Abstract: A dual chamber Brix measuring cup which can be used to determine whether a fountain syrup dispenser is dispensing the proper ratio of water to syrup, referred to a a Brix measurement. The cup is basically two abutting cylindrical chambers, one to receive water dispensed from the nozzle and the other adapted to receive the syrup by means of a diverter tube. The cross sectional areas of the water and syrup chambers are in the ratio of the ideal water to syrup ratio in the dispensed product. In a first embodiment, a series of calibrated marks are provided on each of the two chambers, such that the mismatch of column heights can be translated into a reading of acceptability, for example if the syrup and water heights are within two lines of each other, that enable a tolerance band of acceptable mismatches to be easily seen visually. In a second embodiment, a slider element is provided which is vertically slideable on the syrup chamber.

Abstract: An arrangement for conducting an on-the-cup promotion in which promotional prize information is encoded onto each soft drink cup with an optically machine-readable code. The code is used with the promotion to identify whether a customer has won any of the different prizes available. In order to provide the needed variation and the completely random distribution of prizes needed for a fair game, each individual cup is separately encoded as it is being manufactured by a computer controlled printing station directly preceding a cup-forming machine. All of the necessary information on the number or prizes, the frequency of occurrence of each prize, and a program to randomize that frequency is placed in the computer software. A scanner at the point of sale scans the code, signals whether the cup is a prize winner or not, and delivers a printed ticket notifying winners of their prizes and how to redeem them.