Claims
- 1. A method for automatically dispensing a selected one of a plurality of different beverages into a selected one of a plurality of different size cups comprising the steps of:
- (a) automatically placing a cup of a selected size onto a cup drop station of an automatic beverage dispenser by an automatic cup drop mechanism;
- (b) automatically dropping a predetermined quantity of ice from an ice bin into said cup by an automatic ice dispenser;
- (c) automatically conveying said cup with ice to a cup fill station by an automatic conveyor;
- (d) automatically dispensing a selected beverage into said cup from an automatic beverage dispensing valve at said fill station; and
- (e) moving the beverage containing cup from said fill station to an operator pick-up station.
- 2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of automatically dispensing comprises providing a multiflavor valve at said cup fill station and automatically selecting the selected beverage to be dispensed.
- 3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of automatically dropping ice includes conveying said cup from said cup drop station to a separate ice drop station.
- 4. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of automatically dispensing includes moving said cup with ice underneath a single flavor valve that dispenses the selected beverage.
- 5. A method for automatically dispensing a selected one of a plurality of different beverages into a selected one of a plurality of different size cups comprising the steps of:
- (a) automatically placing a cup of a selected size onto a cup drop station of an automatic beverage dispenser;
- (b) automatically dropping a predetermined quantity of ice into said cup;
- (c) automatically conveying said cup with ice to a cup fill station;
- (d) automatically dispensing a selected beverage into said cup at said fill station;
- (e) moving the beverage containing cup from said fill station to an operator pick-up station; and
- (f) wherein said strep of automatically conveying includes moving said cup with ice from said ice drop position to a transfer station by a first conveyor and then moving said cup with ice from said transfer station to said fill station by one of a plurality of second conveyors.
- 6. The method as recited by claim 5 including providing a single flavor dispensing valve over each of said plurality of second conveyors at a fill station thereon.
- 7. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein said automatic conveying step includes first moving said cup by a first conveyor including an elongated lead screw and subsequently moving said cup by one of said plurality of second conveyors each of which includes a cup moving helix, and which are parallel to but separated from each other.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of co-pending application Ser. No. 375,424 filed on July 3, 1989 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,447, which was, in turn, a division of Ser. No. 174,742 filed on Mar. 29, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,337.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4590975 |
Credle, Jr. |
May 1986 |
|
4944337 |
Credle, Jr. et al. |
Jul 1990 |
|
4951719 |
Wiley et al. |
Aug 1990 |
|
4961447 |
Credle, Jr. et al. |
Oct 1990 |
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4967808 |
Credle, Jr. et al. |
Nov 1990 |
|
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
375424 |
Jul 1989 |
|
Parent |
174742 |
Mar 1988 |
|