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OK here's what I've gathered:
1) First method: When the soft drink reaches the top of the cup it pours out a little and touches the lever, this causes a short that stops it from dispensing.
2) Second method: There's a splash sensor on the nozzle, when the soda is reaching the top of the cup there's far more splash, which triggers it to stop dispensing.
I think the first method works better for any cup size, but they both sound legit.
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EDIT: Nvm bad guess  I'll try again
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United States24725 Posts
On December 02 2010 19:02 ThePurist wrote:
I'm not entirely sure but I'll take a stab at it.
There are different buttons for different cup sizes (S/M/L) and when it's a combo or something they press the M button under Coke and walks away. I would assume the machine is preset accordingly adjusted for ice as well.
On December 02 2010 18:37 micronesia wrote:
The unit does not have separate buttons for each size cup (although I've seen that before too and that one makes perfect sense).
2/3 people have suggested this without reading the blog to the end (including one guy from irc) lol
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Spenguin
Australia3316 Posts
On December 02 2010 19:02 ThePurist wrote:
I'm not entirely sure but I'll take a stab at it.
There are different buttons for different cup sizes (S/M/L) and when it's a combo or something they press the M button under Coke and walks away. I would assume the machine is preset accordingly adjusted for ice as well.
EDIT: Oops read the last paragraph :S I wouldn't know sorry but I'm sure the above method is more common.
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On December 02 2010 19:05 Spenguin wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2010 19:02 ThePurist wrote:
I'm not entirely sure but I'll take a stab at it.
There are different buttons for different cup sizes (S/M/L) and when it's a combo or something they press the M button under Coke and walks away. I would assume the machine is preset accordingly adjusted for ice as well. I would say that this is the case. Also the drinks made from these machines are worse than the bottled drinks as these drinks mix the syrup of your drink of choice with some sort of carbonated lemonade something or other.
The drinks made from these machines are worse than bottled drinks because:
If you look carefully there are 2-3 smaller streams intertwining to create one stream. The smaller streams are consisted of 2 concentrated Coke streams and 1 water stream.
This is a practice they use in Korea all the time and it's fucking annoying cuz your pop is flat and the concentrated Coke is actually stored in a giant liquid pouch. Pretty fucking crazy imho.
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My stab would be a level measurement sensor, like an optical time-of-flight like thing or a non-contact ultrasonic sensor.
Requirement for thisis that the liquid level in the different cups has to have the same height. They could have a different volume but this would have to be done by making the cups wider, not higher. Don't know if this is the case in the machine you're talking about.
They are throw away cups, right? Otherwise RFID tag.
It shows I'm an electronics engineer, doesn't it? 
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man I never thought about that. Whenever I go to the movies and see someone order a drink and they just put a cup down and press a button and it magically fills up and stops at the top I just take it for granted
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United States24725 Posts
On December 02 2010 19:48 Perguvious wrote:
man I never thought about that. Whenever I go to the movies and see someone order a drink and they just put a cup down and press a button and it magically fills up and stops at the top I just take it for granted
When you say press a button do you mean a small/med/or large button? If so then there's nothing mysterious about it. If it's just 1 button then that's a bit more mysterious although from what I've noticed there's no button at all... just the pressure of the cup against the metal lever or something.
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the thing probably just uses a simple light sensor to see the cup size and then just pours out the matching amount of liquid.
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Most of the info I've found so far supports the two ways I mentioned. Now that I think about it the fact that the levers are metal makes the first method the most likely (liquid hits metal, causes a slight electric short, stops the dispensing).
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When I used to work at a fast food restaurant, there are three tiny buttons aside from stop/fill button for each drink that are preset to the level of each sizes (small, medium and large). Is that what you were wondering about?
Sort of like this.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/0A4Hs.jpg)
EDIT: Sorry, I guess not.
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On December 02 2010 19:09 ThePurist wrote:The drinks made from these machines are worse than bottled drinks because:
If you look carefully there are 2-3 smaller streams intertwining to create one stream. The smaller streams are consisted of 2 concentrated Coke streams and 1 water stream.
This is a practice they use in Korea all the time and it's fucking annoying cuz your pop is flat and the concentrated Coke is actually stored in a giant liquid pouch. Pretty fucking crazy imho.
Unless some random franchise location is doing this to try and cut costs, that's not at all what happens. Fast food restaurants order coca-cola (as an example) syrup, not coke itself. The syrup is then mixed with the carbonated water in the correct ratios to create what we know as coca-cola. Ordering the syrup means they can keep several hundred servings of coke in a small-ish (roughly the size of an average desktop case) bag instead of having to literally keep barrel after barrel of the stuff.
If the franchise operator is doing their job correctly, they'll have the mix set up correctly as per the specifications they received from Coca-Cola Bottling Inc. when they ordered the fountain dispenser. I'm not saying some owners may rook you for the extra profits they get by essentially "saving" syrup every cup, but the large center stream of carbonated water just evens out the ratio. I've had "pure" coca-cola (by which I mean syrup only, no water) and it's DISGUSTING. No one would ever want that again.
As for the OP, I'm honestly not sure. The restaurant I worked at had a push-button operated auto-dispenser, so I can't speak for the other type of dispenser. I'd personally guess there's a splash sensor on the nozzle or a sensor in the drain for when liquid is poured through it that cuts the power. "Shorting" through the lever would imply that the lever has a current running through it, which presents obvious health risks to the employee.
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United States24725 Posts
On December 02 2010 20:30 sc2lime wrote:
When I used to work at a fast food restaurant, there are three tiny buttons for each drink(small, medium and large) that are preset to the level of each sizes. Is that what you were wondering about?
I specifically said in the OP that I am aware of these and I don't believe they are on the type of machine I'm trying to understand.
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There is sensor which checks size of cup and fills it amount of size (preset amount of soda)
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I did some research, and all I can find is a ton of patent information.
This looks promising. From what I can tell from skimming through it, it uses foam/soda overflow to complete a circuit between two metal conductors and automatically shuts off the flow of soda.
I think I've seen a beverage dispenser like the one you're describing, but I can't remember if the soda overflowed or not. Considering the distance from the nozzle to the cup, I'm sure there would be plenty of foam, and it would overflow before the actual soda would overflow, but again I can't remember if the foam overflowed or not.
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On December 02 2010 21:50 Versita wrote:I did some research, and all I can find is a ton of patent information. This looks promising. From what I can tell from skimming through it, it uses foam/soda overflow to complete a circuit between two metal conductors and automatically shuts off the flow of soda. I think I've seen a beverage dispenser like the one you're describing, but I can't remember if the soda overflowed or not. Considering the distance from the nozzle to the cup, I'm sure there would be plenty of foam, and it would overflow before the actual soda would overflow, but again I can't remember if the foam overflowed or not.
Yeah this sounds about right. It's similar to the system I was describing only it's written in a much more competent way.
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On December 02 2010 19:21 NeoLearner wrote:My stab would be a level measurement sensor, like an optical time-of-flight like thing or a non-contact ultrasonic sensor. Requirement for thisis that the liquid level in the different cups has to have the same height. They could have a different volume but this would have to be done by making the cups wider, not higher. Don't know if this is the case in the machine you're talking about. They are throw away cups, right? Otherwise RFID tag. It shows I'm an electronics engineer, doesn't it?
To your last line, no, it doesn't. It shows that your a student in the field. 1st year perhaps. Don't worry, the prestige you feel of potentially being one right now will be shortlived after spending anything over 1 year in the workplace after you graduate. Trust me
It's really not that hard, it's just a calibrated lever. It uses a combination with the weight of the liquid and the cup itself to form this calibrated lever. The weight of the cup presses on the bar holding it down until there's so much of the cup full that it becomes balanced out to level, and thus removing it from the pour bar.
A similar example? Think of holding a spoon with 1 finger somewhere in the middle so both sides balance out. Now change the size of the shaft, you know you need to make your finger over towards the end of the shaft for it to balance. Now increase the cup of the spoon, and you move the other way.
There's no stupid "ultrasonic sensors" or crazy laser programming. Fuck, lol.
Edit: The link to the patent above is insightful and on the right path to your question.
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On December 02 2010 22:39 Horrde wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2010 19:21 NeoLearner wrote:My stab would be a level measurement sensor, like an optical time-of-flight like thing or a non-contact ultrasonic sensor. Requirement for thisis that the liquid level in the different cups has to have the same height. They could have a different volume but this would have to be done by making the cups wider, not higher. Don't know if this is the case in the machine you're talking about. They are throw away cups, right? Otherwise RFID tag. It shows I'm an electronics engineer, doesn't it? To your last line, no, it doesn't. It shows that your a student in the field. 1st year perhaps. Don't worry, the prestige you feel of potentially being one right now will be shortlived after spending anything over 1 year in the workplace after you graduate. Trust meIt's really not that hard, it's just a calibrated lever. It uses a combination with the weight of the liquid and the cup itself to form this calibrated lever. The weight of the cup presses on the bar holding it down until there's so much of the cup full that it becomes balanced out to level, and thus removing it from the pour bar. A similar example? Think of holding a spoon with 1 finger somewhere in the middle so both sides balance out. Now change the size of the shaft, you know you need to make your finger over towards the end of the shaft for it to balance. Now increase the cup of the spoon, and you move the other way. There's no stupid "ultrasonic sensors" or crazy laser programming. Fuck, lol.
As you've described it, the only input the device has is the total weight of the cup + liquid. So how does it distinguish between different cup sizes so it knows when to stop pouring?
I think you're right that it's a simple calibrated system. As an AI/robotics person I would design it that it can handle any cup size/shape without requiring calibration 
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Well, what I was was a simplified version. When I say it's not really that hard, I mean the jist of it isn't at all hard to understand. I assume the patent above is not the one OP was referring to, as it relies on the liquid or foam to overflow. That goes without saying that there would be simple circuitry inside however. But the lever, being calibrated, treats the size and weight of the liquid together as a predetermined ratio.
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I've loaded the syrup packs into these machines but never examined the nozzles closely. I would guess it's similar to how a gas pump stops dispensing gas when you have a full tank: there's a secondary valve that when obstructed by fluid (when the cup is filled to the nozzle) creates a vacuum which pulls up on a diaphragm, stopping the main soda stream.
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I work at Arby's, and on the drive thru fountain there are different buttons for different sizes. I think ours is outdated though and with Small through medium it's hit and miss as sometimes they are not full enough or overflow, different for each nozzle oddly. XL is always on the spot for some reason.
We just manually poor it if it's really busy to avoid any chances of spills. There is Value, Small, Medium, Large, and extra large. Below all of these buttons is a button that functions similar to the lever in the front lobby's fountain. Hold it down and the soda is dispensed.
The drive thru dispensers ( at Arby's atleast) don't have levers. But have a large well to poor drinks, like if you got the wrong one. Also we have to scoop up the ice ourselves into the cup.
Also, I don't recommend getting drinks at fast food joints anyways:
http://www.disinfo.com/2010/01/nearly-half-of-fast-food-soda-fountains-contain-bacteria-that-grew-in-feces/
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On December 03 2010 00:13 UisTehSux wrote:I work at Arby's, and on the drive thru fountain there are different buttons for different sizes. I think ours is outdated though and with Small through medium it's hit and miss as sometimes they are not full enough or overflow, different for each nozzle oddly. XL is always on the spot for some reason. We just manually poor it if it's really busy to avoid any chances of spills. There is Value, Small, Medium, Large, and extra large. Below all of these buttons is a button that functions similar to the lever in the front lobby's fountain. Hold it down and the soda is dispensed. The drive thru dispensers ( at Arby's atleast) don't have levers. But have a large well to poor drinks, like if you got the wrong one. Also we have to scoop up the ice ourselves into the cup. Also, I don't recommend getting drinks at fast food joints anyways: http://www.disinfo.com/2010/01/nearly-half-of-fast-food-soda-fountains-contain-bacteria-that-grew-in-feces/
lmao... then why doesn't every get sick all the time from drinking coke at those machines? This type of bacteria is everywhere, and not the kind you should be worrying about.
As for the filling machine, I'd bet a healthy chunk that its an overflow sensor of the type that has been described.
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Vatican City State1872 Posts
Mcdonalds got these when they got their "McCafe"'s I was travelling the USA doing all of the McCafe upgrade stuff for mcdonalds everywhere... man that was a cool job. Anyways, that experience in my life could be a completely new blog so I'll just explain how the machine works (I did install a few of them)
They work by having a rotating bottom that the cups sit in. The register tells the machine what drinks to make, and it makes them automatically. Everything from small with no ice to extra large. It doesn't lean against the lever... that's ignorant. The rotating bottom moves the cup to where it needs to be in unison with the fountain dispenser and displaces the perfect amount of liquid based on what you ordered at the register.
hope that helps,
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Vatican City State1872 Posts
actually in theory, that is how they are supposed to work.
it seems like I usually see the people push buttons for my drink so maybe mcdonalds decided it was -ev and the technology wasn't sound enough to run completely hands free
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On December 03 2010 02:04 CrownRoyal wrote:
Mcdonalds got these when they got their "McCafe"'s I was travelling the USA doing all of the McCafe upgrade stuff for mcdonalds everywhere... man that was a cool job. Anyways, that experience in my life could be a completely new blog so I'll just explain how the machine works (I did install a few of them)
They work by having a rotating bottom that the cups sit in. The register tells the machine what drinks to make, and it makes them automatically. Everything from small with no ice to extra large. It doesn't lean against the lever... that's ignorant. The rotating bottom moves the cup to where it needs to be in unison with the fountain dispenser and displaces the perfect amount of liquid based on what you ordered at the register.
hope that helps,
I've actually never seen a dispenser like that, but I rarely go to McDonald's and live in Canada.
Also, I'm pretty sure I've seen a machine like the one described in the OP. I'm also fairly certain that the dispenser described in the OP (if micronesia and I are thinking of the same device) doesn't receive any information from the register as to what the customer ordered, so I don't think that the dispenser uses another mechanism to detect when the cup is full.
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United States24725 Posts
On December 03 2010 02:04 CrownRoyal wrote:
It doesn't lean against the lever... that's ignorant.
Umm... it does on the machines that I've seen lol
Obviously not the same as the ones you are talking about...
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On December 03 2010 02:04 CrownRoyal wrote:
Mcdonalds got these when they got their "McCafe"'s I was travelling the USA doing all of the McCafe upgrade stuff for mcdonalds everywhere... man that was a cool job. Anyways, that experience in my life could be a completely new blog so I'll just explain how the machine works (I did install a few of them)
They work by having a rotating bottom that the cups sit in. The register tells the machine what drinks to make, and it makes them automatically. Everything from small with no ice to extra large. It doesn't lean against the lever... that's ignorant. The rotating bottom moves the cup to where it needs to be in unison with the fountain dispenser and displaces the perfect amount of liquid based on what you ordered at the register.
hope that helps,
Worked at mcdonalds for little over a year and these are the machines i've seen. Every drink other than the teas and coffee was automatically dispensed (including ice) to what the order info was. So i'll i had to do was put lids on the drinks and make sure i put them in the order on the screen to tell them apart.
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On December 02 2010 22:39 Horrde wrote:Show nested quote +On December 02 2010 19:21 NeoLearner wrote:My stab would be a level measurement sensor, like an optical time-of-flight like thing or a non-contact ultrasonic sensor. Requirement for this is that the liquid level in the different cups has to have the same height. They could have a different volume but this would have to be done by making the cups wider, not higher. Don't know if this is the case in the machine you're talking about. They are throw away cups, right? Otherwise RFID tag. It shows I'm an electronics engineer, doesn't it? To your last line, no, it doesn't. It shows that your a student in the field. 1st year perhaps. Don't worry, the prestige you feel of potentially being one right now will be shortlived after spending anything over 1 year in the workplace after you graduate. Trust me
Got my Master's degree in 2007 , 3.5 years of experience designing automotive electronics. In the workplace, as you say. So I guess I will have to Trust you on that one. When does this imaginary "wall" pop up?
Sincere apologies for not having relevant soda fountain experience. I was just brain storming and thinking about possible ways to implement something.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.sodabarsystem.com/Lancer_B&I4500_30_Coca_Cola.jpg)
