Described herein is an automated beverage dispensing system for dispensing a beverage into a cup based on an order. The automated beverage dispenser may include a conveyor and a plurality of functional stations along the conveyor route. Exemplary stations include a cup singulation or placement station, an ice dispensing station, a beverage dispensing station, and a sealing station for covering the top of the cup with a liquid tight film. Related methods are described.

A liquid filling and dispensing method comprises determining whether a user account is valid; if the user account is valid: enabling a user to obtain operating parameters of a processing assembly configured to collect and transfer liquid to a filling assembly; enabling the user to find a fill location having the filling assembly, wherein the fill assembly is configured to fill a validated container with liquid; and enabling the user to initiate filling of the container with the liquid at the filling assembly.

This invention is a refrigeration, dispensing, and management system for beverage and beverage containers that includes a tap attached to an upper door and a supply line; a recess base in a recess of a housing; a slide slidably carried by the recess base having a slot; a pressurized gas cylinder connected to the housing and attached to a gas line in fluid communications with the supply line wherein the gas cylinder contains gas selected from the group consisting of O.sub.2, CO.sub.2, N.sub.2 or other inert gas; and, a cap placed on the beverage container so that when the tap is opened, pressurized gas enters the cap and the snorkel through an inlet defined in the cap, forces gas into the beverage container, and forces the beverage out of the outline defined in the cap, through the supply line and out of the tap.

A dispenser system includes a support surface for a container, a motion sensor for sensing movement of the container with respect to the support surface, a dispenser for dispensing a product stream into the container, a display for displaying a plurality of product options, and a controller coupled with the dispenser, the display, and the motion sensor. The controller is configured to display the plurality of options via the display, receive an indication of movement of the container with respect to the support surface, associate the indication of movement with at least one selection made from the plurality of options on the display, update the display to indicate the at least one selection made from the plurality of options on the display, and dispense a customized product stream based upon the at least one selection made from the plurality of options on the display.

A smart energy-saving device for automatic blending drinks, adopted to inject beverages into at least one beverage cup that comprises a bar code, comprises: beverage barrels; manifolds; at least one ice-storing device including at least one ice outlet, at least one servomotor, a stirring rod, and at least one thruster; beverage stations; collection mechanisms including ring structures, ice inlets, water inlets, and beverage tubes; and a control module including flowmeters, water valve switches, beverage-cup-weight sensors, beverage-barrel-weight sensors, at least one ice-beverage-barrel-weight sensor, pressure sensors, bar code readers, infrared scanners; and a controller.

A beverage dispense system for a countertop having a water inlet including a solenoid valve and a beverage concentrate inlet to which a bag-in-box containing a supply of liquid coffee concentrate is attached. A beverage dispense font is mounted on the countertop. A water conduit connects the water inlet with the dispense font. A separate liquid beverage concentrate conduit connects the beverage concentrate inlet with the beverage dispense font. An electric syrup pump pumps liquid coffee concentrate from the bag-in-box to the end of the dispense font. A control unit controls the separate delivery of water from the mains water inlet and/or liquid coffee concentrate to the end of the beverage dispense font. Where water and liquid coffee concentrate are delivered, they will mix in the beverage receptacle.

A beverage production system, comprising a cup dispensing station configured to dispense cups, a beverage dispensing station configured to dispense a beverage, and a turntable assembly. The turntable assembly comprising a central axis, an inner turntable including a first row of cup receptacles, and an outer turntable including a second row of cup receptacles. The outer turntable is disposed circumferentially about the inner turntable, and the outer turntable is configured to rotate about the central axis to align the cup receptacles of the second row with the cup dispensing station and the beverage dispensing station. The turntable assembly is configured to align an opening in a cup receptacle in the second row with an opening in a cup receptacle in the first row. A slide assembly includes an arm configured to slide a cup positioned in the cup receptacle in the second row into the aligned opening of the cup receptacle in the first row.

A beverage dispensing system is configured to facilitate communication between a point-of-sale terminal and a beverage dispenser for receiving and fulfilling beverage orders. The dispensing system comprises a translation server that maps beverage orders between the point-of-sale entry data and beverage dispenser recipe data. An automatic portion control (APC) assembly comprises a mass sensor that is configured to determine a mass of a cup resting thereon. Using the mass of the cup, the dispenser makes a cup size prediction and performs portion control dispensing operations. Based on the cup size prediction, a user interface is modified to allow for quicker interactions. The APC assembly is positioned beneath a nozzle of the beverage dispenser and comprises a removable platform assembly magnetically coupled to a mass sensor assembly. The mass sensor assembly comprises a load cell or other mass sensor.

A beverage production system, comprising a cup dispensing station configured to dispense cups, a beverage dispensing station configured to dispense a beverage, and a turntable assembly. The turntable assembly comprising a central axis, an inner turntable including a first row of cup receptacles, and an outer turntable including a second row of cup receptacles. The outer turntable is disposed circumferentially about the inner turntable, and the outer turntable is configured to rotate about the central axis to align the cup receptacles of the second row with the cup dispensing station and the beverage dispensing station. The turntable assembly is configured to align an opening in a cup receptacle in the second row with an opening in a cup receptacle in the first row. A slide assembly includes an arm configured to slide a cup positioned in the cup receptacle in the second row into the aligned opening of the cup receptacle in the first row.

A liquid filling and dispensing system includes a filling assembly having: a base subassembly configured to receive a liquid from a processing assembly; and a connection subassembly configured to releasably connect a container with the base subassembly by an applied force that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the container.