Automated beverage system

An automated beverage dispensing system including an ice dispenser and a beverage dispenser, comprising:

• an oblong carousel type conveyor including a plurality of upwardly open cup holders for sequentially transporting beverage cups from a cup extraction station, past an ice dispensing station and a beverage dispensing station to one or more pick-up stations;
• a drive motor for powering the conveyor past said stations;
• a cup storage unit including a rotatable turret having a plurality of cup supply tubes of a selected size mounted thereon for holding a predetermined mix of different sized cups;
• a rotation sensor connected to the turret for determining the location of the cup supply tubes relative to the cup extraction station;
• a drive motor for bidirectionally rotating the turret so as to minimize the time for positioning a cup supply tube at said cup extraction station;
• and
• a cup gripper and extractor mechanism located adjacent the cup conveyor and including an elevatable pair of elongated cup gripper arms facing a cup supply tube on the turret, said gripper arms being elevatable from a relatively lower rest position to a relatively higher cup extracting position, the gripper arms closing at said cup extracting position to grip a cup of a selected cup size at said cup supply tube, extracting the cup from said cup supply tube while being lowered to the rest position and then opening to drop the extracted cup into a cup holder located at the cup extraction station.

A method of dispensing beverages from an automated beverage dispensing system, comprising the steps of:

• moving a plurality of cup holders on a conveyor from a cup extraction station, past at least a beverage dispensing station, and past at least one pick-up station for manual removal of a cup containing a beverage;
• bidirectionally rotating a cup supply tube turret including a plurality of cup supply tubes of a selected size and containing a predetermined mix of different sized cups to deliver a cup of a selected cup size to the cup extraction station;
• elevating a pair of elongated cup gripper arms located adjacent the cup conveyor from a relatively lower rest position to a relatively higher cup extracting position and extracting a cup from the bottom of a cup supply tube;
• and
• lowering the gripper arms to said rest position while dropping the extracted cup into a cup holder located at the cup extraction station.