Charged cup beverage merchandising machine

Claim 2

A beverage dispensing mechanism including in combination, a cabinet provided with a delivery shelf, means within said cabinet for positioning a cup of beverage on said shelf, said shelf adapted to receive waste liquid, a receptacle for collecting said waste liquid from said shelf, means mounting said receptacle below said shelf for manual movement into and out of said cabinet, means including a switch adapted to be actuated to disable said cup positioning means, a float, means mounting said float on said cabinet and adjacent to said receptacle for movement from a first position at which said float extends within said receptacle to a second position in response to a certain level of liquid in said receptacle and to a third position clear of said receptacle, means responsive to movement of said float to said second position for actuating said switch and means responsive to movement of said receptacle out of said cabinet for moving said float to said third position.

Claim 3

A beverage dispensing machine as in claim 1 in which said positioning means includes coin responsive means and in which said disabling means disables said coin responsive means.

Claim 4

A dispensiNg machine as in claim 1 in which said float is generally spherical and in which said mounting means comprises means forming an opening over said receptacle through which said ball is adapted to extend and guide means extending upwardly around said opening, said opening having a diameter less than that of said float.

Claim 5

A dispensing machine as in claim 1 including means mounting said float for vertical movement and for swinging movement.

Claim 6

A dispensing machine as in claim 1 in which said positioning means comprises a cup dispenser adapted to be loaded from the top, means mounting said cup dispenser in said cabinet with a generally vertical orientation, said cabinet including a lid at the top adapted to be opened to permit loading of said cup mechanism from the top.

Claim 7

A dispensing machine as in claim 1 in which said delivery shelf has open sides, said cabinet extending over said shelf.

Claim 8

A machine as in claim 1 in which said cabinet has a front formed with a coin return opening, and in which said positioning means comprises a coin mechanism having a coin return outlet and an accepted coin outlet, said machine including a cash box adapted to receive coins from said accepted coin outlet, and a guide within said cash box for directing returned coins from said coin return outlet to said coin return opening.

Claim 9

A beverage dispensing machine as in claim 1 including means mounting said receptacle for movement into and out of said cabinet and means responsive to movement of said receptacle out of said cabinet for disabling said positioning means.

Claim 10

A machine as in claim 8 in which said positioning means comprises a switch and in which said means responsive to movement of said receptacle comprises a feeler arm adapted to be engaged by said receptacle to actuate said switch.

Claim 11

A machine as in claim 1 including a feeler, means mounting said feeler in said cabinet for movement between an active position and an inactive position, means responsive to movement of said feeler to its active position for actuating said switch, said feeler being biased to its active position, said feeler adapted to be held in its inactive position by a receptacle in said cabinet.

Claim 12

A machine as in claim 10 in which said switch is a normally open switch having an actuating arm biased to switch open position, and in which said float mounting means comprises means for suspending said float from said switch arm, and in which said feeler mounting means mounts said feeler for pivotal movement in said cabinet, and in which said means responsive to movement of said feeler comprises means connecting said feeler to said float at a location spaced from said pivotal mounting means.

Claim 13

A machine as in claim 11 in which said feeler is resilient.

Claim 14

A beverage dispensing machine including in combination a cabinet provided with a delivery shelf having a drain, a cup dispensing mechanism within said cabinet adapted to deliver a cup to said shelf, a tank in said cabinet holding a supply of water, means responsive to the deposit of money for sequentially actuating said cup delivery mechanism to deliver a cup to said shelf and feeding a charge of water from said tank to said cup, means forming a receptacle housing in said cabinet below said shelf, a waste liquid tray received by said housing for movement into and out of the housing, a float, means mounting said float on said cabinet adjacent to said tray for movement from a first position at which the float extends into said tray through an intermediate position when the liquid in said tray is at a certain level to a second position clear of said tray, a switch, means responsive to movement of said float to said intermediate position for actuating said switch, and means responsive to movement of said tray out of said housing for moving said float to said second position.

Claim 15

A beverage dispensing machine including in combination a cabinet provided with a delivery shelf having a drain, a cup dispensing mechanism within said cabinet adapted to deliver a cup to said shelf, a tank in said cabinet holding a supply of water, means responsive to the deposit of money for sequentially actuating said cup delivery mechanism to deliver a cup to said shelf and feeding a charge of water from said tank to said cup, means forming a receptacle housing in said cabinet below said shelf, a waste liquid tray received by said housing for movement into and out of the housing, a float, means mounting said float on said cabinet adjacent to said tray for movement from a first position at which the float extends into said tray through an intermediate position when the liquid in said tray is at a certain level to a second position clear of said tray, a switch, means responsive to movement of said float to said intermediate position for actuating said switch, and means responsive to movement of said tray out of said housing for moving said float to said second position.

Claim 16

A dispensing machine as in claim 13 in which said cabinet is formed with a laterally extending open-ended recess over said shelf, said tray extending beLow said shelf and rearwardly of said recess in its housed position, said float being located in said cabinet behind said recess.

Claim 17

A dispensing machine as in claim 14 in which said tray is provided with a cover, said cover formed with a first opening registering with said drain and with a second opening registering with said float in the housed position of the tray.