The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 15, 1993
Filed:
Apr. 15, 1991
Applicant:
Inventor:
Joseph W Shannon, Kent, OH (US);
Assignee:
ABC/Techcorp, Akron, OH (US);
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B65B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
141 83 ; 141 94 ; 222 63 ; 7386141 ; 738655 ;
Abstract
An ice dispensing system for a soft drink dispenser employs a microphone adjacent a cup into which ice and soft drink are to be dispensed. The microphone senses sounds made by ice pieces dropping into the cup and converts the sounds to electrical signals. These electrical signals, characteristic of the masses of the pieces of ice dropping into the cup, are tallied during the dispensing cycle and the dispensing cycle is then terminated when the tally reaches a predetermined level, indicating that an appropriate compliment of ice has been dispensed.