GB1013110A - Coin operated automatic coffee vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

1,013,110. Coin-freed coffee vending apparatus. C. E. VALENTE, April 10, 1964 [April 12, 1963], No. 14865/64. Heading G4V. [Also in Division A4] A coin-freed hot coffee vending machine comprises an intermittently-rotatable carrier 18, 28, Fig. 7, for strainers 36 which is adapted to receive in succession a predetermined amount of ground coffee and is arranged to be moved so as to present successive strainers in position to receive ground coffee, position them above a coffee-receiving cup and invert them for the purpose of removing used coffee and making the strainers ready for re-use. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 the carrier, which is provided with four rotatable strainer holders 28 on a hub portion 18, is mounted for rotation on a shelf 1 in the casing A of the machine. Upon insertion of a coin the carrier is stepped round through 90 degrees so as to move the strainer from the ground coffee receiving station I to the coffee brewing station II at the front of the machine where hot water is sprayed on to the grounds and the coffee dispensed down a spout 27<SP>1</SP> into a cup disposed in a recess 143 which is accessible to the customer. Reservoirs 78 containing drinking water and siliconized water supply pumps 76, 77 in the hydraulic circuits for making the coffee and operating the various components of the machine. Insertion of a coin initiates the cycle of operation of the valves in the hydraulic circuits and the start of the motor 75 of the pumps. A cup is dispensed from a stack 160 into the recess 143 together with sugar from a container 158 and a spatula from a distributer which is mounted on the door 8 of the casing. Drinking water is supplied to the chamber 10 of the brewing station II, Fig. 6, where it is heated by an element 14 controlled by a thermostat 15. After coffee from a container 145 disposed above station I is deposited by an electro-grinder 50 into the strainer 36 at that station, the strainer in question is moved round to station III by a ratchet mechanism which is fixed to the shelf 1 at station IV and acts on a notched collar portion 69 of the carrier hub. The strainer which was used for the previous operator of the machine is presented to station III where, as shown in Fig. 8, it is inverted by a forked member 55 which is rotated by a rack-and-pinion mechanism; coffee grounds fall into a bucket 147 and the strainer is flushed clean by jets of water from spray-pipes 60, 61. The strainer with the freshly-ground coffee which is then at the brewing station is clamped by an extension 25 of a cylinder 23 while a valve 38 is lifted by a piston 43 to allow the heated water from the chamber 10 to be sprayed on to the grounds through a nozzle 6. The valves are then re-set and the pumps stopped ready for the next customer.