Dispensing method and apparatus that detects the presence and size of a cup and provides automatic fill control
AssigneeElectro-Pro, Inc.
InventorsDaniel G. Skell, Eric D. Skell, Michael A. Manthei
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dispensing method and apparatus is provided to detect the presence of a container and determine the relative size of the detected container and automatically dispense a product into the detected container while monitoring the fill level of the product in the container. Dispensing is automatically discontinued when the fill level nears the top of the container. The present system also provides a timed delay to allow settling of the dispensed product and thereafter dispenses to top-off the product in the container.
Claims31
An automatic dispenser control to detect the presence of a container, determine a container size, and automatically dispense a product according to the detected container size comprising:
- at least two transmitter and receiver pairs oriented in a plane such that a transmission from a selected transmitter converges with a line of sight from a corresponding receiver at a target intercept point;
- a control circuit connected to each of the transmitter and receiver pairs for activating a selected transmitter and monitoring a corresponding receiver and producing a dispense signal when the corresponding receiver senses a reflected transmission from the selected transmitter indicating the presence of a container at the target intercept point;
- a dispenser connected to the control circuit for dispensing a product into the container in response to receiving the dispense signal;
- a transceiver mounted adjacent to the dispenser and producing a level detection signal;
- and
- wherein the control circuit receives the level detection signal from the transceiver and monitors a fill level of the product in the container in conjunction with activating and monitoring the transmitter and receiver pairs to determine continued container presence.
An automatic dispenser control comprising:
- a plurality of transmitter and receiver pairs, each pair orientated in a plane such that a transmission from a selected transmitter converges with a line of sight from a corresponding receiver to form a target window;
- a control circuit connected to each of the transmitter and receiver pairs wherein each transmitter is connected to the control circuit individually and the receivers are connected to the control circuit serially;
- a dispenser connected to the control circuit;
- and
- a transceiver mounted adjacent to the dispenser and connected to the control circuit such that when a container is sensed in the target window by the transmitter and receiver pairs, the dispenser is activated to dispense a product into the container, and the transceiver monitors a fill level of the product in the container, and the dispenser is deactivated when the fill level reaches a desired level regardless of an amount of ice in the container.
A method of automatically dispensing a product into a container comprising the steps of:
- sensing the presence and absence of a container;
- electronically determining a relative size of the container;
- automatically dispensing product into the container;
- sensing a product fill level in the container;
- and
- automatically discontinuing the dispensing of product into the container according to either the product fill level in the container or the absence of the container.
A dispenser control to automatically fill a container with a product comprising:
- a dispenser mounted atop a container station;
- a transmitter and receiver pair to sense the presence of a container;
- a transceiver mounted adjacent the dispenser;
- and
- a control circuit connected to the transceiver, the dispenser, and the transmitter and receiver pair and creating a dispense cycle to activate the dispenser in response to the transmitter and receiver pair sensing the presence of a container, the control circuit comprising a delay timer to interrupt the dispense cycle to allow a dispensed product to stabilize and subsequently creating a top-off cycle which reactivates the dispenser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.