Unidynamics Corporation

Mark S Schmitz

Robert J Reese

Leonard A Ficken

Franklin D Newkirk

Gerald Joseph Podgorny

George Russell Fink

Tabletop hot beverage vending machine

A hot beverage brewing and dispensing machine having a brewing cylinder for receiving a hot liquid and a beverage product for brewing, a base member beneath the brewing cylinder with a brewed liquid outlet through which beverage brewed in the brewing chamber can flow, a seal between the base member and a bottom end of the brewing cylinder with a filter material therebetween for sealing the cylinder during brewing when the brewing cylinder is brought into engagement with the filter material, a filter feed mechanism, a tube for supplying liquid and a chute for supplying beverage product to an upper portion of the brewing cylinder, and a conical dispersing surface disposed at the upper portion of the brewing cylinder upon which the liquid and beverage product impinge from their supply means and which disperses the liquid and beverage product as they fall to a bottom portion of the brewing cylinder washing the cylinder walls. A peristaltic pump is connected to the outlet in the base member for extracting the brewed liquid from the brewing cylinder and dispensing it at a cup station. A movable cup stand is provided to allow a carafe to be positioned in the cup station for filling.

Hot beverage brewing apparatus

A beverage dispensing machine is provided and is of the type having a cup station, a cup holder for holding a plurality of cups, a cup delivery for delivering one of the cups at a time to the cup station, a beverage dispenser for dispensing beverage to the cup station, and controller for controlling operation of the cup delivery and the beverage dispenser. The controller being adapted to initiate a cycle of operation of the machine upon activation of the controller wherein the cup delivery delivers a cup to the cup station from the cup holder and the beverage dispenser dispenses a predetermined quantity of beverage to the cup in the cup station. The improvement comprises a detecting mechanism for engaging and detecting the presence of a container inserted into the cup station prior to activation of the controller. The container detecting mechanism being adapted to modify the cycle of operation of the machine such that upon activation of the controller the cup delivery does not deliver a cup to the cup station and the beverage dispenser delivers a predetermined quantity of beverage to the container inserted in the cup station.

Beverage dispenser detecting mechanism

Growing community of inventors

St. Charles, MO, United States of America

Mark S Schmitz