PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15749387
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-01
Publication Date: 2018-08
Patent Classification: ["221", "221000"]

Abstract:
A cup dispensing apparatus comprising at least one magazine adapted to accommodate a stack of cups, and a releasing device, which has a vertical channel designed to be engaged by the stack, is configured to support the stack and release, when operated, the last cup, and is equipped with at least three releasing elements movable on a horizontal plane in respective directions substantially tangential to said channel, between a rest position, in which they define a horizontal first support plane designed to be engaged by the last cup to support the stack, and a release position, in which they define a second support plane at a higher level than the first support plane and designed to be engaged by the penultimate cup to support the rest of the stack; each releasing device has an associated separating device adapted to impart a downward detaching thrust on the last cup when the respective releasing element reaches the release position.

Claim (Index 11):
A cup dispensing apparatus for a beverage vending machine, the cup dispensing apparatus comprising:\n at least one dispensing group including:\n a magazine adapted to accommodate a stack of cups; and \n a releasing device having a through opening defining a channel with a substantially vertical axis, the releasing device adapted to be engaged by the stack of cups; \n wherein the releasing device is configured to support the stack of cups and to release, when operated, a last cup from a bottom of the stack of cups; \n wherein the releasing device includes:\n at least three releasing elements evenly distributed around the substantially vertical axis; and \n an actuating device connected to the at least three releasing elements to move the at least three releasing elements between a rest position in which the at least three releasing elements define a horizontal first support plane adapted to be engaged by the last cup of the stack of cups to support the stack of cups, and a release position in which the at least three releasing elements define a second support plane at a higher level than the horizontal first support plane and adapted to be engaged by a penultimate cup of the stack of cups to support the rest of the stack of cups; \n wherein the at least three releasing elements are segments configured to translate, when the at least three releasing elements move from the respective rest positions to the respective release positions and vice versa, on a plane substantially perpendicular to the substantially vertical axis and along respective paths in respective directions tangential to the channel; \n \n wherein the releasing device includes three separating devices each of which is mounted on a respective one of the at least three releasing elements to move downwards, with respect to the respective one of the at least three releasing elements, and impart a downward detaching thrust on the last cup when the one of the at least three releasing elements reaches the release position.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 8.0
- Percentile: 86.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.31507
- Patent Class: 221.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['14121936', '16080778', '14121782', '13999532', '13507808']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7304752835381284
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4774116380810811
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7051689189924237
- Mean Citation Score: 169.541434
- Max Citation Score: 186.05067
- Similarity Product: 145.28427374225558

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test