Cup dispenser for an automated drinkmaker system
US4989753A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 18, 1989 |
| Grant date | Feb 5, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 18, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07F13/10
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An automatic cup dispensing arrangement for separating the bottommost cup from a stack of cups supported in a cup dispenser. The cup dispenser is pivotally mounted about a substantially horizontal pivot, about which the cup dispenser is cyclically pivoted to allow the cup stack to cyclically swing through a dispensing travel arc during a dispensing cycle. A pair of opposed cup separating members are mounted on opposite sides of the stack of cups in the cup dispenser along the dispensing travel arc. The opposed cup separating members are spaced a distance apart substantially equal to the width of a cup just beneath the cup rim, and each of the pair of opposed cup separating members comprises at least one cup separating wedge positioned opposite to a corresponding cup separating wedge in the oppositely positioned cup separating member. The oppositely positioned cup separating wedges cooperate to separate the bottommost cup from the cup stack as the cup dispenser is pivoted along the dispensing travel arc. A preferred embodiment of the cup dispensing arrangement includes a cup carousel, having a plurality of the cup dispensers positioned circumferentially therearound, with each cup di…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.