Smoothie vending machine linear rail guide system
Inactive Publication Date: 2021-07-22
LEVINE COLE CRAIG
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- Abstract
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- Claims
- Application Information
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Benefits of technology
The patent describes a smoothie vending machine that dispenses smoothie beverages directly into a cup using electro-mechanically actuated dispensing nozzles. The machine has a housing, a mounting plate, and a line of smoothie blenders that can be accessed for refueling and maintenance. The machine also has a tubeless design that eliminates the need for a hose to deliver the beverage. The method of using the machine involves retrieving an empty cup, moving it to a selected dispensing nozzle, actuating the nozzle, delivering the beverage to the cup, adding dry food to the cup, opening an access door, and vending the cup to the customer. The patent also describes the use of straws, lids, and a receiving shelf for the smoothie blenders. Overall, the invention provides a more efficient and convenient method for dispensing smoothie beverages.
Problems solved by technology
The inventor has discovered several problems that have prevented the dispensing of “smoothie” type beverages from unattended vending machines.
If the next dispensing is for another flavor (or the next dispensing is too long after the previous dispensing) then a problem becomes apparent.
This does not, however, address the need to periodically clean these tubes to prevent slime.
The problems just described create a myriad of cascading problems to create an unattended vending machine that can provide smoothies from multiple reservoirs.
This creates a space situation for a vending machine of “standard” or expected size.
Another problem arises in the demands of the modern healthy drink customer.
A problem arises for an unattended vending machine as to how to keep the dry ingredients segregated from the liquid containers but still have room to intervene to add the dry ingredient to complete the customer's request.
Method used
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Embodiment Construction
[0067]In one example, disclosed is a smoothie vending machine dispensing smoothie beverage into a cup from arranged and positioned electrically actuated dispensing nozzles without intervening hose.
[0068]In one example, disclosed is a tubeless smoothie vending machine including a tubeless electro-mechanically actuated dispensing nozzle attached to each smoothie dispensing tank, a means for retrieving an empty cup and moving the cup to each selected dispensing nozzle, a tubeless means for delivering beverage from the dispensing tank to the cup; a means for transferring the cup through the cup retrieving and moving means, a receiving shelf to receive the filled cup, a means for dropping dry food product into the beverage filled cup; and an access door to open when the beverage filled cup is ready to vend to the customer. A means for payment and a means for beverage selection is included at a point of sale. A means for dispensing straws is included at the point of vending. A means for d...
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A linear rail guide system for a smoothie vending machine, the linear rail guide system positioned and arranged for positioning a cup at a dispensing point of six separate smoothie blenders, the smoothie blenders located at different horizontal and vertical positions. In one example, the linear rail guide system includes a frame of two vertical members and two horizontal members, a horizontally movable third vertical member disposed on the two horizontal members, a vertically moveable cup holder assembly disposed on the third vertical member, a motor disposed on the third vertical member to vertically move a cup holder, and a second motor disposed on the cup holder assembly to rotate the cup holder.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 964,647 of filing date Jan. 22, 2020. This application claims the benefit of International Application No. PCT / US20 / 27591, filed 10 Apr. 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 964,647 of filing date Jan. 22, 2020.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]Disclosed herein is a vending machine capable of dispensing modern smoothie beverages with protein additives.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The inventor has discovered several problems that have prevented the dispensing of “smoothie” type beverages from unattended vending machines. This may be one reason why there has been a proliferation of attended smoothie shops across the world. These shops custom make smoothies by an attendant, upon ordering by the customer. A smoothie, in the modern sense, includes a thick blend of fruits and suspended particles of ice, which creates a macro consistency of a thick...
Claims
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Login to View More IPC IPC(8): G07F11/16G07F17/00
CPCG07F11/16G07F17/0064A23G9/045A23G9/22G07F9/10G07F13/04G07F13/065G07F13/10A23G9/28A23G9/00A23G9/04A23L2/02G07F17/0071
InventorLEVINE, COLE CRAIG
OwnerLEVINE COLE CRAIG