In my office, we take it in turns to go get coffee for the six people in my area, from the coffee dispenser machine. Coffee is free, but it still involves selecting the drinks one at a time, waiting for it to finish, taking it out and putting it in the tray, selecting another number.. etc. Inevitably, with the action repeated six times, you are six times more likely to burn yourself, or spill coffee down yourself... not to mention the time wasted while you hang about selecting the drinks.

My idea is to have a horizontal slot in the front of the machine, into which can be inserted a circular coffee tray. The machine user queues up all the different drinks he wants, and presses go... the tray rotates within the machine, and inserts the drinks into the tray, which can then be removed fully loaded - a small "Magna-doodle" (tm) style tab next to each hole on the tray is imprinted with a sigul to represent each coffee item or number.

If the trays were automically provided from within the machine (and the machine suitably networked up), you could order the coffees from a small program on your desktop, which would give you a timer for when the drinks would be ready. Also, a pull down menu would allow you to select common choice combinations. If suitably designed as well, the machine could still give out single drinks, while a tray is loaded and waiting to be collected.

So... less burn, less spillage, less time...

*n.b. if this is baked in the US, please understand the difficulties in searching for a Multiple Drinks Dispenser on Google...*
-- Danzarak, Mar 13 2002

Time to invest in a Lazy Susan
-- thumbwax, Mar 13 2002


Would she get the coffees for us if I did? Actually, when I got married I received the obligatory Lazy Susan.. I can see in the year 3000, hot wedding gifts will be a Bleezle (tm), 50 Greee, a Rotary Sholtoz and a Lazy Susan.
-- Danzarak, Mar 13 2002


Danzarak - interesting idea, good presentation. I don't know how feasible this really is, but the fundamentals may be more readily applicable in other implementations. I can't think of any right now, but that says more about me than it does about your idea.
-- quarterbaker, Mar 13 2002


I dont know how it is in the US, but we aren't allowed to have coffee pots at our desks - if we had one in the kitchen, its exactly the same problem again, you'd have to wait for it to be brewed, pour it out, and carry six cups back to your desk. Plus, the machine does cappucino, mochachino, tea, coffee, whipped coffee, chocolate, soup.. etc.
-- Danzarak, Mar 13 2002


That's a bit much for a coffee dispenser to do. I like the idea, but who would buy it?

See if your boss won't invest in some of those drink caddies you get at fast food places and a small table to put next to the coffee machine. Might go over better.
-- phoenix, Mar 13 2002


Rontunda Demitasse Machine -- same as above … uses a compact disk. ;)

Can't help but wish for pre-loaded 10cc syringes floating in each cup. "Geoffery, you wanted coffee with (review label) cream and Splenda™" Here you go.
-- reensure, Mar 13 2002


Hehe... thats the first time I ever heard the US refering to the UK as fascist... hello? US? World policy etc...
-- Danzarak, Mar 13 2002


What about a coffee machine that serves decent coffee?
-- ker0, Mar 15 2002


Sorry.. thats a WIBNI Magic I think... ours isn't too bad, as long as you dont drink real coffee in between.
-- Danzarak, Mar 15 2002



random, halfbakery