1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for making cold confectionery products, and more particularly to a method and coin operated machine for automatically making and dispensing snow cones.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Snow cones are a unique confection which is very popular and appealing particularly to youths. The snow cone has stood the test of time despite some inherent problems associated with the making and dispensing thereof.
As is well known, snow cones are made by depositing flaked ice into a cone shaped cup and applying a flavoring syrup thereon. The nature of the flaked ice and the syrup itself makes it impractical to make and store the snow cones for subsequent use as is done with other popular confectionery products such as ice cream and soft drinks. In the first place, prolonged standing of a snow cone will allow the flavoring syrup to drain through the flaked ice into the bottom of the cup with only traces of the syrup remaining in the ice at the top of the cone. When the snow cone is left standing in an unrefrigerated environment, the ice itself, due its nature, will melt relatively rapidly. Additionally, the flaked ice used in making the snow cones is not conducive to cold storage of the product in that the ice will become a fused mass and thus change the entire characteristics of the product.
Due to the above described inherent problems of making and dispensing snow cones, they are limited to a marketing concept which relegates that the cones be made and dispensed on a demand basis, i.e., a customer orders a snow cone and an attendant manually makes and dispenses the ordered cone. Such limitations have seriously curtailed the marketing of this product in that snow cones are usually found only at special locations and at special events such as at some specialty stores, state fairs, sports arenas and the like. Even at such specialty locations, the profit margin is relatively low due to the need for an attendant, and the making and dispensing of snow cones is such a slow process that many purchasers become discouraged in long waiting lines.
The machines currently being used for making snow cones consist more or less of a grinding machine for making the flaked ice, and the other operations such as depositing the ice into a cup and applying the flavored syrup are manually accomplished by an attendant. Depending on the attendant, the environment, and the equipment used, such a manual operation can be very unsanitary.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for automatically making and dispensing snow cones.