I'm not entirely sure of the general purpose of the function, but you could always do this:
function getMachine(color, qty) {
var retval;
$("#getMachine li").each(function() {
var thisArray = $(this).text().split("~");
if(thisArray[0] == color&& qty>= parseInt(thisArray[1]) && qty<= parseInt(thisArray[2])) {
retval = thisArray[3];
return false;
}
});
return retval;
}
var retval = getMachine(color, qty);