Popcorn popping and vending machine

Abstract

A manually actuated popcorn machine which heats, pops kernels of corn, and delivers a specified amount of popped corn to a waiting container in a short time. The popcorn machine includes a recirculating hot air conduit with an air blower portion, heating chamber portion, popping chamber portion for the kernels, a separating chamber portion, and a system of control baffles throughout the chambers for controlling the flow of air and popcorn. The conduits include a continuous main chamber and a spur conduit that leads to a cup dispensing chamber for placing the popped corn in a cup for distribution. When actuated, the popcorn machine delivers a set amount of stored kernels to a screened grid in the popping chamber, the air from the blower moves past the heating element and through the screened grid to work around the kernels and to keep the kernels in motion on and above the screen grid and to move the popped corn away from the screened grid and into a cup. When the hot air and the kernels reach a proper temperature, the kernels are popped and the volume and density are radically changed. The air, whose currents are controlled by baffles, delivers the more buoyant popped corn up and into the spur conduit for delivery to a container while the hot air is recycled into the blower.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.