Beverage filling robot

An assembly comprising:

• a beverage dispenser;
• a plurality of beverage valves connected to said beverage dispenser and adapted to allow respective plurality of beverages therethrough in order to be introduced into a cup;
• a beverage collecting arm connected to at least one of said plurality of beverage valves so as to allow the at least one of said plurality of beverage valves to pour the plurality of beverages into a cup, said beverage collecting arm being pushable in relation to said beverage dispenser;
• an ice collecting section formed in said beverage dispenser;
• an ice collecting arm cooperating with said ice collecting section and pushable in relation to said beverage dispenser in order to allow said ice collecting section to pour ice into the cup;
• at least one cup slot positioned at a top of said beverage dispenser and adapted to allow cups to be stacked therein one inside another;
• a cup holder movable vertically on said beverage dispenser;
• an actuator connected to said cup holder, said actuator having a motor and bearings mounted together in a coordinated manner so as to move said cup holder to move vertically, at least one lid slot formed on said beverage dispenser, said at least one lid slot adapted to receive a lid that is used to cover the cup;
• a fixed lid holder having the at least one lid slot therein;
• at least one cup carrying stand positioned on said beverage dispenser at a common vertical level as the cup;
• a cup carrier cooperative with said at least one cup carrying stand to move said at least one cup carrying stand to a horizontal position of said at least one cup slot;
• a cup vacuum line positioned on the cup carrying stand, said cup vacuum line being activatable when said cup holder is lowered by said actuator;
• a cup vacuum head cooperative with said at least one cup on the cup carrying stand and adapted to impart a vacuum to the cup on the at least one cup carrying stand so as to ensure that the cup remains on the at least one cup carrying stand as said cup holder is moved vertically;
• a robotic arm having a serial manipulator that is adapted to grab the cup on the at least one cup carrying stand with holder fingers and adapted to drop the cup at a desired location, the holder fingers being actuated by serial rotary joints so as to extend toward the cup, wherein said robotic arm moves toward a front of said ice collecting section and pushes the ice collecting arm so as to release an amount of ice into the cup and to return to a home position if ice is requested, wherein said robotic arm moves toward said plurality of beverage valves in order to select one of the plurality of beverages and to adjust a height of the cup and to push the beverage collecting arm in order to fill the cup, wherein said robotic arm grabs the filled cup and moves the filled cup to said lid carrying stand such that the lid is placed on the filled cup;
• a cup carrying mechanism connected to said cup carrying stand, said cup carrying mechanism moving said cup carrying stand horizontally to said robotic arm;
• a lid catcher movable vertically and horizontally toward said at least one lid slot in order to move the lid to a vertical level of said at least one lid slot;
• a lid vacuum head positioned on said lid catcher, said lid vacuum head adhering to the lid;
• a lid vacuum line positioned on the lid catcher so as to form a vacuum or to release the vacuum in said lid vacuum head;
• a lid mover cooperative with said lid catcher so as to allow said lid catcher to move downwardly toward the cup in order to attach the lid to the filled cup;
• a cup parking area exterior of said beverage dispenser, said cup parking area adapted to receive the filled cup and lid from said robotic arm;
• a plurality of opto-reflective sensors that sense a reflection of the emitted light from an object so as to detect a presence of the object and in order to detect at least one of (a) information as to whether the cup in the at least one cup slot is at a low level;
• (b) information at to whether the lids in the at least one lid slot are at a low level;
• (c) information as to whether cups on the cup carrying stand;
• (d) information at to whether a number of cups in the cup holder section is low;
• (e) information as to whether the lid catcher caught the lid;
• and (f) information as to whether there is a cup at the top of the cup parking area;
• at least one operator screen adapted to receive a beverage request by a user, said at least one operator screen being connected to said beverage dispenser;
• and
• a control computer connected to said actuator in order to transmit a signal thereto based on data received from said plurality of opt-reflective sensors and from said at least one operator screen.