Patent Application
20240132274
An embodiment of the invention relates to a system and method of use for dispensing liquids from a container, and in some embodiments, to a dispensing system that controls the dispersion of a beverage that flows from a bottle.
A bartender commonly pours liquor from a bottle into a glass in which a drink is being prepared. A spout is often attached to the mouth of the bottle to dispense the liquor at a relatively constant flow rate so that a bartender can “free pour” the liquor without the need for a measuring device, such as a jigger. Even at a constant flow rate, the exact amount of liquor poured into each drink varies among different bartenders, and also varies from drink to drink poured by the same bartender. Variables such as “pouring angle” (angle of a bottle relative to vertical when dispensing its contents); the volume of liquor remaining in a bottle; and the temperature of the liquor, can each be a factor in the attempt to achieve a constant flow rate. These variables can affect the profits derived from a given bottle of liquor; as well as affecting the taste, and as such the quality, of a mixed drink. In addition, simple bottle spouts do not provide a mechanism to ensure that each drink dispensed from a bottle is properly accounted for. Thus, a bartender may provide free or generous drinks to friends and preferred customers without accounting to the tavern management. In response to these conditions, taverns and restaurants have installed systems for dispensing liquor to provide some accountability, although such prior systems include numerous limitations that discourage their implementation, functional usage, and accuracy.
A system for dispensing a beverage from a bottle comprises a pour spout adapted to be attached to the bottle, a server interface adapted to be carried by a person who serves beverages, and a control unit for wirelessly communicating with the server interface and pour spout, as well as a Point of Sale (POS) terminal via a hard wired or wireless connection. The POS terminal records the domestic currency sale(s) amount(s) to allow dispensed liquor income to be logged and archived. The pour spout includes a first transceiver for wireless communication, a controller connected to the first transceiver, and a valve operable by the controller for controlling flow of the beverage from the bottle in response to a first message received by the first transceiver. The server interface has a second transceiver for wirelessly transmitting the first message to the first transceiver and optionally for wireless communication with the control unit, which communication may also be done via the first transceiver. Throughout this document, whenever and wherever a reference is made to a wireless communication between the server interface and the control unit it shall be understood that the same may alternatively be accomplished via a wireless communication between the pour spout and the control unit.
In one dispensing mode, motion denoting a desire to dispense the beverage from the bottle is detected. In response to that motion, the pour spout wirelessly transmits a spout identifier to the server interface, which responds by either wirelessly transmitting a request message to a stationary control unit, or by wirelessly transmitting a size selection message to the pour spout which in turn transmits the request message to the control unit. The request message contains a server identifier, which is unique to that server interface, the spout identifier, and the selected size. The control unit responds to the request message by wirelessly transmitting to the server interface, or to the pour spout, a reply message, hereafter known as a dispensing command, authorizing beverage dispensing and containing the volume of liquid to dispense. If the dispensing command was sent to the server interface, it reacts to the reply message by wirelessly transmitting the dispensing command to the pour spout. The dispensing command causes the pour spout to open its valve enabling the specified volume of the beverage to flow from the bottle.
In another dispensing mode, the person selects a cocktail via a user input device which causes a designation of a plurality of liquor ingredients for that cocktail to be retrieved from an electronic memory. The designation of the plurality of liquor ingredients is transmitted wirelessly from the control unit to the server interface carried by the person, or to the plurality of pour spouts required to fulfill the cocktail selection, or it is simply maintained within the control unit as it prepares to respond to legitimate pour requests (requests to pour an ingredient of the cocktail) with the appropriate ingredient volume. Each request to pour an ingredient of the cocktail is can be generated when a motion denoting a desire to dispense the beverage from the bottle is detected. The sequence described in the previous section is thus initiated with the exception that no size selection information is included.
In one aspect of the present invention, the dispensing command designates a nominal pour time interval; and the pour spout opens the valve for a period of time that is derived from the nominal pour time interval. For example, the pour spout senses at least one of a temperature related to the beverage, a bottle tilt angle and a volume remaining in the bottle. That data is employed to derive an adjusted pour time interval from the nominal pour time interval. The valve then is opened for the adjusted pour time interval.
A pour spout is provided for dispensing a beverage from a bottle that has a mouth. The pour spout comprises a bottle adapter for attaching to the bottle to receive the beverage therefrom. The pour spout includes a pour spout housing with a chamber into which a housing inlet and a housing outlet open with the housing inlet being connected to the bottle adapter for receiving beverage from the bottle. A valve carriage is moveably received within the housing chamber and has a carriage flow passage. A resilient first tube provides a first passageway for beverage to flow from the housing inlet to the carriage flow passage and a resilient second tube provides a second passageway for beverage to flow from carriage flow passage to the housing outlet. A valve is operatively connected to control flow of the beverage through the housing from the housing inlet to the housing outlet. A valve actuator is provided to move valve carriage within the chamber, thereby operating the valve.
Embodiments of the system and method are disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings and are for illustrative purposes only. The system and method are not limited in their application to the details of construction or the arrangement of the components illustrated in the drawings. The system and method are capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in other various ways. In the drawings:
References herein to directional relationships and movement, such as top and bottom or left and right, refer to the relationship and movement of the components in the orientation illustrated in the drawings, which may not be the orientation of those components in all situations. In at least some embodiments, the term “directly connected” as used herein means that the associated components are connected together by a conduit without any intervening element, such as a valve, an orifice or other device, which may restrict or control the flow of fluid beyond the inherent restriction of any conduit.
With initial reference to
The control unit 18 is in at least some embodiments, physically similar to control computers used in previous beverage dispensing systems, except that it communicates with the server interface 16, and/or the pour spout 12, via an internal radio transceiver connected to an antenna 19 (e.g., an internal or external antenna), in order to dispense a beverage from the bottles 14. In other embodiments, the control unit 18 can include one or more of various features not available in previous beverage dispensing systems. In addition, in at least some embodiments, the control unit 18 includes a microcontroller (i.e., embedded processor), such as a part number nRF51422 Radio Frequency System On a Chip (RF SOC), as manufactured by Nordic Semiconductor of Oslo, Norway; one or more memory storage devices, such as flash memory for control program storage, a RAM memory for housekeeping, temporary storage of variables, calculation workspace, etc., and a serial EEPROM memory for archival storage, etc.; one or more communication transceivers, such as an ISM Band 2400-2800 MHz transceiver, which can be integral to the microcontroller (e.g., nRF51422 RF SOC), the transceiver being capable of communicating with numerous other components and over one or more of various network configurations, such as a multicast wireless sensor network, for example the ANT+ network protocol as developed by Dynastream Innovations, Inc. of Alberta, Canada. In addition, the communication transceivers can include a Bluetooth capable transceiver and a Wi-Fi capable transceiver.
As will be described, the control unit 18 executes various functions of the present dispensing system 10. In at least some embodiments, the control unit 18 is in communication with a cocktail pad 20 by which the beverage servers may select particular types of drinks to be served and the specific type of alcohol for each of the drinks. The connection between the control unit 18 and the cocktail pad 20 can be achieved in numerous manners, such as wired and/or wireless connections. The server interface 16, control unit 18, pour spout 12, and the cocktail pad 20, are
in at least some embodiments, capable of communicating with each other, using one or more of various communication protocols, such as Bluetooth, ANT+, WiFi, GAZELL™, ISM Band 902928 MHz, etc.
In at least some embodiments, the cocktail pad 20 is a computer implemented device that stores a repertoire of cocktails and other mixed drinks along with the liquor ingredients for each cocktail and mixed drink. In at least some embodiments, the cocktail pad 20 includes a memory device (not shown), a processor (not shown), and a user interface, such as a touch screen 21 (e.g., a resistive or capacitive LCD touch screen) (e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI)), by which a beverage server accesses the drink repertoire and selects a particular drink to be served. In at least some embodiments, the cocktail pad 20 is a commercially available device, such as part number 8003472, as manufactured by the Berg Company of Monona, Wisconsin, U.S.A., although in other embodiments the cocktail pad 20 can be in the form of a smartphone or tablet, such as an ‘PHONE or IPAD, with a suitable application configured to provide a graphical user interface and to communicate with other components of the dispensing system 10. In at least some embodiments, the cocktail pad 20 may be in whole or in part, integral with the control unit 18. The control unit 18 also may be connected to, or otherwise in communication with, a point of sale unit (e.g., a cash register) that is used to tabulate the price to be charged to the customers being served and to collect their payment. The control unit 18 also may be in communication with other devices (via a computer network or other communication network) such as a central computer that monitors the food and beverage service at the particular tavern or restaurant. It should be further understood that in a large establishment, there may be multiple beverage dispensing systems 10 connected together via that communication network, or several control units 18 may be connected together by another communication network.
A tamper-indicator, such as a heat shrink seal, an adhesive backed paper label or tape, etc. (not shown), may be placed around the pour spout 12 and a neck 13 of the bottle 14 to detect and provide a visual indication of unauthorized attempts to remove the pour spout from the bottle. In at least some embodiments, the tamper-indicator can be secured to the neck 13 and a feature and/or accessory component that is affixed to the pour spout 12.
Alternatively, a sensor in the form of a mechanical switch, an optical transmitter and reflector, a bottle to pourer proximity sensor, or other mechanisms known in the art could be used for indicating, logging, or communicating events of tampering with the integrity of the bottle to pourer bond. As a consequence, in at least some embodiments, the only way to pour liquid from the bottle without providing indication to management of tampering is to use the dispensing system 10.
The pour spout 12 has an interior housing 40 with a first side 41 to which the bottle adapter 30 is attached. That first side 41 has a housing inlet 43 through which liquid from the bottle is received from the inner beverage passage 32. The opposite second side 45 of the housing 40 has a nozzle 44 with a housing outlet 47 through which the beverage is dispensed from the pour spout 12. A spout valve 42 is provided within the housing 40 to control the flow of the beverage through the pour spout. The spout valve 42 is located in a chamber 46 within the housing 40 and comprises a valve carriage 48 that slides within the chamber toward and away from the housing inlet 43. A biasing element, such as a compression spring 50, biases the valve carriage 48 away from the housing inlet 43 and toward a stop 52 located on the housing, or alternatively, an effective stop created when the plunger head 64 contacts the valve seat 60, thereby restricting the travel of the carriage 48. The valve carriage 48 has a carriage inlet 54 and a carriage outlet 55,
with a carriage flow passage 56 through which the beverage can flow. A first tube 58 comprised of a flexible, resilient material, such as silicone, has one end sealed in a secured manner to the housing 40 around the housing inlet 43 and another end sealed in a secured manner to the valve carriage 48 around the carriage inlet 54. Thus the first tube 58 provides a first passageway for liquid to flow from the housing inlet 43 into the carriage inlet 54. In at least some embodiments, the first tube 58 has at least one pleat 57 that allows the length of that tube to contract as the valve carriage 48 slides toward the housing inlet 43 while maintaining the first passageway open. In at least some embodiments, a similar second tube 59 is provided that includes one end sealed in a secured manner to the valve carriage 48 around the carriage outlet 55 and another end sealed in a secured manner to the housing 40 around an opening of the housing outlet 47 in the outlet nozzle 44. Thus the second tube 59 can provide a second passageway for liquid to flow from the carriage outlet 55 into the outlet nozzle 44. In at least some embodiments, the second tube 59 also is fabricated from a resilient material, such as silicone, and has at least one pleat 61 that allows the second tube to extend and contract lengthwise while maintaining the second passageway open.
A valve seat 60 is formed in the interior surface of the second tube 59 adjacent the end that is sealed to the outlet nozzle 44. The valve seat is shaped to provide a conforming seal with a plunger 62, as discussed below. In at least some embodiments, the valve seat 60 is annular. The valve carriage 48 has a plunger 62 extending therefrom toward the outlet nozzle 44. The plunger 62 includes a head 64, which in the closed state of the pour spout 12 (as illustrated in
With reference to
In at least some embodiments, electrically activated mechanisms other than an electric motor can be used to perform the function of the valve actuator 77. For example, an external solenoid could have an armature that is mechanically coupled to the valve carriage, or the valve carriage can be made of a magnetically permeable material with an electromagnetic coil
extending around the exterior of the housing 40 to create a magnetic field that moves the valve carriage 48 to an open state or closed state. In at least some embodiments, other types of spout valves may be used to control the flow of liquid between the housing inlet 43 and the outlet nozzle 44 with the present dispensing system 10. Further, in at least some embodiments, other types of pour spouts 12, such as a pour spout with a transceiver configured to communicate with at least one of the control unit 18, server interface 16, and/or cocktail pad 20 can be interfaced and utilized with the dispensing system 10.
Referring again to
In at least some embodiments, a sensor lever 82 is attached to an exposed end of the motor shaft 81 and rotates with the shaft 81, while in other embodiments, the sensor lever 82 can be secured to or integrally formed with one or both of the cam plates 72 and 74. The sensor lever 82 passes through or is otherwise in communication with a valve position sensor 84, such as an electro-optical sensor or photo-interrupter (for example, a part number Rohm RPI-0128, as manufactured by Rohm Semiconductor of San Diego, CA.) that produces an electrical signal having two states indicating whether the pour spout valve 42 is opened (open state) or closed (closed state). In one embodiment sensor lever 82 can be configured to cause photo-interruption when the valve is in the fully open and fully closed position. In another embodiment sensor lever 82 can alternately be configured to cause photo-interruption in the mechanically transitioning position between the valve fully open or fully closed positions. In at least one embodiment, as shown in
part, on the printed circuit board 80, (some of the various components of the pour spout control circuit 90 can be provided on one or more additional circuit boards). The pour spout control circuit has a first controller 92, such as a microcomputer, that includes analog to digital converters, input circuits, output circuits, and an internal memory 93 for storing a control program and data for use by the control program. In at least some embodiments, the control program is configured to operate the pour spout 12 consistent with the methods and operations described below. Data utilized by the control program can be stored in the memory 93 during a programming session, or can be entered as needed in some cases via a component of the dispensing system 10, such as the server interface 16, the cocktail pad 20, etc. The memory 93 stores a spout identifier that identifies the particular pour spout 12 where the memory 93 is installed. The spout identifier may be simply a unique number assigned to the particular pour spout 12 and/or may identify the specific beverage in the bottle to which the particular pour spout is attached. As an example of a spout identifier, the memory 93 has a first storage location that contains a designation of the brand of beverage and a second storage location that stores the particular type of beverage in the associated bottle. For example, the beverage brand may be “Johnnie Walker” and the type of beverage may be “Black Label Scotch Whiskey”. In at least some embodiments, the beverage brand and the type of beverage may be designated by alphanumeric characters or by numerical values assigned to the brand and beverage type to encode them with less memory space utilized. Other types of designators have been contemplated. A third storage location within the pour spout memory 93 can contain a designation of the volume capacity of the bottle, i.e., the quantity of beverage when the bottle is full. A fourth storage location within the pour spout memory 93 might contain the quantity of beverage dispensed since the pour spout was placed (programmed) onto the bottle. A fifth storage location can be provided within the pour spout memory 93 which can contain the viscosity of the beverage contained within the bottle 14. A sixth storage location within the pour spout memory 93 might contain the profile of the bottle 14 as it relates to its shape and the effects of the same one the rate of flow given various depths of the liquid within the bottle 14. A seventh storage location within the pour spout memory 93 might contain the nominal flow rate of the beverage within the bottle. Numerous other storage locations within the pour spout memory 93 can be designated to store additional data. Alternatively, in another embodiment, the spout identifier may simply be a numerical value assigned to that pour spout, in which case the control unit 18 or server interface (16)
stores a table which relates that numerical value to the brand, type of beverage, viscosity of beverage, bottle profile, nominal flow rate and volume capacity of the associated bottle. In addition, in at least some embodiments, one of or all of the spout identifier, the brand of beverage, the type of beverage, viscosity of beverage, bottle profile, the volume capacity of the bottle, and the quantity of beverage dispensed since the pour spout was placed onto the bottle, can be included in a single memory storage location or in two or more locations in the pour spout memory 93.
In at least some embodiments, the first controller 92 includes one or more input circuits (as noted above), which are configured to receive signals from various components, such as a temperature sensor 94 and a plurality of accelerometers 96 configured to detect motion along three orthogonal axes of the pour spout 12. The signal from the valve position sensor 84 can also be provided to one of the input circuits of the first controller 92. Using one or more output circuits, the first controller 92 is connected to a motor driver 95 that controls the motor 75 and is further coupled to a light emitter 99 (
The first controller 92 is connected, via one or more input circuits and output circuits, to a radio transceiver 98 that has an antenna 97, such as a Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver, for communicating with one or more components of the dispensing system 10, such as the server interface 16 (
With reference to
In at least some embodiments, the server interface 16 includes at least one accelerometer 101, which provides an input signal to the second controller 102 to indicate when the beverage server rapidly moves the server interface 16. A display 104, such as a liquid crystal display, is provided on the server interface 16, with an output of the second controller 102 being connected thereto to drive the display 104. The display 104 communicates with the second controller 102 to provide information or selections to the server. Such information can include various selections and other information conveyed using alpha-numeric or other characters or indicia. One or more visual and/or audible indicators can be provided on the server interface 16, such as a pair of light emitters 107 and 109 (e.g., light emitting diodes), which are connected to outputs of the second controller 102 to provide visual indications of different operating conditions. In an alternate embodiment, a vibrating component could be utilized to alert the server wearing the interface that some action is necessary (e.g. a cocktail has been ordered by a food server). A second radio transceiver 105, with an antenna 106, is connected to an input/output circuit of the second controller 102. As shown in
Both the server interface 16 and the pour spout 12 are powered by one or more batteries, such as battery 88A (see
In each control circuit 90 and 100, the controller, radio transceiver, and other components may be provided on a single integrated circuit, such as a model nRF51422 System on Chip (SoC) produced by Nordic Semiconductor ASA of Oslo, Norway. However, other commercially available Radio Frequency Systems on a Chip (RF SOC) such as the Texas Instruments RF SoC family or Chipcon family, Analog Device ADuCRF family, or Bluetooth 4 Low Energy (BLE) may also be used.
The dispensing system 10 can be configured to include a plurality of modes of operations. In at least some embodiments, the dispensing system 10 has two modes of operation, namely, (1) a direct pour mode in which the beverage server picks up a beverage bottle and begins pouring a drink, and (2) a cocktail mode in which the beverage server selects the desired mixed drink on the cocktail pad 20 and is guided by the dispensing system 10 in selecting different liquor ingredients to use in preparing the mixed drink.
Various direct pour modes can be provided, although one embodiment of a direct pour mode is depicted by the exemplary flow chart 200 illustrated in
Assuming that the beverage server has awakened the server interface 16 and the execution has advanced to step 203, the beverage server then grabs the particular bottle 14 containing the beverage that is desired to be dispensed. That bottle then is inverted over the glass 11 or another receiving container. At step 204, the inversion of the bottle 14 is detected by accelerometers 96 in the pour spout 12 (e.g., three accelerometers—one for each axis, X, Y, Z), thereby providing one or more pour signals to the first controller 92 in
At step 208, upon receiving the pour request message, the server interface 16 extracts the name of the beverage from that message and presents the name on the display 104. Then at step 210, the second controller 102 accesses its memory 103 to obtain the server identifier for the person to whom the respective server interface 16 has been assigned. That server identifier, the spout identifier, and the desired portion size are transmitted as a beverage dispensing request via the second radio frequency link 17 to the control unit 18, and/or another component of the dispensing system 10. Thereafter, the software executed by the control program on the server interface 16 waits at step 212 for a response from the control unit 18 authorizing the dispensing of that particular beverage by the pour spout 12.
The receipt of the dispensing request causes the control unit 18 to obtain a price and volume stored in the memory of the control unit for the specified portion size of the designated beverage. The server identifier, type of beverage, and volume of the beverage, and the related price are then transmitted to the point of sale unit 22 for entry into the bill for the items being served to the associated customer. This information may be encoded in what is commonly referred to as a price look-up (PLU) number, although other types of encoding can be utilized. It should be understood that upon serving all the drinks ordered by that customer, the beverage server can print the bill at the point of sale unit 22. After the transaction has been entered, the point of sale unit 22 approves the dispensing transaction by sending an approval message to the control unit 18. In response to the approval message, the control unit 18 sends a request reply message with the volume to be dispensed via the second radio frequency link 17 to the server interface 16, which in effect approves the beverage dispensing request.
If a predefined amount of time has passed after sending a beverage dispensing request, where the server interface 16 has not received a request reply message from the control unit 18, the direct pour mode branches from step 214 to step 216. Alternatively, the server interface 16 may receive a reply message from the control unit 18 that expressly denies the beverage dispensing request. In either event, the server interface 16 concludes that the beverage dispensing was not approved. The second controller 102 activates the red light emitter 107 to indicate to the beverage server that the transaction has been denied. An alphanumeric or graphic message to that effect also may be presented on the display screen 104 of the server interface 16. The display screen 104 may be backlit to different selectable colors, or the server interface 16 may have a vibrating motor that is operated to indicate the denial to the person carrying the server interface. In addition, the sever interface 16 may utilize an audible annunciator, such as a speaker, to provide indications. Those indications remain active for a predefined period of time after which the direct pour mode 200 terminates without dispensing any beverage from the bottle 14.
Otherwise, upon receiving a request reply message indicating approval from the control unit 18 at step 214, the direct pour mode advances to step 218 at which the server interface 16 sends a dispensing command message via the second radio transceiver 105 to the respective pour spout 12. That dispensing command message contains the spout identifier that was previously received by the server interface 16 from the associated pour spout 12. The spout identifier indicates which pour spout at the serving station is to be activated and thus which pour spout is to receive and respond to this pour command message.
Various beverages have different viscosities, for example, gin and whiskey have a viscosity similar to that of water, while certain liqueurs have a greater viscosity and pour slower. Thus different beverages have different nominal flow rates which are used to calculate the pour time intervals during which to open the pour spout valve 42 in order to dispense the desired portion size of that beverage. In at least some embodiments, the appropriate nominal flow rates for a particular beverage may be stored either in the beverage data table, which can be located in the memory 93 of the associated pour spout 12, or in the control unit 18, that also stores the price and nominal volume data for that beverage. As price data can change for temporary periods (e.g., discounted happy hour times, special rates for private parties, etc.), the price data is typically stored in the control unit 18 or the point of sale unit 22, in at least some embodiments, the price data can be stored in another component of the dispensing system 10, or in another component that is in communication with the dispensing system 10. When the volume, optionally in the form of a nominal pour time interval, is stored in the control unit 18, the volume or nominal pour time interval to use is sent from the control unit 18 to the server interface 16 in the request reply message and then relayed to the pour spout 12 in the dispensing command message. Alternatively, the volume or nominal pour time interval to use can also be sent from the control unit 18 directly to the pour spout 12. In at least some embodiments, the volumes or nominal pour time intervals can be stored in a beverage data table in the memory 103 of the server interface 16.
The pour time intervals are noted as being “nominal” because the rate at which the beverage flows from the bottle is a factor of the beverage temperature, the angle at which the beverage server inverts the bottle, and the quantity of liquor remaining in the bottle. For some mixed drinks, a liquor ingredient, such as gin, may be refrigerated for a certain type of drink and thus be at a lower temperature than another bottle of the identical brand of gin that is not refrigerated for other types of drinks. Thus, the control circuit 90 for the pour spout 12 has a temperature sensor 94 that enables the first controller 92 to know the present temperature of the beverage. A first lookup table stored within memory 93 provides data defining how the pour time interval for the respective beverage is affected by temperature, thereby enabling the first controller 92 to adjust the nominal pour time for temperature variation. The accelerometers 96 also enable the first controller 92 to determine the pouring position of the bottle, such as the angle to which the beverage server has tilted the bottle for pouring. When the bottle is aligned vertically, the beverage flows from the pour spout 12 at a faster rate than when the bottle merely is tilted to a 45° angle with respect to vertical. A second lookup table stored within memory 93 provides data defining how the pour time interval for the respective beverage is affected by the bottle tilt angle, thereby enabling the first controller 92 to adjust the nominal pour time for tilt angle variation. The quantity of beverage remaining in the bottle also affects the actual pour time, i.e., the greater the quantity, the greater the fluid pressure and thus the greater the flow rate. Therefore, the first controller 92 uses the amount of beverage dispensed during each pour to track the quantity remaining in the bottle. A third lookup table within memory 93 provides data defining how the pour time interval is affected by the quantity of the beverage remaining in the bottle, thereby enabling the first controller 92 further to adjust the nominal pour time. The result of this processing is an adjusted pour time interval. In at least some embodiments, any one of or all of the first, second, and third lookup tables can be stored in another component of the dispensing system 10 and accessed as needed.
After the first controller 92 has received the information to provide a desired pour, the first controller 92 produces an output signal which activates the motor driver 95 which responds by energizing the motor 75, which rotates the cam plates 72 and 74 (
and 74 push the actuating portions 66 and 67, thereby sliding in the valve carriage 48 within the housing 40. The motion of the valve carriage 48 moves the plunger 62 away from the valve seat 60 opening a path for the beverage to flow from the bottle out of the nozzle 44 and into the glass 11 or other container. The motor is de-energized when the valve is fully open to save battery power. The motor 75 and its gearbox provide sufficient resistance to hold the spout valve 42 open against the force of the compression spring 50. The first controller 92 has an internal timer that measures the amount of time during which the spout valve 42 is open and when the adjusted pour time interval expires, the motor 75 is reversed in direction. At that time, the compression spring 50 moves the valve carriage 48 until the plunger 62 once again engages the valve seat 60 closing the fluid path through the pour spout 12, terminating the flow of the beverage from the bottle 14. The motor can be de-energized when the valve is fully closed to save battery power.
On some occasions, the beverage server may make two or more identical drinks at the same time. In that situation, the beverage server, while holding the bottle 14 in the inverted position, shakes the bottle up and down rapidly, which motion is detected by the accelerometers 96 in the pour spout 12. In the direct pour mode, this rapid movement triggers the process to move to step 206, where the first controller 92 sends another pour request to the server interface 16. Eventually the direct pour mode 200 terminates with the beverage server placing the bottle in the normal upright position, which is sensed by the accelerometers 96 of the pour spout control circuit 90.
With reference to
entering an employee number or selecting the server's name from a list displayed on the touch screen 21. Then at step 302, the beverage server uses the touch screen 21 to scan the list of cocktails to locate the one that is desired and to select it. Typically the cocktail mode is used to prepare drinks that have a number of different liquor ingredients, for example, a Long Island Iced Tea contains vodka, tequila, rum, gin, and triple sec along with sweet and sour mix and a splash of cola.
A drink selection message, containing the beverage server's identifier, the name of the selected cocktail, the list of ingredients in that cocktail, and a volume or nominal pour time interval for each ingredient is communicated from the cocktail pad 20 to the control unit 18 at step 304. Upon receiving that message, the control unit looks up the price of the cocktail in a table stored in its memory. The control unit 18 then sends a transaction notice message containing the beverage server identifier, the cocktail name, and the price to the point of sale unit 22. The point of sale unit 22 adds that cocktail to a list of items on the bill for the customer being served. At step 306, the control unit waits for approval of the transaction, and if the transaction is approved, a reply message, which effectively authorizes the dispensing transaction, is sent back to the control unit 18. If a reply message is not received within a predefined amount of time (e.g., 5 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) after sending the transaction notice message, the control unit 18 concludes that the transaction has been denied and the cocktail mode branches to step 308. Alternatively, the control unit 18 may receive a reply message from the point of sale unit 22 that expressly denies the beverage dispensing transaction. In either event, an indication of the denial is sent to and displayed on the cocktail pad 20 and the server interface 16 for the respective beverage server, before the cocktail mode ends.
Upon receiving an approval reply message from the point of sale unit 22, the cocktail mode moves from step 306 to step 310 at which the control unit 18 uses the server identifier to send a transaction message (e.g., via the second radio frequency link 17) to the server interface 16 that is assigned to the requesting beverage server. The transaction message contains the identity of the cocktail to be prepared, the list of liquor ingredients, and for each ingredient, both the spout identifier and designation of the nominal pour time interval. In at least some embodiments, when the server interface 16 receives a message containing the associated server identifier and an approval code for the cocktail mode, the data contained in that message is extracted and stored in the memory 103. At step 311, the server interface 16 sends a message to the pour spout 12 for each bottle 14 containing one of the liquor ingredients. Each of those messages, sent via the first radio frequency link 15, instructs the pour spout control circuit 90 in the respective spout to activate its light emitter 99 which visually identifies the associated liquor bottle among all the bottles at the serving station. In at least some embodiments, other means of identifying bottles can be provided.
Next at step 312, the cocktail mode waits for the server to grab one of the liquor bottles on the ingredient list. The inversion (e.g., tilting) of the bottle by the server is detected by the one or more accelerometers 96 in the attached pour spout 12, which causes the first controller 92 in the pour spout to send a wireless message to the server interface 16 at step 314. That message identifies the pour spout 12 and its associated liquor bottle to the server interface 16. At this point the pour spout 12 may send a pour request message to the control unit 18.
Then at step 316, the server interface 16, or the control unit 18, checks whether the liquor in the identified bottle is on the list of ingredients for the cocktail being mixed. If not, the process moves to step 318 at which a red light emitter on the server interface 16 is illuminated to indicate selection of an incorrect bottle by the server. The process then returns to step 312 to await selection of a proper bottle. If at step 316, the identified bottle was found to contain a liquor ingredient of the cocktail, the process moves to step 320. At that time, an activation message containing the volume or the nominal pour time interval for that liquor ingredient is sent wirelessly to the inverted pour spout 12. Once the designated pour spout 12 receives that activation message, the spout valve 42 opens for the designated nominal pour time interval.
As described previously with respect to the direct pour mode, the pour spout control circuit 90 also senses the temperature of the beverage in the bottle and the angle at which the bottle has been tilted (e.g., relative to vertical). The pour spout control circuit 90 keeps track of the quantity of liquor remaining in the bottle. Those three variable factors affect the rate at which fluid flows through the pour spout 12. Therefore, the first controller 92 uses the sensed temperature, the tilt angle and the remaining liquor quantity to adjust the nominal pour time interval, as received or as calculated given the volume and nominal flow rate, to ensure that the proper quantity of beverage is dispensed under those variable conditions. That action produces an adjusted pour time interval, which is used to control the duration of the open state of the spout valve 42.
The first controller 92 then operates the motor 75 to open the spout valve 42 and begins measuring the amount of time that the spout valve is held open. When that amount of time equals the adjusted pour time interval, the motor 75 is activated to close the valve. The first controller 92 then deactivates the light emitter 99 on the pour spout. Then at step 322, closure of the spout valve 42 is communicated by the first radio transceiver 98 via the first radio frequency link 15 to the server interface 16, or to the control unit 18, and the server interface 16 or the control unit 18 marks the liquor ingredient as having been poured. Then at step 324, the server interface 16 or the control unit 18 checks the cocktail ingredient list to determine if another ingredient remains to be poured. If there is another such ingredient, the cocktail mode returns to step 312 where the process waits for the server to invert another liquor bottle on the ingredient list for the selected cocktail. The process repeatedly loops through steps 312-324 until all the liquor ingredients have been poured to prepare the mixed drink, at which time the cocktail mode ends at step 326.
For certain cocktails, such as the Long Island Iced Tea, non-alcoholic beverages such as a carbonated soda or an ingredient that is not contained in a bottle may be utilized. The beverage dispensing system 10 can indicate those additional ingredients either via the cocktail pad 20 or the display 104 on the server interface 16.
The cocktail mode has been described in the context of the list of liquor ingredients and designations of the volume or nominal pour time interval for each ingredient of the selected mixed drink being transmitted to the server interface 16 in a single message from the control unit 18. The server interface 16 controls the sequential activation of each of the pour spouts 12 for the liquor ingredients. Alternatively, the control unit 18 can control dispensing each liquor ingredient and send separate dispensing messages to the server interface 16 or directly to the pour spout 12 for each liquor ingredient sequentially as each ingredient has been dispensed. Each such dispensing message contains the spout identifier associated with one liquor ingredient and the designation of the volume or nominal pour time interval for that liquor ingredient. Further, in at least some embodiments, the pour spout 12 can communicate directly with the control unit 18 to exchange at least some of the aforementioned information.
When a bottle houses a relatively sticky beverage, such as a cordial that is served infrequently, an associated spout valve can become stuck shut. The present dispensing system 10 can mitigate this problem by periodically exercising the spout valve 42 even though the beverage is not sought to be dispensed. The control unit 18 stores a list of spout identifiers for pour spouts that are susceptible to valve sticking. Periodically, such as once a week, the control unit 18 enters a valve exercise mode in which each of those spout identifiers is sequentially obtained from that list and used to send an exercise command either directly to the associated pour spout 12 or to the pour spout via a server interface 16 that is in use. Upon receiving the exercise command, the first controller 92 of the respective spout control circuit 90 determines the present position of the bottle, as stored previously based on signals from the accelerometers 96. If the bottle is in the upright position, i.e., the neck facing upward, the first controller 92 commands the motor driver 95 to energize the motor 75 and open the spout valve for a brief period of time, e.g., a fraction of a second.
Referring to
It should be appreciated that the present disclosure is intended to encompass numerous embodiments as disclosed herein and further described by the following:
The foregoing description was primarily directed to one or more embodiments of the invention. Although some attention has been given to various alternatives within the scope of the invention, it is anticipated that one skilled in the art will likely realize additional alternatives that are now apparent from disclosure of embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims and not limited by the above disclosure. In addition, while the principles of the system and method of use for dispensing liquids from a container have been described above in connection with regard to one or more embodiments, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the system and method of use. It is specifically intended that the system and method of use for dispensing liquids from a container not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein, but include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims. In addition, the various methods of use described herein can include additional steps not described herein or can omit steps described herein. Further, the various steps can be performed in a different order than described herein.
This present disclosure is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/222,390, entitled “System and Method of Use for Dispensing Liquids from a Container,” filed on Dec. 17, 2018, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/221,679 entitled “System and Method of Use for Dispensing Liquids from a Container,” filed Mar. 21, 2014 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,155,651, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/799,649 entitled “Wireless Control System for Dispensing Beverages from a Bottle,” filed on Mar. 13, 2013 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,212,041, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16222390 | Dec 2018 | US |
| Child | 18225317 | US | |
| Parent | 14221679 | Mar 2014 | US |
| Child | 16222390 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13799649 | Mar 2013 | US |
| Child | 14221679 | US |
