1. Prior Art:
This invention relates generally to Automatic Cup Dispensers. This fully automatic Cup Dispensers with auto refill feature, find ideal use at water/beverage/juice/aerated drink Vending Machines. The Cup Dispenser is designed to hold several channels of Stacks of nested Cups. The advantage of this machine is, it offers automatic Cup Dispensing, auto reloading of nested cup stacks. The Cup dispensing mechanism is fully controlled with help of ECU motors and actuators.
The existing manual Dispensers, individual desiring a cup simply pulls on the exposed portion of the cup, and removes the cup from the dispenser. Since the cups are directly accessible to human hands, chances of misuse like taking more cups than required, touching the cups with dirty/unhygienic hands etc are quite possible. Wherein Fully automatic Cup Dispenser provides cup through motorized mechanism. No Cup will be directly accessible to the individual person until the dispensers gives out the cup.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION, Fully automatic cup dispenser with auto cup refill feature gives more user friendly and requires no regular manual interference of loading cups. When all the cups are dispensed, the ECU automatically reloads the next stack of nested cups from next channel with the help of cup detection and Channel position sensors. Number of channels of Stacks of nested cups can be customized from One channel up to N channels depending on the requirements and size constraints.


4. Description of Invention:
The major important integral part of Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser is as follows.

The Electronic Control Unit ECU manages complete operations of the machine. It is an electronic circuit board comprising a controller Chip, Currency/Coin input signal validators. Position Sensors, motor driver and direction control units. Cup detection sensors, end of cup detection sensors etc. It does the following functions:
• Read signal from Currency/Coin Validators or Switch
• Check the availability of Cups in the slot
• Display light for Cup availability

• Activate the Cup Control Mechanism by Motors and Actuators.
• Dispense Cup to the customer
• If cup not available in present channel slot, check for cups at all available slots and activate the slot which contains cups.
• If cup not available in either of the channels send signal of non availability of
cups for rejection of Currency/Coins and Provide audio visual signal for non
availability of Cups.

ii. Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser Mechanism:
The Cup Vending Machine automatically dispenses Cup when ECU receives a valid signal from Currency/Coin Validators. Before dispensing the cups, ECU checks the availability of cups in each channel.
These cups are stored in several channels of Stacks of nested Cups. When the last cup is dispensed, beep sound will be heard indicating the need for reloading the cups in the container. The uniqueness of this machine is its Cup Storage capacity and Auto dispensing of Cups.
The Fig.l shows the drawing of Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser mechanism. Cups (C) are stored in Cup Holding Slots (CS). When ECU receives signal from Currency/Coin validator or from a switch, it starts rotating the Drive Motor (DM) of the Cup Control mechanism (CCM).
Cup Control Mechanism (CCM) consists of two major parts. Fig.2 represents the Cup Confrol Mechanism (CCM).
• Cup Holder (CH) mechanism
• Cup Aligner (CA) mechanism
Cup Holder (CH) holds the cup firmly and Cup Aligner (CA) aligns the stacks of remaining nested cups when one single cup is dispensed.
Both Cup Holder (CH) and Cup Aligner (CA) are confroUed by a single geared DC motor (GW). A movable Base (MB) moves out by making way for a cup which is to be released. Servo Motor(SM) and Servo Actuator (SA) mechanism separates a single cup from the nested cup slots and cup comes at the Cup Exit (CE) slot. Infrared Transmitter (IRT) and Infrared Receiver (IRR) circuitries detect the cups in the slot. These sensors also indicate end of cups in the slot.


The cup at the Cup Exit (CE) slot is directly accessed by the user. Cup Control Mechanism (CCM) incorporates Cup Holder (CH), Cup Aligner (CA), Rack and Pinion Geared Motor mechanism (GW), Movable Base (MB), Fixed Base (FB). The Servo Actuator (SA) releases a single Cup (C) from the nested Cup Slot. Servo Actuator (SA) is designed to separate/widen the gap between the two successive cups, and make the Cup (C) to move to Cup Exit (CE) via Cup Exit Hole (CEH). The Released Cup (RC) is now accessible to the user at Cup Exit (CE).
iii. Rotary Cup Container (RCC):
Fig.3 represents Rotary Cup Container (RCC). Rotary Cup Container (RCC) consists of Several Slots for Holding Cups (CS). The ECU with the help of position sensors and unique mechanism, loads the new set of nested Cup when previous slot becomes empty. Each cup is dispensed through Cup Control Mechanism (CCM) via Cup Exit (CE) hole.
The number of Slots (Channels) for Cups (CS) in Automatic Cup Dispenser depends on Cup Storage Capacity and Vending Machine Design Requirements. The number of slots can vary from one up to N channels where N is the desired slots for storing Cups. The height of the slots can also be increased for supporting more cup storage capability.
Rotary Cup Container (RRC) is rotated through D.C. motor (D.M) through Belt (B) and Pulleys (P). It supports Vibration feature to load nested cups easily in to the slot and avoid jamming of nested cups.
(P.T.O)

Claim:
I claim,
Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser has following innovative features compared to existing manual semi automatic Cup dispensers of Different brand and makes.
1. Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser offers automatic Cup Dispensing with automatic
cup refill feature with the help of Cup Control Mechanism, Servo mechanism.
Rotary Cup Container and with Cup detection, Cup alignment. Rotary Cup
Container Position Sensors, Rotary Cup Container Vibration mode. Cup Detection
Sensors and Rotary Cup Container Tilt feature.
2. Cup Control Mechanism as Claimed in Claim 1, comprises of unique Cup Holder
mechanism and Cup Aligner Mechanisms to properly Hold and Align the stack of
nested cups.
3. Servo Mechanism as claimed in Claim 1, comprises of servo Motor and Servo
Actuators and Circuitries to detach the single cup from the bunch of nested cups.
4. Rotary Cup Container as Claimed in Claim 1 is uniquely designed to hold several
stacks of nested cups to offer more cup storage capacity. Number of slots in Rotary
Cup Container can be anything from one slot to N slot where N is the maximum
number of slots as required by the desired Vending Machine application.
5. Cup Detection Sensor as Claimed in Claim 1, comprises of IR sensors to detect
available cups in the slot and the confirmation of Cup dispense.
6. Rotary Cup Container Vibration mode as claimed in Claim 1 is a unique software
controlled hardware supported feature which makes the nested cups to load fi"eely
in to the slot and also avoids jamming of cups.
7. Fully Automatic Cup Dispenser substantially as herein described and illustrated in
the figures of the accompanying drawings.