Patent Application
20210347628
The present disclosure relates to a touchless beverage valve assembly for ice and beverage dispensing machines.
The following U.S. Patents provide background information and are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,077,180 discloses a beverage dispensing head includes a housing having a front, a rear, and a base that extends between the front and the rear. A mixing nozzle is configured to dispense a flow of beverage via the base. A valve is configured to control the flow of beverage via the mixing nozzle, and a switch is movable into and between a closed position in which the valve opens the flow of beverage via the mixing nozzle and an open position in which the valve closes the flow of beverage via the mixing nozzle. A lighting module disposed in the housing is configured to illuminate the front of the housing and the base of the housing when the switch is moved into the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,840,407 discloses a beverage dispensing system that includes a plurality of beverage sources each containing a beverage component, and at least one flow valve connected to one or more of the beverage sources and operable to control a flow of the beverage component therefrom. The system further includes a graphical display that presents a plurality of available beverages and a gesture capture device that receives a selection gesture input to select a beverage from the plurality of available beverages. A controller is also included that adjusts the at least one flow valve based on the selection gesture input to dispense the selected beverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,359 discloses an automated system for preparing and delivering postmix beverages in response to one or more drink orders being entered from a remote point of sale unit or a local keypad that includes: a postmix beverage preparation assembly for dispensing ice and a selected postmix beverage into a cup; an oblong carousel type conveyor assembly including a plurality of upwardly open cup holders which are driven by a motor driven belt so as to pass beneath a cup dispensing station, an ice dispensing station, a beverage dispensing station, and a plurality of pick-up stations; a cup storage and dispenser assembly including a bidirectionally rotatable turret upon which is mounted a plurality of different sized cup supply tubes for holding a respective stack of beverage cups; and a pneumatic vertically driven cup gripper/extractor mechanism having a pair of pneumatically operated gripper arms which operate to remove a cup from a selected supply tube on the turret and placing the extracted cup into an empty cup holder which is then transported past the dispensing stations and then to a pick-up station on the conveyor for manual removal by an attendant.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0075426 discloses a beverage dispensing apparatus that includes a dispensing structure, a transportation mechanism linked with the dispensing structure, and a staging structure linked with the transportation structure. A control system is linked with the dispensing structure, the staging structure, and the transportation mechanism. A sensor mechanism is linked with the control system. The sensor mechanism provides signals indicating the position of a cup. A cup identification system having an interactive display is connected to the control system. The display has visual characteristics indicating the position and characteristics of a cup.
An example of a touchless beverage dispensing valve assembly includes a nozzle. A valve is coupled upstream of the nozzle. The valve is configured to control a flow of a substance through the valve to the nozzle. A solenoid is operatively connected to the valve and configured to operate the valve between an open condition and a closed condition. A trigger sensor includes an optical sensor and a controller. The controller executes a trigger sensor control module to receive an output from the optical sensor and operate the solenoid to control the valve between an open condition and a closed condition. The substance is dispensed through the nozzle when the nozzle is in the open condition. A feedback device is operable to selectively provide a visual indication of each of: a stand-by condition, a detection of a receptacle beneath the nozzle, and an active dispensing operation.
Further examples of a touchless beverage dispensing valve assembly include the controller configured to operate the feedback device to produce the visual indication based upon a current output of the optical sensor and at least one time since initiation of a current operational state of the valve assembly. The optical sensor may be a photoelectric sensor. The current output of the optical sensor may include a baseline output signal and the controller operates the feedback device to provide the visual indication of the stand-by condition. The controller is configured to operate the feedback device to provide the visual indication of the detection of the receptacle when the current output of the optical sensor deviates from the baseline output signal by a predetermined amount. The controller is configured to operate the feedback device to provide the visual indication of the active dispensing operation when the current output of the optical sensor deviates from the baseline output signal by a predetermined amount for at least 100 ms. The controller is configured to operate the solenoid to operate the valve to the open condition after the feedback device is operated to provide the visual indication of the active dispensing operation. The controller is configured to measure an elapsed time that the valve is in the open condition and the controller is further configured to operate the feedback device to provide a visual indication of the elapsed time. The controller is configured to operate the solenoid to operate the valve to the closed condition upon either a detected change in the current output of the optical sensor towards the baseline output signal or the elapsed time reaching a predetermined time. The controller is configured to receive and store a value representative of the baseline output signal through a calibration process.
Additional examples of a touchless beverage dispensing valve assembly include a trigger sensor housing that surrounds the optical sensor and an optical sensor circuit board, and the optical sensor circuit board is communicatively connected to the optical sensor and produces the output. The trigger sensor housing includes a curved exterior wall, the curved wall configured to fit partially about the nozzle. The valve assembly may further include a tray configured to be positioned about the nozzle and configured to retain the controller and the feedback device, and the trigger sensor housing includes a plurality of retainer clips configured for resilient deformation to retain the trigger sensor housing to the tray. The trigger sensor housing may further include a retainer bar that secures within retainer recesses positioned to interior faces of walls of the trigger sensor housing and the retainer bar is configured to secure the optical sensor and the optical sensor circuit board within the trigger sensor housing.
In still further examples of a touchless beverage dispensing valve assembly, the optical sensor is a first optical sensor and the trigger sensor includes a second optical sensor. The first optical sensor is arranged to project light energization at a region below the nozzle and the second optical sensor is arranged to project light energization at a region forward of the nozzle. The output from the first optical sensor is a first output and the controller is configured to receive a second output from the second optical sensor. The controller is configured to interpret a deviation in the first output from a first baseline output of the first optical sensor as a presence of a receptacle below the nozzle. The controller is configured to interpret a deviation in the second output from a second baseline output as a user gesture. The controller is configured to operate the feedback device to provide the visual indication of the active dispensing operation and to operate the solenoid to operate the valve in the open condition upon concurrent detection of the presence of the receptacle below the nozzle and the user gesture. The substance may be a beverage or ice.
An example of a method of dispensing a beverage using a touchless beverage dispensing valve assembly includes receiving, with the controller, a current output from the optical sensor. The current output is determined as a baseline output. A deviation from the baseline output is detected in the current output. The feedback device is operated to visually present an indication of the detected receptacle. A deviation from the baseline output of a predetermined magnitude and a predetermined duration is detected. The feedback device is operated to visually present an indication of the active dispensing operation. The solenoid is operated to operate the valve to the open condition. An elapsed time that the valve is in the open condition is measured. The feedback device is operated to provide a visual indication of the elapsed time. The solenoid is operated to operate the valve to the closed condition upon either a detected change in the current output of the optical sensor towards the baseline output or the elapsed time reaching a predetermined time.
The present disclosure includes the following Figures. The same numbers are used throughout the Figures to reference like features and like components.
In the present description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be inferred therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes only and are intended to be broadly construed.
The present disclosure generally relates to ice and beverage dispensing systems with improved sanitary features. Beverage dispensers are commonly used in restaurants and convenience stores to mix a beverage concentrate with carbonated or non-carbonated water and to cool the mixed beverage. Due to their ease of use, many ice and beverage dispensing systems are located in restaurant dining rooms or on convenience store sales floors to permit customers to select and dispense their own beverages. Permitting unfettered customer access to ice and beverage dispensing systems can increase customer satisfaction and decrease restaurant labor costs. However, this access can also increase the spread of pathogens due to the number of customers touching the beverage dispenser valves. The present inventors have recognized that customer comfort and safety would be increased through the use of an ice and beverage dispenser with beverage valve assemblies that do not require customer contact for operation.
Above the valve base plate 13, the valve assembly 8 includes a controller 7, which is exemplarily a single board computer (SBC) or a central processing unit (CPU), that includes a processor. The processor of controller 7 may be integral with or communicatively connected to a computer-readable medium upon which computer-readable code is stored. Upon execution of the computer-readable code by the processor, the processor performs functions and calculations and subsequently transmits control signals as described herein. The controller 7, is communicably coupled to the trigger sensor 1, the valve solenoid 9, and a feedback device 20. As described herein, the controller operates to coordinate the detection of a receptacle and/or user input with the trigger sensor 1, with the operation of the valve solenoid 9 to dispense a substance and control the feedback device 20 to communicate an operational status of the dispenser to a user.
In examples, the touchless beverage valve assembly 8 operates to dispense a beverage into a receptacle based upon a touchless interaction with the touchless beverage valve assembly 8. The trigger sensor 1 includes one or more optical sensors as described in further detail herein which register the touchless interaction for subsequent interpretation by the controller 7. In an example, the trigger sensor 1 detects the presence of the receptacle, which may be a cup 15, beneath the nozzle 14. In an exemplary implementation, at least one optical sensor 4 of the trigger sensor 1 is positioned such that the at least one optical sensor 4 detects a cup target zone 16 that is below the trigger sensor 1 and in the region of the rear lip of the cup 15 (depicted as the shaded regions).
An optical sensor 4 is mounted to the trigger sensor controller 3 and positioned within a cutout region 24 of the housing 2. The trigger sensor controller 3 may be considered to be a component of the optical sensor 4 or in other implementations may be a separate component connected to the optical sensor 4. The optical sensor 4 may be any of a variety of photoelectric sensors. Examples of the optical sensor 4 may include a through-beam sensor, a reflective through-beam, a reflective laser, or a diffuse photoelectric sensor. Optical sensors may operate within visible or infrared (IR) light frequency bands. Signals from the at least one optical sensor may be analyzed by the trigger sensor controller 3 in proximity sensing or range sensing implementations. The trigger sensor controller 3 provides this output of the optical sensor 4 to the controller 7. In an exemplary implementation, the trigger sensor 1 is implemented in part by a VL6180 proximity sensing module manufactured by STMicroelectronics that includes both an infrared emitter and a range sensor. The infrared emitter and the range sensor act as a time-of-flight sensor by calculating range measurements based on the time it takes light emitted from the infrared emitter to travel to the nearest object and reflect back to the range sensor. In this way, distance measurements are obtained independent of the reflectance of the target object, meaning that the optical sensor 4 is operable in the presence of both clear and transparent cups, as well as cups filled with ice. In other implementations, a different style of distance sensor (e.g., laser, lidar, radar, ultrasonic) may be utilized. In some implementations, these sensing technologies may be utilized to confirm the presence of ice in a cup and/or to determine the fill height of liquid in a cup.
The cutout region 24 may include a protective material such as polycarbonate that is coated with a hydrophobic coating to prevent fluid build-up such as water, carbonated water, and syrup. The optical sensor 4 is configured to detect the distance to or the presence of an object below the sensor. Under a standby condition, that is, during the absence of a cup below the nozzle 14, the optical sensor 4 may detect a structural component of the ice and beverage dispenser itself. For example, a drip tray 26 may be positioned 10 inches below the touchless beverage valve assembly 8 to catch any beverage overflow from a dispensing operation. Thus, the nominal distance measurement detected by the optical sensor 4 may be 10 inches. When a user places a cup below the nozzle 14, the distance detected by the optical sensor 4 is reduced. For example, the optical sensor 4 may detect a distance measurement from the lip of the cup of 2 inches or less. If the distance measurement detected by the optical sensor 4 is less than a predetermined threshold indicative of a receptacle (e.g. 4 inches or the distance to the lip of a smallest expected sized receptacle).
The controller 7 is configured to receive a signal from the optical sensor 4/controller 3 of the optical sensor 4 indicative of objects positioned within the target area of the optical sensor 4. In response, the controller 7 provides control signals to one or both of the feedback device 20 and the solenoid 9, as described in further detail herein. Controller 7 may be configured to transmit a signal to operate the valve solenoid 9 and open the flow of beverage through the nozzle 14. The trigger sensor 1 of the present invention allows for a touchless design that can be used in parallel to the lever or push button in the example of a retrofit to an existing beverage dispenser or standalone without a lever or push button.
Citations to a number of references are made herein. The cited references are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. If there is any inconsistency between a definition of a term in the specification as compared to a definition of the term in a cited reference, the term should be interpreted based on the definition in the specification.
In the above description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clarity, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be inferred therefrom beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. The different systems and method steps described herein may be used alone or in combination with other systems and methods. It is to be expected that various equivalents, alternatives, and modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims.
The functional block diagrams, operational sequences, and flow diagrams provided in the Figures are representative of exemplary architectures, environments, and methodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosure. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies included herein may be in the form of a functional diagram, operational sequence, or flow diagram, and may be described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology can alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology may be required for a novel implementation.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/021,303 filed on May 7, 2020, and which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63021303 | May 2020 | US |
