Beverage dispenser with a reader for size indica on a serving container

An apparatus for dispensing a carbonated beverage into a plurality of containers, said apparatus comprising:

• a tank having a chamber for holding the carbonated beverage to be dispensed with the chamber being maintained at atmospheric pressure;
• an inlet through which the carbonated beverage is introduced into said tank;
• an nozzle projecting from said tank, and having an outlet through which the carbonated beverage held in the tank is dispensed;
• a valve member movably located at the outlet of said nozzle and having a conical shape which a side wall which tapers from a first end to a second larger end that is larger than the first end, said valve member having a closed position in which the side wall extends into and closes the outlet to beverage flow, and having an open position in which the side wall is spaced from the nozzle to permit beverage flow therebetween wherein the conical shape of said valve member disperses the carbonated beverage at the outlet;
• an actuator connected to said valve member to move said valve member between the closed position and the open position;
• and
• a bar code reader for reading a bar code printed on a given container placed under said nozzle, wherein the bar code indicates a volume for the given container;
• and
• a controller which responds to a signal from said bar code readers which indicates the volume for the given container by operating said actuator to move said valve member into the open position for an interval of time which is determined based on the signal from said bar code reader.

A system, for dispensing a beverage, comprising:

• a serving container having an exterior surface on which is an indicia of a volume;
• a nozzle having an outlet through which the beverage is dispensed;
• a valve coupled to said nozzle for controlling the flow of the beverage through said nozzle;
• a mechanism for reading the indicia when said serving container has been placed beneath said nozzle, and producing a signal which indicates the volume for said serving container;
• and
• a controller which responds to the signal from said mechanism by operating said valve to dispense beverage from said nozzle, wherein a quantity of beverage dispensed is determined in response to the signal.

A method for dispensing a beverage into a container, wherein said method comprises:

• reading an indicia printed on the container that has been placed beneath the nozzle, wherein the indicia indicates a volume for the container;
• opening a valve which controls flow of the beverage through a nozzle to dispense the beverage into the container;
• and
• closing the valve after a predefined quantity of beverage has flowed through the nozzle, wherein the predefined quantity of beverage is determined in response the volume for the container indicated by the indicia.