Part of a former family business included a soft-serve ice cream stand/deli.  As the business grew and summertime sales increased to over 300 cones a day, it became apparent that a better means of topping application was needed.  At the time, the ice cream server used a spoon to scoop sprinkles on top of the cone.  Some employees were a bit sloppy with this process and sprinkles were getting everywhere, on the floor, in the deli meats, mixed with other toppings, etc.   It was a time consuming and inefficient process.  We tried rolling the cones in the topping container, but often this resulted in the ice cream falling off the cone and contaminating the bulk topping container.   This presented product loss problems, not to mention sanitary issues. Rolling the cones in the sprinkle container also excessively covered the ice cream with sprinkles; we were using about two times as many sprinkles as the spooning method, but still had to charge the same price per cone. There had to be a better way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with this machine was that it was quite large & heavy.  It also had some features that were not needed (ie; adustable IR <infra-red> sensor mounts)  Because I did not plan to sell this & it was being used in a relatively small town, I used some commercially available stickers to make this machine more noticeable & more fun!

The revised models do not have the proprietary stickers and also are considerable lighter.  Materials are quite expensive so special attention was given to maximizing the structural strength-to-weight ratio.   Aluminum components offer the best solution to the design requirements at this time.