Title: Automatic cup drink vending machine

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic cup drink vending machine for preparing a cup for vending, putting a source material, cold water and ice into the cup to produce a mixture, thereby to dispense the mixture as a cold drink, comprising: water supplying means for supplying water, ice making means for making ice from the water supplied by said water supplying means, cold drink dispense commanding means for commanding dispensing of said cold drink, first ice dispensing means responsive to the output of said cold drink dispense commanding means for dispensing a predetermined quantity of the ice made by said ice making means into said cup, cold water making means having a cold water tank and an ice storing portion located at least partially inside said cold water tank for storing said ice and for causing said stored ice to cool the water in said cold water tank supplied from said water supplying means, second ice dispensing means for dispensing the ice made by said ice making means into said ice storing portion of said cold water making means, cold water dispensing means responsive to the command output of said cold drink dispense commanding means for dispensing a predetermined quantity of cold water from said cold water making means, source material dispensing means responsive to the command output of said cold drink dispense commanding means for dispensing a predetermined quantity of source material, control means for controlling said ice making means and said ice dispensing means in accordance with the quantity of the ice required for being dispensed into said cup and the quantity of ice required by said cold water making means and wherein said ice making means comprises sustain tank means for receiving the water from said water supplying means, conduit means operatively connecting said sustain tank means to the inside of said ice making means for maintaining a constant water level inside of said ice making means, and further conduit means operatively connecting said cold water tank means with said sustain tank means for supplying said cold water tank means with water from said sustain tank means.

2. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said source material comprises at least powder and liquid, and which further comprises mixing means for mixing said source material dispensed from said source material dispensing means and cold water supplied from said cold water dispensing means for providing a mixture, said cup being adapted to receive said mixture from said mixing means.

3. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said source material is powder, and which further comprises

hot water making means for heating the water supplied from said water supplying means for making hot water,

first mixing means for receiving powder source material from said source material dispensing means and hot water from said hot water making means for mixing said powder source material and said hot water for providing a first mixture, and

second mixing means for receiving said first mixture from said first mixing means and said cold water from said cold water dispensing means for mixing said first mixture and said cold water for providing a second mixture,

said cup being adapted to receive said second mixture from said second mixing means.

4. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein

said source material is a liquid,

said source material dispensing means is structured to directly dispense a predetermined quantity of source material liquid into said cup and said cold water dispensing means is structured to directly dispense a predetermined quantity of cold water into said cup, whereby said source material and said cold water are mixed together with said ice in said cup.

5. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said ice storing portion comprises communicating apertures for communication with said cold water tank means, whereby the water in said cold water tank means is cooled directly by the ice melting in said ice storing portion.

6. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1 which further comprises cold water circulating means for returning said cold water in said cold water tank means into said sustain tank means.

7. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 6, wherein said cold water dispensing means comprises a branch pipe connected to said cold water circulating pipe means.

8. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 6 or 7, wherein said cold water tank means is located below said sustain tank means, and wherein said cold water circulating means comprise pipe means and pump means operatively connected in said pipe means for maintaining a cold water flow.

9. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means are separately coupled to said ice making means.

10. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means are coupled to a common ice dispensing means coupled to said ice making means, and

said common ice dispensing means comprises switching gate means for switching a path to said first ice dispensing means or said second ice dispensing means.

11. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 10, wherein said switching gate means comprises

a switching plate constructed to be displaceable to said first ice dispensing means or to said second ice dispensing means and for interrupting the passage of the corresponding ice dispensing means,

a plunger coupled to said switching plate,

a solenoid for attracting said plunger, and

spring means coupled to said switching plate for urging said switching plate in the direction opposite to said attracting direction of said solenoid by said plunger,

whereby when said solenoid is energized said switching plate is displaced to one of said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means, and when said solenoid is deenergized said switching plate is displaced by said spring means to the other of said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means.

12. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 10, wherein said switching gate means comprises

a switching plate rotatably supported,

a switching lever coupled to said switching plate and provided rotatably and integrally with said switching plate,

a plunger coupled to the free end of said switching lever,

a solenoid for attracting said plunger in one direction, and

spring means coupled to the free end of said switching lever and urging said switching lever in the direction opposite to said one direction, whereby when said solenoid is energized said plunger and thus said switching lever is attracted in said one direction, so that said switching plate blocks one of said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means, and when said solenoid is deenergized said switching lever is urged in said opposite direction by means of said spring means, so that said switching plate blocks the other of said first ice dispensing means and said second ice dispensing means.

13. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 10, wherein said switching gate means comprise a switching plate constructed to be displaceable to said first ice dispensing means or to said second ice dispensing means and to be rotatable about an axis to block the corresponding ice dispensing means, two stop members adapted to abut against said switching plate in a switched position of said switching plate, a first spring coupled to said switching plate, and a sliding member also coupled to said first spring, said sliding member being slidable for moving said first spring so that a center line of said first spring moves over said axis as said sliding member moves, whereby said switching plate abuts against one of said two stop members, whereby one of said first and second ice dispensing means is blocked while the other is opened and vice versa.

14. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 13, wherein said switching gate means comprises

a plunger coupled to said sliding member,

a solenoid for attracting said plunger in one direction, and

a second spring coupled to said sliding member for urging said sliding member in the direction opposite to said one direction.

15. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 10, which further comprises ice detecting means for detecting whether an ice quantity stored in said ice storing portion of said cold water making means is less than a predetermined quantity, and wherein said control means comprises gate switching control means responsive to the output of said ice detecting means (30) for shifting said switching gate means to said second ice dispensing means.

16. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 15, wherein said ice detecting means comprises displacement lever means for assuming a first position when a predetermined quantity of ice exists in said ice storing portion and for assuming a second position when the ice storing quantity is less than a predetermined quantity, and switching means responsive to the displacement of said displacement lever means for effecting an on/off control.

17. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 16, further comprising means for dispensing of ice to said ice storing portion of said cold water making means by said second ice dispensing means in an intermittent manner so that said detecting lever may correctly detect whether said stored quantity of ice is less than a predetermined quantity.

18. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 15, wherein said ice detecting means comprises a photosensitive device positioned at a predetermined height of said ice storing portion.

19. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 18, wherein said ice detecting means comprises a weight detecting means for detecting the weight of the ice stored in said ice storing portion to determine whether a predetermined quantity of ice is stored in said ice storing portion.

20. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 15, wherein said ice detecting means comprises electrical resistance detecting means responsive to a variation of the electrical resistance of the ice stored in said ice storing portion determining whether said predetermined quantity of ice is stored in said ice storing portion.

21. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said cold water making means comprises ice detecting means (30) for detecting whether the ice quantity stored in said ice stocking portion is less than a predetermined quantity, and wherein

said control means comprises means responsive to said ice detecting means for enabling said second ice dispensing means.

22. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 21, wherein said control means is adapted to monitor the output of said ice detecting means at every predetermined time interval for enabling said second ice dispensing means when the output is obtained from said ice detecting means for supplying said ice from said ice making means to said ice storing portion of said cold water making means until the output of said ice detecting means disappears or until a predetermined time period ends, and for enabling and keeping enabled said first ice dispensing means after completion of an ice supply.

23. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said control means comprises full state detecting means provided (5) associated with said ice making means for detecting whether is full said ice making means, and means responsive to the output of said full state detecting means (5) for deenergizing said ice making means.

24. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein said control means comprises ice making data generating means associated with said ice making means for generating data representing the quantity of ice made by said ice making means,

accumulating means for accumulating said data, and

ice dispensing control means responsive to the output of said accumulating means for controlling said second ice dispensing means for dispensing ice to said ice storing portion of said cold water making means when the quantity of ice made by said ice making means reaches a predetermined quantity at the beginning of operation of said apparatus.

25. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 24, wherein said control means comprises ice dispensing data generating means associated with said first and second ice dispensing means for generating data representing the quantity of ice dispensed from said ice making means, and which further comprises subtracting means for subtracting the data representing with the dispensed quantity of ice from the data accumulated in said accumulating means.

26. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 25, wherein said control means control said dispensing means so that at the beginning of operation a predetermined quantity of ice is dispensed to said ice storing portion of said cold water making means based on the data of said accumulating means, whereupon a cold drink is made vendible when a predetermined quantity of ice is made by said ice making means.

27. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 24, wherein the data representing the quantity of ice made by said ice making means is obtained as a product of an operating time period of said ice making means and an ice making quantity per unit time.

28. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 27, wherein the data representing the quantity of ice dispensed by said first and second ice dispensing means is obtained as a product of the dispensing time period by said first and second ice dispensing means and a dispensing quantity per unit time.

29. The automatic cup drink vending machine in accordance with claim 24, wherein said ice making control means comprises a full state data setting means for setting the data corresponding to the full state quantity of said ice making means, and

presetting means responsive to the output of said full state detecting means for presetting said full state quantity data into said accumulating means.

Other info:


Inventors: Tomiyama, Muneo (Nara, JP)
Mizugane, Keiichi (Yao, JP)
Taniguchi, Kazunori (Osaka, JP)
Nonaka, Toshio (Izumisano, JP)
Oodoi, Hidenori (Suita, JP)

Application Number: 06/107047
Filing Date: 1979-12-26
Publication_date: 1982-03-16
Assignee: KUBOTA LTD

Primary Class(es): 222/129.100 222/146.600, 62/400, 62/398
Other Classes: A47J31/40; A47J31/41; B67D1/00; G07F13/06; B67D5/62
US Patent Ref:

3021035	February, 1962	Hill	222/146C	Ice dispenser for beverage vending machines
3059450	October, 1962	Mueller et al.	222/146C	Dispensing units
3196625	July, 1965	Nicolaus	222/146C	Combination ice chip maker-dispenser and method
3827256	August, 1974	Wiesner	222/146C	BAR-CABINET FOR THE PRESERVATION, REFRIGERATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOLIC AND UNALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Other Refs:
Primary Examiner: Knowles, Allen N.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney: Fasse W. G.
Gould D. F.