Abstract:
An automatic device for preparing mixed and non-mixed beverages having a load-bearing structure ( 22 ), a conveyor ( 21 ) designed to convey containers ( 26 ) into a set position under a motor-driven rotary head ( 12,32 ) having a plurality of receptacles ( 13,33 ) for ingredients to be poured into the containers ( 26 ) on the conveyor where each receptacle ( 13, 33 ) has an automatic-dosing actuation valve ( 24, 34 ) and the said device ( 10 ) includes an automatic system ( 20 ) for managing positioning of the dispensers over the containers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention refers to a device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages, such as alcoholic-and non-alcoholic cocktails. 
     It is known that in public establishments, such as discotheques, pubs, music bar-rooms, etc., the customers are served alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktails or other similar beverages, either mixed and non-mixed, hereinafter referred to, for reasons of simplicity, as “mixed beverages”. 
     This service is generally performed by a specialized waiter or bartender, who carries out manually the traditional operations for the preparation of the beverage that has been ordered, such as: choice of the most suitable glass for the type of cocktail to be prepared, possible addition of ice, handling of the bottles containing the basic ingredients for the cocktail, manual dosing using possible dosers, possible manual mixing or shaking of the cocktail, and possible final garnishing of the cocktail which is to be served to the customer. 
     Such operations as the ones described above of course require a fair amount of manual skill, accurate dosing, as well as a certain amount of time to be carried out. As a result, there may occur delays in serving the customers, with consequent possible loss of patience and dissatisfaction of the latter, above all in the case where the premises are very crowded, and there may be some waste in dosing the ingredients. 
     An attempt to solve this problem has been made by proposing a machine equipped with a plurality of tanks containing the ingredients to be mixed and a plurality of pipes for conveying, under pressure, these ingredients into a glass. Associated to each one of said pipes is a dosing valve, and both the elements for conveying the individual ingredients and the dosing valves are controlled by an appropriate program that operates the machine in such a way as to produce a mixed beverage corresponding to the choice made by the customer. 
     Although a system of this kind automates preparation of cocktails, it is particularly unsatisfactory for at least the reasons explained in what follows. 
     In the first place, the structure consisting of the numerous pipes for feeding the ingredients is particularly complex and costly, both as regards installing it on the machine and as regards keeping it clean and operating efficiently. 
     In the second place, the said machine basically reproduces the operating and aesthetic characteristics of traditional coffee-vending machines that are generally present in offices, this being an aspect that limits the possibility of them being used in smart or trendy establishments. 
     The purpose of the present invention is therefore to create a device for the preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages that does not require any intervention on the part of the operator beyond the choice of the desired type of cocktail. 
     A further purpose of the invention is to create a device that presents a structure such as to represent an attractive element for the clientele. 
     These and other purposes are achieved by a device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages, according to claim 1, to which the reader is referred for reasons of brevity. 
     Advantageously, the device according to the invention enables automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages in public establishments, such as discotheques, pubs, music bar-rooms, etc. This is obtained, upon customer request, without any human intervention and in a fast and effective way. Possibly, if so desired and for certain preparations of cocktails, a bartender may manually shake a container of a shaker type containing the beverage previously mixed by the device of the invention, before serving it to the customer. 
     Consequently, long waiting times at the bar are avoided in the case where the premises are crowded, and in any case there is an orderly sequence of access to the device and of operations required for the preparation and serving of the cocktail. 
     Owing to its versatility, the device according to the invention also enables serving of non-mixed beverages, such as non-alcoholic beverages or beer. 
     In addition, the device according to the invention, owing to its peculiar rotary-head structure, which is designed also to serve as an element of attraction and appeal, lends itself in an ideal way to being used in the widest variety of public establishments, in particular, but not exclusively, in establishments frequented by young people or in trendy establishments. 
     Further purposes and advantages of the present invention will emerge clearly from the ensuing description and from the annexed drawings, which are provided purely to give explanatory and non-limiting example, and in which: 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 represents a front elevation of the device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 represents a top view of the device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operating logic of the system for controlling the device according to the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With particular reference to the above-mentioned figures, the device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages according to the invention is designated as a whole by the reference number  10 . 
     The device  10  comprises an automatic conveyor belt  21  which moves along a continuous path on a bench  22 . The conveyor belt  21  consists of a plurality of sectors  50  which define spaces for accommodating and supporting containers  26  for the mixed beverages. The said sectors  50  are preferably arranged at a fixed distance apart. 
     The containers  26  may be, for example, according to the cocktails ordered, glasses or shaker-type containers. 
     The device  10  is also provided with a pair of motor-driven rotary heads  12 ,  32 , each of which, according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, supports a plurality of upturned bottles  13 ,  33 , which have the function of receptacles for the ingredients necessary for preparing the cocktails. 
     In addition, each of the upturned bottles  13 ,  33  is equipped with an automatically operating dosing valve  24 ,  34 . The valves  24 ,  34  are provided with the possibility of automatic operation of dosing by means of a magnetic actuator. 
     The upturned bottles  13 ,  33  may contain spirits or syrups, or other beverages suitable for preparing cocktails. They may also comprise refrigerated bottles, for instance bottles containing milk, cream, sparkling drinks like spumante, or other beverages. The bench  22  serves as a support for the structure of the device  10  described and is also used as an element for containing refrigerating machines, which are in themselves known, as well as for containing the control system  20 . 
     The bench  22  may be provided with a transparent protective shield  9 , for example made of Plexiglas. 
     The device  10  for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages is further completed by a set of electrically operated dosing valves  15  with pre-mix or post-mix functions, for effervescent drinks or beer. The entire device may moreover be operated at a distance according to appropriate control programs. 
     According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, each of the receptacles  13 ,  33  consists of an upturned imitation bottle which has, in a position corresponding to its bottom, an attachment to a pipe (not shown in the figures), which has the purpose of conveying the liquid to be poured into the container  26 , drawing the said liquid from a corresponding tank containing a spirit or a syrup, or some other ingredient for cocktails. 
     Further characteristics of the present device  10 , which may possibly be envisaged in preferential embodiments of the present invention, involve integration of the device  10  with an automatic ice dispenser  16 . 
     In a similar way, it is possible to envisage an automatic dispenser  17  of garnishing, an automatic feeder of plastic glasses  18 , and an automatic mixer or shaker  19 . Associated to the device  10  is an automatic control system, indicated schematically by the reference number  20 , for managing the feed positions of the containers  26 , for example cocktails glasses, and which controls also the choice of ingredients and their reciprocal doses in a timed or weighted manner. 
     The device  10  is also provided with a display system of its own, equipped with an interface for an operator or for a customer, which comprises a display  11  (for instance, a monitor or an LCD display), preferably of the touch-screen type, for entering the data corresponding to the orders. 
     Such an interface is preferably set in a position corresponding to the place where the glasses  26  come out and envisages enabling by the customer using a badge or a banknote. 
     Operation of the device  10  for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages according to the invention is as described below. 
     The customer who wishes to drink a cocktail or some other beverage can select the beverage of his choice on the display  11  after he has obtained enabling of the machine by means of a badge or a banknote. 
     This step is indicated in detail in the flow chart of FIG. 3, where it is highlighted that the customer may select one of the cocktails contained in the menu, or else may himself enter a recipe of his own, and the control system is able to carry out the steps necessary for preparing the cocktail that has been entered after it has first carried out a check on the congruence of the ingredients. 
     The display  11  is able also to display and update in real time the list of the cocktails being prepared and to present, upon request, a set of information about the world of cocktails, such as the most requested cocktails, recipes, the history of cocktails, and curiosities concerning individual cocktails, etc. 
     On the internal front side  31  the glass  26  is loaded manually (which may also be a glass container chosen preferably from among three different types: medium tumbler, large tumbler, or a shaker/mixing glass). 
     Alternatively, a plastic glass may be automatically loaded by means of the feeder  18 . 
     The choice of the cocktail made by the customer activates the control system  20  of the device  10 , which by means of appropriate motor-driven units, sets the head  12  in rotation so as to bring the bottle  13  containing one of the ingredients of the cocktail selected into a position corresponding to the vertical axis of the glass  26  and in such a way as to operate the automatic valve  24  for the time necessary for delivering the suitable amount of ingredient into the glass  26 . 
     The conveyor belt  21  conveys the glass  26  towards the head  32 , and similar dosing operations are performed, once again according to the instructions coming from the control system  20 , by the head  32 , which, rotating through an appropriate angle, brings the bottle  33  containing a second ingredient for the cocktail selected into a position corresponding to the vertical axis of the glass  26  and operates the automatic valve  34  for the time necessary to deliver the appropriate amount of the said second ingredient into the glass  26 . 
     On the left-hand side of the device  10 , ice and/or garnishing may possibly be dispensed by means of operation of the corresponding devices, i.e., the automatic ice dispenser  16  and the automatic garnishing dispenser  17 . 
     On the outer front side  32  of the device  10 , the dispensing in the various suitable points is provided by operation of the appropriate valve  15 , in the case that the customer has chosen, as an alternative to a cocktail, beer or a non-alcoholic drink. 
     On the right-hand side  41  of the device  10 , the customer takes the cocktail from an automatic hatch in all cases where the cocktail does not require further treatment. 
     Alternatively, on the internal front  31 , a bartender takes out the container  26  when the beverage requires further treatment, such as mixing, shaking, filtering of ice, and garnishing, and pours it into a special container, for example a goblet, and puts it on the conveyor belt  21 . 
     In this latter case, the customer takes the cocktail ready for drinking and possibly garnished from an automatic hatch set on the left-hand side  42 . 
     From the foregoing description there emerge clearly the characteristics and advantages of the device for automatic preparation of mixed beverages which forms the subject of the present invention. 
     In particular, the advantages are represented, in the first place, by the fact that the device  10  enables automation of the numerous manual activities generally necessary for preparing cocktails. 
     This result is achieved without excluding the possibility of the customer ordering non-mixed beverages, such as non-alcoholic drinks or beer. 
     The device moreover makes it possible for the customer to be served a cocktail of his own choice, possibly according to a recipe entered by the customer himself, and for the customer to garnish the cocktail as he wishes. 
     Finally, the device  10  offers an evidently innovative structure designed to attract the attention of the clientele in a very wide variety of public establishments. 
     Finally, it is clear that numerous variations may be made to the device for automatic preparation of mixed and non-mixed beverages, which forms the subject of the present invention, without thereby departing from the principles of novelty inherent in the inventive idea, and likewise it is clear that, in the practical implementation of the invention, the materials,. shapes and sizes of the items illustrated may be any whatsoever according to the requirements, and the said items may be replaced with others that are technically equivalent.