GB2107688A - Cup dispenser apparatus for beverage vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A cup dispenser for a beverage vending machine comprises a plurality of nested stacks of cups 16, a rotable barrier 18, and a spring loaded movable member 22. The nested stacks of cups 16, are arranged in a row and the rotatable barrier divides an endmost "operative" stack of cups from the remaining stacks. When the "operative" stack is nearly exhausted, sensor 32 operates a mechanism which causes the barrier 18 to rotate. After moving through 180 DEG , the next stack of cups 16 is able to move within the barrier 18, through the aperture 20, under the spring pressure of member 22. The barrier then rotates through a further 180 DEG , to return to its original position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cup dispenser apparatus for beverage vending machine The invention relates to a cup dispenser apparatus for a beverage vending machine, that is to say to apparatus for delivering a single plastics cup, when required, from a nested stack of such cups.

Various kinds of cup dispenser apparatus for beverage vending machines are already known, for example a "carousel" type of arrangement in which nested stacks of cups can be brought into an operative position in turn. However, such arrange menus take up a fair amount of space within a vending machine.

The invention aims to provide a cup dispenser apparatus which will provide a large number of cups before requiring replenishment but which is of more compact size and shape than previously known arrangements. In addition, the invention aims to provide improved means for feeding cups singly from the lower end of a nested stack of cups.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided cup dispenser apparatus for a vending machine, the dispenser including a container for a row of nested stacks of cups; rotatable barrier means at or near one end of the container for dividing an endmost nested stack of cups, that is to say the operative stack, from the remaining nested stacks of cups; means for urging the remaining nested stacks of cups sideways towards the position occupied by the operative nested stack of cups; mechanism adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack; sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of said endmost nested stack of cups; and mechanically operable means, under the control of said sensing means, for coupling mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means to motor driven drive means for driving the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups, the arrangement being such that, on the operation of said mechanically operable means, a subsequent operation of the mechanism for feeding the next cup from the apparatus causes the simultaneous rotation of the rotatable barrier means whereby the remaining nested stacks of cups are displaced by the means for urging them sideways to bring the next in line stack of cups into the "operative stack" position, the newly installed operative stack then being separated from the remaining nested stacks of cups by the rotatable barrier means completing one full rotation.The rotatable barrier means will preferably be constituted by a rotatable sleeve with a cut-away "window" or aperture in its side wall through which a new nested stack of cups can pass into the sleeve to replace an exhausted stack of cups, said sleeve preferably being provided at one end with a girth gear drivably connected to a gearwheel which can be connected to the motor driven drive means. The girth gear may be drivably connected to said gear wheel by means of a toothed driving belt.The mechanism adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack will preferably include a reciprocable fork member, the mutually opposed surfaces of the arms of the fork member being recessed whereby they can engage the nesting rings of the lowermost cups of the operative stack of cups to feed them from the apparatus in turn. The reciprocable fork member may be drivably connected to an eccentric drive mechanism, the arrangement being such that one complete rotation of the eccentric drive mechanism reciprocates the fork member forwards and back, thereby displacing the lowermost cup from the nested stack and returning to receive the nesting ring of the next cup in the recessed portions between its arms.The sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups may be constituted by a very lightly spring loaded sensing peg extending through an aperture in the side wall of a cylindrical member into which said nested stack of cups extend. The mechanically operable means, under the control of the sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups, for coupling the mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means to the motor driven means for driving the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups, may include clutch means for connecting together two co-axially arranged gearwheels, one of said gearwheels forming a part of the mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means and the other of said gearwheels forming a part of the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups. The clutch means are normally held disengaged by spring means but said spring means are rendered inoperable when a detent member assumes an inoperative position as a result of the sensing means sensing the near exhaustion of the operative nested stack of cups.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a cup dispenser apparatus for a vending machine, the cup dispenser apparatus including or being constituted by means for feeding cups singly from the lower end of a nested stack of cups, said means including a reciprocable fork member, the mutually opposed surfaces of the arms of the fork member being recessed whereby they can engage nesting rings of the lowermost cups of the nested stack of cups to feed them from the apparatus in turn.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is an exploded view of cup dispenser apparatus embodying the invention, Figure 2 is a semi-diagrammatic side view of a part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1, Figures 3 and 4 are respective plan and side semi-diagrammatic views which will be referred to, Figure 5 is a scrap exploded view which will be referred to, Figure 6 is a partly cut-away diagrammatic view largely of the parts shown in exploded view in Figure 5,and Figure 7 is a perspective view showing how the cup dispenser may be associated with a beverage dispensing machine.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, the cup dispenser apparatus there illustrated includes frame members 10 and 12 which although shown exploded apart can be seen to be of rectangular shape defining the length and breadth of the assembly. The space overlying the frame member 12 constitutes a container 14for a single row of nested stacks of cups 16 (see Figure 2). The nested stacks of cups are stacks of disposable plastics cups of the kind formed with respective nesting rings projecting outwards from their upper rims so that they are assembled together at a predetermined spacing without being tightly jammed one within another.

The apparatus also includes rotatable barrier means, constituted by a rotatable sleeve 18 with a cut-away "window" 20 in its side wall, located at or near one end of the container, for dividing an endmost nested stack of cups, that is to say the operative stack, from the remaining nested stacks of cups as shown in the drawings. Spring loading means (not shown) act against a movable element 22 for urging the remaining nested stacks of cups sideways towards the position occupied by the operative nested stack of cups. The remaining nested stacks of cups rest upon the smooth top surface of the frame member 12 to be urged sideways by the spring loading means and to normally abut against the side wall of the sleeve 18.

However, means which will presently be described are provided adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack, that is to say for displacing them downwards from the bottom of the stack. At its lower end the rotatable sleeve is provided with a so-called girth gear 24 and this is drivably connected to a driving gear 26 by means of a toothed driving belt 28. The driving gear can be drivably connected to a geared motor unit generally indicated 30, as will presently be described.

Means which are provided for sensing the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups, that is to say the nested stack within the rotatable sleeve, are constituted by a very lightly spring loaded sensing peg 32 which extends through an aperture in the sidewall of a cylindrical member 34 located beneath the rotatable sleeve. The arrangement is such that the sensing peg 32 normally rests very lightly against the nesting ring of an oppositely located cup, but when the stack of cups is almost exhausted the peg can move inwardly to overlie the rim of the last of the remaining cups.The sensing peg is associated with the means which will presently be described for causing the geared motor unit 30 to be drivably connected to the driving gear 26 and for causing the rotation of the rotatable sleeve whereby the remaining nested stacks of cups can be displaced by the means for urging them sideways and can bring the next in line stack of cups into the "operative stack" position. When this occurs, the rotatable sleeve is rotated through one full turn so that, in being turned through the first 180 the next in line stack of cups is able to move within it, and in moving through the remainder of its full revolution the sleeve re-assumes the position in which it forms a barrier between the newly operative stack and the following stack of cups.The newly operative stack is then able to fall onto the last of the remaining cups of the preceding stack and in doing so returns the sensing peg 32 to its retracted position.

Referring now in particular to Figures 3 and 4, the means adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack include a reciprocable fork member 36 the mutually opposed surfaces of the arms 38 of which are recessed at 40 whereby they can engage the nesting rings of the lowermost cups of the operative stack of cups to feed them from the apparatus in turn. The reciprocable fork member is drivably connected to an eccentric drive mechanism constituted by an eccentric pin 42 and connecting link 44, the eccentric pin projecting downwards from a gearwheel 46 which meshes with a pinion 48 drivably connected to the motor shaft 50 (the motor, gearwheel and pinion constituting the geared motor unit 30 preferably referred to).The arrangement is such that when a user of the apparatus presses a push button (not shown) to initiate the running of the motor, the latter continues to run until an electrical switch 52 is operated after one full rotation of the gearwheel 46, by a protrusion beneath the latter.

During that one full rotation of the gearwheel, the fork member 36 will have been reciprocated forwards and back, thereby displacing the lowermost cup from the nested stack above it and returning to receive the nesting ring of the next cup in the recessed portions between its arms.

Referring now in particularto Figures 1 and 5, the apparatus is provided with mechanically operable means, under the control of the sensing means referred to above, for coupling the mechanism for rotating the rotatable sleeve 18 to the motor driven drive means just referred to for driving the reciprocable fork member 36, said mechanically operable means being constituted by a displaceable detent member 54 carried by the sensing peg 32; a cam plate element 56 pivotally mounted on a fixed pivot pin 58; an upstanding pin 60 carried for reciprocable movement by the fork member 36; a gearwheel 62 arranged co-axially of the gearwheel 46; a gear wheel 64 formed integrally with the driving gear 26 and in mesh with gearwheel 62; and clutch means generally indicated 66 for drivably connecting the gearwheel 62 to the gearwheel 46.

The clutch means 66 for drivably connecting the gearwheel 62 to the gearwheel 46 are constituted by a driving pin 68 projecting downwards from the face of the gearwheel 62 and normally, that is to say when at least a predetermined number of cups remain in the operative nested stack of cups, projecting into an annular groove 70 in the gearwheel 46.

Consequently, the gearwheel 46 is normally not drivably connected to the gearwheel 62 and the fork member is able to be reciprocated to dispense the cups, as required, without the sleeve 18 being rotated. However, the driving pin 68 is carried by an engagement member 72 which is slidably mounted in a radially extending aperture 74 in the gearwheel 62 and the arrangement is such that when the engagement member has been able to move radially outwards of said gearwheel, under the influence of a light coil spring 76, as will presently be described, the driving pin engages a radial slot 78 in the annular groove 70 and forms a driving connection between the gearwheels 46 and 62.

The clutch means just referred to are normally held disengaged by spring means capable of easily overcoming the force of coil spring 76. Said spring means are constituted by a leaf spring 80 connected at one end to the cam plate element 56. At its other end the leaf spring, when operative, is arranged to bear against an outer end of an abutment member 82 which is freely slidable in a mounting member 84 and which at its inner end is rounded and adapted to bear against a cylindrical surface 86 of the gearwheel 62 (or against an end portion 88 of the engagement member 72 which can project through an aperture at the periphery of the cylindrically surfaced portion of gearwheel 62).It will be understood that the abutment member 82 is only required to act against the engagement member when the driving pin 68 is opposite the radial slot 78 in the annular groove 70 (because at other times the driving pin can bear against the outer surface of the groove) and the arrangement is such that at this point in the rotation of the gear wheel 46 the fork member 36 will have been fully drawn back. Consequently, the upstanding pin 60 carried by the fork member will have engaged a slot 90 in the cam plate element 56 and the leaf spring 80 will thus have been suitably pre-loaded against the abutment member 82 buy a slight pivoting of said cam plate element as the upstanding pin 60 has slid along a cam surface 92 before entering the slot 90.

During normal operation of the apparatus, that is to say before the sensing peg 32 detects the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups, the forward movement of the fork member and the disengagement of the upstanding pin 60 from the cam plate element results in the latter moving pivotally, under the action of leaf spring 80, so that a protrusion 94 of said cam plate element rests lightly against the detent member 54. This ensures that the cam plate remains in a position where the cam surface 92 can again be engaged by the upstanding pin 60 when the fork member is drawn back to its starting position.However, if the sensing peg fails to abut against an oppositely disposed nesting ring of a disposable cup when the cam plate next moves away from the detent member 54, and consequently moves some way across the top of the last remaining cup of the operative stack of cups, the detent member is displaced so that on the next reciprocation of the fork member the cam plate element fails to abut against said detent member and is pivoted some way further than normal by leaf spring 80. This in fact brings the cam plate element to a position in which the leaf spring 80 no longer bears against the abutment element 82.Consequently, as the fork member re-assumes its starting position, the driving pin 68 is allowed to engage the radial slot 78 in the annular groove in the gearwheel 46 and the next cycle of operation of the apparatus, to cause the last cup or one of the very few remaining cups of the nearly exhausted nesting stack to be dispensed, is accompanied by the rotation of the rotatable sleeve through one complete revolution so that a new nested stack of cups is brought into the operative position.

A micro-switch generally indicated 98, which is mounted on the frame member 10, has a control finger 100 which is arranged to project through a slot 102 in frame member 12 but normally to be held depressed by the nested stack of cups resting upon the frame member 12 adjacent the rotatable sleeve 18. The arrangement is such that the switch is actuated when the last reserve stack of cups has been brought to the operative position. However, the micro-switch 98 is electrically connected to another micro-switch generally indicated 104 which is arranged to be actuated when the sensing peg 32 senses the near exhaustion of the nested stack of cups within the rotatable sleeve 18.The arrangement is such that when both absence of a fresh stack of cups and the absence or imminent absence of a cup in readiness to be dispensed are detected, the mains supply to an associated beverage vending machine is cut off.

Thus there is provided a cup dispenser apparatus which, depending on the number of reserve nested stacks of cups which can be fitted within it, can provide a large number of cups before requiring replenishment but which is of a very compact size and shape, this being because the nested stacks of cups are provided in a single row and the overall width of the apparatus needs to be only very slightly greater than the width of a disposable cup. As shown in Figure 7, the apparatus may form part of a self-service beverage vending machine and be arranged to provide a disposable cup when required coinage has been inserted, the customer then transferring the cup from one ingredient dispense nozzle to another, that is to say for example from powdered coffee to sugar, to powdered milk, and to hot water, operating each nozzle in turn. On the other hand, a beverage vending machine could comprise a plurality of cup dispensers as described above, each dispenser being provided with a supply of cups which have been pre-ioaded with powdered ingredients for a particular beverage.

One of the main advantages of the apparatus described is that it employs only a single electric motor for the two main sequences of operation with purely mechanical sensing and interlocking means which is thought will ensure trouble free operation for long periods of time.

Claims (12)

1. Cup dispenser apparatus for a vending machine, the dispenser including a container for a row of nested stacks of cups, rotatable barrier means at or near one end of the container for dividing an endmost nested stack of cups, that is to say the operative stack, from the remaining nested stacks of cups; means for urging the remaining nested stacks of cups sideways towards the position occupied by the operative nested stack of cups; mechanism adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack; sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of said endmost nested stack of cups; and mechanically operable means, under the control of said sensing means, for coupling mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means to motor driven drive means for driving the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups, the arrangement being such that, on operation of said mechanically operable means, a subsequent operation of the mechanism for feeding the next cup from the apparatus causes the simultaneous rotation of the rotatable barrier means whereby the remaining nested stacks of cups are displaced by the means for urging them sideways to bring the next in line stack of cups into the "operative stack" position, the newly installed operative stack then being separated from the remaining nested stacks of cups by the rotatable barrier means completing one full rotation.

2. Cup dispenser apparatus according to claim 1, in which the rotatable barrier means are constituted by a rotatable sleeve with a cut-away "window" or aperture in its side wall through which a new nested stack of cups can pass into the sleeve to replace an exhausted stack of cups.

3. Cup dispenser apparatus according to claim 2, in which the rotatable sleeve is provided at one end with a girth gear drivably connected to a gear wheel which can be connected to the motor driven drive means.

4. Cup dispenser apparatus according to claim 3, in which the girth gear is drivably connected to the gearwheel by means of a toothed driving belt.

5. Cup dispenser apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mechanism adjacent the position of the operative stack of cups for supporting said operative stack but for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the stack includes a reciprocable fork member, the mutually opposed surfaces of the arms of the fork member being recessed whereby they can engage the nesting rings of the lowermost cups of the operative stack of cups to feed them from the apparatus in turn.

6. Cup dispenser apparatus according to claim 5, in which the reciprocable fork member is drivably connected to an eccentric drive mechanism, the arrangement being such that one complete rotation of the eccentric drive mechanism reciprocates the fork member forwards and back, thereby displacing the lowermost cup from the nested stack and returning to receive the nesting ring of the next cup in the recessed portions between its arms.

7. Cup dispenser apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups is constituted by a very lightly spring loaded sensing peg extending through an aperture in the side wall of a cylindrical member into which said nested stack of cups extend.

8. Cup dispenser apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the mechanically operable means, under the control of the sensing means for sensing the near exhaustion of the endmost nested stack of cups, for coupling the mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means to the motor drive means for driving the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups, includes clutch means for connecting together two co-axially arranged gearwheels, one of said gearwheels forming a part of the mechanism for rotating the rotatable barrier means and the other of said gearwheels forming a part of the mechanism for feeding the cups singly from the lower end of the operative stack of cups.

9. Cup dispenser apparatus according to claim 8, in which the clutch means are normally held disengaged by spring means but said spring means are rendered inoperable when a detent member assumes an inoperative position as a result of the sensing means sensing the near exhaustion of the operative nested stack of cups.

10. A cup dispenser apparatus for a vending machine, the cup dispenser apparatus including or being constituted by means for feeding cups singly from the lower end of a nested stack of cups, said means including a reciprocable fork member, the mutually opposed surfaces of the arms of the fork member being recessed whereby they can engage nesting rings of the lowermost cups of the nested stack of cups to feed them from the apparatus in turn.

11. Cup dispenser apparatus for a vending machine, said cup dispenser apparatus being constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

12. A vending machine including cup dispenser apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.