Automatic frozen food product vending machine

• US 9,635,874 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2015
• Issued: 05/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vollrath Company LLC
• Original Assignee: Vollrath Company LLC
• Inventors: Bruckner, Gary E., Koehl, Richard, Kopidlansky, Tony J., Mohammed, Aamer, Shymanski, Douglas J., Wattenford, Dave
• Primary Examiner(s): Arnett, Nicolas A
• Application Number:
  US14/689,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20150216201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 141 1, 141 9, 141 82, 141 83, 141 94- 95, 141 98, 141192-193
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/28 for portioning or dispensing
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/283 for filling containers with material
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/16 Delivery means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/00 Coin-freed apparatus for controlling dispensing or fluids, semiliquids or granular material from reservoirs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/06 with selective dispensing of different fluids or materials or mixtures thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/10 with associated dispensing of containers, e.g. cups or other articles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0071 Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a cold condition, e.g. ice and ice cream
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/105 Heating or cooling means, for temperature and humidity control, for the conditioning of articles and their storage dispensers for food articles requiring a processing by temperature treatment or conditioning before they are ready for dispensing G07F17/0064

Abstract

An automatic frozen food product vending machine includes a frozen food product dispensing station for dispensing at least one frozen food product, a container dispenser for storing multiple frozen food product containers and configured to automatically dispense one frozen food product container at a time, a first movable platform for supporting a dispensed frozen food product container, a topping dispensing station for dispensing at least one topping, a second movable platform for supporting the dispensed frozen food product container, a user input device configured to receive a user selection of a desired frozen food product, a user selection of a desired amount of frozen food product, and a user selection of a desired topping, and processing electronics configured to automate operation of the vending machine after the user selections are made.

Claims

1. An automatic frozen food product vending machine, comprising:

a first freezer barrel configured to produce a first frozen food product;

a first spigot fluidly connected to the first freezer barrel, the first spigot for dispensing the first frozen food product;

a second freezer barrel configured to produce a second frozen food product;

a second spigot fluidly connected to the second freezer barrel, the second spigot for dispensing the second frozen food product;

a third spigot fluidly connected to both the first freezer barrel and the second freezer barrel, the third spigot for dispensing a mixture of the first frozen food product and the second frozen food product;

a container dispenser for storing a plurality of frozen food product containers and configured to automatically dispense one frozen food product container at a time;

a first movable platform for supporting a dispensed frozen food product container, the first movable platform movable among a container dispense position below the container dispenser, a first fill position below the first spigot, a second fill position below the second spigot, a third fill position below the third spigot, and a first transfer position;

a first topping dispenser for dispensing a first topping;

a second topping dispenser for dispensing a second topping;

a second movable platform for supporting the dispensed frozen food product container, the second movable platform movable among a second transfer position, a first topping position below the first topping dispenser, and a second topping position below the second topping dispenser;

a user input device configured to receive a user selection of a desired frozen food product and a user selection of a desired topping; and

processing electronics configured to;

receive the user selection of the desired frozen food product and the user selection of the desired topping;

determine a selected fill position from the first fill position, the second fill position, and the third fill position in response to the user selection of the desired frozen food product;

determine a selected topping position from the first topping position and the second topping position in response to the user selection of the desired topping;

move the first movable platform to the container dispense position;

cause the container dispenser to dispenses one frozen food product container when the first movable platform is in the container dispense position;

move the first movable platform moves to the selected fill position;

cause the spigot associated with the selected fill position to dispenses a predetermined amount of the frozen food product into the dispensed frozen food product container when the first movable platform is in the selected fill position;

move the second movable platform to the second transfer position and move the first movable platform to the first transfer position, thereby transferring the dispensed frozen food product container from the first movable platform to the second movable platform;

move the second movable platform to the selected topping position; and

cause the topping dispenser associated with the selected topping position to dispense a predetermined amount of the topping into the dispensed frozen food product container when the second movable platform is in the selected topping position.

2. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 1, wherein the container dispenser comprises:

a rotating carousel;

a plurality of container support sleeves supported by the carousel, wherein each of the container support sleeves is configured to receive a plurality of frozen food product containers;

a dispense mechanism including a dispense opening;

wherein the carousel is rotatable to selectively align one of the plurality of container support sleeves with the dispense opening so that frozen food product containers may be dispensed from the aligned container support sleeve through the dispense opening.

3. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 2, wherein the container dispenser further comprises:

a sleeve presence sensor configured to detect when one of the plurality of container support sleeves is aligned with the dispense opening.

4. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 1, further comprising:

a utensil dispenser for storing a plurality of utensils and configured to automatically dispense one utensil at a time;

a user access platform located adjacent the utensil dispenser;

a pusher arm movable to transfer the dispensed frozen food product container from the second movable platform to the user access platform;

wherein the second movable platform is further movable to a third transfer position adjacent the user access platform;

wherein the processing electronics is further configured to;

after the selected topping is dispensed, move the second movable platform to the third transfer position;

cause the pusher arm to transfer the dispensed frozen food container to the user access platform; and

cause the utensil dispenser to dispense one utensil.

5. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 4, further comprising:

a user access door adjacent the user access platform;

wherein the user access platform is rotatable between a fourth transfer position and a user access position; and

wherein the processing electronics is further configured to;

rotate the user access platform from the fourth transfer position to the user access position to allow a user to remove the dispensed frozen food product container from the user access platform via the user access door.

6. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 1, further comprising a first weight sensor coupled to the first movable platform;

wherein the processing electronics is further configured to;

at the container dispense position, detect the presence of the dispensed frozen food product container in response to an input from the first weight sensor; and

at the selected fill position, determine if the predetermined amount of frozen food product has been dispensed in response to an input from the first weight sensor.

7. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 6, wherein the first container weight sensor comprises a strain gauge.

8. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 6, further comprising a presence sensor coupled to the second movable platform;

wherein the processing electronics is further configured to;

at the second transfer position, detect the presence of the dispensed frozen food product container in response to an input from the presence sensor.

9. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 1, wherein the user input device comprises a touch screen.

10. The automatic frozen food product vending machine of claim 1, wherein the first topping dispenser comprises a first topping container and a first topping weight sensor;

wherein the processing electronics is further configured to;

determine if the predetermined amount of the topping has been dispensed in response to an input from the first topping weight sensor.