JPH01294489A - Automatic control system for filling drink vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically control the filling of a beverage cup via a control system including a control circuit which generates signals responsive to the traveling time of an ultrasonic transmitter-receiver and ultrasonic energy and which automatically detects the cup and fills the beverage therein. CONSTITUTION: An automatic filling device includes a converter assembly 20 on the bottom surface 22 of a valve assembly 12 and a control module 26 mounted on the front portion of the valve assembly 12. The converter assembly 20 includes a plastic housing 28 in which a transmitter crystal 30 with a plastic lens 32, and a receiver crystal 34 with a plastic lens 36. The automatic filling system transmits a 100 mm sec. pulse signal from the rear crystal transmitter to a grating 18 to determine a distance therebetween and the 100 μsec. pulse signal transmitted from the rear crystal transmitter is used to detect the cups 14 and 16. While the valve assembly is on and the beverage is poured in a cup, the system monitors the cup using the rear crystal transmitter and the level of the beverage using the front crystal transmitter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to beverage dispensing and, more particularly, to
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic system for automatically controlling the filling of beverage containers, such as for post-mix carbonated soft drinks.

Description of the Prior Art Attempts have been made to provide devices for automatically filling beverage containers, such as cups, in response to proper positioning of the cup under the nozzle of a dispensing valve assembly of a beverage dispenser. For example, liquid level detector devices have been used, such as conductive or capacitive electrical probes to measure liquid level.

It is also known to use ultrasonic energy and associated circuitry to measure various liquid levels within containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An automated system for controlling the filling of various sizes of beverage containers or cups, where the cups contain varying amounts of ice and the beverage may foam during filling. The system includes a transducer assembly and a control module, both preferably coupled to a beverage dispenser valve assembly. The transducer assembly is mounted adjacent to the nozzle and uses a first crystal that transmits ultrasound energy and a second crystal that receives reflected ultrasound energy. . Both crystals have lenses to provide beam coupling between the crystal and air and to generate a shaped beam (transmitter crystal) or receive the beam from a defined area (receiver crystal). - the control module includes a microcomputer and related circuitry to control the filling operation;
Determine that the cup is under the nozzle of the valve assembly, determine the amount of ice in the cup, fill the cup, wait for the foam to settle, top off the cup to let it fill completely, and and generating a signal to the operator that the filling is complete.

The control system uses either a single pair of crystals (one for the transmitter and one for the receiver) or two pairs. In embodiments using two pairs, one pair captures the grate and cup mouth, the other pair captures the rising liquid level, and multiple pairs use different beam shapes.

The control system generates a signal corresponding to at least one ultrasonic transmitter, at least one separate ultrasonic receiver, and a transit time of the ultrasonic energy, and automatically detects the presence of the cup and detects the presence of the cup. Control circuit means are included for using such signals to effect filling.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for automatically controlling the filling of beverage cups.

It is another object to provide a piestatic ultrasonic system for automatically filling beverage cups.

It is a further object to provide a system that uses signals received from liquid levels in grate, cupro, and cup.

It is another objective to provide a high resolution pistatic ultrasonic filling system, where the container and liquid level are in air and in close proximity to the crystal.

It is another object to provide an ultrasound system such that the receiver gain is maintained at a constant gain during each transmit period for a separate receiver crystal, but the detection level or scheme is varied. In particular, the detection scheme is kept very low until the transmitted beam is about 0.5 inches below the nozzle, and then the detection scheme is turned on at a constant tilt to compensate for signal loss.

It is yet another objective to apply lenses using ABS or polycarbonate plastic to the crystal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic system for automatically controlling the filling of beverage cups, which system (1) uses a frequency of approximately 400 KH2-; Using a static transducer system (
3) capture the leading edge of the reflected ultrasound energy pulse rather than the trailing edge, (4) mask the cup opening during the routine, (5) place the lens on the transducer, and (6) (7) using a lens material that shapes the beam and couples it to the air; (7) using a timed fill for the initial fill for cup vibration and hence mouth vibration; and (8) several routines. During that part, use low gain to look at the liquid level (which is a better reflector than the mouth), not at the mouth (9) to capture the top of the mouth (LGRATE subroutine), and (to avoid overfilling) (10) measure the filling time and (e.g., to prevent systematic filling of the cup due to the hole) cut off the filling if the signal above the mouth is received; If exceeds the maximum time period, cut off the filling.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system for use in adjacent beverage dispensing valve assemblies that automatically controls the filling of beverage cups from such valve assemblies without interference.

It is yet another object of the present invention to allow placement of ultrasonic control valve assemblies in close proximity to each other without interference.

It is a further object of the invention to prevent unnecessary interference from adjacent ultrasonic control valve assemblies by synchronizing the operation of adjacent valve assemblies to different half cycles of the AC power supply.

It is another object of the invention to use four crystals, divided into pairs, each with a separate transmitter and receiver, in an automatic ultrasound filling system.

Channelized tubes (
It is a further object of the invention to use channelizer tubes.

It is another object of the invention to provide two separate transmitter circuits for each of two separate transmitter crystals, and also to provide different transmission periods.

Provide an automatic ultrasonic control system for a beverage dispenser using two transmitter-receiver pairs, one using different beam shapes for the multiple pairs, and one causing the multiple pairs to capture different areas. This is a further object of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elements.

Referring now to the drawings, a first embodiment of the invention will first be described with reference to Figures 1-26, and then a second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 27-46. .

FIG. 1 shows a post-mixing beverage dispenser lO having four identical beverage dispensing valve assemblies I2, each of the valve assemblies operating two solenoids of the valve assembly (one for syrup and one for carbonated water). In order to accommodate this, the bottom of each valve assembly 12 has been modified to include an automatic filling device in two embodiments of the present invention in place of the normally extended cup actuating mechanical lever. Each of the valve assemblies 12 is used to dispense a soft drink (usually a different beverage from a multi-valve assembly) to various sized cups 14 and 16 supported on a cup support surface or grate 18. Although one specific beverage dispenser 10 and one specific valve assembly 12 are shown, several valve assemblies and any beverage dispenser can be used. Beverage dispensers and beverage dispensing valve assemblies, as shown at lo and 12, respectively, in FIG. 1 are well known and therefore do not require detailed explanation.

1 and 2, the automatic filling device of the first embodiment of the present invention includes a transducer assembly 20 located on the bottom surface 22 of the valve assembly 12 and behind the nozzle 24; It includes a control module 26 attached to the front.

Transducer assembly 20 is best shown in FIG. 3 and includes a plastic housing 28 that encloses a transmitter crystal 30 with a plastic lens 32 and a receiver crystal 34 with a plastic lens 36. The transmitter and receiver crystals are each made of brass tube 3
Located inside 8 and 40. A pair of shielded cables 42 and 44 are coupled to housing 28 by clamps 46. Each cable includes a shielded wire coupled to each of the brass tubes and a pair of wires coupled to each of the crystals in opposite positions, as shown in FIG. Each of the crystals has a metal coating on each of the upper and lower surfaces. The connections to the crystal include a pair of 34 gauge wires, each soldered to one of the metallizations on the crystal, and then soldered in turn to two 22 gauge wires on cables 42 and 44. Cables 42 and 44 are approximately 6
inch long and terminates in a single MTA connector 48 for coupling to control module 26.

The entire space within the housing 28 is filled with urethane foam 5.
Filled with 0.

The crystals, ie crystals 30 and 34, are preferably P
ZT-4 ceramic crystal (a common trade name for a specific crystal material) is a combination of lead titanate and lead zirconate.

Each of the crystals 30 and 34 is preferably attached to each lens 32 by using about 1/2 drop of adhesive, such as sold under the trademark Eastman 910.
and is attached to 36. The plastic lens is preferably made from ABS, polycarbonate, acrylic acid or polystyrene plastic.

Plastic housing 28 has a pair of seven lunge 52 shown in FIG. 2), each having a threaded hole for attaching transducer assembly 20 to valve assembly 12.

Brass tubes 38 and 40 electrically shield or insulate the crystal, acoustically insulate the crystal, and are injected into a mold or fixture used to hold all of the elements of assembly 20 in place. and then cured urethane 7
(along with ohms) has the function of mechanically holding the crystal.

The selection of the most desirable frequency to use is done as follows. On the upper limit, the attenuation of ultrasound in air becomes too great to be used beyond a few inches above about 60,0 KHz. Furthermore, 455KH
zBroadcast communication band IF frequency and 550KHz to 1.6
It was desired to avoid the 5 MHz AM broadcast band. By moving away from the FCC assigned frequencies and using less powerful transmissions for wireless stations, interference in wireless receivers operated in close proximity to the automatic control system of the present invention is eliminated.

For the lower limit, a 14 inch by 2 inch spread at the 3 db point was taken for the beam pattern because the beam pattern was constrained by the close proximity of the pond valve assembly.

This 2-inch opening creates a total angle of about 8 degrees.

Due to spacing considerations, 1/2 inch diameter crystals were selected. A 400KHz frequency was selected as the preferred frequency. Other frequencies in the range of 200 KHz to 450 KHz can alternatively be used.

Regarding the beam shape, at 14 inches, the overall maximum beam pattern is at the detection limit (-4
0db) less than 3 inches wide and -3d
It needs to be about 3 inches from front to back at point b. The gains at these points should be reasonably uniform.

The crystal patterns are empirically selected to give the best level gain front to back, and crystals 30 and 34 are connected to the nozzle 24.
and the splash plate 25. The resulting overall gain pattern with 3 db gain at 12 inches had a resulting lateral spread of 3.5 degrees and a resulting front to back spread of 12 degrees.

It was necessary to apply a lens to the crystal to achieve the desired beam pattern. A 2-inch concave radius produces an 8- to 3.5-degree constriction on both sides, and a 4-inch convex radius produces an 8- to 12-degree opening front to back, allowing for 3 db gain and 3.5 degrees of convergence on both sides. At points 12 inches apart, about 3/4 inch wide and about 2y2
A fan beam pattern was formed in an elongated footprint having a length of inches. The beam-shaped footprint has an elongated dimension that extends back and forth with respect to the dispenser.

The coupling from crystals 30 and 34 to air was calculated as follows.

The characteristic impedance of PZT-4 is equal to 66xlOE6 rays (E-index).

The penetrating power (Tp) is: N2 = Characteristic impedance of air N I = Characteristic impedance of PZT-4 Pc - Power output of crystal Tp - 1 Watts is 12.6X10E-6, i.e. 0
0126% goes to air.

A third material is not introduced between the air and the material ((N2
/Nl)+1)+(N2/N3)+(N3/Nl) 3rd
Most target materials for materials are 1. lXl0E6 to 1
It has a characteristic impedance of 0XIOE6 rays.

, for 1XIOE6, Tp=25X10E-610X
For 10E6, Tp = 22X10E- to 1.1
For a lossless material used as a coupling to air with a characteristic impedance of X10E6 to 10XIOE6 rays, the resulting input power is at least doubled and the energy transferred to the air changes by 10%.

The preferred lens material is one of plastics, such as acrylic or ABS. The lens is (1) plastic for production, (2) 1/2 inch diameter and approximately 0.8 inch thick, and (3) 2 inch concave radius on one axis and 4 inch on the other axis. It has a convex radius of (4) inches and is adhered to the crystal face with about 1/2 drop of adhesive (preferably sold under the trademark Eastman 910, or equivalent).

With respect to the lens mounting pedestal, the lens is mounted in polyurethane foam to reduce acoustic coupling between receiver and transmitter. Brass tubes surround each crystal and the inner form mount surrounds the pedestal;
Provides electrical shielding and is soldered to the shield of the cable routed to the crystal. The crystal is left floating, ie the picture electrode is at a potential not referenced to ground.

This is to avoid picking up ground reference noise.
Provides greater electrical isolation at the receiver.

The brass tube is held in place in the desired package shape by polyurethane foam. A lens protrudes from the bottom surface form package.

Regarding crystal shape and material, the transmitter Gristal is
Preferably, 1/2 inch OD x is 200 inches for a series resonance of 400 KHz. As the best compromise in strength, effectiveness, and ease of processing, PZT
-4 material was chosen for crystals 30 and 34. The receiver crystal is preferably 190 inches, 1/2 inch OD x for a parallel resonance of 400 KHz, and is also made from PZT-4 material.

For electrical wiring, twisted shielded bare conductors of 22 gauge standard wire are used. Wire shielding is made of brass tubes 38 and 40.
is soldered to. The brass tubes are electrically insulated from each other. A pair of 34 gauge solid wire is soldered to the metallized crystal face and then to 22 gauge lead wire. All wiring is placed into the form in position. A twisted pair of pyroelectric wires is attached to the outer crystal face marked with a small dot.

Control module 26 houses a control circuit board, crystals 30 and 34 connect cables 42 and 44, and connector 4.
Combined by 8. 4A and 4B provide a major block diagram of control circuit 60. FIG. The control circuit is now
The description will be made with reference to FIGS. 4-12.

The receiver converter 62 (Figure 4.5.6)
, a 1/2 inch diameter parallel resonant piezoelectric crystal 34 made from PZT-4 material.

The crystal is coupled to the air by a plastic lens shaped to receive the beam shape.

Transducer assembly 20 is 5/8 inch in diameter and incorporates brass tubing 40 used for electrical insulation.

A crystal 34 is mounted so that it is centered in the tube and a lens 36 is exposed at one end of the tube. The tube assembly is encased in polyurethane foam for acoustic insulation.

The receiver section 64 has an overall gain of 96db and includes two protection diodes 110 and 112 and two MC
1350P IF amplifiers 114 and 116 are interconnected by a tuned transformer 118, and another tuned transformer 120 interconnects the second amplifier 116 to the detector 68. These amplifiers 114 and 116
has provision for gain control from pin 5 and is used by microcomputer-66 in this application.

A detector circuit 68 (Figure 4.5.7) converts the 400Khz from receiver 64 into a DC analog signal. This detector is special in that it not only detects the envelope of the pulse, but because it is a DC-coupled detector, there is no offset shift due to pulse width variations.

By providing a balanced detector system, temperature drift is very low.

The receiver gain reduction 70 (Fig. 4.5.6) includes five resistors forming two additional heavy current ranking D-to-A converters driven by a microcomputer 66, which has 32 stages. gain level control.

The Threnjord comparator 72 (Fig. 4.5.7)
93N comparator 122 and is used in conjunction with time-varying detection to convert the analog receiver signal to a digital signal, which is then sent to microcomputer-66.

Within this circuit there is a means to adjust the slope of the time varying detector using a 100K potentiometer and a means to adjust the threshold detector using a 500 ohm potentiometer 125.

The time-varying detection generator 74 (Fig. 4.5.7) uses the gate signal that the microcomputer 66 sends to the transmitter and charges the 15 nanopolar capacitor 124 to 2 volts, which is Sets the peak level of the detector waveform. This circuit is a 2N412
6 switching transistors 126 and a power supply to support the circuit.

The modulator 76 (Fig. 4.5.9) consists of a 12 port Zener diode 128 and two transistors 130 and 13.
2, transmitter gate signal (T) and 40 from the transmitter
Performs AND) function for 0KHz signal. This (AN
The D) signal is then level shifted to the gate of final amplifier 78 by a 12-port Zener diode 128 and a 2N44021-transistor 132.

The final amplifier 78 (Fig. 4.5.9) is a BUZ-71A
Includes a MOS-FET 134, a resistor 136, and a transformer 138. The resistor discharges the gate-source capacitor of MOS-FET 134. MOS-F
ET 134 switches output transformer 138 to the negative 20 volt power supply in response to the gate drive signal. Transformer 138 steps the transmit crystal voltage to approximately 2000 Ports.

The transmit transducer 80 (Figure 4.5.9) is a 400 KHz 1/2 inch diameter series resonant piezoelectric crystal 3 made from PZT-4 material identical to the receiver crystal 34 except for its thickness.
Contains 0. Crystal 30 is coupled to the air by a plastic lens 32 shaped to form a beam pattern.

The assembly of the transmit transducer 80 is completely identical to that of the receiver, as described above.

The microcomputer-66 (Figure 4.5) is a General Instruments Pic-1654 and contains the intelligence and control functions of the entire system. It communicates with the rest of the system via 12 I10 pins.

It also includes an oscillator circuit, a master clear circuit, and a real-time clock counter.

The components of the crystal 82 (Figure 4.5) and the 4MHz crystal are P
A passive component is provided to form a feedback network for the oscillator in the IC-1654.

The power-on reset circuit (Figure 4.5) provides a 10 millisecond reset pulse to the microcomputer 66 on power-on to start the 4 MHz oscillator crystal 82 and initialize the microcomputer 66. .

The division by 10 counter 86 (Figure 4.5.10) converts the 4 MHz computer clock to a 400 KHz square wave signal to operate the transmitter.

The division by the 3 counter 88 (Figure 4.5.10) is applied to the microcomputer 66 using the 400 KHz signal as a real-time clock counter.
Convert to 3 KHz signal. Number 13 and number 14 are
The same circuit has circuits for division by 10 and division by 3.
Contained within the IC (74HC390) divider chip.

Front panel module 90 (Figures 14, 5, 12) includes two LED indicators 92 and 94.

On the other hand, r over ice/cup removal” (Chapter 4.5
．． Figure 12) A light indicator 92 and the other a green ``Fill J'' LED 94 that indicates that the cup is ready or is being filled.The indicator 94 indicates that the cup is ready until filling begins. "When it's done, it's on" remains unchanged. The light indicator light 92 cycles on and off if there is too much ice in the cup or if the cup is not recognized as a cup.

There is a programming dip switch 96 (Fig. 4.5.11A) comprising five individual switches accessible by removing a cover (not shown) on the lower back side of the control module 26. One switch (±) is used to select standard flow or fast flow valve assembly, depending on the type of valve assembly to which the automatic control system is attached. Another switch is used to select a water-like, frothy or uniform product. used to select.

The other three switches are used to select ice level or inspection position. The test position is used for receiver alignment during manufacturing and has no field use. The binary outputs of the three ice level switches allow seven ice level selections from 1/8 cup to 7/8 cup, as shown in FIG.

A multiplexer circuit 98 (Figure 4.5) causes the microcomputer 66 to read the dip switch or set the receiver gain as required. It includes five signal diodes.

The power supply 10 (Figure 4.5.8) is connected to the dispenser l.
Use 24 volt alternating current from a 50 VAC transformer (not shown) at O. This control system has 24
It consumes less than 2 Bordeaux amperes in volt alternating current. 24 volt alternating current is rectified and minus 2
It is filtered to form 0 volts DC and plus 25 volts DC. The minus 20 volt supply is regulated with a Zener diode and provides power to the transmitter. The plus 25 volt supply is not regulated but has a 39 volt Zener diode used as surge protection. The 25 volts DC is regulated to 15 volts for the receiver subsystem by a 78L15 three terminal regulator 140. MPS-A42 transistor 142 is used as a flyback oscillator to provide the plus 5 volts needed to operate the computer circuitry. The 4.3 volt Zener diode 144 has a positive 5 volt supply and a 2N4
124 transistor 146 and serves to tune the flyback oscillator.

The output switches 104 (FIG. 4.5.8) for the two solenoids of the valve assembly 12 are operated either from the microcomputer 66 or from a manual button 102 on the front of the control module 26. The resistor diode network is microcomputer-66
and manual switch lO2 2N4124 transistor 1
Combined with 48 paces, then output triac 14
9 on or off, turning the two solenoids in valve assembly 12 on or off.

The software will now be described with reference to FIGS. 13-26. FIG. 13 shows transducer assembly 20, lens 32
and 36, in a side view showing the cup 16 with the nozzle 24 of the beverage dispenser valve assembly 12, the control module 26, the lily pad 25, the grate 18, and the cupro 17, the cup bottom 19, and the top level 21 of ice in the cup. be.

The software includes four main routines: Initialization Routine (INIT), Cup Detection (cUPDET), Fill Routine (FILL), and Force/Knob Removal Routine (
cUPREM).

The software also includes five subroutines: time delay (WAIT), absolute value of the difference between two numbers (DIFF), great/overflow detector (LGRATE), and transmission (TBDQ, TBDW, TLD, described below). , and reception (REC).

The transmitter subroutine sets variables for the receiver routine and generates 25 microsecond pulses (,400KHz occupying 1 inch of airspace) while the transmitter is active.
10 cycles). Receiver variable selection is 3
The TBDQ
(Transmit Bottom Detector), T'BDW (Transmit Bottom Detector with Window), and vTLD (Transmit Date Detector).

The receiver has 32 stages of gain controlled by software. The gain is set to a minimum from the start of the transmission until about 1.3 inches target distance time (180 microseconds). At that point, the gain is set equal to the gain variable that was set up in the entry point routine. For TLD, gain is always set to maximum. For TBDQ and TBDW, the gain is determined by the calling routine. TBDQ and TLD
At , the detected first echo distance is captured for processing. In TBDW, a romasking window is enabled to ignore echoes closer than the mouth distance +, 25 inches.

This causes higher gain to be used to capture the rising liquid level inside the cup. All entries/
Below the point, five transmissions and receptions are made with the echo distance stored in RAM.

The processing algorithm looks for two samples that are correlated within 1 inch for TLD or within 1 inch for TBDQ and TBDW. The average of the two distances is used as the echo distance. A 2 ms delay is incorporated before each transmission to collapse previous multiple reflections.

WAIT is a programmable delay subroutine.
If the manual button is pressed, it immediately returns to the calling routine. It has a maximum delay of 1 second.

DIFF is a subroutine that calculates the absolute value of the difference between two numbers.

LGRATE is a great/overflow detector subroutine and is used during the FILL routine. It is T to detect with maximum gain and no window.
Use LD. Subroutine is mouth distance minus 1
If an echo distance of less than an inch is detected, an over 70-- flag is set before returning. If the subroutine detects an echo distance within 25 inches of the great distance, the cup removal flag is set before returning.

INIT is used when the microcomputer is initialized by a "master clear" (hardware). During power-up, the first instruction processed is at location 777 (octal). Command rGOTo r
N I TJ C commands the computer to start executing this routine, but this routine is (1
) RAM is cleared, (2) wait 1 second for power to stabilize, (3) if enabled,
Run the diagnostic routine; (4) use the TLD to explore the echo distance between the finch and the 13-inch with maximum gain and no windows; (5) if no echoes are detected within this range, the front panel (6) If no echo distance is detected within 13 inches, the distance is stored in RAM as the great distance and the program returns
Contains functionality that continues in UPDET.

CUPDET is a cup detection routine.

This routine uses the TLD to collect data and the following steps to accept the cup.

A. The manual filling switch at the front panel is continuously monitored to ensure proper operation.

If the manual switch is pressed, the computer will immediately begin the cup removal routine.

B. A stable mouth distance must be established greater than 3 inches from the grate. Stable mouth distance is defined as five consecutive echo distances from the TLD separated by 6 milliseconds correlated within 1.2 inches. This corresponds to a stable cupro for 130 ms.

C. The bottom of the cup or the ice level is on the grate.

Must be identified as more than 1 inch above the mouth and less than 25 inches below the mouth. This is achieved by using a TBDW and varying the gain as follows.

At minimum gain, echo distance is obtained using TBDW. If the echo distance is no more than 1 inch closer than the grate, the gain is increased by one step and another sample is taken.

If the gain reaches maximum, the overice indicator flashes and the cup detection routine begins again.

D. The ice/bottom height is calculated from the final distance and grate obtained as outlined in (c) above and then stored as the actual ice height. Cup height is calculated from mouth distance and grate. The cup height is divided by 8 and the quotient is multiplied by the 3-bit binary input selected in the ice level programming switch. This allowable water height is compared to the actual ice height. If the actual ice height is greater than allowed by the switch selection, the over ice indicator will flash and the cup detection routine will begin again. If the actual ice height is less than the amount selected by the switch, the FI
The LL routine begins.

The FILL routine controls complete fill and top-off operations. The routine limits solenoid operation to a maximum of three on/off cycles. After each of the first two cycles, the routine waits for the foam to stabilize before starting the next cycle.

After the foam has stabilized and the cup is within 7/20 inch of full, the cup removal routine begins.

If the manual switch is pressed at any time during the FILL routine, the cup removal routine begins immediately. Each cycle has a maximum solenoid in time, which, if exceeded, initiates a cup removal routine.

A detailed description of the FILL routine follows.

A. Several checks and corrections are made before the valve assembly 12 solenoid is activated. The gain is initially
The maximum gain is l l/l set to 6. Mouth distance is 4
If it is less than inches, the gain is adjusted by the empirically derived formula:

Gain=Gain l\8 (4 inch mouth distance) If the mouth distance is less than 4 inches, the mouth distance is adjusted by the empirically derived formula:

Mouth distance = mouth distance 1/8 (4 inches mouth distance) If the mouth distance is less than 1 inch, then the mouth distance is 1.
Set to 1 inch to allow the cup overflow to function properly.

The time constant for this particular cup height is calculated by the following equation.

Time Constant - Cup Height 2 inches This time constant is used in each of the three cycles to provide a maximum "solenoid on" time that is proportional to cup height.

B, the gain is when the fluid level is detected and the mouth is FIL
It must be adjusted so that it is not during the period when the cup vibrates, as at the beginning of L. To accomplish this, a time period proportional to the cup height is programmed to start filling and obtain enough weight to minimize cup vibration and adjust gain as necessary.

During this time period, the routine uses TBDQ and checks to be within 75 inches of the echo distance or mouth distance. If so, the gain is reduced by one step.

If the gain reaches a minimum, the cup removal routine begins. If the cup is removed during this period, the solenoid will not be turned off because the Great/Over 70-Detector subroutine will not be called by attempting to obtain as many samples as possible to adjust the gain. At the end of the period, the solenoid is on.

C. A second maximum time period proportional to cup height begins. During this time period, the routine uses the TBDW to monitor the liquid level and turns off the solenoid when the liquid level is within 5 inches of the mouth distance. The grate/overflow detector subroutine checks if the cup has been removed or if the TBDW has missed a rising liquid level and an overflow is imminent. If the cup is missing, the cup removal routine begins. If over 70- is indicated, the solenoid is turned off.

D. A 5 second pause begins at this point to allow the foam to settle 25 inches below the cup mouth. The great/overflow subroutine checks once every second to see if the cup is still in place. If a cup is missing, a cup removal routine is initiated.

E. The minimum number of seconds for the bubble to settle after a 5 second pause is 16
and once per second, the echo distance is TBD
Obtained by Q. If two consecutive echo distances are within 1 inch of each other, or if the period times out, a top-off cycle begins. The Great/Overflow Detector subroutine checks for the absence of a cup once per second. If a cup is detected to be absent, a cup removal routine begins.

F. Top-off cycle uses TBDQ to determine if the fluid level is within 7/20 inch of the mouth. If this condition exists, the solenoid will not be turned on. If the echo distance is not within 7/20 inches, the solenoid will be on until that condition is met.

Iterations of G, D, E, and F are performed to achieve the second top-off cycle.

The cup removal routine (cUPREM) is performed by filling indicator 9
2 off, valve assembly 12 solenoid off, and overice indicator 94 on. It uses TLD and waits for an echo distance within 25 inches of the great. If this condition exists,
The new grate distance is stored, the overice indicator is turned off, and the cup detection routine begins again.

As described above, the system of the present invention provides an ultrasonic method and apparatus for controlling automatic filling of beverage cups. The system can be used with any beverage, such as coffee, tea, milk, fruit juice, and carbonated soft drinks. The beverage may or may not foam during filling. Cups of different sizes are used and they contain ice.

The system is used with any known standard beverage dispenser. In the case of a carbonated soft drink dispenser, the transducer assembly and control module of the present invention are placed directly on the valve assembly. The cup actuation arm and microswitch are removed from the standard valve assembly. A triac 149 in FIG. 8 replaces the microswitch and simultaneously turns the syrup solenoid and soda water solenoid on and off.

The system of the present invention is on and active whenever power to the dispenser is on.

Power is often left on to the dispenser to keep the cooling system on.

A brief overview will now be provided without reference to details of the system described above.

The system first acquires the great signal and stores it in RAM. The way to do this is to create five 25 millisecond pulses (about 0.2 milliseconds apart) each spaced about 2 milliseconds apart.
(with an airspace length of 1 inch).

If two identical signals within 0.1 inch are not received, this first set of pulses is discarded and a new set of 5 pulses is immediately transmitted (about 2 milliseconds later). Ru. If two signals are received and are within 0.1 inch, and they are approximately 7 to 13 inches apart, the system determines that it is the great distance and sets it as Store in RAM.

The system then goes to the cup detection routine. The same set of pulses is transmitted and received with maximum sensitivity. To determine that a cup is present, the system must examine five consecutive echo distances, each correlated to within 0.2 inches and separated by 6 milliseconds. That is, five sets of pulses are sent with 6 milliseconds between each set. It is a 1 value (or 1 echo distance) if at least a binary signal is received from the first set of 5 pulses within 0.1 inch. 5 in rows within 0.2 inches
After receiving the pulse, the system knows that a cupro (or something other than a great) is present.

The system then goes to the next routine. In this routine, the system looks for objects o, i inches above the grate and 0.25 inches below the mouth, i.e.
Look for ice or the bottom of the cup.

If this is found, the system concludes that the entity is a cup (eg, not a hand). If ice or bottom is acquired, it is -temporarily stored. Then the cup height is calculated and then the ice height is calculated. The system then calculates whether the cup has enough ice.

Otherwise, the system goes to the FILL routine. This routine is somewhat complex.

In the FILL routine, there are four fill periods. The first period or initial fill is not monitored but is set as a function of time based on cup height. It fills to about 1/3 cup under certain normal conditions. The system then automatically switches to a second period without stopping the filling, in which the filling is monitored and the filling is carried out until the liquid level reaches 0 at the memorized mouth distance.
It is cut off when it rises to within 75 inches. Then F
The ILL routine waits 5 seconds to allow the foam to settle (if the control module is set for foam drinks). The monitor continues to wait for the bubble to stop moving, and then
When two distances are received within 0.1 inch, the system calculates whether the level is within 7/20 inch of the mouth.

Otherwise, filling is resumed and monitored until the level is within 7/20 inch of the mouth. That's 7/2
If within 0 inches, filling will not be resumed. The "top off" routine is then repeated after another 5 second pause.

After completion of the FILL routine, fill indicator light 92 is turned off, the solenoid is turned off, and overice indicator light 94 is turned off.

A second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to Figures 27-46. An important difference between this embodiment and the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1-26 is that in this embodiment two or more beverage dispensing valves having an ultrasonic control system of this embodiment Adjacent valves in the dispenser are designed to be placed very close to each other without interference. However, many other features of the two embodiments are the same.

FIG. 27 shows a valve assembly 12 used as one or more valve assemblies in the dispenser IO of FIG.
A valve assembly 212 similar to that shown in FIG. The automatic filling device of this embodiment of the invention includes a transducer assembly 220 located on the bottom surface 222 of the valve assembly 212 and behind the nozzle 224, and a control module 226 attached to the front surface of the valve assembly 212.

Transducer assembly 220 is best shown in FIGS. 28-30 and includes a transmitter crystal 230 with a plastic lens 232 and a separate receiver crystal 234 with a plastic lens 236.
Includes housing 228. The transmitter and receiver crystals are placed inside brass tubes 238 and 240, respectively.

A pair of shielded cables 242 and 244 each have a shielded wire coupled to each of the brass tubes 238 and 240, and a pair of shielded wires coupled to each of the crystals in opposite positions, as shown in FIG. Contains electrical wires. Each of the crystals has a metal coating on each of the upper and lower surfaces. Wiring to the crystal is a 28 gauge wire soldered directly to the crystal coating.

/7--Fulls 242 and 244 are approximately 9 inches long;
and for coupling to the control module 22G (third
48) in a single MTA bond. Substantially all of the space within housing 228 is filled with urethane foam 250.

Transmitter crystal 230 and receiver crystal 234 preferably include:
PZT-5a ceramic quartz (a common trade name for a specific quartz material) is a combination of lead titanate and lead zirconate. Each of the crystals is preferably about 1/2
A drop is attached to each lens by using adhesive. The plastic lens is preferably A
Made of BS or polycarbonate plastic.

Plastic housing 228 has a pair of seven flange on each side, each seven flange having a threaded hole for attaching transducer assembly 220 to valve assembly 212.

Brass tubes 238 and 240 have the same function as described above with reference to brass tubes 38 and 40. As shown in FIGS. 28-30, transducer assembly 220 includes a plastic housing 228, a urethane foam filler 250,
Urethane foam lid 400, plastic cover 4
02, and a transmitter and receiver subassembly 420 and 422, respectively, slid into a pair of spaced cylindrical cavities in a 7 ohm filler 250.

Transmitter subassembly 420 includes transmitter crystal 230, lens 232, urethane foam simple 424, and brass tube 238. The receiver subassembly also includes a receiver crystal 234, a lens 236, a urethane foam simple 426, and a brass tube 240.

Lenses 232 and 234 are shaped as shown in FIGS. 28 and 30, with square 7 flanges and circular ports for receiving crystals. The crystal is glued to the lens as described above. The crystal lens unit is then pushed inside the simple and the tube is pushed onto the simple. The lens has a recess for the wire connection to the lower surface of the crystal, and the simple has two grooves, as shown in Figure 8428, for the two wires to be coupled to the crystal. No grooves are provided for electrical wires that are coupled to the brass tube.

Housing 228 includes a pair of thin flanges 408 and 41
O1 and a pair of thick flanges 412 and 414 with threaded holes for use in coupling transducer assembly 220 to distribution valve 212.

Thick 7 flange 412 and 414 are used to adjust the position of housing 220 and therefore the position of the transmitted beam.

As shown in FIG. 28, lenses 232 and 236 are recessed in the bottom of foam filler 250 to provide a baffle 251. As shown in FIG. Additionally, lower sidewall 253 of filler 250 extends below lenses 232 and 234. Baffle 251 serves to prevent ultrasound energy from being transmitted directly from the transmitter to the receiver. side wall 2
53 serves to prevent ultrasonic energy from being transmitted misaligned to adjacent valves. The foam absorbs ultrasound energy.

The selection of the most desirable frequencies to use also depends on the first
Same as above with reference to embodiments.

Regarding the beam shape, at 14 inches, the overall maximum beam pattern is at the detection limit (-4
0 db) and approximately 3 inches from front to back, one 3 db point at the front is closely followed by an O db point and then tapers off to 15 db at the rear. Near the front of the pattern (
The gain at the point (towards the nozzle) needs to be maximum, and the gain is about 6d when the pattern reaches the backward point.
b decreases smoothly. The crystal pattern is empirically selected to give the best cupro to ice (front) ratio, and the crystals are aligned back and forth between the nozzle 224 and the splash plate 25.

The resulting overall gain pattern at 12 inches is 3.5
It had a side opening of 12 degrees and a front and back opening of 12 degrees.

It was necessary to apply a lens to the crystal to achieve the desired beam pattern. A 2 inch concave radius is 8 degrees to 3 degrees on both sides for both the transmit and receive crystals.
A 5 degree pinch was created, and a 4 inch convex radius created an 8 to 12 degree opening front to back for the receiver crystal. The plano lens in front of l/2 of the crystal is followed by a 3 inch convex radius behind the transmitter crystal, which has a width of about 3/4 inch and a length of about 22 inches at -3db. A fan-shaped beam pattern was formed in the extended 7-topprint, with the bright spot approximately 1 inch from the front, 13 db in front, 16 db in the rear, and 12 inches from transducer assembly 220.

The beam-shaped footprint has an elongated dimension that extends back and forth with respect to the dispenser.

The crystal to air coupling was calculated in the same way as above for the first embodiment.

One modification in the second embodiment is that the lens is inserted into the bottom surface of the foam package.

Regarding crystal shape and materials, the transmitter crystal is preferably 1/2 inch OD x 200 inches for a series resonance of 400 KHz. As the best compromise in strength, effectiveness, low mechanical Q1 and ease of processing.

PZT-5a material was chosen for crystals 230 and 234. The receiver crystal is preferably 400KH
z parallel resonance, 1/2 inch ODX, 190 inches, and also made from PZT-5a material.

For electrical wiring, twisted shielded pairs of 28 gauge standard wire are used and soldered directly to the coating on the crystal face. Wire shielding is made of brass tubes 238 and 240
is soldered to. The brass tubes are electrically insulated from each other. A twisted pair of pyroelectric wires is attached to the outer crystal face marked with a small dot.

Control module 226 houses the control circuit board and the crystal connects cables 242 and 244 and connector 248.
combined by 31A and 31B provide a main block diagram of control circuit 260. FIG. The control circuit is
This will now be described with reference to FIGS. 31-39.

The receiver converter 262 (Fig. 31.32.33) has a 40
A 0 KHz, 1/2 inch diameter parallel resonant piezoelectric crystal coupled to the air by a plastic lens shaped to accommodate the beam pattern. Transducer assembly 220 incorporates brass tubing 240 that is 5/8 inch diameter and used for electrical insulation. The crystal is placed in the center of the tube and mounted so that the lens 236 is exposed at one end of the tube. Polyurethane foam provides acoustic insulation.

The receiver portion 264 (Figs. 31, 32 and 33) is 96d
b, and two protection diodes 310
and 312, and two MC1350P IF amplifiers 3
14 and 316, which are tuned transformers 31
8 and another tuned transformer 320 cross-couples the second amplifier 316 to the detector 268 . These amplifiers 314 and 316 have provision for gain control from pin 5 and are used by the microcomputer-266 in this application.

Detector circuit 268 (Figures 31, 32 and 33) converts the 400Khz from receiver 264 into a DC analog signal. This detector is special in that it not only detects the envelope of the pulse, but because it is a DC-coupled detector, there is no offset shift due to pulse width variations. By providing a balanced detector system, temperature drift is very low.

The receiver gain reduction circuit 270 (FIGS. 31, 32 and 33) is a 2
5 to form an additional heavy current sinking D-to-A converter
1 resistor, which allows 32 stages of gain level control.

The threshold comparator 272 (FIGS. 31, 32, and 33) includes the LM393N comparator 322 and is used in conjunction with time-varying detection to convert the analog receiver signal to a digital signal; It is sent to the microcomputer-266.

The time-varying detection generator 274 (Figs. 31, 32, 34) is a manual/TV
The D signal is used and charges the 15 nanopolar capacitor 324 to 2 volts, which sets the peak level of the time-varying detector waveform. This circuit is 2N4
126 switching transistors 326 and a power supply to support the circuitry. 5 Q Hz detection is achieved in the 60 Hz detector shown in Figure 31.32.34. The incoming 60Hz 124VAC power is sensed by 1/2 of the comparator LM393N322 after filtering and the output shunts the TVD signal to ground and the detector 268 signal is biased above ground so that the detector Make the comparator output high for 1/2 of the 60H2 waveform. The microcomputer 266 senses this and uses the falling edge of the 60 Hz signal from the detector comparator to initiate the sequence and thereby phase locks the 60 Hz -24 VAC power system. Adjacent valve assemblies are separated in time by reversing 24 VAC wires 450 and 452 (see FIG. 32), so that adjacent units
They are synchronized to different 1/2 cycles of the 60Hz power supply and thus do not interfere with each other. Alternatively, a switch is provided with two possible positions labeled "A" and rBJ to indicate the two possible orientations of wires 450 and 452. Thus, one valve assembly is
If in the "A" position, each immediately adjacent valve assembly must have a switch in the "B" position. If the units are spaced apart from each other (2) by valve assembly 9, the units will be sufficiently far apart so that they do not interfere with each other.

The modulator 276 (Figures 31, 32, and 36) consists of a 12-port Zener diode 328 and two transistors 3.
30 and 332, and performs an AND function on the transmitter gate signal (T) and the 400 KHz signal from the oscillator.

This (ANDed) signal is either that or the 5.12 Porto
It is level shifted to the gate of final amplifier 28 by Zener diode 328 and 2N4402) transistor 332.

The final amplifier 278 (Figures 31, 32 and 36) is a TRF
-523MC3-FET 334, resistor 336, and transformer 338. The resistor is MC5-FET33
Discharge the gate-source capacitor of 4. M.O.S.
-FET 334 switches output transformer 338 to the negative 20 volt supply in response to the gate drive signal. Transformer 338 steps the voltage on transmit crystal 230 to approximately 2000 volts.

The transmit transducer 280 (Figs. 31, 32, and 36) includes a 400 KHz 1/2 inch diameter series resonant piezoelectric crystal 230 made from the exact same PZT-5A material as the receiver crystal 34, except for its thickness. include. Crystal 230 is coupled to the air by a plastic lens 232 shaped to form a beam pattern. The assembly of the transmit transducer 280 is completely identical to that of the receiver, as described above.

The microcomputer 266 (Figures 31 and 32) is
General Instruments Pic-1654, and includes the whole system's intelligence and control functions. It communicates with the rest of the system via 12 I10 pins.

It also includes an oscillator circuit, a master clear circuit, and a real-time clock counter.

Crystal 282 (FIGS. 31 and 32) and the 4 MHz crystal component provide a passive component that forms a feedback network for the oscillator in Pic-1654.

The power-on reset circuit 284 (FIGS. 31 and 32)
10 to the microcomputer-266 when the power is turned on.
A millisecond reset pulse is generated to start the 4 MHz oscillator crystal 282 and initialize the microcomputer 266.

Division by the lO counter 286 (Figures 31, 32, and 37) converts the 4 MHz computer clock to a 400 K) i z square wave signal to operate the transmitter.

The division by 3 counter 288 (Figures 31, 32, and 37) converts the 400 KHz signal to a 333 KHz signal that is applied to the microcomputer-266 as a real-time clock counter. Numbers 13 and 14 are contained within the same IC (74HC390) divider chip having divide by lO and divide by 3 circuits.

Front panel module 290 (FIGS. 31, 32, and 39) includes two LED indicators 292 and 294. One is "Over Ice/Cup Removal" (No. 31.32.
Figure 39) is a red indicator 292 and the other is a green indicator 292 indicating that the cup can be filled or is filled.
Filling J LED294. Indicator 294 remains "on" when the cup is ready until filling is complete.

The Over Ice/Cup Removal red indicator will illuminate if there is too much ice in the cup and will remain lit until the cup is removed. If the cup is not recognized as a cup due to mispositioning, the green indicator light 29
4 repeats on and off.

Programming dipper with five individual switches accessible by removing a cover (not shown) on the lower back of control module 226.
There is a switch 296 (Figure 3132.38A). One switch is used to select a standard flow or fast flow valve assembly, depending on the type of valve assembly to which the automatic control system is attached. Another switch is used to select water-like, foaming or uniform product. The other three switches are used to select ice level or inspection position. The test position is used for receiver alignment during manufacturing and has no field use.

The binary outputs of the three ice level switches are number 38B.
As shown in the figure, 7/8 cup to 7/8 cup
Allows for two ice level selections.

Multiplexer circuit 298 (FIGS. 31 and 32) causes microcomputer 266 to read the dip switch or set the receiver gain as desired. It includes five signal diodes.

The power supply 3θ0 (Figures 31, 32, 35) is connected to a 24VAC transformer (not shown) at the dispenser lO.
Uses 24 volt alternating current from.

This 24 VAC is filtered to remove high frequency noise that interferes with system operation.

The control system consumes less than 2 Bordeaux Amps at 24 Volts AC. The 24 volt AC is rectified and filtered to form a negative 20 volt DC and a positive 25 volt DC. The minus 20 volt supply is regulated with a Zener diode and provides power to the transmitter. +25 volts supplied
The supply is not regulated but is used as surge protection.
It has 9 Port Zener diodes. The 25 port DC is regulated to 15 volts for the receiver subsystem by a 78L15 three terminal regulator 140. M
PS-AO6 transistor 142 is used as a flyback oscillator to provide the plus 5 volts needed to operate the computer circuitry. A 4.3 volt Zener diode 344 is coupled between the positive 5 volt supply and the base of a 2N4124 transistor 346 to help regulate the flyback oscillator.

Output switches 304 (FIGS. 31, 32, and 35) for the two solenoids of valve assembly 212 are operated either from the microcomputer 266 or from a manual button 302 on the front of the control module 226. A resistor, optocoupler network couples the microcomputer-266 to the triac 349, which connects the valve 21 when either the microcomputer-266 or the manual button 302 is required.
Apply voltage to the valve solenoid at 2.

The software will now be described with reference to Figures 40-46.

The software is 4. Contains three main routines: initialization routine (INIT), cup detection (cUPDET),
They are labeled Fill Routine (F I LL), and Cup Removal Routine (cUPREM).

The software also includes five subroutines: Time Delay (WAIT), Absolute Difference Between Two Numbers (DIFF), Great/Overflow Detector (LGRATE), Transmit/Receive, Check Test Mode (TSTCHK),
and check the maximum value at time (TIMOUT)
It is defined as.

The transmitter/receiver subroutine acquires range data by operating the transmitter for a period of 25 microseconds (10 cycles at 400 KHz occupying 1 inch of airspace) and then monitoring the receiver output for reflections. do. Two transmit/receive periods are included in a single half-cycle time period of the sinusoidal line input voltage. Synchronization allows transmission only during the positive half-cycle, which allows the two valves to operate side by side and without interference by reversing the line input wires at adjacent valves. Three different entry points into the subroutine select receiver options. TBD (Transmit Bottom Detector), TBDW (Windowed Transmit Bottom Detector), and TLD (Transmit Date Detector).

The receiver has 32 stages of gain controlled by software. The gain is set to a minimum from the start of transmission until approximately 9 inches target range time (180 microseconds). At that point, the gain is set equal to the gain variable that was set up in the entry point routine.

For TLD, gain is always set to maximum.

For TBD and TBDW, the gain is determined by the calling routine. At TBD and TLD, the distance of the detected first echo is captured for processing. T.B.
In the DW, a romasking window is enabled to ignore echoes closer than 10,35 inches apart. This causes higher gain to be used to capture the rising liquid level inside the cup. Below every entry point, two transmissions are made, each separated by 2 ms of reception time and 2 ms of waiting for all reflections to cease, and the distance received is: R
Stored in AM. The processing algorithms are:
If correlated within inches, accept the distance and return the average value as the correct distance. If the two distances are uncorrelated, the routine waits on the synchronization signal and takes two new samples that are correlated.

WAIT is a programmable delay subroutine that immediately returns to the calling routine if the manual button is pressed. It has a minimum delay of 3.5 milliseconds and a maximum delay of 1.9 seconds.

DIFF is a subroutine that calculates the absolute value of the difference between two numbers.

LGRATE is a grate/overflow detector subroutine and is used during the FILL routine to determine if the cup has been removed or if foam or liquid has risen to the top of the mouth. The subroutine uses TLD to detect with maximum gain and no windows. TLD is exactly 1
．． If you return at a distance of Twift, the distance will be rejected,
Then TLD is called again. 13. Twifuchi is
Indicates that this is the maximum distance allowed by the receiver software and no reflections were detected. T.L.
If D returns at a distance less than 25 inches,
Over 70--The flag is set immediately. T.L.D.
but than the memorized mouth distance for three consecutive calls to TLD.

If it returns a distance closer than 1 inch, the overflow flag is set. If the TLD returns a distance greater than 25 inches above the stored GRATE value for 12 consecutive calls to the TLD, the cup removed flag is set. If at any time the TLD returns a distance that does not meet the above conditions, the subroutine exits without setting the flag.

TSTCHK (Figure 44A) is a subroutine that reads a 5-position DIP (dual in-line package) switch. The switch position is stored in a location in RAM labeled 5WITCH. If the switches in positions 1, 2 and 3 are all off, the test flag is set.

TIMOUT (Figure 44B) is used whenever the solenoid valve is turned on. The subroutine decrements the "Valve On Time" register and checks if the value of the register is zero.

If it is greater than zero, the subroutine ends. If the value of the register is zero, the routine enters a trap loop with no exit except for a hardware reset. The trap loop turns off the solenoid and
Then, the red and green indicators flash alternately.

INIT (Figure 45A) is a microcomputer
Used when initialized by "master clear" (hardware). During power-up, the first instruction processed is set to location 777 (octal). The instruction rGOT0 1N I TJ instructs the computer to begin executing this routine, which includes the following:

a. All RAM is cleared.

b. Wait 1 second for power to stabilize.

C, if the test flag is set, TSTCH
Call K and run the diagnostic routine.

d, Using TLD to explore the echo distance between the twin and 13 inches with maximum gain and no window.

e. If no echoes are detected within this range, the "Over Ice" indicator on the front panel will flash.

f, if no echo distance within 13 inches is detected, the average of the 8 samples is R as the great distance.
AM and the program continues at CUPDET.

CUPDET is a cup detection routine.

This routine uses the TLD to collect data and the following steps to accept the cup.

a. The manual fill switch on the front panel is continuously monitored to ensure proper operation.

If the manual switch is pressed, the computer will immediately begin the cup removal routine. The DIP switch is read by calling TSTCHK, and if the test flag is set, CUPDE
The T routine ends and the INIT routine begins.

b. A stable mouth distance must be established greater than 3 inches from the grate. Stable mouth distance is defined as five consecutive echo distances from the TLD separated by 60 milliseconds correlated to within 1.1 inches. This is 330
Compatible with cupro that is stable for milliseconds. If the stable mouth distance is too close to the crystal (6 inches), the mouth distance is rejected, the FILL indicator flashes, and the CUPD
ET begins again.

C. The bottom of the cup or the ice level is on the grate.

Must be identified as more than 1 inch above the mouth and less than 5 inches below the mouth. This is achieved by using a TBDW and varying the gain as follows. At minimum gain, echo distance is obtained using TBDW. echo distance.

If it is no more than an inch closer than the grates, the gain is increased by one step and another sample is taken. If the gain reaches maximum, the FILL indicator flashes and the cup detection routine begins again.

d. The ice/bottom height is calculated from the final distance and grate obtained as outlined in (c) above, and then stored as the actual ice height. Cup height is calculated from mouth distance and grate. The cup height is divided by 8 and the quotient is multiplied by the 3-bit binary input when selected in the ice level programming switch. This allowable water height is compared to the actual ice height and mouth distance. The actual ice height is greater than allowed by the switch selection, but below the mouth distance.

If within 5 inches, the cup is removed and the cup removal routine begins. If the actual ice height is within 5 inches of the mouth distance, the cup will not be positioned accurately;
The FILL indicator then flashes before starting the cup detection routine again. If the actual ice height is less than the level selected by the switch, the FILL routine begins.

The FILL routine controls complete fill and top-off operations. The routine limits solenoid operation to a maximum of three on/off cycles. After each of the first two cycles, the routine waits for the foam to stabilize before starting the next cycle.

When the cup is full, the cup removal routine begins. If the manual switch is pressed at any time during the FILL routine, the cup removal routine begins immediately. The timeout subroutine is called during the time the solenoid valve is turned on by the fill program to monitor the valve in time. If the maximum valve in time is exceeded, the timeout subroutine turns off the valve and does not return to the fill routine.

A detailed description of the FTLL routine follows.

a. Several checks and corrections are made before the solenoid is activated. Gain is initially set to maximum. If the mouth distance is less than 4 inches, the gain is adjusted by an empirically derived formula.

Gain = Gain 1/8 (4 inch mouth distance) Mouth distance is 4
If less than inches, the mouth distance is adjusted by an empirically derived formula.

Lo distance = Lo distance 1/8 (4 inch mouth distance) The time constant for this particular cup height is calculated by the following equation.

Time constant - cup height/4 (SEV) cup height/8
(Fast Flow Rate) This time constant is used at the beginning of the three cycles to provide an initial fill time that is proportional to cup height.

b, the gain is that the fluid level is detected and the mouth is FI
It must be adjusted so that it is not during periods when the cup vibrates, such as at the beginning of LL.

Also, if the cup was not perfectly positioned, the mouth distance will be slightly farther than originally detected. To adjust the gain, an initial fill period proportional to the cup height is used to minimize cup vibration and adjust the gain as needed.

During this time period, the routine uses TBDQ to check that the echo distance is within 75 inches of the stored mouth distance. If so, the gain is reduced by ■ steps. If the gain reaches a minimum, the cup detection routine begins. This time is also used to adjust the mouth distance as follows. If LGRATE is called and overflow is detected, the mouth distance is decremented (overflow in LGRATH is defined as one inch beyond the stored mouth distance).

If LGRATE detects a cup absence, the cup removal routine begins immediately.

At the end of this period, the solenoid valve remains on.

During the C9 next time period, the routine uses the TBDW to monitor the liquid level. If the form/flat switch is set to form, the liquid level is within 5 inches for SEV or FFV.
When within the finch, the solenoid turns off. If the form/flat switch is set to 7, the fluid level will be 2 inches above SEV, then F.
The solenoid is not turned off until 3 inches for FV is reached, at which point the cup removal routine begins. This condition must be met in two consecutive checks for the solenoid to turn off. The great/overflow detector subroutine is
Check if the cup has been removed or if the TBDW has missed a rise in liquid level and an overflow is imminent. If a cup is absent, a cup removal routine begins. If overflow is indicated, the solenoid is turned off.

d. A 4 second pause begins at this point to allow the foam to stabilize. The Great/Over 70--subroutine continuously checks for cups to be removed. If the cup is missing, the cup removal routine begins.

e. After a pause, another 4 second time period starts. T.B.
D is used to monitor the foam level.

If the bubble falls below 4 inches for the 1O continuous check, this period ends and the first top-off period begins. Bubbles within 4 seconds.

If it does not fall below 4 inches, the first top-off period begins anyway. Great/Overflow/
The subroutine continuously checks for absent cups.

If a missing cup is detected, a cup removal routine begins.

f. The first top-off cycle uses TBD and the liquid/foam level is for a valve assembly with a standard 1% ounces per second. within 1 inch and for high speed 3 oz/sec valve assemblies.

Determine whether it is within 0.05 inches. If this condition exists, the solenoid will not turn on and the cycle will end. Otherwise, the solenoid will be on until that condition is met. For stability,
The solenoid has a minimum value at a time of 1.25 seconds.

The iterations of g, DSE, and F are #! 2 to achieve a top-off cycle, except that the value at "F" is 3 inches for the standard l'A oz/sec upper assembly, 2 inches, and the high speed 3 oz/sec valve assembly. has.

The cup removal routine (cUPREM) turns off the fill indicator, turns off the solenoid, and turns on the overice indicator. It uses TLD and waits for an echo distance within 25 inches of the great.

When this condition exists, the new grate distance is stored, the overice indicator is turned off, and the cup detection routine begins again.

The third and preferred embodiment of the invention is now 47-5.
7 and the source code attached as Document A.

Simply put, 1. 47 and 48 show a transducer assembly attached to a common beverage dispenser valve, FIGS. 49 and 50 are electrical block diagrams of the electronic circuit package, and FIGS. 51-56 show the circuit Figures 57A-572 are electrical wiring diagrams of some of the components, and Figures 57A-572 are software flow diagrams.

It may be helpful to first describe some of the key differences between this third and preferred embodiment and the two previously described embodiments. A third embodiment uses four crystals instead of two.

The four crystals are divided into pairs, each having a transmitter and a receiver. The front pair of crystals is used to detect the presence of a cup bottom or ice level. While the beverage is infused,
The front crystal monitors the fluid level in the force 2p.

Lenses and channeling tubes are used in the anterior crystal to focus the ultrasound beam and minimize side lobes. Without the channelized tube, the side
The lobes are more pronounced and cause echoes to be detected from the nozzle and the front mouth of the cup. Any of these echoes will prevent the system from injecting. By adding channelized tubes, side lobes are minimized allowing greater range in cup placement.

The rear pair of crystals is used to detect the presence of the cup mouth and determine the distance to the grate. While the beverage is being dispensed, the rear crystal periodically checks for the presence of the cup. If the cup is removed, the rear crystal detects the grate and causes the system to turn off the valve. The previously described embodiment used only one transmitter circuit to drive one transmitter crystal. This new implementation has two transmitter circuits for each transmitter crystal. By providing two transmitters, the transmission period is different for the front and rear crystals. In the embodiments described above, a flyback transmitter is used. This new embodiment
Use a pull-type transmitter. A bush-pull type transmitter delivers more transmit power to the crystal. The transducer housing is modified in this new embodiment to accommodate two new crystals and a channeled tube in the front crystal. The chamfered tube can be removed for cleaning. The filling height is no longer fixed in this new embodiment. A potentiometer is provided to allow adjustment of the target fill height.

Although some differences have been noted, a brief overview may be helpful before describing this embodiment in detail. The automatic filling system of this embodiment of the invention has 10
Determine the distance to the grate by sending a 0 ms pulse. If the measurements in 16 indicate that the great distance is between 13 inches and 13 inches, then 1
The average grade valve from 6 measurements is stored in RAM.

The next step is for the system to detect the cup.

The system uses a 100 microsecond pulse sent from the rear transmitter to capture the cup opening. A valid cupro is an object detected by a rear crystal that is at least 3 inches above the grate. Twelve consecutive mouth measurements within ±, 1 inch are required before the system goes to the bottom detection routine.

To determine the presence of a cup bottom, this system uses
A 25 microsecond pulse transmitted from a forward transmitter is used. A valid cup bottom is the object detected by the front crystal and is at least one inch of the grate and below the maximum ice level selected by the dip switch on the circuit board. - Once a valid bottom is detected, the system goes to the fill routine.

The filling routine turns on the valve. While the beverage is being dispensed, the system uses the rear crystal to monitor the presence of the cup mouth and the front crystal to monitor the level within the cup. When the liquid level in the cup reaches 5 inches of the mouth and the dip switch on the circuit board is set to ``7 Ohm Product'',
The system shuts off the valve and waits for the foam to settle. If necessary, up to two top-offs occur.

Top-off is activated when the liquid level falls below 4 inches of the cup mouth. If the dip switch on the circuit board is set for "non-form product," the system will cause the valve to continue dispensing until the liquid level equals the preset target level.

The system has a fail-safe timer and
Overrides standard control mechanism and high-speed flow valve (3 oz/
sec) after 30 seconds or standard flow valve (l, 5 oz/sec)
is shut off after 60 seconds.

The rear transmitter-receiver pair captures only the grate and mouth, while the front transmitter-receiver pair captures only the liquid level. The front beam is focused like a spotlight, while the rear beam is fan-shaped, ie it is sandwiched at the sides and spreads from front to rear. The forward beam must pass through the mist, which requires more power, and the spotlight shape provides a beam of concentrated power in a small area. Most losses are caused by the high speed of the beam, so more power
Used by rear fan beam.

With the two transmitter and receiver pairs of the present invention, the system sees two different areas simultaneously and with different shaped beams.

Referring now to FIG. 47, valve assembly 412
, which is a known valve assembly used in the dispenser IO of FIG. The automatic filling system of this preferred embodiment includes a transducer assembly 420 located on the bottom surface 422 of the valve assembly and behind the nozzle 424, and an electronics package.

The transducer assembly is shown in FIGS. 47 and 48 and includes a cup bottom and liquid level transmitter crystal 430, a cup bottom and liquid level receiver crystal 432, a mouth and grate transmitter crystal 434, a mouth and grate receiver crystal 436
including.

FIG. 48 shows a cross-sectional side view of a transducer assembly with crystals 432 and 436. Assembly 420 is essentially the same as described above with respect to the first two embodiments and includes a plastic housing 440 filled with urethane 442. Crystal 430.
432, 434, and 436 are respectively (tubes 444 and 44
6) are positioned inside the brass tube, and each has a plastic tube (such as lenses 433 and 437).
Has a lens.

The electronic circuit package will now be described first with reference to the electrical block diagrams of FIGS. 49 and 50 and the wiring diagrams of FIGS.
It will be described with reference to Figures A-572 and the flowchart of the source code (Document A).

Referring to FIGS. 49 to 56, the electronic circuit package is
Approximately 2.5 inches vs. 3. housed in ABS plastic closure. It consists of two double-sided printed circuit boards with finches. 149 of the system! :l and the block diagram of FIG. 50 relate to the wiring diagrams of FIGS. 51-56 as follows.

1. The power supply 500 shown in FIG. 49 and FIG.
Use 24 volts from the 50 VAC/transformer at the dispenser IO shown. 24 Porto AC is 24VA
It is filtered by two 100 microHenry inductors and a 1 microFall capacitor to attenuate high frequency spikes on the C line. The AC volts are then rectified and filtered to provide an unregulated voltage rVJ with a nominal value of 25 volts. 39 Porto Zener, D3,
It is reverse biased about this voltage to provide surge protection. The 25 volt supply is regulated to 15 volts for the receiver subsystem by a 78L15 three terminal regulator. The 25 port supply is also stepped down to 20 port by a Zener regulator for the transmitter supply. Step-down switching power supply is +5 for microcomputer and logic.
Used to provide bolts. Supply is MC34
It uses a 063 control circuit and a 660 microhenry inductor to regulate 25VDC to 5VDC with approximately 80 percent effectiveness.

2. The normal switch in valve assembly 412 that energizes the two solenoids (syrup and soda solenoids) is removed and replaced by the switch shown in FIG. 51. This is a semiconductor switch (TRIAC), 5TQ4HA-2, controlled by the microcomputer-1 by an optically coupled triac driver MOC3011 or by pressing the manual override switch described in paragraph 12 below. .

3. The front and rear receiver crystals 432 and 436 are PZT
4 ceramic material, but may be made from other foreign bodies that are commercially available. They are used as two separate receiver crystals that are electronically switched to capture the grate and cup mouth from the rear crystal 436 and also capture the cup bottom and fluid level from the front crystal 432. These crystals are coupled to the air by plastic acrylic lenses used to form the ultrasound beam. The posterior lens is angled 3.5 degrees toward the center of the valve and has a linear radius of 2 degrees, as shown in FIG. The lens is attached to the crystal using an adhesive that has the same density as the acrylic lens to prevent sound waves from reflecting off the crystal.

The crystal and lens are then attached to a polyurethane foam molding inserted into the brass housing for electrical and acoustic insulation between the lenses. A brass housing, each containing a lens and a crystal, is attached to another polyurethane foam block inserted into the ABS transducer housing. The lens has seven langes that properly position the angle when attached to the form block so that when the transmitted signal is reflected to the receiver crystal, the line will direct most of the signal to the area where the sound was emitted. Collect from. As shown in FIG. 59, the anterior lens has a conical shape at the surface that is angled 3.5 degrees toward the center of the valve and has a 3.5 degree countersink in the lens surface. The anterior lens also has approx.

having a tube 510 that is 5 inches long and 1/2 inch diameter;
It is angled towards the center of the valve directing sound through the nozzle 424 so that there are no echoes reflecting from the nozzle to the lens.

4. An analog multiplexer 512 is shown in FIG.
6 to a tuned amplifier. The analog input to the chip is protected from high voltage inputs by a 1N914 diode. The digital inputs for selecting the crystals are the "B" and r(J lines) directly from the microcomputer.

5. A receiver 514 is shown in FIG. 52 and has a maximum gain of 96 DB, and a tuned transformer 5
It consists of two MC1350P N, F, J amplifiers 516 and 517 coupled by 18. A second tuned transformer 520 couples the amplified signal to a detector 522 shown in FIG. Tuning transformer is 400KHz
It is tuned to a narrow band centered on . The amplifier is MC13
With pin 5 of 50P there is provision for gain control.

During the excitation phase of the transmission, the amplifier gain is reduced to a minimum by setting the rAJ line from the microcomputer high. When the excitation phase ends,
The gain is returned to the maximum. This means that during the transmit excitation period,
Prevents the amplifier from saturating and minimizes the effects of direct coupling of sound from the transmitter crystal to the receiver crystal.

6. The detector circuit 522 shown in FIG. 53 demodulates the 400 KHz from the receiver into a DC analog signal, compares the amplitude to a fixed level, and outputs the digital level to a microcomputer. The amplification demodulator is special in that it not only detects the envelope of the pulse, but because it is a DC-coupled detector, there is no offset shift due to pulse width variations. By having a balanced detector system, temperature drift is very low. The level comparator uses half of the LM393 voltage comparator and a resistor divider. A resistor divider is coupled to the "A" line from the microcomputer. As described in paragraph 5 above, the rAJ line is set high during transmit excitation. When the rAJ line is at 5 ports, the level to which the analog signal is compared is increased from approximately 2 volts DC to approximately 6 volts DC, ensuring that the digital signal does not reach the microcomputer during the excitation phase of the transmitter. do.

7. The 60 Hz detector shown in Figure 53 is the LM39
It is constructed using half of a three-voltage comparator. 24VAC
is attenuated and compared to ground. Output is 60H
It is a square wave from zero to 5 ports in z hertz. This waveform is the basis for transmitter timing. Paragraph 15 below
The selector switch described in 1999-12-12 tells the microcomputer to transmit either in the high portion of the waveform or in the low portion of the waveform. This feature allows two closely spaced systems to operate without interference.

8. Microcomputer-526 shown in Figure 54
is General Instruments PIC-1654
and includes the intelligence and control functions of the whole system.

It communicates with the rest of the system via 12 I10 pins. It also includes an oscillator circuit, a master clear circuit, and a real-time clock counter.

A 9.4 Mhz crystal 582 and other passive components form a feedback network for the oscillator in the microcomputer and is shown in FIG.

10. 74Hc390 counter shown in Figure 54/
Divider chip 530 is used to divide 4 MHz into 400 kHz and 133 kHz.

400 kHz is used in the transmitter as the frequency of transmission, and 133 kHz is input to the microcomputer's real-time clock counter power. One period of a 133 kilohertz signal has a sound of l/20
Corresponds to the time spent traveling between objects in inches.

11. Front panel indicator light 53 shown in FIG.
2 and 534 include one red LED and one green LED. The green LED is labeled Fill and flashes during the filling process. The red LED is labeled Over Ice/Cup Removal and flashes when the ice level is detected to be above the acceptable water level (user selected by the DIP switch described in paragraph 15 below). be done. The red LED also flashes at the end of the fill cycle when a cup (not shown) is about to be removed.

12. The front panel manual override switch 536 shown in FIG. 55 is a two-pole pushbutton switch. One pole is coupled directly to the gate circuit of the valve control trink, as described in paragraph 2 above, allowing the user to directly control the operation of the two solenoid valves in valve assembly 412. The other pole is
It is used as an input to the microcomputer 526 and notifies the microcomputer that the user has activated valve 412, so the microcomputer knows that it is not being controlled.

13. The final filling level adjustment circuit shown in FIG.
Allows the user to adjust the final beverage level in the cup. The circuit itself uses 40111. as a buffer. two CMO5 logic gates, potentiometers from C,
A variable edge delay circuit that uses a capacitor and a diode network to delay the rising edge of a 60 Hertz square wave input. The output of the final fill level adjustment is input to a CMOS digital multiplexer described in paragraph 14 below.

14. Digital multiplexer shown in FIG.
is a CMOS analog switch (4051) configured as a single pole 8 position switch. The "A", "B" and rCJ lines from the microcomputer 526 are the "data" of the microcomputer.
Select whether to join the line.

Six individual switches, shown in FIG. 15 and referred to herein as dip switches, allow the user to configure the controller for proper operation under different operating conditions. Three switches are used to set maximum water level allowable settings from 11/8 to 7/8 cup height. When these switches are off, manufacturing inspection is enabled.

One switch provides selection of two different flow rates.

One switch selects either the frothy beverage or non-frothy beverage routine. The last switch is a synchronous selection switch, which selects which half of the 60 Hertz square wave is used for transmitting and receiving. As described in paragraph 7 above, this feature allows the two systems to operate in close proximity.

16. The watchdog timer circuit shown in FIG.
If it detects that the "A" line does not change "state", it causes the microcomputer to be reset. The circuit itself includes an edge detector, a retriggerable timer, and a gated oscillator. The edge detector identifies the rising edge of the "A" line from the microcomputer. In standard operation, the Aj line
It has 20 rising edges. If the differentiator does not receive a rising edge from the rAJ line, the retriggerable timer times out within 8 seconds. When a retriggerable timer times out, it
Enable the gate in the gated oscillator that attempts to reset the microcomputer until the "A" line starts changing "state" again.

17. The transmitter logic and power amplifier shown in FIG. 56 is a circuit configuration that receives a 5 volt logic level from a microcomputer and outputs approximately 1000 volts peak at 400 kilohertz. With the transmitter logic, the microcomputer has direct control over which 400 kilohertz pulse links are transmitted and which crystals are used for transmission. Two cMosNORs with B and C lines and transmit lines as inputs
The gate (4001) allows the microcomputer to select which crystal is going to transmit. The output of the NOR gate is two NOR gates, along with a 400 kilohertz square wave.
Input to R gate (74HCQO). two N's
OR game 1-400 kHz output is power MO3
Modulate the pulses buffered by a buffered chip (dso026cn) that provides drive to the FET (RFP-15NO6L). Zener diodes in power amplifiers protect the power amplifier from reverse voltage and overvoltage. Multiple pairs of power amplifiers drive ferrite transformers in a class B bush-pull configuration. The output winding is attached directly to the ceramic piezoelectric crystal.

18. The transmitter crystal is of the same construction as the receiver crystal except that it is mounted on the opposite side, but the crystal and lens are interchangeable with the front and rear receivers, respectively. The removable portion from the anterior lens housing containing the tube is removed for easy cleaning of the lens itself. The front quartz lens is shown in FIG.

19. The alternative control connector shown in FIG. 54 allows more than one control to operate a single valve. The mouth detect output is normally high, and when the microcomputer detects a mouth, the mouth detect output goes low, notifying other controls that they are ready to begin a filling operation. Synchronization inputs are typically high impedance inputs that do not affect operation. When the sync input is changed to low impedance, the 60 Hz square wave that the microcomputer uses to synchronize transmissions is held low, inhibiting transmission until the high impedance state returns, and the 60 Hz square wave is held low until the high impedance state returns. Synchronize the transmission again to the square wave.

This feature, along with additional logic, allows two or more transducer assemblies and electronics packages to control a single valve.

The software used in the preferred embodiment of the invention now includes the flowcharts in Figures 57A-572 and Appendix A.
Described with reference to the source code in . To aid in this explanation, the flowchart is divided by dashed lines into regions with several numbers assigned, which correspond to numbered lines in the source code (Document A).

The single chip microcomputer-526 is a General Instruments PIC1654. The notable characteristics of microcomputers are as follows.

A. 512 program steps B. Instructions with 32 bytes of RAM C2 total execute in 2 or 4 microseconds; all subroutines must start in the lower half of memory E. 8-bit clock counter When master clear is taken low and then thrown high, the program counter is set to the final program location (511). has four main program routines and eight
Contains subroutines.

The four main routines are 5ODA, CUPDET, F
They are named ILL, and CUPREM.

In the documentation's program listing, each of the main program routines has a separate listing. Each routine and subroutine has a separate set of line numbers starting with ■.

All subroutines are contained in two program lists. The transmitter and receiver subroutines are SODA
The name is R86TRANSMITTER.

The other seven subroutines are MI 5CELLANEO
Included in the list named US 5UBROUTINE. The attached source code (Document A) is numbered in the same manner as in this description.

2. Lines 1-29 contain register definitions for the send subroutine.

The send subroutine has two entry points, FX
It has MIT and RXMI, T. The F XM I Tl entry point selects the forward crystal and 25 ms transmit pulse width. The RXMIT entry point selects the rear crystal and 100 ms transmit pulse width. Line numbers 34-43 contain these entry points and prepare the hardware for transmission.

Line 44 tests the position of the sync switch to determine whether to transmit during the high or low portion of the 60 hertz square wave.

Lines 48-63 look for low-to-high transitions on the 60 Hertz sync input.

Lines 66-79 have the same function but look for high to low transitions.

Lines 82 to 89 are 4
Transmit either a 25 ms or 100 ms pulse width at 0.00 kHz.

Lines 92-100 cause the microcomputer to ignore echoes smaller than 8 inches from the crystal plane.

Lines 102-117 capture the elapsed time until the leading edge of the first echo appears.

Lines 119-132 ensure that the microcomputer does not transmit again until 4 milliseconds after the first transmission.

Lines 134-143 check whether the distance received is the first sample or the second sample. If it is the first sample, the distance is briefly stored in the sister and then returns to line 82 for the transmission of the second sample.

Lines 147-168 compare the two distances. If the distances differ by more than 4 inches, two more samples are obtained by returning to the entry point of either subroutine FXMIT or RXMIT. If the samples match within 1.4 inches, they are averaged and the program returns to the calling routine.

The following subroutine is the Mislenius subroutine.
Included in list.

2. The MUX subroutine controls the digital multiplexer on the A, BSC line and reads the selected input on the data line.

Lines 1-49 contain register definitions and program label definitions.

Lines 55-71 indicate the dip switch position S.
Read into a register called W.

Lines 7.73-79 check the ice level switch for the "all off" condition, which is the position for manufacturing inspection.

3. WAIT 2 subroutine, lines 83 to 88,
delays for 2 milliseconds and then returns to the calling routine.

4. Subroutine DIFF, lines 94 to 99 are 2
Calculate the absolute value of the difference between numbers.

5. TIMOUT subroutine checks that valve assembly 412 is greater than 60 seconds for standard flow valves or greater than 30 seconds for fast flow valves. If so, the valve is turned off and FIL
The L and 0 VERICE indicators flash alternately.

Lines 104-107 decrement the TIMOUT counter and check for zero.

Lines 112-128 turn off the solenoids and alternately flash the 0 VERICECE indicator and the ILL indicator.

6. The CUPCHK subroutine checks if the cup has been removed during the filling process.

Lines 132-153 use rear transmitters to look for greats. If the distance is within 1/4 inch of the grate distance, a "cup removed" flag is returned to the calling subroutine.

Lines 156-172 are unused at this point.

The LEV,CHK subroutine monitors the liquid/foam level during the filling process. The calling routine sends the distance below the mouth distance at which the valve is shut off.

76 lines 176-203 use the distance returned from the FXMIT subroutine to determine whether to send a flag to the calling routine to turn off the valve.

8. The FFLEV subroutine is called to read the variable final fill level.

Lines 210-236 measure the distance between the rising edge of the 60 Hertz waveform and the rising edge of the final fill level waveform by the digital multiplexer.

9. This time is evaluated for offsets of 0 to 2 inches. Main routine rcOKESODARPro
The jetJ initializes the microcomputer, checks the manufacturing inspection mode, and then obtains the initial grate distance before going to the cup detection routine.

Lines 1-35 contain register and program label definitions.

Line 48 is a start vector containing the first instruction to be executed when the system is reset.

Lines 51-64 are a 1 second power-up delay to allow power to stabilize before transmission begins.

Lines 66-70 clear all of the RAM registers.

Lines 73-75 read the configuration switches and check the test mode.

Lines 78-80 are the manufacturing mode routine.

Lines 85-117 capture the initial great values.

The RXMIT subroutine is used to obtain distance. The distance is checked to be 13 inches from the crystal to the switch. A distance less than 13 inches from the switch will cause the 0VERICE indicator to flash and the valve to ignore.

The 16 acceptable samples of the grates are averaged and then the program exits to the cup detection routine.

10. The CUPDET routine is a cup detection routine. This routine has a special set of criteria that must be satisfied before the routine exits to the FILL routine. First, the routine uses R to examine the mouth signal.
Use the XMIT subroutine. Mouth signals must be stable and within legal mouth signal distance. Then, the routine checks the inside of the cup at the bottom of the cup, or the F
Use the XMIT subroutine. The routine then recalls the maximum ice level from the dip switch and
Then calculate the maximum ice level for that particular cup.

If the ice level is greater than the maximum ice level allowed, the 0VERI CE indicator will flash and the CUPDE
The T routine starts again. If the actual ice level is less than the maximum ice selected by the dip switch, the routine exits to the FILL routine.

Lines 1-38 contain register and program label definitions.

Lines 43-45 read the dip switch and test the manufacturing test mode by calling subroutine MUX. If the test mode is input, the program branches to the start of the 5ODAR initialization routine.

Lines 47-49 check if the manual override switch has been pressed. If the switch is pressed, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

Lines 51-77 use the RXMIT subroutine to look for stable exits in the next sequence.

Lines 51-59 check that the mouth is at least 3 inches above the grate.

Lines 61-77 ensure that the mouth distances are stable by examining 12 samples in rows within 1 inch of each other.

Lines 79-84 are used by subroutine FXMIT to peer into the cup to obtain cup bottom distance or ice level.
use. This also determines that the bottom of the cup is at least 1 inch above the grate.

Lines 86-91 calculate cup height by subtracting mouth distance from grate distance.

Lines 92-104 divide the cup height by 8 and multiply the dividend by the maximum water level switch input.

Lines 106-108 determine whether the actual ice height is greater than the maximum water height selected by the dip switch. If the actual ice height is greater than the selected one, lines 110-116 flash the red 0 VERICE indicator and branch to the beginning of the cup detection routine. If the actual ice height is less than the maximum water height, the routine exits to the FILL routine.

11. The FILL routine handles foam or non-foam products and fast or standard flow rates. These options are set at the dip switch. The FILL routine initially turns on the FILL indicator and solenoid valve in valve assembly 412. Then wait 1 second and then monitor the liquid level. The level is then LEVC until the initial FILL level for that particular type of valve assembly is reached.
Monitored using the HK subroutine. The routine then checks if a foam or non-form product is enabled. If non-7 ohm is selected, the valve is not turned off and final top-off begins. 7
If the product is enabled, the valve is turned off and the program waits 5 seconds and performs form level monitoring. When the foam level drops more than 4 inches from the mouth, the first of two possible top-offs begins, separated by additional time to allow the foam to sink. When the final fill level is reached, the program enters the cup removal routine. Periodically during the entire fill routine, the CUPCHK subroutine is called to ensure that no cups have been removed.

Lines 1-40 contain register and program label definitions.

Lines 44-46 turn on both the fill indicator and the valve.

Lines 51-62 provide a one second delay while monitoring manual pushbutton switches. This allows for initial splash and cup movement without aborting the fill.

Lines 67-71 set up respective maximum "valve on" times for standard (SEV) or high flow valves.

Lines 74-91 provide control for initial filling in the next sequence.

Lines 77-79 use subroutine CUPCHK to check that the cup has been removed. Once the cup has been removed, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

Lines 81-84 select the distance below the mouth for the initial filling.

Lines 86 to 91 indicate whether the manual switch was pressed or not.
Or use subroutine LEVCHK to check that the liquid level is above the initial fill level.

Lines 96-104 first check the configuration switch to see if the form product is enabled. If form products are not enabled, the final topoff flag is set and the program branches to the beginning of the routine.

If the foam product is enabled, the valve is turned off.

Lines 109-119 are used in the first and second top-offs and provide a 4.5 second delay to end the bubble's rise and begin its fall.

The routine checks if the manual switch has been pressed. If the manual switch is pressed, the program will
Branch to cup removal routine.

Lines 123-144 are also used in the first and second top-off routines. This routine is
FX to monitor form level in cup
Use MIT subroutines. There are three possible exits from this routine.

(a) If the foam level drops more than 4 inches from the mouth before or after the first top-off, the routine branches to the top-off routine.

(b) Approximately 10 seconds elapse before the first top-off begins and the form level is from the mouth.

If it is within 4 inches, the program branches to the topoff routine.

(c) Approximately 10 seconds have elapsed after the first top-off routine and the form level is from the mouth.

If less than 4 inches has fallen, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

Lines 146-167 are the topoff routines for the first and second topoffs in the next sequence.

Lines 146-151 use the CUPCHK subroutine to confirm that the cup has been removed.

Once the cup has been removed, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

Lines 146-167 are the topoff routines for the first and second topoffs in the next sequence.

Lines 146-151 use the CUPCHK subroutine to confirm that the cup has been removed.

Once the cup has been removed, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

Line 153 calls the Final Fill Level (FFLEV) subroutine which returns the "Final Fill Level" distance under the mouth.

Lines 155-161 monitor the liquid level in the cup. The LEVCHK subroutine is called,
The return flag is then checked to see if the manual switch has been pressed or the fill level is greater than or equal to the final fill level.

Lines 163-167 turn off the valves when the liquid level reaches or exceeds the final fill level. Once only one top-off has taken place, the program branches to line 109 to wait for the bubble to descend. Once the second topoff has taken place, the program branches to the cup removal routine.

12. The Cup Removal Routine (cUPREM) waits until the cup is removed and then branches to the Cup Removal Routine. Lines 1-35 contain register and program label definitions.

Lines 39-42 turn off the fill indicator, turn on the "overice/remove cup" indicator, turn on the valve, and clear all flags.

Lines 46-56 check if the cup has been removed. This routine calls the RXMIT routine and the distance is l/47 of the stored great distance.
Check that it is within 4 inches. The measured distance is
Check to see if it is within 1/4 inch of the stored grate distance.

Lines 58-61 store the measured distance as the new great distance, turn off the "Over Ice/Cup Removal" indicator, and branch to the cup detection routine. Once a new grade signal is acquired, small shifts in grade are allowed during operation.

Figures 58 and 59 illustrate respectively the posterior and anterior converter lenses described above. Referring to FIG. 58, the rear lens 540 has a diameter of 1.54 inches and a diameter of 1.21 inches.
It has a height of inches. FIG. 58A is an end view, FIG. 58B is a front view, and FIG. 58C is a side view;
FIG. 58D is a rear view. The front surface is cylindrical and has a radius of curvature of 2.0 inches. The rear lens ft is tilted towards the centerline of the nozzle at an angle of 3.5 degrees.

An anterior lens 542 is shown in FIG. 59 and also includes:
Tilt toward the centerline of the nozzle at an angle of 3.5 degrees. Fifth
9, A% Figures B, C, and D are an end view, a front view, a side view, and a rear view, respectively.

The front surface of the lens 542 has a conical shape formed by a 3.5 degree counterbore in the surface. lenses 540 and 54
2 each have a notch 541 for orientation purposes.
and 543.

It is noted that all three embodiments of the invention use a transmitter crystal that is separate from the receiver crystal (thereby defined as a piestatic system).

The difference between pistatic systems and single crystal transducers used in ultrasound applications is that a single crystal acts as a transmitter and a receiver. Pistatic systems use a single crystal for the transmitter and a different crystal for the receiver. A characteristic of the two systems is that a usable signal is normally obtained in the near field range (close to the transducer assembly) from the piestatic system.

The transmitter crystal continues to ring for several cycles after it is turned off, but this is simply due to the "coast" of the mechanical motion generated by the current applied to the transducer crystal.
ting down)J. pie static
A separate receiver crystal in the system will not be shocked by the transmission (if it is properly electrically and acoustically isolated from the transmitter). Because of this, it receives signals in the near range region faster than a single crystal transducer. Some systems operate at a frequency of about 1 MHz, because a 1 MHz ultrasonic signal dissipates much faster through absorption by particulates in the air than, for example, 400 kHz. This means that you are very limited in terms of distance. Another problem with using 1 MHz is that in order to drive a 1 MHz ultrasound signal a very large distance,
This means that a very large amount of power is expended.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail above, it will be understood that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. Ru. For example, other materials may be used for the crystals and lenses, other numbers of crystals may be used, and other arrangements and positions may be used for the two crystals of the transducer assembly. Additionally, different ultrasound transmitters and receivers can be used in place of the crystal, such as a variety of ultrasound transmitters, if desired. Although two specific control circuits have been described in detail, other control circuits and other components may be used. Although the microcomputer described is preferred, the control circuitry may alternatively use a microprocessor coupled to remote RAM and ROM, for example. Although the transducer assembly and control module are shown attached to the dispenser valve assembly, this is not essential. They are attached to the dispenser and electrically coupled to the valve assembly.

The main features and aspects of the invention are as follows.

1. In a device for automatically filling containers with beverages.

(a) an ultrasonic energy transmitter for transmitting ultrasonic energy toward a container support surface located below the beverage dispensing nozzle; and (b) separated from and spaced apart from the transmitter in the direction of the surface. (c) an ultrasonic energy receiver positioned to receive reflected ultrasonic energy reflected upward from the surface and to generate a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (d) control circuit means for automatically using the generated signal to detect the presence of a submerged container; Apparatus including means for using the generated signal to control filling of a container.

2. The device according to 1 above, wherein both the transmitter and the receiver are crystals.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said control circuit means includes a hand stirrer for operating said crystal at a frequency in the range of about 200 to 450 KHz.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said control circuit means includes means for operating said crystal at about 400 KHz.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, including a lens coupled to the bottom surface of each crystal for coupling the crystal to air and applying the lens to the crystal.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the lenses are plastic and are attached to each crystal by adhesive.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein each crystal is disc-shaped and has a diameter of about 1/2 inch and a thickness of about 0.2 inch.

8. The lenses in the transmitter and receiver have a major diameter of about 2z inches and a diameter of about 3 inches at 12 inches from the lens.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is shaped to respectively produce or receive sector beams having a width of /4 inch.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein each lens is disc-shaped and has a diameter of about 1/2 inch and a thickness of about 0.08 inch.

10. The device of claim 2, wherein the crystal is a ceramic crystal made from PZT-4 or PZT-5a material.

11, a lens coupled to the bottom surface of each crystal for coupling each crystal to air and applying a lens to each crystal, and in which case each lens comprises:
11. The device according to claim 10, made from a plastic material selected from the classes including acrylic, ABS, polystyrene, or polycarbonate.

12. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein both the transmitter and receiver are included in a single transducer assembly.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the nozzle is coupled to a beverage dispenser valve assembly, and wherein the transducer assembly is attached to the valve assembly adjacent the nozzle.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control circuit means is included in a control module attached to the valve assembly.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control module is attached to the front face of the valve assembly and includes a manual button and a plurality of indicator lights on the front face.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said control circuit means includes means for overriding automatic operation of said control circuit when said manual button is actuated.

17. The control module includes a switch that is manually movable between a first foam position and a second non-foam position depending on whether the beverage is foamy or non-foamy, and information regarding the position of the switch to the control circuit means. 15. The apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising means for inputting information.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the control module also includes a plurality of selector switches for selecting one of a number of acceptable levels of ice in the container being filled.

19. The transducer assembly includes a plastic housing, wherein each of the crystals is located inside and spaced apart from a non-ferrous metal tube, and the housing and inner container of the tube are made of polyurethane foam. 15. The device according to 14 above, which is filled.

20, including a plastic lens affixed to the lower surface of each crystal for coupling each crystal to air and applying a lens to each crystal, the lens comprising:
20. The device of claim 19 located on the bottom surface of the transducer assembly.

21. 3. The device according to item 2, wherein the control circuit means includes a microcomputer.

22. The device according to item 1 above, wherein the control circuit means includes a microcomputer.

23. Apparatus according to item 1, wherein the control circuit means includes means for detecting either the surface, the mouth of a container placed on the surface, the bottom of the container or the level of ice in the container. .

24, before the control circuit means initiates the filling of a container located on the surface, the container opening and at least O,1 of the surface
and a second surface located at least 0.25 inches below the mouth.

25. Logic circuit means for the control circuit means to generate a container mouth signal indicating the presence of a container mouth only when two signals are received and the set of five pulses are within 0.1 inches; 25. The device according to 24 above.

26. The logic circuit means also includes means for generating a stable mouth distance signal only when five consecutive container mouth signals separated by about 16 milliseconds and corresponding within 0.2 inches are detected. 26. The device according to 25 above.

27. The control circuit means has a frequency of about 200 to about 450 KHz.
Apparatus according to claim 1, including means for operating the transmitter and receiver at frequencies in the range of .

28. 27 above, wherein said control circuit means includes means for operating said transmitter and receiver at about 400 KHz.
The device described in.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit means includes means for detecting a leading edge of a reflected ultrasonic energy wave.

30. The apparatus of item 1, including means for masking the container mouth while detecting a rising liquid level.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the masking means includes means for reducing the gain.

32, said control circuit means including means for initiating filling of the container, a timed fill cycle for partially filling the container for stabilization and vibration reduction before proceeding to the next fill cycle; 2. Apparatus according to item 1 above, wherein the apparatus has: wherein the ultrasound energy reflected from the liquid level is monitored.

33, the control circuit means comprising: means for determining a maximum fill time for the container; means for measuring the fill time; and comparing the measured fill time with the maximum fill time; and means for terminating the filling if the maximum time is greater than the maximum time.

34. The apparatus of item 1, including means for detecting the presence of any surface at the container mouth and for terminating the filling of the container if such surface is detected.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein said control circuit means includes said means for detecting said surface during filling of the container and for terminating filling if said surface is detected.

36. The apparatus of item 1, including ultrasonic energy absorbing wall means at least partially surrounding the transmitter to serve to define the desired shape of the transmitted beam.

37. The apparatus of item 1, including ultrasonic energy absorbing wall means disposed between the transmitter and the receiver.

38. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control circuit means includes means for selecting a particular half-cycle of the AC power supply for operating the transmitter.

39. In a device for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle and reflected upward from the direction of said surface; (b) an ultrasonic energy transducer means for receiving ultrasonic energy and generating a signal corresponding to a transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (c) the control circuit means for using the generated signal to detect the generated signal to control the filling of the container at the surface with beverage from the nozzle; (d) the transducer means includes at least one crystal having a plastic lens attached to a bottom surface for coupling the crystal to air and lensing the crystal. Device.

40. In an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage: (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy towards a container support surface below a beverage dispensing nozzle, the ultrasound being reflected upward from the direction of said surface; (b) detecting the presence of a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (c) the control circuit means for using the generated signal to control the filling of the container at the surface with the beverage from the nozzle; (d) the control circuit means comprises means for using a signal;
Apparatus including means for comparing the actual ice height in the cup with a predetermined allowable ice height for the cup and then proceeding to filling the cup only when the actual ice height is less than the allowable ice height.

41. In an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage: (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle and reflected upwardly from the direction of said surface; (b) an ultrasonic energy transducer means for receiving ultrasonic energy and producing a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (b) of a container placed on said surface and below such nozzle; (c) the control circuit means for controlling the filling of a container at the surface with a beverage from the nozzle; (d) the control circuit means measures the fill time and compares the measured time to a maximum time period for a container having the height of the container being filled; and means for using the generated signal to terminate the filling phase when the measured time exceeds the maximum time.

No. 42, in an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle and reflected upwardly from the direction of said surface; (b) an ultrasonic energy transducer means for receiving ultrasonic energy and producing a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (b) of a container placed on said surface and below such nozzle; (c) the control circuit means for controlling the filling of a container at the surface with a beverage from the nozzle; (d) the control circuit means for stabilizing the container prior to completing filling of the container while monitoring the rising liquid level due to the ultrasonic energy; Apparatus including means for filling the container during an initial filling period for a calculation time period.

43. In an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle and reflected upwardly from the direction of said surface; (b) an ultrasonic energy transducer means for receiving ultrasonic energy and producing a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (b) of a container placed on said surface and below such nozzle; (c) the control circuit means for controlling the filling of a container at the surface with a beverage from the nozzle; (d) the control circuit means determines whether a surface is above the mouth of the container and, if such surface is detected during filling, device including means for terminating the

44, in a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy from an ultrasonic transmitter toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; receiving, with an ultrasound receiver separate and spaced from the transmitter, the ultrasound energy reflected upward from the direction of the surface and generating a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasound energy; (c) detecting the presence of a container from the signal when placed on the surface and below the nozzle; and (d) using the generated signal to cause the container to be injected with beverage from the nozzle. and controlling the filling of.

45, the transmitter and the receiver are crystals, and about 2
45. The method of claim 44, comprising operating the crystal at a frequency in the range of 00 to 450 KHz.

46. The method of claim 45, comprising operating the crystal at about 400 KHz.

47, as set forth in claim 46, comprising the step of lensing each of the crystals by coupling each of the crystals to air and attaching a plastic lens to the bottom surface of each of the transmitter and receiver crystals. the method of.

48, producing a shaped beam from the transmitter having a rectangular shaped footprint and having a length of about 2z inches and a width of about 3/4 inch at a distance of about 12 inches from the transmitter; 48. The method according to 47 above.

49. The method of claim 48, comprising providing a shape to the receiver crystal lens to receive a beam having a shape similar to that produced by the transmitter lens.

50. The method of claim 49, including placing the transmitter crystal and the receiver crystal side by side in a single transducer assembly.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the nozzle is part of a beverage dispenser valve assembly and comprising attaching the transducer assembly to a bottom surface of the valve assembly adjacent the nozzle.

52. attaching a control module including control circuit means having a microcomputer to the valve assembly; and electrically coupling the transmitter and receiver crystals to the control circuit in the control module. 51.

53, locating the control module on the front of the valve assembly and providing the control module with a manual bushing button for overriding automatic operation of the control circuit; and below the nozzle and on the container support surface. and providing an indicator light on the front of the control module to indicate to an operator when a placed container has sufficient ice.
The method described in.

54, providing a form switch in the control module for movement between 7 ohm and non-form conditions used in frothy and non-foamed beverages, and the foam and non-form positions depending on the beverage being dispensed; and switching the form switch to one of the above.
The method described in 2.

55. providing the control module with a switch having a plurality of positions for setting an acceptable ice level in a container to be filled with the beverage; and setting the switch to an acceptable ice level. 53. The method according to 52 above.

56. The method of claim 52, comprising the step of providing a microcomputer in the control module.

57. The method of claim 45, wherein the receiving step includes detecting a leading edge of the reflected ultrasound energy wave.

58. The method of claim 45, wherein controlling the filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle includes masking the container mouth while monitoring the rising liquid level within the container.

59, the step of controlling the filling of the container includes applying fluid to the container for a calculated time period to fill the cup to a level sufficient to stabilize the cup and reduce vibrations during filling. 45 above, including a step for initially dispensing
jThe method described here.

60, the step of controlling the filling of the container calculates the maximum time required to fill a cup of a determined size to be present on the surface, and measures the filling time of the container; 46. The method of claim 45, comprising comparing the filling time to the maximum time and terminating the filling if the filling time exceeds the maximum time.

61. The method of claim 45, wherein the step of controlling the filling of the container includes the step of searching for a surface above the container mouth and terminating the filling if it is determined that such a surface is present. .

62, where the step of detecting the presence of a container includes two main routines, including an initialization routine and a cup detection routine, and where the step of controlling filling of the container includes two main routines: a fill routine and a cup removal routine. 46. The method of claim 45, comprising two main routines.

63, wherein the step of detecting the presence of the container and the step of controlling the filling of the container are arranged in a series each having a length of about 25 microseconds and spaced apart by about 2 milliseconds at about 400 KHz. transmitting 5 pulses, receiving the echoes of the pulses, calculating the distance of the surface from which the echoes were reflected, storing in RAM the echo distances received from the 5 transmissions, and 0. and determining whether there are two samples that are correlated within one inch.

64, the step of controlling the filling of the container includes transmitting echoes closer than the distance to the mouth of the container plus 0.25 inches to mask the mouth of the container and capture the rising liquid level inside the container. 46. The method of claim 45, including the step of ignoring.

65. The method of claim 45, comprising operating the control step on selected half-cycles of the AC power source.

66. The method of claim 44, comprising at least partially defining the transmitted beam shape of ultrasound energy with a plurality of ultrasound energy walls.

67. The method of claim 44, comprising blocking ultrasound energy from going directly from the transmitter to the receiver.

68. The method of claim 44, comprising operating the transmitting stage on selected half-cycles of the AC power source.

No. 69, in a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasound energy from an ultrasound transmitter towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; (b) a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (c) using the generated signal to control filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle; and (d) detecting the presence of the transmitter and receiver from the signal. using a quartz crystal for at least one and including the step of attaching a plastic lens to the bottom surface of the quartz crystal for coupling the quartz crystal to air and applying the lens to the quartz crystal.

70. In a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy from an ultrasonic transmitter toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; (b) a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (c) using the generated I; signal to control filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle, in which case the container the step of controlling the filling of the container comprises initiating the filling of the container with a timed fill cycle to stabilize the container.

71. In a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage: (a) transmitting ultrasound energy from an ultrasound transmitter towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; (b) the presence of a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (c) using the generated signal to control the filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle; The method wherein the controlling step includes the step of attempting to detect a surface on the surface of the container mouth and terminating filling if the presence of such a surface is determined.

No. 72, in a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasound energy from an ultrasound transmitter towards a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; (b) a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (c) using the generated signal to control the filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle; The method of controlling filling includes monitoring rising liquid level with a signal generated from the receiver and ignoring received echoes within about 0.25 inches of the container mouth. .

73, an ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from a receptacle whose content level is sensed; and the reflected ultrasonic waves having a signal level greater than a first reference level. a content level detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound to detect the content level of the receptacle by sensing sound waves; and a signal level greater than a second reference level different from the first reference level. an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to determine the location of the edge of the receptacle by sensing the reflected ultrasound waves having a content level within a predetermined distance of the edge; A level sensing system, comprising an edge detector and a level comparator responsive to the content level detector, comparing the content level to an edge position for indication.

74. Ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from a receptacle whose content level is sensed; and for detecting the content level of the receptacle; a content level detector responsive to ultrasound waves; and an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to determine the location of the edge of the receptacle; and an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to indicate when the content level is within a predetermined distance of the edge. a level comparator responsive to the edge detector and the content level detector, the transducer means comprising a transducer and a periodic pulse of the ultrasound signal. means for providing bursts to the transducer, the content level detector comprising a content detector circuit and enabled to count coincident with the bursts of ultrasound signals, and the first reference a content counter that is disabled by the content detector circuit by detecting a level.

75. Ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from a receptacle whose content level is sensed; and for detecting the content level of the receptacle; a content level detector responsive to ultrasound; an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound to determine the location of the edge of the receptacle; and an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound to indicate when the content level is within a predetermined distance of the edge; a level comparator responsive to the edge detector and the content level detector for comparing the content level to the edge position to detect the edge position; an edge counter enabled to count coincident with bursts and disabled by the line detector circuit by detecting the second reference level.

76. Ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from a receptacle whose content level is sensed; a content level detector responsive to ultrasound waves; and an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to determine the location of the edge of the receptacle; and an edge detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to indicate when the content level is within a predetermined distance of the edge. and a level comparator responsive to the edge detector and the content level detector for comparing the content level to the edge position, the transducer means including a transducer and an ultrasonic signal applied to the transducer. means for providing periodic bursts of ultrasonic signals, the content level detector comprising a content detector circuit and a content level detector enabled to count coincident with the bursts of ultrasonic signals and detecting the second level; a content counter disabled by the content detector circuit, an edge detector enabled for counting in coincidence with the burst of ultrasound signals and a line detector circuit; an edge counter that is disabled by the line detector circuit by detecting a reference level.

77. Ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from a receptacle whose content level is sensed; and the reflected ultrasonic waves having a signal level greater than a first reference level. a content level detector that detects the level of content of the receptor by sensing sound waves and is responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves, the content level detector having a signal level greater than a second reference level that is different from the first reference level; an edge detector for determining the position of an edge of the receptacle by sensing reflected ultrasound waves and responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves; a flow valve for controlling the level of content in the receptacle; a receptacle detector responsive to the edge detector to actuate the flow valve when present; A level sensing system that compares to an edge position and includes a level comparator responsive to the edge detector and the content level detector.

78, an ultrasonic transducer means for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected ultrasonic waves from the receptacle being filled; and sensing reflected ultrasonic waves having a signal level greater than a first reference level; a fill level detector responsive to the reflected ultrasound waves to determine a fill level of the receptacle, the reflected ultrasound waves having a signal level greater than a second reference level that is different from the first reference level; an edge detector that detects the position of the edge of the receptacle by sensing and responds to the reflected ultrasound; a flow valve for filling the receptacle; and for opening the flow valve when the receptacle is present; a receptacle detector responsive to the edge detector and for closing the flow valve when the receptacle is filled within a predetermined distance of the edge location;
A dispenser system that compares a fill level to an edge position and includes an edge detector and a level comparator responsive to the fill level detector.

No. 79, in an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) a pair of ultrasonic energy transmitters for transmitting ultrasonic energy toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; (b) separated and spaced from the transmitter and arranged to receive reflected ultrasound energy upwardly from the direction of the surface and to generate a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasound energy; (c) control circuit means for using the generated signal to automatically detect the presence of a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle. and (d) the control circuit means includes means for using the generated signal to control filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle.

80. 7 above, wherein both the transmitter and the receiver are crystals.
9. The device according to 9.

81. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein said control circuit means includes means for operating said crystal at a frequency in the range of about 200 to 450 KHz.

82. The apparatus of claim 80, including a lens coupled to the bottom surface of each of the crystals for coupling the crystal to air and applying the lens to the crystal.

83. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein both the transmitter and receiver are included in a single transducer assembly.

84. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein the nozzle is coupled to a beverage dispenser valve assembly, and wherein the transducer assembly is attached to the valve assembly adjacent the nozzle.

85. The apparatus of claim 84, wherein the control circuit means is included in a control module attached to the valve assembly.

86, the transmitter and receiver include a forward pair including a transmitter and a receiver, and a rear pair including a transmitter and a receiver, and in which case the control circuit uses the rear pair to 80. The apparatus of claim 79, comprising means for detecting the presence of a cup mouth and means for detecting the presence of a cup bottom using the front pair.

87. The apparatus of claim 86, including means for determining a distance to a grate using the trailing pair.

88, the first determining means transmits a 100 millisecond pulse from the rear transmitter and a predetermined minimum number of measurements indicates a grate distance of 13 inches from the finch; 88. The apparatus of claim 87, comprising means for storing.

89. The means for detecting a cup mouth transmits a 100 millisecond pulse from a rear transmitter and goes to the next step only after an object is detected by a rear receiver that is at least 3 inches above the grate. including means for
87. The apparatus of claim 86, wherein the detection requires multiple consecutive mouth measurements within 1 inch of soil before proceeding to the next routine.

90. The means for detecting the presence of a cup bottom transmits a 25 millisecond pulse from a forward transmitter and is effective only when an object is detected by a forward cup receiver that is at least 1 inch above the grate. 90. The device of claim 89, including means for indicating a cup bottom.

9. Means for using the rear pair to monitor the presence of a cup mouth during filling; and means for using the front pair to monitor the liquid level in the cup during filling.
The device described in.

No. 92, a method for automatically filling a container with a beverage comprising: (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy from a pair of ultrasonic energy transmitters toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; b) a pair of ultrasonic receivers separated and spaced from the transmitter for receiving the ultrasonic energy reflected upward from the direction of the service and for transmitting a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (c) detecting the presence of a container from the signal when placed on the surface and below the nozzle; and (d) controlling filling from the nozzle by the signal. and a method including.

93, detecting the presence of a cup opening by transmitting ultrasonic energy from a rear transmitter and receiving ultrasonic energy by a rear receiver, and transmitting from a front transmitter once cup presence is determined; 93. The method of claim 92, comprising determining the presence of a cup bottom using the pulses detected and received by the forward receiver, and proceeding to fill the cup if a cup bottom is detected.

94. Monitoring the presence of a cup opening during the filling phase using a rear transmitter and receiver; and monitoring the rising level of beverage in the cup using a forward transmitter and receiver. 93.

No. 95, in a transducer assembly used in the automatic filling of containers with beverages; (a) a housing; (b) a crystal mounted adjacent the bottom surface of the housing and including a transmitter and a receiver crystal; A transducer assembly comprising a front pair and a rear pair of crystals mounted adjacent a bottom surface of the housing and including transmitter and receiver crystals.

No. 96, in a transducer assembly for use in automatic filling of containers with beverages: (a) a housing; (b) separate transmitters attached to the housing, each having a lens coupled to a lower surface; and (c) a rear pair of separate transmitter and receiver crystals mounted to the housing and each having a lens coupled to a lower surface; (d) a rear pair of receiver crystals; (e) the four metal tubes are located within the housing; and (f) the polyurethane foam is within the housing. and a transducer assembly that substantially fills the remaining space within the tube and holds the limb tube and the crystal in place.

97, including a separate plastic module coupled to the housing and aligned with the front pair of crystals and below the transducer assembly to minimize side lobes from the front pair of crystals. 97. The transducer assembly of claim 96, including two channelized tubular extensions projecting into the transducer assembly.

98. The above l comprising two separate transmitter-receiver pairs
The device described in.

99. The apparatus of claim 98, wherein the two pairs have different beam shapes and aim at different areas.

100. The apparatus of claim 99, comprising two separate transmitter circuits for each of the transmitters, such that the transmission periods are different for the two transmitters.

101. The method of claim 44, wherein the transmitting step comprises separately transmitting ultrasound energy from a pair of separate transmitters.

102. The method of 101 above, wherein the separate transmitting steps include aiming differently shaped beams of energy at different target areas.

103. The method of 102 above, comprising using different transmission periods for the two beams.

104. The apparatus of claim 79, wherein the two pairs have different beam shapes and aim at different areas.

105. The apparatus of 104 above, including two separate transmitter circuits for each of the transmitters, such that the transmission periods are different for the two transmitters.

106, from the two transmitters in different target areas.
93. The method of claim 92, comprising aiming the beam of energy in two different shapes.

107. The method of 106 above, comprising using different transmission periods for the two beams.

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[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows four cases each using the automatic filling system of the present invention.
1 is a perspective view of a beverage dispenser with two valve assemblies; FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the valve assemblies of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the transducer assembly shown in FIG. 2; 4A and 4B are main block diagrams of an automatic control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a microprocessor. FIG. 6 is a wiring schematic diagram of a portion of a receiver assembly including the receiver of FIG. 4, a receiver front end, and a D/A gain reduction circuit. 7 is a power distribution circuit diagram of another portion of the receiver assembly including the detection threshold comparator and time-varying detection generator of FIG. 4; FIG. FIG. 8 is a wiring circuit diagram of the power supply and output switch of FIG. 4. 9 is a wiring diagram of the transmitter subsystem of FIG. 4; FIG. FIG. 1O is a wiring circuit diagram of the frequency divider of FIG. 4. FIG. 11A is a wiring diagram of the dip switch of FIG. 4, and FIG. 11B is a table showing how to set the switch for the desired ice level. FIG. 12 is a wiring schematic of a front panel module with manual fill switch and overice and fill indicator lights. FIG. 13 is a front view showing the nozzle, transducer assembly, grate, and cup. 14-26 are flowcharts showing the main routine and subroutine of software for operating the microcomputer 66 in the block diagram of FIG. 4. 27 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a valve assembly for use in the beverage dispenser of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional side view of the transducer assembly shown in FIG. 27; FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional end view of the transducer assembly of FIG. 28; FIG. 30 is an exploded perspective view of the transducer assembly of FIG. 28; 31A and 31B are main block diagrams of an automatic control system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 32 is a block diagram of a microprocessor. FIG. 33 is a wiring schematic diagram of a portion of a receiver subassembly including the receiver of FIG. 31, a receiver front end, and a D/A gain reduction circuit. FIG. 34 is a wiring schematic diagram of another portion of the receiver subassembly including a detection threshold comparator, a time-varying detection generator, and a 60 Hz detector. FIG. 35 is a wiring circuit diagram of the power supply and output switch of FIG. 31. FIG. 36 is a wiring diagram of the transmitter subsystem of FIG. 31; FIG. 37 is a wiring circuit diagram of the frequency divider of FIG. 31. FIG. 38A is a wiring schematic for the dip switch of FIG. 31, and FIG. 38B is a table showing how to set the switch for the desired ice level. FIG. 39 is a wiring schematic of a front panel module with manual fill switch and overice and fill indicator lights. 40-46 are flowcharts showing the main routine and subroutine of software for operating the microcomputer in the block diagram of FIG. 31. FIG. 47 is a perspective view of a beverage dispenser four-valve assembly using the automatic filling system of the preferred four-crystal embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 48 is a cross-sectional side view of the transducer assembly shown in FIG. 47; FIG. 49 is a block diagram of portions of an electronic circuit package of a four crystal embodiment. FIG. 50 is a block diagram of another portion of the four crystal embodiment electronics package. FIG. 51 is an electrical wiring diagram of the power supply shown in FIG. 49. FIG. 52 is an electrical wiring diagram of the receiver shown in FIG. 50. FIG. 53 is an electrical wiring diagram of the detector shown in FIG. 50. FIG. 54 is an electrical wiring diagram of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 49. FIG. 55 is an electrical wiring diagram of the watch dog timer of the digital multiplexer shown in FIG. 50.
- Figure 56 is an electrical wiring diagram of the transmitter shown in Figure 49; Figures 57A-572 are flowcharts of software used in the four crystal embodiments. 58A-58D are end views of the rear lens, respectively;
Front, side, and rear views. 59A-59D are end views of the anterior lens, respectively;
Front, side, and rear views. 10... Dispenser 12... Beverage dispensing valve assembly 14. 16... Cup 18... Grate 22... Bottom surface 24... Nozzle 26... Control module 32... Plastic lens 30. ...Transmitter crystal 34...Receiver crystal drawing Q (Contents; No standard version) FIIC; J Fl (33 FIC5 H [J FIC; 113 FIC, f6 FICi, 17F
IC; , 19 FIC; 2 no 1 FIC; 2. IE! FIC; 23 Fl, 30 F! IE3 J2 FM33G FIG4. I FIG42FIG43B Fl to 44A IG44B FIG45B Fl to 45E IG45F t-1 (y '19M El to 45.D Fiti J8 FIG49 FIG59B FIG59CFIG59D Procedure amendment (
1932 Proceedings Amendment Blade 26th Japan Patent Office Commissioner Yoshi 1) Takeshi Moon1, Indication of the case 1988 Patent Application No. 1099292, Title of invention Automatic control system for filling beverage containers 3, Amendment Relationship with the patent applicant's name: Coker-Cola Company 4, Agent: 107

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. In an apparatus for automatically filling a container with a beverage: (a) ultrasonic energy for transmitting the ultrasonic energy toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; a transmitter; (b) separated and spaced from the transmitter for receiving reflected ultrasound energy upwardly from the direction of the surface and generating a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasound energy; (c) control circuit means for automatically using the generated signal to detect the presence of a container placed on the surface and below the nozzle; (d) the control circuit means includes means for using the generated signal to control filling of the container with beverage from the nozzle. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein both the transmitter and the receiver are crystals. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said control circuit means includes means for operating said crystal at a frequency in the range of about 200 to 450 KHz. 4. The apparatus of claim 2 including a lens coupled to the bottom surface of each of the crystals for coupling the crystal to air and applying the lens to the crystal. 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein both the transmitter and the receiver are included in a single transducer assembly. 6. The nozzle is coupled to a beverage dispenser valve assembly, and the transducer assembly is attached to the valve assembly adjacent the nozzle.
The device described in. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said control circuit means is included in a control module attached to said valve assembly. 8. The transmitter and receiver include a front pair including a transmitter and a receiver and a rear pair including a transmitter and receiver, and wherein the control circuit uses the rear pair to 2. The device of claim 1, comprising means for detecting the presence of a mouth and means for detecting the presence of a cup bottom using the front pair. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, including means for determining a distance to a grate using the rear pairs. 10. The first determining means transmits a 100 millisecond pulse from the rear transmitter and stores the average grate distance in RAM after a predetermined minimum number of measurements indicate a grate distance of 7 inches to 13 inches. 10. Apparatus according to claim 9, including means for storing. 11. The means for detecting a cup mouth transmits a 100 millisecond pulse from a rear transmitter and goes to the next step only after an object is detected by a rear receiver that is at least 3 inches above the grate. including means for
Before the detection goes to the next routine, ±. 7. The apparatus of claim 1, which requires multiple consecutive port measurements within 1 inch. 12. The means for detecting the presence of a cup bottom transmits a 25 millisecond pulse from the forward transmitter and from the grate at least . 12. The apparatus of claim 11 including means for indicating cup bottom valid only when an object is detected by the forward cup receiver one inch above. 13. Means for using the rear pair to monitor the presence of a cup mouth during filling; and means for using the front pair to monitor the liquid level in the cup during filling. 13. The device according to 12. 14. A method for automatically filling a container with a beverage; (a) transmitting ultrasonic energy from a pair of ultrasonic energy transmitters toward a container support surface located below a beverage dispensing nozzle; b) a pair of ultrasonic receivers separated and spaced from the transmitter for receiving the ultrasonic energy reflected upward from the direction of the service and for transmitting a signal corresponding to the transit time of the ultrasonic energy; (c) detecting the presence of a container from the signal when placed on the surface and below the nozzle; and (d) controlling filling from the nozzle by the signal. A method comprising: 15. Detecting the presence of a cup mouth by transmitting ultrasound energy from a rear transmitter and receiving ultrasound energy by a rear receiver; and once cup presence is determined, transmitting ultrasound energy from a front transmitter; and determining the presence of a cup bottom using the pulses received by the forward receiver, and proceeding to fill the cup if a cup bottom is detected. 16. Monitoring the presence of a cup mouth during the filling phase using a rear transmitter and receiver; and monitoring the rising level of beverage in the cup using a forward transmitter and receiver. 16. The method of claim 15, comprising: 17. In a transducer assembly used in the automatic filling of containers with beverages: (a) a housing; (b) a crystal mounted adjacent the bottom surface of the housing and including a transmitter and receiver crystal; A transducer assembly comprising a front pair of crystals mounted adjacent a bottom surface of the housing and including a transmitter and receiver crystal. 18. In a transducer assembly for use in automatic filling of containers with beverages: (a) a housing; (b) separate transmitters attached to the housing, each having a lens coupled to a lower surface; and (c) a rear pair of separate transmitter and receiver crystals mounted to the housing and each having a lens coupled to a lower surface; (d) a rear pair of receiver crystals; (e) each of the four metal tubes is located within the housing, and (f) the polyurethane foam is located within the housing. and a transducer assembly substantially filling the remaining space within the tube and holding the tube and the crystal in position. 19, including a separate plastic module coupled to the housing and aligned with the front pair of crystals and below the transducer assembly to minimize side lobes from the front pair of crystals. 19. The transducer assembly of claim 18, including two channelized tubular extensions projecting into the transducer assembly.