| 摘要 |
<p>A multi-head drinks-dispensing apparatus (10) comprises a group of drinks-dispensing heads (16A, 16B, 16C) each arranged for supply with respective drink ingredients through respective fluid control (22A, 22B, 22C, 26A, 26B, 26C) valves. A keypad (46) has a first group of keys (48) for selecting the type of drink and hence the dispensing head to be used, and a second group of keys (50) for selecting the quantity of drink to be dispensed. Signals from those groups of keys are processed in a micro-processor (62) to produce for each pair of associated 'drink type' and 'drink quantity' signals energisations of the control valves of the relevant dispensing head for periods sufficient to dispense the selected quantity of the selected drink. Dispensing of the selected drink is thus initiated at the earliest moment, whilst other drinks are being selected, so that respective selected drinks can be dispensed from the respective heads in a serial, overlapping manner. The processor stores data concerning the various drinks that are dispensed in a non-volatile memory, and this data can be transferred to a data collection (82) unit via an infrared link (84), and thence to a drinks management system (86).</p> |
