US2545614A - Multibeverage vending machine - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1951 J. 'H. GOLDBERG 2,545,514

MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l MITIZ' jjYVEHZC/I JOSE/07L 19. Gala fiery March 20, 1951 I GOLDBERG 2,545,614

MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 20, 1951 GQLDBERG 2,545,614

MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 18. 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 g vw'. mm 5717275 March 20, 1951 J. H. GOLDBERG 2,545,614

MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jose 0% H Goldfiery March 20, 1951 J. H. GOLDBERG 2,545,514

MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Filed July 18, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jens gain H Galabsry Patented Mar. 20, 1951 MULTIBEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE Joseph H. Goldberg, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Drink-O-Matic Co., Chicago, 111., a. partnership Application July 18, 1945, Serial No. 605,679

3 Claims.

This invention relates to vending machines capable of dispensing differently flavored carbonated beverages from a single source of carbonated water and different sources of flavoring syrups all cooled by a single unit and admixed and dispensed from separate units to prevent contamination or intermixing of the flavors.

Specifically, this invention deals with a carbonated beverage dispenser having a plurality of mixing and dispensing units, an electric motoractuator for each unit, paper cup dispensers adjacent each unit, and a separate source of syrup for each unit together with a single carbonator for all of the units and a single refrigerator for the carbonator and all of the sources of syrup whereby selective operation of amotor will dispense a syrup-flavored refrigerated and carbonated drink uncontaminated by other flavors dispensed by the other motors but obtained from the same refrigerated source.

A feature of the machines of this invention is the elimination of springs thereby lowering the torque requirements of the actuating motors.

Another feature of the machines of this invention is the elimination of heretofore-required brakes or stops for the actuating motors by allowing a permissible range of override for the motors without interfering with the sequence of operation.

The machines of this invention are coin-actuated and a drink of the desired flavor is dispensed each time a coin is dropped into the particular receptacle for actuating the motor to dispense the desired drink. Contamination of flavors is eliminated by providing an individual syrup tank, syrup conduit, and mixing and dispensing valve unit for each flavor while utilizing a common refrigerator and carbonator for all flavors.

It is, then, an object of this invention to provide a multi-beverage-dispensing machine in which all possibilities of contaminating one flavor with another have been eliminated.

A still further object of this invention is to provide abeverage dispenser which will selectively vend a drink of a desired flavor from a single source of refrigerated and carbonated water but from a separate source of flavor, so that flavor contamination is eliminated.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an electric motor-actuated beverage vending machine having minimum torque load demands on the motor.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a beverage-dispensing machine wherein a coinactuated electric motor drives cam and pin means to sequentially dispense a cup, rotate a measuring valve to closed position, open a charged-water valve, dispense a flavored charged water drink into the cup, and dump a measured charge of syrup from the measuring valve for the next drink to be dispensed while allowing for an override of themotor without interfering with the next dispensing operation.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a multi-drink-dispensing machine wherein a single refrigerator unit cools charged water and a plurality of different drink flavors.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a drink-dispensing apparatus having a plurality of syrup-measuring, mixing and dispensing. units each supplied from a single source of charged water and each having an individual source of flavored syrup.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheets of drawings which, by way of a preferred example, illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

Onthe drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the multi-beverage-dispensing machine of this invention having the front cover plate removed.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line IIII of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged elevational view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, broken, vertical cross-sectional view, with parts in elevation, taken substantially along the line IVIV of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view, with parts in elevation, taken along the line VV of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view, with parts in elevation, taken along the line VI-VI of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary front elevational view taken substantially along the line VII--VII of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a vertical cross-secti nal view taken along the line VIIIVIII of Figure 7.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2 the machine [0 of this invention is shown mounted in a cabinet ll. Of course this cabinet has a front wall (not shown) covering the apparatus in the cabinet.

A mechanical refrigerator ll of the compressor-condenser-evaporator type has the compressor and condenser thereof mounted in the 3 bottom of the cabinet. An electric motor-driven water pump [3 is also mounted in the bottom of the cabinet and receives water from a pipe 14 to pump the water through a pipe 15 into the top of a filter IS. The filter l6 discharges filtered water through a pipe H. An insulated brine tank [8 is mounted in the cabinet H and extends completely across the width of the cabinet as shown in Figure l. A coil "I Sisprovided in the brine tank If! and receives water from the pipe I I. The coil 19 discharges into a carbonator 28. This carbonator can be of any suitable known construction but is preferably ofthltyp disclosed and claimed in my copending application ention shown by the arrow in Figure 7, thereby causing the pin 39 to engage the abutment 41a of the bell crank 4| and. tilt the bell crank to the position illustrated in dotted lines. This tilting of the bell crank slides the cup dispenser actuator 32a to its cup-releasing position and the cup C in the bottom of the actuator will drop as I illustrated in dotted lines to be guided by fingers Fin upright position on a platform P carried by "the cabinet to 'positiorithe cup beneath the dispenser nozzle of the unit 24. Further rotation of the gear 36 moves the pin 39 beyond. the abut- '-'ment*4la'-and1against the inclined shoe 41b to tilt the bell crank back to its initial position thereby titled; Carbonating Device,U."'-Si' Serial 579,- lc "r'eturningtheactuator 32a to its starting posi- 097, filed February 21, 1945;r'1owP'ate'n't'No. 2,402,- 132, granted June 18, 1946.

A carbon dioxide-containing tank 21 is mounted on the back of the cabinet II on a suitable N bracket as shown irYFigure 2, and discharges fCO'2 as through atube' 22 into the carbonator "2 0. Carbonated" water from the *c'arbonator" 2 0 is'dischargedthrough a'pi'pe 23 having branches 23a communicating with two mixing and'dis'pens- "'ing units24. WhiltWo such units are disclosed, it should'beundersto'od' thatanynumber of units ""can'be used. p r r Two separate syrup tanks- 25 andi'fi'are mounted in' the'brine tank [8 and each" syrup tank has its ownseparate' drain line -2'l"cornmunicati'ng with a mixingand"dispensing -unit24. In this manner; while a single l carbonator 28 supplies charged water tobothof the unit's-24;'each'unit has its own's'yrup tank'and syrup feed pipe so that contamination offiavors is not possible.

A' cold'plate or evaporator unit 28' is-mounted in'the brine tank 18- andis connected-through tubes 29 with the rest of -th'e'refr-ig'erator apparatus' i2 in the bottom ofthe cabinetfor circula- "tion of refrigerant The cold plate 28 cools*the brine in the tank 'l-8 of simultaneously"refrigerate water in the coil IQ/charged water in the carbonator- 2 6; and syrup in "the" tanks 2 5 -'and 2 6.

Asshown in Figure 1, each mixing and dispensing unit 24 has an electric inotor tfi associated therewith. Paper cup d-isp'ens'ers i'll and az are mounted on each -s'ide ofeach mot r-3o.

- As shown iriFigure 5; the rnotoi"-39 has a reduc- 'tion gear housing filddepending therefrorii driving a pinion 33 at about a 25;-to l' spe'ed' reduc- 'tion. A-spindle bolt-"34 is car ried by a bracket 35 on the front face of{-the'-brine tank- I8 and rotat- 1 ably supports a ge'ar '36n'i'eshed with the pinion 35.?Thisgear36'driVeS a sleeve 31 onthespindle "to rotate a'vertical'cani 38 for a'purposeto be more fully hereinafter described.

As' 'shown in Figures (Sand 7; the gear -36-has a --pin or lug 39 projecting from. the" rear face' thereof adjacent the periphery of the gear. A-b'ell "crank 40 is pivoted on the cup dispenser 3 l and 1 has a dependingleg sli'd'ably pinned-to'th dispenser actuator 3la. The othera'rm 'ofthe 'bell abutment portion 40a thereon lying in the path of the pin 39.

"on theend of this armofthe bell crankinsp'aced relation from the abutfn'ent 4fla.

The cup dispenser 32'has a 'similarbell-crank '4 tpivoted thereon with a depending leg slidably pinned to the dispenser actuator '3'1Za and with.

:the other legthereof overlying the back face of the gear 36 and-having an abutment 4|a thereon "together with'an inclinedshoe 41b in spaced- 'rela- 'tion' from-the abutment.

. The-motor Blldrives the gear 36-inthe-direc- An inclined shoe 49b. is for-inedtion. When the'pin returns the bell crank to its 1 initial position i-t can clear the top of the shoe 4 I b,

and the shoe will then rest on the spindle bolt 34asshowrr in Figure '7. Continued rotation of 20 the gear will next bring the pin 39 into engagefor tilting- 'the' bell crank 'to'imove the amp dispenser actuator '34 a f-to its' cup release' position,

- and-'further movement'of the pin'then causes the forretu'rning the' bellrcrankto itsinitial position.

1 "The-cup dispenseractuators 3.1a and 32a are pin 3 3 and the' conventional;- spring 1 return f or such 1 actuatorsii's eliminated. :The cup-dispenser actuators are -'of' "well-known construction that serve to' discharge one cup'at a time Whenthe actuators are .slidably moved -=in their. 'slotsas shown.

A full revolution of the gear 3 6- thus-results in a-discharge' of"- one -cup f'rom -each dispenser 3 i and 32. I 'Thedispensers-thus alternately. supply "the unit =24 with cups The use of-two=cup dispensers in place of one'increasesthe drink-dis- I pensing capacity f0r each unit'i 4.

As shown in-Figures 1 and l 2, -the=cabinet l l.- is equipped with 2; drawer D beneath the-platforms I P to s'erve as 'a-receptacle in disposing.otcups C after individual servings.

-' as -best shown -in-Figure 8. This-.yoke 44=.has a link bar 4fi pivoted thereon: and in :turn pivoted to a-= lever-41 extending upwardly'in-front .oi the cam--38 and=having -itszupper-end pivoted to a pin 48' carried by the'bracket plate-35 as shown in-Figure 5.

The measuring and dispensing unit 24- shown in Figure 8 ismore=oful1y--deseribedand claimed in my 'ccpending: application entitled: 5 fDispens- -ing' Apparatus, -U-.-S.-Serial 5 90-,649, filed April 55 27,- l945;-now-Paten-t No-.--2,52 7,250, dated October -24,.-1950. "The -unit -24- inc1udes the measuring '-valve 45. a A guard-plate G- secured onthe unit-24 bottoms a spring S to hold the measuring valve'45 in -the=houSing.--= Abal-l bearing B. is interposed -betweemthe spring S-- and guard G :so that the :springwillnot interfere-with rotation of the valve 45. The valve 45 is thus 'rotatably mounted in the-casing of the-unit, and-has a measuring chamber M. Ce-therein: receivingsyrup from thepipe -21 through a cam-actuated: shut-off valve 49.

the valve 49 against pressure of the spring 53,

to permit syrup to flow into the measuring chamber M. C. When this occurs, the outlet opening 55 for the measuring chamber is out of registration with a port 56 so that the measuring chamber is closed. 'The port 55 communicates with adump chamber D. C. for receiving the syrup. A valve casing or tube 5? extends across the dump chamber-D. C. and receives charged Water from the pipe 230.. This tube 57 has a valve seat 51a therein normally closed by a spring-pressed valve 58 having a pin 59 projecting forwardly therefrom out of the front end of the unit 24. A rocker arm 55 overlies the pin 59 and is actuated by a cam roller 6| which engages a cam 62 on the front face of the measuring valve 45. Charged water is discharged, when the valve 58 is opened, into a chamber 53 and drained therefrom through a tube 64 entering the dispenser nozzle 65 for the unit. This nozzle 65 has apertures 56 around the periphery thereof discharging the charged water into a valve carriage 5i having a valve head 58 closing a drain port at the bottom of the dump chamber D. C. A cam 69 on the periphery of the measuring valve 45 acts on a roller 10 to depress a yoke H which lowers the valve carriage 67 against the pressure of the spring 12 in the nozzle. The spring l2 acts on a plunger 13 which in turn acts on pins l4 holding the valve carriage 67 in closed position. The cams 52 and 69 open the valves 58 and 68 simultaneously so that the syrup from the dump chamber D. C. and the charged water from the valve chamber 57 are discharged simultaneously along the inner and outer faces of the valve carriage 6'! to be mixed and guided by a shield 15 into a cup on the platform P.

The cam 38 driven by the motor 30 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 3 to move a driving edge 38b thereof into engagement with the roller 43 and thereupon rock the measuring valve 45 to cause the cams 62 and 6-9 thereon to open the charged Water valve 58 and the dump valve 58 thereby dispensing a drink containing charged water issuing from the tube 54 and syrup contained in the dump chamber D. C. This rotation of the measuring valve 45 also moves the dump opening 55 thereof out of registration with the port 56 to close the measuring chamber M. C. The cam 50 in this measuring chamber then opens the valve 49 to admit syrup into the measuring chamber for filling the chamber. The cam lobe 38 then passes over the roller 43 as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3. When the cam roller is in this dotted line position the lever 4i has been swung over the dotted line position and the pin 42 on the other cam lobe 38 then engages the lever to push it back to the full line position thereby returning the cam roller and rocking the measuring valve 45 back to the position shown in Figure 8. On this return movement of the measuring valve 45 the shut-ofi valve 49 is closed and the discharge opening 55 of the valve is placed in registration with the port 56 to dump the measured quantity of syrup in the measuring chamber M. C. into the dump chamber D. C. where it is held for dispensing the next ,6 the gear by the driving motor, a cup will be dispensed from one dispenser 3| or 32, a drink will be dispensed from the unit 24,'the dispenser actuator will be returned to initial position, and the mechanism in the unit 24 will be returned to its initial position. Then the other cup dispenser will be actuated to release a cup, the unit 24 will be actuated to dispense another drink into the cup, and the cup dispenser and unit will be returned to initial position. During drink dispensing by the unit 24, the measuring valve is receiving a new charge of syrup for the next drink and, as the measuring valve is returned to initial position, this measured charge of syrup is dumped into the dump chamber where it is held until the next drink is dispensed.

Preferably the speed arrangement is such that two seconds are allowed for dispensing a cup; two seconds are allowed for dispensing a. drink in the cup; and two seconds are allowed for possible override of the electric motor without interfering with any of the operations or the sequence of operation. In this manner, no brake need be provided on the motor since the two second override period is ample to accommodate any possible coasting of the motor after it has been de-energized. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, suitable electrical relay mechanism is provided in a box 16 in the top of the cabinet. Standard coin-actuated relay can be used.

From the above descriptions it will be understood that the machines of this invention require only a single refrigerator unit and carbonator for dispensing a plurality of differently flavored drinks While eliminating all possibility of contamination of one drink flavor, with another. I-Ieretofore-required spring returns and the like spring-actuated mechanisms have been substantially eliminated so that the driving motor need only have relatively low torque load capacity. At the same time, positive driving and return movements are obtained. The cam actuating and pin means for the unit are of simple construction and are directly driven from the electric motor thereby eliminating possible sources of faulty timing due to complicated arrangements.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. 'In a drink dispensing apparatus a valve unit having a rockable measuring valve with a measuring chamber therein, a dump chamber, a charged water valve and a dispensing valve for emptying said dump chamber, an electric motor driven cam having abutment means for rockin said measuring valve, lug means for returning the rocked measuring valve to initial position, and cams on said measuring valve for actuating the charged water valve and the dispensing valve to open said valves when the measurin valve is in rocked position.

2. In a drink dispensing apparatus an electric motor, cam and lug means driven by said electric motor, a cup dispenser, a rocking member actuated by said lug means releasing a cup from said dispenser to move by gravity into position for filling, a mixing and dispensing valve unit including a rotatable measuring valve actuated by said cam means and a dispensing valve actuated by

Images