1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cup-type beverage vending machine which add boiled water, water, ice or the like to various kinds of powder materials such as coffee and cocoa or liquid materials such as syrup to blend them, and vend such blended beverages poured into cups.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventionally known beverage vending machine of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 7-320143 specification.
A beverage vending process of this beverage vending machine will be described. When a cup stage is moved below a cup supplying device, a cup is conveyed from the cup supplying device to the cup stage. In order for the cup on the cup stage not to rock or fall, located on the cup stage is a cup holder, which holds the cup. Next, the held cup is moved below a material supplying device, where a material is supplied into the cup. The material-filled cup is then conveyed to a beverage making device. After that, the cup is conveyed to a product taking-out port, and the cup beverage is provided to a customer.
When taking out the cup beverage from the product taking-out port in the beverage vending process of the conventional cup-type beverage vending machine described above, the customer opens a door of the product taking-out port with a hand, inserts the other hand in the product taking-out port toward the back thereof to release the cup holder, and takes out the cup from the product taking-out port.
However, since the cup itself is made of normal paper, soft resin or the like which is easy to be deformed, care must be taken not to apply any force on the cup more than needs when taken out. It is troublesome to carry out such care-requiring work in the back of the product taking-out port with a hand. It is also troublesome to release the cup holder whenever taking out the cup.
In view of the above conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a cup-type beverage vending machine which requires no opening operation of a cup holder and allows a beverage-filled cup to be easily taken out.
The present invention provides a cup-type beverage vending machine, including: a cup stage on which a cup is located; a beverage pouring section for pouring beverage into the cup; and a conveying device for reciprocating the cup stage between the beverage pouring position and a product taking-out position, in which the machine has a cup holder mechanism which holds the cup on the cup stage when the cup stage is situated other than the product taking-out position, while releases holding condition of the cup when the cup stage is situated in the product taking-out position.
According to the present invention, during conveyance of a beverage-filled cup to the product taking-out position and when the cup has not yet reached the product taking-out position, the cup is held by a cup holder mechanism. While when the cup reaches the product taking-out position, the cup holder mechanism releases holding condition of the cup to allow the cup to be easily taken out.
The above mentioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent by the following description and the accompanying drawings.