Claims
- 1. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus including a controllable brewing device and a controllable brewing substance dispenser communicating with said brewing device, said beverage brewing apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- at least one receptacle retained on said housing proximate to said brewing device for receiving a brewed beverage therefrom;
- a weight sensing device associated with each of said receptacles, each said weight sensing device supporting a receptacle and being adapted to sense the weight of brewed beverage retained within a receptacle and generate a weight control signal corresponding to the sensed weight;
- a controller for receiving said weight control signals; and
- an indicator coupled to said controller;
- said controller determining in response to each weight control signal the volume of brewed beverage retained within a receptacle, said controller generating volume control signals corresponding to said determined volumes, said indicator receiving said volume control signals and displaying in response to said volume control signals, the volume of brewed beverage retained within each of the receptacles.
- 2. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus including a controllable brewing device and a controllable brewing substance dispenser communicating with said brewing device, said beverage brewing apparatus comprising
- a housing;
- at least one receptacle retained on said housing proximate to said brewing device for receiving a brewed beverage therefrom;
- a controllable outlet valve coupled to and communicating with each of said receptacles for controllably dispensing a quantity of brewed beverage from said receptacle;
- a controllable disposal valve coupled to and communicating with each of said receptacles for controllably emptying said receptacle of brewed beverage; and
- a controller coupled to said controllable outlet and disposal valves, said controller selectively operating said controllable outlet valves and said disposal valves in accordance with one of dispensing from and emptying said receptacles.
- 3. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 2 in which said controllable outlet valves are retained on the front of said housing and said controllable disposal valves are retained on the rear of said housing.
- 4. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 2 in which said controller is adapted to close each of said controllable outlet valves to prevent dispensing of brewed beverage therethrough, when said receptacle receives brewed beverage from said brewing device.
- 5. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 2 in which said controller is adapted to close each of said controllable outlet valves to prevent dispensing of brewed beverage therethrough, when said controllable disposal valve of said receptacle is operated to empty said receptacle of brewed beverage through said controllable disposal valve of said receptacle.
- 6. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising:
- a timer coupled to each of said receptacles and to said brewing device, each of said timers being adapted to measure the time elapsed since brewing of a beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled, and to generate a time control signal corresponding to the time elapsed since brewing of the beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled; and
- said controller receiving said timer control signals and controllably operating said controllable outlet valves in accordance with the time control signals so that if the time elapsed since the brewing of a beverage retained in a receptacle exceeds a first predetermined time, the controllable outlet valve of said receptacle is closed to prevent dispensing of brewed beverage from the controllable outlet valve of said receptacle.
- 7. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 6 in which said controller is adapted to operate said controllable disposal valves in accordance with said time control signals so that if the time elapsed since the brewing of a beverage retained in a receptacle exceeds said first predetermined time, the controllable disposal valve corresponding to that receptacle is operated to empty the receptacle of brewed beverage.
- 8. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 2 in which said controller is adapted to sense when said receptacles are being cleaned and to close said controllable outlet valves to prevent dispensing of brewed beverage therethrough when said receptacles are being cleaned.
- 9. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus including a controllable brewing device and at least one controllable brewing substance dispenser communicating with said brewing device for dispensing at least one type of brewing substance into said brewing device to produce at least one type of brewed beverage, said beverage brewing apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- at least one receptacle retained in the housing for receiving a brewed beverage from said brewing device and retaining said brewed beverage;
- a controllable dispensing valve coupled to each of said receptacles for controlling the flow of a brewed beverage from the beverage brewing device to a corresponding receptacle;
- a controllable outlet valve coupled to each of said receptacles, each of said controllable outlet valves being coupled to one of said receptacles for controllably dispensing a brewed beverage from said receptacle;
- a controller coupled to said brewing device, said brewing substance dispensers, said dispensing valves and said outlet valves, said controller controllably operating said brewing substance dispensers, said brewing device and said dispensing valves so that a predetermined type of brewed beverage is dispensed to a predetermined receptacle.
- 10. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 9 in which each of said outlet valves comprises a solenoid valve.
- 11. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 9 in which each of said dispensing valves comprises a solenoid valve.
- 12. An automatic beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 9 further comprising a timer coupled to each of said receptacles and coupled to said brewing device, each of said timers being adapted to measure the time elapsed since brewing of a beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled, and to generate a time control signal corresponding to the time elapsed since brewing of the beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled, said controller receiving said timer control signals and controllably operating said dispensing valves in accordance with the timer control signals so that if the time elapsed since the brewing of a beverage retained in a receptacle exceeds a first predetermined time, the dispensing valve corresponding to that receptacle is closed to prevent dispensing of additional brewed beverage into the receptacle.
- 13. A beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 12 further comprising a disposal valve coupled to each of said receptacles for emptying said receptacles of brewed beverage, said controllers being adapted to operate said disposal valves to empty said receptacles of brewed beverage when the time elapsed since brewing of the beverage exceeds a second predetermined time period, and to operate said dispensing valves to refill said receptacles with brewed beverage after said emptying operation has been performed.
- 14. A beverage brewing apparatus including a brewing device and a brewing substance dispenser communicating with said brewing device, said beverage brewing apparatus comprising
- a housing;
- at least one receptacle retained in the housing for receiving a brewed beverage from said brewing device and retaining said brewed beverage;
- a controllable dispensing valve coupled to each of said receptacles, each of said controllable dispensing valves being coupled to one of said receptacles for controlling the flow of a brewed beverage from the beverage brewing device to said receptacle;
- a controllable outlet valve coupled to and communicating with each of said receptacles for controllably dispensing brewed beverage from said receptacles;
- a controllable disposal valve coupled to each of said receptacles for automatically emptying said receptacles of brewed beverage;
- a weight sensing device coupled to said receptacles, each said weight sensing device supporting a receptacle and being adapted to sense the weight of brewed beverage retained within a receptacle and generate a weight control signal corresponding to the sensed weight; and
- a controller receiving said weight control signals, said controller determining in response to each weight control signal the volume of brewed beverage retained within a receptacle, said controller being coupled to said dispensing valves, outlet valves, and said disposal valves, said controller selectively operating said dispensing valves, outlet valves, and said disposal valves in accordance with said determined volumes.
- 15. A beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising:
- a timer coupled to each of said brewing devices, each of said timers also being coupled to one of said receptacles, each of said timers being adapted to measure the time elapsed since brewing of a beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled, and to generate a time control signal corresponding to the time elapsed since brewing of the beverage retained in the receptacle to which it is coupled;
- said controller receiving said timer control signals and controllably operating said dispensing valves in accordance with the timer control signals so that if the time elapsed since the brewing of a beverage retained in a receptacle exceeds a first predetermined time, the dispensing valve corresponding to that receptacle is closed to prevent dispensing of additional brewed beverage into the receptacle.
- 16. A beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 15 in which said control means is adapted to determine rates of beverage consumption at selected times of the day in response to said weight control signals and said time control signals and generate beverage consumption data corresponding to said determined beverage consumption rates.
- 17. A beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 16 further comprising memory means for storing said beverage consumption data.
- 18. A beverage brewing apparatus according to claim 17 in which said control means is adapted to retrieve said beverage consumption data from the memory means and operate said brewing substance dispensing means, said brewing beverage means, said inlet valves, said outlet valves, said beverage brewing means outlet valve and said disposal valves in accordance with said beverage consumption data so that a quantity of beverage produced at a particular time corresponds to the quantity consumed at that particular time on a previous day.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This invention uses a weight sensing device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,944, issued Feb. 7, 1995, entitled "Weight Controlled Grinder And Method Of Grinding Coffee Beans," a system described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/057,463 filed Apr. 8, 1998, entitled "Beverage Server," and a control system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,508, entitled "Digital Brewer Control," the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,944, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/057,463, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,508 are all assigned to the Assignee of the present application.
US Referenced Citations (27)