The disclosure relates to beverage dispensers and more particularly pertains to a new beverage dispenser for filling individual cups held in a tray to facilitate preparation for a communion ceremony.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a housing having a bottom and a perimeter wall extending upwardly from the bottom of the housing. The perimeter wall defines a base of the housing. An access opening extends through the perimeter wall of the housing. A tank is coupled to the housing and configured for holding a beverage. A filling assembly is coupled to and positioned in the housing. The filling assembly is in fluid communication with the tank whereby the filling assembly dispenses the beverage from the tank. A tray is insertable through the access opening and positionable in the base of the housing. Each of a plurality of serving cups is positioned in an associated aperture in the tray. The tray is positionable such that each serving cup receives the beverage dispensed from the tank by the filling assembly.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
An access opening 24 extends through the perimeter wall 16 of the housing 12. A tank 26 is coupled to the housing 12 and may be placed on top of the housing 12. The tank 26 may have a wide mouthed hole 28 coverable by a cap 30. The tank 26 is configured for holding a beverage 32 such as juice or wine to be distributed to a congregation for a communion ceremony. A filling assembly 34 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 12. The filling assembly 34 is in fluid communication with the tank 26. Thus, the filling assembly 34 is configured for dispensing the beverage 32 from the tank 26. The filling assembly 34 may have a plurality of aligned nozzles 36. The nozzles 36 are each configured for dispensing the beverage 32. The filling assembly 34 may be positioned in the upper section 22 of the housing 12. The filling assembly 34 may include a processor 38 operationally coupled to the nozzles 36 for selectively opening each nozzle 36 independently.
A tray 40 is insertable through the access opening 24 and positionable in the base 18 of the housing 12. The tray 40 has a plurality of apertures 42. The apertures 42 in the tray 40 may be radially aligned whereby the apertures 42 are selectively alignable with the nozzles 36. A plurality of serving cups 44 is provided. Each serving cup 44 is positioned in an associated one of the apertures 42 in the tray 40. The tray 40 is positionable whereby each serving cup 44 is configured to receive the beverage 32 dispensed from the tank 26 by the filling assembly 34. The processor 38 may be pre-programmed to open the nozzles 36 corresponding to a pre-determined pattern corresponding to the positioning of the apertures 42 and serving cups 44 in the event there are fewer rows of apertures 42 than nozzles 36 of if the apertures 42 are not radially aligned.
A rotating panel 46 is coupled to and positioned in the base 18. The tray 40 is positionable on the rotating panel 46 whereby the tray 40 is rotated to align the nozzles 36 with the serving cups 46 in the apertures 42. To insure proper alignment, a tongue 48 may extend upwardly from a top surface 50 of the rotating panel 46 and a groove 52 may extend into a bottom 54 of the tray 40. The groove 52 receives the tongue 48 when the tray 40 is positioned on the rotating panel 46. Thus, the tray 40 is held in a static position relative to the rotating panel 46 as the rotating panel 46 rotates. Further, the orientation of the groove 52 may be consistent or known relative to the apertures 42 thus facilitating proper alignment of the nozzles 36 and serving cups 44 by a program implemented by the processor 38. A shaft 56 is coupled to and extends from the rotating panel 46. A motor 58 is coupled to and positioned in the housing 12. The motor 58 is operationally coupled to the shaft 56 by a belt 60 or gearing whereby the motor 58 selectively rotates the rotating panel 46. The motor 58 may be operationally controlled by the processor 38.
A dispensing button 62 is coupled to the housing 12. Indicator lights 64 may also be coupled to the housing 12 to indicate progress while filling the serving cups 44 with the beverage 32. The dispensing button 62 is operationally coupled to the filling assembly 34 and the motor 58 for selectively rotating the tray 40 and dispensing the beverage 32 into each of the serving cups 44 when the serving cup 44 is positioned beneath one of the nozzles 36.
A door 72 may be coupled to the housing 12. The door 72 selectively covers the access opening 24. The door 72 may be slidably coupled to the perimeter wall 16 to slide between an open position 66 providing access to an interior 68 of the base 18 through the access opening 24 and a closed positioned 70 blocking the access opening 24.
In use, the tray 40 is inserted through the access opening 24 and placed on the rotating panel 46. The dispensing button 62 is manipulated to initiate filling of the serving cups 44 in the apertures 42 in the tray 40. When all the serving cups 44 have been filled with the beverage 32, the door 72 is opened and another tray 40 may be loaded into the base 12 for filling.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure.
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