The Binford Frosty Beverage Dispenser 5000
Abstract
To solve the problem of excessive time and labor involved with the opening and
pouring of Coca-Cola into a mug comes the Binford Frosty Beverage Dispenser 5000
(B.F.B.D. 5000). The B.F.B.D. 5000 with the insertion of a quarter produces a fresh
poured mug of coke in well under 10 seconds.
Design
The project’s design was separated amongst the team members: Rusty focused on the
operation and overall layout of the B.F.B.D 5000, Ben focused on the cap removal
and the bottle’s hinged sattle, Josh was instrumental in the fluid dynamics as well as
wood working, and Isaac literally turned conceptual idea’s into standing wood
structures. The idea of simplifying the operation to just bottle opening or just bottle
pouring but the idea was rejected because it was just too easy. Pressure treated lumber
was selected because we could obtain it cheaply, its relative ease to work with, as
well as structural strength. The initial design called for a laterally rotating arm instead
of a vertically rotating one. This was rejected because it would probably need the use
of servos with would drive up complexity and cost. The only other major design
rejection was other choices of beverages to open, we chose a coke bottle because of
its political correctness.
Introduction
Since 1886 much of humanity has wasted valuable time and energy wrestling with
pop-top caps, scratching at the top of aluminum cans, and torqueing tricky twist tops.
All of these containers failed to make the ordeal as painless as possible. Finally a
group of skunk work’s undergraduates at the University of Tennessee undertook the
task of streamlining the process from bottle to mouth with as little labor as possible.
The approach was to tap the potential energy stored in an elevated bowling ball to
remove the cap, and then pour the beverage. Each step of this process will be covered
in the following sections.

The coin triggered device initiator.

The pop-top cap removal process.

The secondary tapping of potential bowling ball energy.

Latch, disconnect system.

Elastically assisted lever action.

Liquid elevation and rotation.

Carbonated liquid dynamics and proper head production.

Waste recovery and mess prevention.
Fig. 1
Coin Triggered Device initiation
When a quarter is inserted into the coin slot on the device it falls on a mouse trap.
This releases the spring loaded lever arm which pulls out the chalk of wood placed
underneath the bowling ball setting the bowling ball in motion.
Mgh=.0057*.10159=PE=.000579
1.99311=v(squared)
.000579=.5mv(squared)
v=1.4117ft/sec speed of quarter
When the mouse trap is triggered:
Distance the 0.0477
mousetrap
was moved
tangentially
in meters.
Newtons of
3.5
force
exerted.
Total Area
1.077
under the
graphed line.
0.0957
0.1436
0.1914
0.2393
5
6
7.5
9
The potential energy stored in our mousetrap should be near 1.1 watts. The force then
required to remove the chalk (that has been retaining the bowling ball) is near 0.02 for
about ¼ of a second and therefore will be considered negligible. The energy lost then
is 1.1 watts
The Pop-Top Cap Removal Process
The bowling ball rolls down a shallow incline for 2-3 inches until the ramp runs out
allowing the ball to fall 16 inches to exert a force of 21.3lbs on a see-saw that has a
chisel at the other end. The chisel is propelled up against the lower lip of the coke
bottle’s cap. Because the coke bottle is secured down with a wood sattle reinforced by
a 1x1 held down by doubled up ¼ inch cable, the cap is forced off the top of the
bottle.
The bowling ball dropping can be represented by:
16*1.33=23.33 ft-lbs/sec=.5mv(squared)
v= 9.26ft/sec
The cap opening can be seen as:
7lbs for ¼ of a inch to pop cap therefore 7*.25/12= .02083ft-lbs/sec
To lift the half pound chisel 3 inches. .5*.25= 0.41ft-lb/sec
The total energy lost here is 22.899ft-lb/sec
The Secondary Tapping of Potential Bowling Ball Energy
Do to it’s collision with the see-saw and the incline of the base 2x4, the bowling ball
is set in motion toward the back of the contraption away from the coke bottle. The
bowling ball is eventually dropped onto an inclined ramp where it’s decent is slowed
by a 5 gallon bucket connected to strings which provide the majority of the force for
the rest of the contraption seen in the equation: 16*.75= 12
Latch Disconnect System
The first strings that gain tension due to the bucked are the strings that pull that latch
off of the lever arm to now allow free movement of the lever arm. The energy
required to do this is 5lbs of force over a distance of ½ inch. 5*.5/12= .2083ft-lb/sec
Elastically Assisted Lever Action
Shortly after the first strings remove the latch from the lever arm the secondary
strings begin applying the majority of the force needed to rotate the lever arm raising
the coke bottle, coke fluid, glass mug, as well as the wood necessary for support. This
motion is aided by the force of 3 rubber bands exerting a force of about 40 newtons.
Because the y-component is lessened as the lever arm rotates the arm actually
accelerates until an abrupt stop leaving the arm at a 90 degree angle with the base
board. To move the Arm takes about 55N, after the rubber bands there is 15N of
force for the bowling ball to add via the strings tied to the bucket
Carbonated Liquid Dynamics and Proper Head Formation
Perpendicular, at the end of the lever arm now rests the coke bottle. Under the force
of momentum due to the abrupt stop and the 8 rubber bands attached to the sattle
holding the coke, the hinged sattle is flipped upside down to release the liquid which
now has increased potential energy due to the recent elevation change. The liquid
coke is funneled through an inverted Dr. Pepper bottle top to come to rest in the glass
mug. The carbon dioxide that has been super saturated into the liquid is now
decompressed, because of the movement, bubbles up forming the trademark head.
Waste Recovery and Mess Prevention
Waste recovery starts at the funnel which keeps the possibly high velocity coke from
missing the mug. If a small percentage of coke does miss the mug there is a 4x4
square piece of foam insulation layered with newspapers to catch and absorb the run
off.
Bill of Materials (All Materials were Salvaged)
1. Half a 2x4, 4ft of 1x6, 4 spindles, some other small pieces of lumber. Came to
$5.00
2. 8ft of string. 25 cents
3. Small jewel box hinges. 10 cents
4. Metal L brackets. 20 cents
5. 3ft 1/4inch wire. $1.50
6. Foam insulation. 1 cent
7. 6 pack of coke. $3.50
8. Top of a Dr. Pepper bottle (funnel). $1.00
9. Mouse Trap. $1.00
10. 25 2 and ½ inch wood screws. $2.00
11. 5 big eye hooks. $1.50
12. 5 small eye hooks. $1.50
13. 25 small wood screws. 75 cents
14. 10, 2 inch nails. 50 cents
Total $18.81
Conclusion
The project when presented did not work as planned. This was because the tables
in the class room are quite a bit shorter than the ones in the shop, this led to the
reduced angle with the ramp and the floor from 60 degrees to 45 degrees.
Fortunately Mr. Bossily added the extra y-component force so the rest of the
system could be seen as a success. The contraption with out Isaac is only 2%
efficient with its energy, but at present is opening bottles with much success.