EP0947518A1 - Automatic drinks vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic drinks vending machine (10) hasdevices (12, 14, 16, 18, 20) for drawing water froman external supply and for purifying the waterdrawn, one or more containers (52) containingconsumable liquid substances to be mixed with thewater, devices (46, 48, 50, 55, 76) for conveyingthe water drawn and purified and the liquidsubstances held in the containers (52) towards adrinks-dispensing outlet (77) in controlled manner,and an electronic control unit (78) which isconnected to the devices and which, upon an externalcommand, arranges for the supply of purified waterand one or more liquid substances so as to output adrink constituted by a mixture of purified water andone or more liquid substances. The vending machineprevents the problems of known vending machines inrelation to the transportation, storage and loadingof packaged drinks and mineral waters and also inrelation to the ageing thereof.

Description

• The subject of the present invention is anautomatic drinks vending machine.
• As is well known, a conventional automaticdrinks vending machine comprises a refrigeratingcabinet inside which there are compartments in whichpackaged drinks and mineral waters of various typesare stacked in an orderly manner, each type in arespective compartment. A dispensing mechanismdischarges the drink or mineral water selected bythe user by means of a suitable push-button afterpayment of a predetermined charge.
• The drinks supplied are normally packaged incans or in bottles. There are carousel dispensersin which drinks packaged in cartons can also beloaded. Mineral water is normally packaged inbottles.
• Although these automatic drinks vendingmachines are widespread, they are not free ofproblems.
• First of all, the drinks and mineral watershave to be packaged at suitable production sitesfrom which they are transported to intermediatestorage sites and, finally, they are transported to the sites at which the automatic vending machinesare located. This involves packaging andtransportation costs which are a considerable burdenon the final cost of the drink or mineral water.
• Moreover, the operation of loading the drinksand mineral waters into the vending machines takesa certain amount of time, given the large number ofitems to be loaded.
• Moreover, the packaged drinks and mineralwaters take up a considerable amount of space and,if there are many users of the vending machine, theoperator has to reload the machine frequently.
• It should be added that the drinks and mineralwaters which are in least demand remain in thevending machine for a long time without checks andthus inevitably lose their freshness.
• The object of the present invention is toprevent the aforementioned problems.
• This object is achieved by means of anautomatic drinks vending machine comprising:
• means for drawing water from an externalwater supply,
• means for purifying the water drawn,
• one or more containers containing consumableliquid substances to be mixed with the water,
• means for conveying the water drawn andpurified and the liquid substances held in the containers towards a drink-dispensing outlet in acontrolled manner,
• an electronic control unit which is connectedto the drawing and conveying means and which, uponan external command, arranges for the supply ofpurified water and one or more liquid substances soas to provide a drink constituted by a mixture ofpurified water and one or more liquid substances.
• For a better understanding, an embodiment ofthe invention is described by way of example belowand shown in the appended drawings, in which:
• Figure 1 is a schematic view of an automaticdrinks vending machine according to the invention,
• Figure 2 shows a component of the vendingmachine of Figure 1 in longitudinal section, and onan enlarged scale,
• Figure 3 shows a detail of the vending machineof Figure 1,
• Figure 4 shows the detail of Figure 3 duringthe reloading of the vending machine,
• Figure 5 shows another detail of the vendingmachine of Figure 1, in section and on an enlargedscale,
• Figure 6 shows a variant relating to the detailof Figure 5.
• The automatic drinks vending machine, generallyindicated 10 in Figure 1, comprises acabinet 11 housing the components of the vending machine.
• On the outside of thecabinet 11 there is aconnector 12 for connection to a continuous watersupply such as, for example, the water mains.
• All of the elements described below are insidethecabinet 11.
• A pipe 13 extends from the connector 12 and isconnected to the inlet of a first, coarse-filtrationfilter 14, for example, a metal mesh filter theoutlet of which is connected to the intake of apump16 by means of apipe 15. The output of thepump 16is connected by means of apipe 17 to the inlet ofa further, fine-filtration filter 18 which may be areverse osmosis filter, an activated-carbon filter,or the like, according to the type of water to betreated. The outlet of thefilter 18 is connectedto the inlet of anultraviolet sterilizer 20 bymeans of apipe 19. The outlet of thesterilizer 20is connected to astorage device 22 by means of apipe 21.
• Thisdevice 22 is shown in detail in Figure 2.It comprises two separatecylindrical tanks 23 and24 arranged coaxially and surrounded by a thermally-insulatingcasing 25 in which acoil 26 surroundingthe twotanks 23 and 24 is incorporated. A coolantliquid flowing in thecoil 26 is provided by arefrigeration circuit, of which thecompressor 27 and twopipes 28 and 29 connecting the compressor tothe inlet end and to the outlet end of thecoil 26,respectively, are shown. Thepipe 21 coming fromthesterilizer 20 is connected to an inlet of thetank 23. An outlet of thetank 23 is connected bymeans of apipe 30 to a T-shaped connector 31 fromwhich apipe 32 and apipe 33 extend. Thepipe 32is connected to the intake of apump 34 the outputof which is connected to an inlet of thetank 24 bymeans of apipe 35, anon-return valve 36 and apipe37. Another inlet of thetank 24 is connected to acylinder, indicated 38, containing carbon dioxide;thecylinder 38 is connected to amanometer 39 andalso to apressure switch 40 connected to thetank24 by means of apipe 41, anon-return valve 42 andapipe 43. Thedevice 22 is completed by atemperature sensor 44 fitted in thetank 23 and twolevel sensors, indicated 45.1 and 45.2,respectively, fitted in thetank 24 for detectingminimum and maximum levels:
• With reference to Figure 1, the outlet of thetank 23 of thedevice 22 is connected to one end ofamanifold pipe 48 by means of thepipe 33, anon/offsolenoid valve 46, and apipe 47. An outletof thetank 24 of thedevice 22 is also connected tothe aforesaid end of themanifold pipe 48 by meansof apipe 49, an on/offsolenoid valve 50, and apipe 51.
• A series ofbottles 52 each containing arespective liquid substance to be combined with thewater to produce a particular drink is alsoconnected to thismanifold pipe 48. Thebottles 52are mounted on asupport structure 53 above themanifold pipe 48 with their mouths facingdownwardly. Eachbottle 52 is connected to themanifold pipe 48 by means of arespective pipe 54extending from the mouth of the bottle, a respectiveon/offsolenoid valve 55, and arespective pipe 56which is connected to the manifold pipe at a pointbetween the two end portions of the manifold. Thebase of eachbottle 52 has atransponder 57; abovethebottles 52 there is abracket 58 which includesa series ofantennas 59 each mounted in the vicinityof arespective transponder 57.
• With reference to both Figure 1 and Figure 3,thesupport structure 53 comprises a lowerhorizontal shelf 60, an upperhorizontal shelf 61,and a verticalrear wall 62 which connects the twoabove-mentioned shelves. For eachbottle 52, ahole63 with a diameter slightly larger than the neck ofa bottle is formed in thelower shelf 60, and ahole64 with a diameter slightly larger than the body ofthe bottle is correspondingly formed in theuppershelf 61; the bottle is housed in the twoholes 63 and 64 with the neck of the bottle extending throughthehole 63, the shoulders of the bottle bearingagainst the portion of theshelf 60 around thehole63, and the body of the bottle fitted in thehole64. Passageways, indicated 65 and 66, respectively,extend from theholes 63 and 64 and open outwardlyin the front edges of thesurfaces 60 and 61. Thesupport structure 53 is hinged on twoshoulders 67so that it can pivot about an axis X between theoperative position described and a forwardlyinclined position. A nut-and-bolt coupling 68provided on eachshoulder 67 connects the shoulderto the support structure and slides in aslot 69 sothat thesupport structure 53 can be locked in theoperative position or released in order to beinclined forwardly. Eachpipe 54 is connected totherespective bottle 52 by means of aneedle 70inserted in amembrane 71 closing the bottle; thepipe 54 is connected to therespective solenoidvalve 55 by means of a quick coupling, not shown.
• With particular reference to Figure 3, thebracket 58 is constituted by anupper plate 72 ofinsulating material and by alower base 73 ofplastics material. Theantennas 59 are fixed to thelower face of theplate 72 and the connections totheantennas 59, all of which are united in asingleconnector element 74 at the side of the bracket, are applied to the lower face of theplate 72 by theprinted-circuit technique. Thebase 73 has a seriesof through-holes 75 each of which houses arespective antenna 59.
• As shown in Figure 1, apipe 76 extends fromthe opposite end of themanifold pipe 48 to the endto which thepipes 47 and 51 are connected andterminates in acompartment 77 into which cups aresupplied one at a time, in known manner. The cupsupplied, indicated A, is disposed adjacent theoutlet of thepipe 76.
• Thevending machine 10 has acontrol unit 78connected to thepumps 16 and 34, to thefilter 18,to thesterilizer 20, to thecompressor 27, to thesensors 44, 45.1 and 45.2, to thesolenoid valves46, 50 and 55, and to theantennas 59, by means oftheconnector element 74. There is also atemperature sensor 79 located in the lower portionof the vending machine and connected to thecontrolunit 78 for detecting the temperature outside thevending machine. Theunit 78 thus controls theoperation of thevending machine 10. Theunit 78 isalso connected to a series of control push-buttons80 disposed on the outside of thecabinet 11.
• Theautomatic vending machine 10 describedoperates as follows.
• In the operating condition, thetank 23 is full of water and thetank 24 is full of carbonatedwater. In order to bring the vending machine to theoperating condition, thecontrol unit 78 operatesthepump 16 which draws mains water through theconnector 12 and sends it to thetank 23 of thedevice 22 through thepipes 13, 15, 17, 19, and 21;during this operation, the water passes through thefilters 14, 18 and through thesterilizer 20 so asto be filtered and sterilized. The water thuspurified accumulates in thetank 23. Thecontrolunit 78 also operates thepump 34 which drawspurified water from thetank 23 and admits it to thetank 24 through thepipes 32, 35 and 37; carbondioxide flows from thecylinder 38 to thetank 24 sothat carbonated water is formed in thetank 24. Thenon-return valve 36 prevents carbonated water fromflowing back from thetank 24 to thetank 23 and thenon-return valve 42 prevents carbon dioxide fromflowing back from thetank 24 to thecylinder 38.Thecompressor 27 is also activated so as toactivate the refrigeration circuit and to causecoolant liquid to flow in thecoil 26, cooling thetanks 23 and 24. Thecontrol unit 78 keeps thetanks 23 and 24, and hence the water, at apredetermined temperature dependent on the outsidetemperature, by means of thetemperature sensors 44and 79, and maintains a predetermined level of water in the two interconnected tanks, by means of thelevel sensors 45.1 and 45.2. The charge state ofthecylinder 38 can be monitored by means of themanometer 39. Thepressure switch 40, on the otherhand, maintains a predetermined carbon-dioxidepressure in thetank 24.
• When the vending machine is in operation, ifone of the push-buttons 80 is pressed, thecontrolunit 78 opens thesolenoid valve 46, if a non-carbonateddrink is required, or thesolenoid valve50, if a carbonated drink is required, until apredetermined quantity of water has passed, and alsoopens, for a predetermined time, thesolenoid valve55 connected to to thebottle 52 which contains theliquid substance to be combined with the water toproduce the selected drink. If a non-carbonateddrink has been selected and thesolenoid valve 46 istherefore opened, a certain quantity of water entersthemanifold pipe 48 through thepipe 47 and acertain quantity of liquid substance, depending onthe time for which thesolenoid valve 55 is open,falls by gravity from the correspondingbottle 52through thepipes 54 and 56 into themanifold pipe48 and is mixed with the water. The mixture ofwater and the liquid substance is then conveyed bythepipe 76 into the cup A previously supplied intothecompartment 77. A drink ready to drink from the cup A is thus produced. If a carbonated drink hasbeen selected and thesolenoid valve 50 is thereforeopened, carbonated water flows into themanifoldpipe 48 from thetank 24 through thepipes 49 and51. This carbonated water is mixed with the liquidsubstance which falls by gravity from thebottle 52as in the previous case and a carbonated drink isthus supplied in the cup A.
• To prevent a liquid substance not relating tothe selected drink from being mixed with the waterduring a subsequent drink selection, thesolenoidvalve 55 is closed before thesolenoid valve 46 orthesolenoid valve 50 is opened. As shown in Figure5, the water which flows into themanifold pipe 48thus also rises into thepipe 56 taking with it theresidual liquid substance contained therein and thuswashing the pipe; the water cannot at the same timerise towards thebottle 52 through thepipe 54 sincethesolenoid valve 55 is closed. Alternatively, asshown in Figure 6, thepipe 56, which in this caseis indicated 56.1, may be connected so as to beinclined in the direction of the water-flow,relative to the axis of themanifold pipe 48; avacuum is thus created in the pipe 56.1 enabling allof the liquid substance contained in this pipe 56.1to be drawn in, so as to clean it.
• The liquid substances contained in thebottles 52 may be aromatic essences, mineral salts dissolvedin water, tonics, etc.
• Several liquid substances may also be mixedwith the water to produce a particular drink simplyby the simultaneous opening of therespectivesolenoid valves 55.
• Naturally, the vending machine can also supplysolely non-carbonated or carbonated water by theopening of thesolenoid valve 46 or thesolenoidvalve 50 with thesolenoid valves 55 kept closed.
• Theautomatic vending machine 10 described andillustrated solves all of the problems of the knownvending machines described in the introduction.
• There is no need to transport and store drinksor water since they are not packaged beforehand butare produced on the spot.
• Loading involves only the bottles which,however, do not have to be replaced frequently sincethey contain concentrated liquid substances whichare used in very small measures for each drink.
• Since there are no packaged drinks or mineralwaters in the vending machine 10 a large space isnot required for housing them therein. Space isrequired for the bottles but, as stated above, thesehave a high output in comparison with the spacewhich they occupy.
• The drink or mineral water obtained from thevending machine 10 is fresh since it is produced onthe spot. If mineral salts are added, the water hasthe characteristics of artificial mineral water.
• Moreover, thevending machine 10 has furtheradvantages.
• Thebottles 52 are easy to replace. Withreference to Figure 4, for this operation, it isnecessary to loosen thecouplings 68, to incline thesupport structure 53 forwards, to extract thebottles 52 from theholes 63 and 64 by removing thepipes 54 through thepassageways 65 and 66, todisconnect thepipes 54 from the bottles and then toproceed in reverse in order to load the new bottles.The connection of thepipe 54 to thebottle 52 bymeans of theneedle 70 which perforates themembrane71 makes the operation even easier. Thepipe 54 canbe replaced upon each loading operation.
• Thecontrol unit 78 converses with thetransponder 57 of eachbottle 52, sendinginterrogation signals to the transponder andreceiving response signals therefrom by means of theantenna 59. This provides various useful items ofdata regarding the bottle. First of all, thecontrol unit 78 recognizes, by checking a suitablecode contained in the transponder, if it is anoriginal bottle and if not, for example, locks thevending machine. Moreover, thecontrol unit 78 picks up data relating to the type of liquid substancecontained in the bottle in order to supply it whenrequested, data relating to the capacity of thebottle in order to indicate when the bottle is emptyon the basis of consumption, data relating to theuse-by date, in order to indicate that the bottleshould be replaced, etc.
• Naturally, variants and/or additions to theabove-described embodiment are possible.
• The water may be purified by other devicesarranged differently from those illustrated.
• The storage device may also be constructeddifferently from that shown. Amongst other things,two separate storage tanks may be considered,instead of a single device. The system for addingcarbon dioxide to the water may differ from thatshown.
• The structure for supporting the bottles mayalso vary both structurally and functionally,provided that it permits convenient loading of thebottles.
• Another type of container with a quick couplingmay be used instead of the bottles with quickcoupling of the pipe by means of a needle.
• Moreover, instead of the manifold pipe,separate pipes may be used for the non-carbonatedwater, for the carbonated water and for the liquid substances, all of the pipes converging towards thecup where the mixing of the water with the liquidsubstances takes place.
• It should, however, be stressed that, as statedabove, the vending machine described and illustratedhas been found advantageous with regard to theparticular solutions adopted, as well as with regardto the general solution.
• Water may also be drawn from other externalsupplies such as large tanks, wells, etc., insteadof from the water mains.

Claims (15)

1. An automatic drinks vending machine (10)comprising:

   means (12, 16) for drawing water from anexternal water supply,

   means (15, 18, 20) for purifying the waterdrawn,

   one or more containers (52) containingconsumable liquid substances to be mixed with thewater,

   means (46, 48, 50, 55, 76) for conveying thewater drawn and purified and the liquid substancesheld in the containers (52) towards a drinkdispensing outlet (77) in a controlled manner,

   an electronic control unit (78) which isconnected to the drawing means (12, 16) and theconveying means (46, 48, 50, 55, 76) and which, uponan external command, arranges for the supply of thepurified water and of one or more liquid substancesso as to provide a drink constituted by a mixture ofpurified water and one or more liquid substances.
2. A drinks vending machine according to Claim1, in which the means for drawing water comprise aconnector (12) for connection to the external supplyand a pump (16) connected to the control unit (78)for drawing the water through the connector (12).
3. A drinks vending machine according to Claim1 or Claim 2, in which the means for purifying thewater drawn comprise at least one filter (14; 18)and one sterilizer (20).
4. A drinks vending machine according to Claim3, in which there is a filter (14) for coarsefiltration of the water and a filter (18) for finefiltration of the water.
5. A drinks vending machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, in which a purified-waterstorage tank (23), filled and cooled in amanner controlled by the control unit (78), isinterposed between the purifying means (14, 18, 20)and the conveying means (46, 48, 50, 55, 76).
6. A drinks vending machine according to Claim5, in which a further purified-water storage tank(24), filled and cooled in a manner controlled bythe control unit (78), is interposed between thepurification means (14, 18, 20) and the conveyingmeans (46, 48, 50, 55, 76) and is supplied, incontrolled manner, with carbon dioxide coming froma container (38) in order to carbonate the water.
7. A drinks vending machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, in which the conveyingmeans comprise a manifold (48) communicating withthe outlet of the vending machine, first valve means(46, 50) which allow water to flow into the manifold (48) under the control of the control unit (78), andsecond valve means (55) which allow one or moreliquid substances to flow from the respectivebottles (52) into the manifold (48) upon command bythe control unit (78) so that the mixture ofpurified water and of one or more liquid substancesis formed in the manifold (48).
8. A drinks vending machine according to Claim7 when it is dependent on Claim 6, in which thefirst valve means (46, 50) allow non-carbonatedwater or carbonated water to flow into the manifold(48) from the respective tanks (23, 24).
9. A drinks vending machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, in which the liquidsubstances are supplied from the respective bottles(52) to the conveying means by gravity.
10. A drinks vending machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, in which each bottle(52) is connected to the conveying means by arespective pipe (54) which is engaged in the bottleby means of a needle (70) which pierces a membrane(71) sealing the bottle (52).
11. A drinks vending machine according to Claim7 or Claim 8, in which, during the dispensingoperation, the second valve means (55) are closedbefore the first valve means (46, 50) are opened.
12. A drinks vending machine according to Claim 9 when it is dependent on Claim 7 or Claim 8, inwhich each bottle (52) is connected to the manifold(48) by means of a respective pipe (56.1) which isconnected so as to be inclined in the direction ofthe flow of water in the manifold (48), relative toan axis of the water-flow.
13. A drinks vending machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, in which each bottle(52) is replaceable and comprises bottle-identificationmeans (57) which can be read by thecontrol unit (78).
14. A drinks vending machine according to Claim13, in which the identification means comprise atransponder (57) fixed to the bottle (52) andcommunicating with the control unit (78) by means ofan antenna (59) disposed in the vicinity of thetransponder (57).
15. A drinks vending machine according to Claim5 or Claim 6, in which there are sensor means (44)for detecting the temperature of the tank (23) or ofthe tanks (23, 24) containing water and furthersensor means (79) for detecting the temperatureoutside the vending machine, the control unit (78)being connected to the sensor means (44, 79) inorder to keep the tank (23) or the tanks (23, 24) ata predetermined temperature dependent on thetemperature outside the vending machine.

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