 Carr et al sse 222 361 4 228 923 8 1979 Barnard YA 4 241 847 12 1978 Lancia et al a 4 319 441 11 1980 Credle een Primary Examiner Houston S Bell Jr 57 ABSTRACT A narrow modular automatic beverage dispensing as sembly to be attached to an existing ice dispensing bev erage dispenser to provide automatic beverage dispens ing capability The modular assembly inc
8. ans including an ice chute having a discharge opening extending through said cup chute opening 14 The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein said assembly is attached to said ice dispenser 15 The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein said ice dispensing means comprises means for dispensing a plurality of different predetermined quantities of ice 16 The apparatus as recited in claim 15 wherein said ice dispensing means includes an ice chute and a plural ity of spaced apart stop members movable into and out of said ice chute to control the quantity of ice dispensed therefrom 17 The apparatus as recited in claim 16 including a solenoid connected to each of said stop members 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 8 18 The apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein said dropping station includes means for holding plu rality of different sized cups and wherein said ice dis pensing means comprises means for dispensing a plural ity of different predetermined quantities of ice 19 The apparatus as recited in claim 18 including means for detecting the presence of a cup dropped onto said surface at said cup dropping station 20 The apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein said beverage dispensing means comprises a single beverage dispensing valve assembly located adjacent the bottom of said cup chute and having a nozzle oriented at an angle to the vertical and having a nozzle opening ori ente
9. ay 27 1986 SV 2913 32770036 JWA NDA 201 DI OlLVLIOV 331 MET LEVT YUH 0NO23 OF 27020 is 190119 60402464 BERGE 2 Me AN LE Rd TIU 9 CUNOJIG F i FO 72 07 235 Gj m FH 0 IZIS 59 SONOS Z 5 3 ZA 79072 NOILVOI TVA ONOIIS Y doda dn IZIS ANE CNO276 1 JOE df ONA HIPWOLNY ONANG 7751 5130 72 32030695 1 U S Patent May27 1986 Sheet 10 of 11 4 590 975 INPUTS OUTPUTS 001 AUTO MANUAL SELECT O32 RUN LIGHT 031 LARGE CUP DROP SOLENOID 030 SMALL CUP A DROP SOLENOID 029 SMALL CUP B DROP SOLENOID 028 LARGE FILL TDR 027 CONVEYOR RUN 026 AGITATOR 025 SMALL FILL TOR 024 ICE HOLDING GATE SOLENOID O23 SMALL ICE GATE O22 ICE FILL LARGE GATE SOLENOID OP SET BRIX 002 SMALL SELECT 003 LARGE SELECT 004 005 EMERGENCY STOP RESET 006 BRIX CHECK 007 CUP EVE 008 CONVEYOR EVE 009 INDEX LIMIT SWITCH 0 0 LARGE CUP EMPTY 011 SMALL CUP A EMPTY O12 SMALL CUP B EMPTY 013 FILL TIME 0 9 SMAL CYCLE RUN LIGHT 014 0 5 LARGE CYCLE RUN LIGHT O16 MICROPROCE 2202 CONTROL FIC AG U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 11 of 11 4 590 975 INPUT P OUTPUT WIRING DIAGRAM 2 07 1 CUP DROP SLOT 2 CUP DROP ce SLOT 3 CUP DROP nd FILL LARGE CUP BEVERAGE CONVEYOR RUN ICE AGITATOR FILL SMALL CUP BEVERAGE ICE RELEASE GA zai SMALL ICE METERING GATE Ly LARGE ICE METERING GATE WA BEVERAGE DISPENSING VALVE
10. d in a vertical plane just inside of the wall of said chute 21 The apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein said valve assembly is a multi flavor valve assembly 22 The apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein said valve assembly is oriented at an angle to the vertical and is mounted on said conveyor 23 The apparatus as recited in claim 22 wherein said beverage dispensing means comprises a single beverage dispensing valve assembly located adjacent the bottom of said cup chute and having a nozzle oriented at an angle to the vertical and having a nozzle opening ori ented in a vertical plane just inside of the wall of said cup chute wherein said surface of said conveyor means is stationary and including shuttle means for pushing cups along said surface 24 An automatic beverage dispensing apparatus comprising a narrow modular assembly having a height and a depth substantially greater than its width and hav ing a uniform width along the entire height and depth thereof said width being less than about ten inches said assembly including first and second separate subassemblies said first subassembly in cluding a cup dropping station and said second subassembly including a beverage filling station and conveyor means for moving an ice filled and beverage filled cup to an operator station at a front end of said modular assembly b said conveyor means including a flat narrow horizontal surface located adjacent a lower
11. e used The modular assembly can be used on one side only of a beverage dispenser or alternatively on two or three sides Also more than one modular assembly can be connected to any one side preferably by having the modular assembly extend away from the beverage dis penser rather than alongside of it In such case the ice can come in from the rear rather than into the side of the modular assembly and the valve assembly can then be at the front rather than at the rear end Further more than one valve assembly can be used if desired to dis pense different beverages for example While it is preferred to use the modular assembly in combination with and connected to a beverage dis penser with a manual ice dispenser and a plurality of valve assemblies it is not essential that any valve assem blies be included on the ice dispenser to which the mod ular assembly is to be attached The modular assembly is shown for use with post mix however it can also be used for pre mix beverages The beverage dispensing valve assembly 48 can be attached to the first subassembly with the cup dropper rather than to the second subassembly with the con veyor Further it is not essential that the modular as sembly have two separate subassemblies it can alterna tively be only a single unit or it can have three separate subassemblies if desired I claim 1 An automatic beverage dispensing apparatus com prising a narrow modular assembly havi
12. ention in volves the specific control circuitry used and because it is well within the skill of the art to provide the straight forward control circuitry a specific control circuit need not and should not be described in detail However briefly FIGS 16 and 17 are input and output diagrams used in one preferred embodiment with a particular processor control The particular pro cessor used was a modular automation controller by Allen Bradley which is described in Allen Bradley s User s Manual bulletin 1742 Cat No 1742 UM May 1983 While the preferred embodiment of this invention has been described above in detail it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the pres ent invention as set forth in the appended claims For example other conveyors can be used such as chain belt or other types In the preferred embodiment the filling of the beverage is controlled by time however it can alternatively be controlled by measuring the weight of the cup as it is being filled or by ultrasonic level detecting means for example The ice can be fed into the cup and the beverage can be fed into the cup at different locations if desired While a single flavor valve is shown a multi flavor valve can be used to 15 20 25 40 45 60 65 6 automatically dispense various different beverages While only two cup sizes are shown more or fewer can b
13. ermined quantities of ice from the additional ice chute The mod 10 20 25 30 35 50 ular assembly has an opening in a vertical side wall of 60 the cup chute to receive and to accommodate the dis charge end of such additional ice chute when the mod ular assembly is connected to the side wall of the exist ing beverage dispenser BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be more fully understood from the detailed description below when read in con 65 2 nection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements and wherein FIG 1 is a perspective view of the narrow modular assembly of the present invention attached to an ice dispensing beverage dispenser FIG 2 is an exploded perspective view similar to FIG 1 FIG 3 is a partly cross sectional partial elevational view through the modular assembly of FIG 1 FIG 4 is a partly cross sectional elevational view through the modular assembly of FIG 3 taken along lines 4 4 thereof FIGS 5A and 5B are plan views of the conveyor FIG 6 is a perspective view of the conveyor FIGS 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views showing the operation of the camming action of the conveyor FIGS 9 11 are partly cross sectional elevational views through the ice chute showing the operation thereof FIGS 12 and 13 are elevational views of the two ice chute stop members FIG 14 is a pespective view of another embodime
14. ferent sized cups 7 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 including means for detecting the presence of a cup dropped onto said surface at said cup dropping station 8 The apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said detecting means comprises a light source and a light sensor for sensing light reflected from a dropped cup 9 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said beverage dispensing means comprises a single beverage dispensing valve assembly located adjacent the bottom of said cup chute and having a nozzle oriented at an angle to the vertical and having a nozzle opening ori ented in a vertical plane just inside of the wall of said cup chute 10 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said valve assembly is a multi flavor valve assembly 11 The apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said beverage dispensing means comprises a single beverage dispensing valve assembly located adjacent the bottom of said cup chute and having a nozzle oriented at an angle to the vertical and having a nozzle opening ori ented in a vertical plane just inside of the wall of said cup chute 12 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said valve assembly is a multi flavor valve assembly 13 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 including in combination therewith an ice dispenser including means for automatically dispensing a predetermined quantity of ice into a cup dropped onto said surface at said cup dropping station said ice dispensing me
15. ludes two separate subassemblies the first subassembly includes an automatic cup dropper and the second subassembly includes an automatic beverage dispensing means and an automatic conveyor The existing beverage dis penser to which the modular assembly of this invention is attached is modified by adding thereto an automatic ice dispenser that feeds ice into the attached modular assembly 31 Claims 18 Drawing Figures U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 1 of 11 4 590 975 U S Patent May27 1986 Sheet2of11 4 590 975 gt ELE EET SEE KERS EE NEER gt tg WAN 46 AZ 22 EES sie Sr U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 3 of 11 4 590 975 U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 4 of 11 4 590 975 Ld OO a B 66 FIC U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 5 of 11 4 590 975 m MATCH LINE TO FIG 54 U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet 6 of 11 4 590 975 x x LAY U S Patent May 27 1986 Sheet7 of 11 4 590 975 KA SL 2 Jy KA er H 4 590 975 Sheet 8 of 11 U S Patent May27 1986 TEN IN 1 EN N IN N N N AN FIC 44 4 590 975 Sheet 9 of 11 U S Patent M
16. modular assembly 14 the sequence of events is as follows 1 the automatic cup dropper 44 drops a cup 2 the presence of the cup in the cup drop ping station 67 is validated by the cup sensor 100 3 the automatic ice dispenser 24 then dispenses either a small or a large quantity of ice into the cup depending upon whether the particular drink ordered was a small or a large size by first closing the proper metering gate or stop member 30 or 31 and by then opening the release gate or stop member 32 4 the beverage dispensing valve assembly 48 then dispenses the beverage for a predetermined period of time depending upon whether a particular drink ordered is a small or a large size the time being four seconds for a small and seven seconds for a large 5 the automatic conveyor is then operated for one cycle to move the filled cup forward one posi tion where it can be picked up by the operator and 6 the ice agitator not shown is preferably operated for the time periods shown in FIG 15 If another drink is ordered before the above mentioned drink has been picked up then after the next drink is made both filled cups will be moved forward along the conveyor surface 80 until a cup is present at the operator station 82 at which time no further drinks will be made until such cup is removed Any one of a number of control circuits can be used to achieve the automated control of the modular assem bly 14 Because no part of the present inv
17. ng a height and a depth substantially greater than its width and hav ing a uniform width along the entire height and depth thereof said assembly including a cup drop ping station a beverage filling station and con veyor means for moving a beverage filled cup away from said beverage filling station b said conveyor means including a flat narrow horizontal surface located adjacent a lower portion of said assembly and extending from said cup drop ping station to an operator station at a front end of said modular assembly said surface being adapted to receive and support a cup dropped thereon while said cup is filled with a beverage and is then moved away from said beverage filling station said conveyor means including means for automatically moving a cup on said surface from said cup drop ping station to said operator station c said assembly including means for automatically dropping a cup onto said surface at said cup drop ping station said cup dropping means including cup holding means located adjacent an upper por tion of said assembly and also including a cup chute located below said cup holding means for guiding a dropped cup onto said surface in an up right condition d said assembly including means for automatically dispensing a beverage into a cup on said surface at said beverage dispensing station and e said cup chute including an opening extending through a vertical wall thereof and located above a cup drop
18. nt of the present invention showing a plurality of modular assemblies side by side FIG 15 is a timing diagram showing the operation of the modular assembly of the present invention and FIGS 16 and 17 are input output wiring diagrams DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference now to the drawings FIGS 1 and 2 show an automatic beverage dispensing apparatus 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention The apparatus 10 includes a standard well known ice dispensing beverage dispenser 12 modified as will be discussed below in combination with a nar row modular automatic beverage dispensing assembly 14 according to the present invention that attaches to the right side of the dispenser 12 As shown in phantom lines in FIG 2 a second modular assembly 16 can also be attached to the dispenser 12 on its left side if desired The dispenser 12 can be any one of a number of well known dispensers having a plurality of beverage dis pensing valve assemblies 18 19 20 and 21 and an ice dispenser The ice dispenser includes a standard ice compartment 22 see FIG 2 and a standard manual ice dispensing chute not shown located between the valve assemblies 19 and 20 With reference to FIGS 2 4 and 9 13 the dispenser 12 is modified by adding thereto on the right side thereof an automatic ice dispenser 24 The ice dispenser 24 can be any standard well known type including an ice chute 26
19. p dropping station 67 The cup chute includes at least one vertical 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 wall having an opening 68 for receiving the distal end of the ice chute 26 The automatic beverage dispensing valve assembly 48 includes a valve assembly 70 mounted on a lower portion of the cup chute 66 The beverage dispenser 12 is also modified to have a carbonated water line 72 and a syrup line 74 extend from the sidewall thereof to the valve assembly 70 The valve assembly 70 can be any well known type of valve assembly The valve assembly shown is for dispensing a single flavor however a multi flavor valve assembly can alternatively be used The nozzle 76 of the valve assembly 70 extends out over the edge of a cup 78 in the cup dropping station just inside of the wall of the cup chute The automatic conveyor 56 of the second subassem bly will now be described Although any well known conveyor can be used such as that shown in U S Pat No 2 580 257 for example the preferred conveyor described below has the advantages of being compact and safe While the conveyor as shown terminates at an operator station 82 a second conveyor can be located adjacent the front end of conveyor 56 to receive filled cups therefrom so that the modular assembly will not stop operating when four cups are present on the con veyor surface 80 The particular conveyor 56 of the present invention also provides the capability of
20. ped onto said surface at said cup dropping station whereby ice can be dispensed through said opening and into a cup located on said surface in said cup dropping station 4 590 975 7 2 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said surface of said conveyor means is statjonary and includ ing shuttle means for pushing cups along said surface 3 The apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein said shuttle means includes a plurality of egually spaced apart transverse push arms mounted for reciprocating movement with respect to said surface including a push stroke and a return stroke said arms being positioned on top of said surface during said push stroke and means for retracting said push arms away from said surface during said return stroke 4 The apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein said surface comprises a plurality of thin spaced apart ribs extending longitudinally of said surface 5 The apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein said arms are all connected to an elongated reciprocatable rod mounted for limited rotational movement about its axis said rod having a cam follower extending trans versely therefrom a stationary cam located adjacent to said rod and to said cam follower for causing said rod to rotate at the end of the push stroke to retract said arms away from said surface during the return stroke 6 The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said cup dropping station includes means for holding a plu rality of dif
21. portion of said assembly and extending from said cup drop ping station to said operator station said surface being adapted to receive and support a cup dropped thereon while said cup is sequentially filled with ice then filled with a beverage and then moved to said operator station said conveyor means including means for automatically moving a cup on said surface from said cup dropping station to said operator station c said first subassembly including means for auto matically dropping a cup onto said surface at said cup dropping station said cup dropping means including cup holding means located adjacent an upper portion of said assembly and a cup chute located below said cup holding means for guiding a dropped cup onto said surface in an upright condi tion d said second subassembly also including means for automatically dispensing a beverage into a cup located at said beverage dispensing station and e said cup chute including an opening extending through a vertical wall thereof and located above a cup dropped onto said surface at said cup dropping station whereby ice can be dispensed through said 4 590 975 9 Opening and into cup located on said surface in said cup dropping station 25 The apparatus as recited in claim 24 including in combination therewith an ice dispenser including means for automatically dispensing a predetermined quantity of ice into a cup dropped onto said surface at said cup dropping station
22. s 114 and 115 The light 113 simply informs the operator that the assembly 14 is on The button 114 is an emergency stop The button 115 is a brix button which causes only beverage to be dispensed and which pre vents the ice dispenser and the conveyor from operat ing The brix of the product can then be measured ac cording to standard procedures The use of two separate subassemblies provides flexi bility in installing and interfacing the modular assembly 14 with different beverage dispensers 12 For example different dispensers have different sizes and because the two subassemblies are not attached to each they can easily be attached to a dispenser at the desired location whereas this would not always be possible if they were fixed relative to each other Further one of the compo nents such as the conveyor can be changed without requiring any change in the remainder of the assembly The cup dropper 44 can use any one of a number of well known cup holding and cup dropping mechanisms 59 such as shown in U S Pat Nos 4 319 441 and 3 951 303 incorporated herein by reference The pre ferred embodiment shown in the drawings uses only small cups 60 and large cups 62 however other ar rangements such as small medium and large cups can be used A solenoid device 64 is used to dispense one cup at a time as is well known in this art The cup dropper 44 also includes a cup chute 66 that guides the dropped cup onto the conveyor 56 at the cu
23. t a front end of said modular assembly 29 The method as recited in claim 28 wherein said modifying step comprises adding an ice chute extending from both side walls of said beverage dispenser and wherein said attaching step comprises attaching one of said modular assemblies to each of said side walls 30 The method as recited in claim 28 including sens ing the presence of a cup dropped onto said conveyor at said cup dropping station and dispensing ice into said cup after a cup present signal has been received by said sensing step 31 The method as recited in claim 28 including sens ing the presence of a cup on said conveyor means at said operator station and inactivating said apparatus if a cup is present at such distal end
24. the Stop member 32 Because the two stop members 30 and 31 both operate the same way a description of the oper ation of only one of the stop members 30 and 32 will be described With reference to FIG 12 the spring 54 is stronger than the spring 52 and thus the stop member 30 is held retracted in its normal condition when the sole noid 33 is unenergized To insert the stop member 30 into the ice chute 26 the solenoid 33 is energized and it is stronger than the spring 54 Thus the spring 52 is now allowed to insert the stop member 30 into the ice chute The modular assembly 14 of the present invention will now be described The assembly 14 is composed of a first subassembly 40 and a separate second subassem bly 42 The first subassembly 40 includes an automatic cup dropper 44 The second subassembly 42 includes an automatic beverage dispensing valve assembly 48 and an automatic conveyor 56 The two subassemblies 40 and 42 are separately at tached to the side of the beverage dispenser 12 and are then covered by a shroud or cover 58 The front face of the cover 58 of the modular assembly 14 includes a top row of three indicator lights 110 111 and 112 that indicate when the first second and third stacks 45 46 and 47 of cups respectively is empty and needs refill ing each light is connected to a respective cup sensing switch in each cup stack The front face of the cover 58 also includes a second row of one light 113 and two button
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