GB2320488A

GB2320488A - Self-service drinks dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB2320488A
Application number: GB9626418A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Raymond Ryan; Neil Morris
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-12-19
Filing date: 1996-12-19
Publication date: 1998-06-24
Also published as: GB9626418D0

Abstract

A system for delivery of beverages, such as beer, that accurately measures the volume of liquid dispensed and will present and store further related information, for example the total price charged for the amount dispensed. The invention also accurately controls the flow-rate of the liquid, this being a significant influence on good quality delivery of beer, lager, cider and other drinks. The invention includes a mechanism for the measurement of liquid flow 5. The signal from this is routed to an electronic device and is interpreted and processed to provide various information outputs. The invention will be under the control of the user so that dispensing can be started and stopped at will. The invention also includes a mechanism for controlling the flow-rate of the liquid. The invention will also, optionally, halt the flow of liquid after a predetermined volume, for example one glass, has been dispensed. A display 8 indicates the volume of liquid dispensed and the cost thereof. A card reader 11 is adapted to debit this amount from a customer's credit card.

Description

SELF-SERVICE DRINKS DISPENSER Technical field of the invention The present invention relates generally to the field of leisure and will find uses in restaurants, bars, at social events, and also by private individuals and groups in the home. The invention is more particularly related to drinks dispensing equipment that is commonly found in restaurants and bars.

Background of the invention Customers of bars, restaurants and other similar leisure businesses often wish for more efficient service and to spend less time queuing at the bar and waiting for drinks. The invention will provide a solution to that problem by providing self-service drinks. These are expected to be primarily "long" alcoholic drinks (such as beer, lager, cider etc) but is not limited to those products and could easily be used to dispense non-alcoholic beverages. The products dispensed by the invention are expected to primarily be drinks that are best served below room temperature (as in the previously stated examples of beer, lager, cider etc) but could also be at room temperature (for example English beers) or also for hot drinks.

The invention will be of use to owners of restaurants, bar and organisers of social events (large and small). This market sector, often called the "leisure industry", continuously looks for new ideas and innovative ways to attract customers. The invention is expected to attract new customers to existing leisure establishments and will also create opportunities for new types of "themed" meeting-places. The invention will also be suitable for promotion of a brand-image of a drinks product, for example when the machine is packaged in the form of an outsize beer-can, perhaps even of a human scale, that could then be used as a table in a restaurant or bar. Other advantages of the invention to a restauranteur or bar-owner include savings due to a reduction in the number of bar-staff required, and a reduction in the amount of product wasted due to spillage.

The invention is expected to also find use in the home. People who enjoy cold drinks will find it useful to have a supply of their favourite one available on demand. The invention can supply true "draught" drinks, to the same quality found in restaurants and bars. This will also be particularly useful for gatherings of family and friends, leading to the notion of a "rental model" that can be hired for private use for a period of time.

The invention applies modern electronic techniques to a process that has traditionally been limited to simple "plumbing" technology. Apart from the added convenience of precise, fast, self-service dispensing of drinks, the invention will also be of interest in the leisure industry by virtue of its own inherent novelty.

Disclosure of the invention Accordingly the present invention provides a system for delivery of liquids (typically drinks for human consumption). The said system will accurately measure the volume of drink dispensed and will present and store further related information, for example the total price charged for any amount of drink dispensed. The invention is also capable of accurately controlling the flow-rate of the drink, this being a significant influence on good quality delivery of beer, lager, cider and other drinks.

The invention includes a mechanism for the measurement of liquid flow, for example a rotary or other flow-meter, that provides electronic signals in direct relationship to the rate at which the liquid passes through said flow-meter. A typical flow-meter, that will be familiar to those skilled in the art of electronic measurement using transducers, would provide an output of a given number of electronic pulses per litre of liquid flow. The said pulses are routed to an electronic processor (for example a microprocessor) and are interpreted by said electronic processor and then further analysed to provide various information outputs. The user of the machine can be presented with useful information by use of electronic output media such as digital displays or synthesised speech. This information might include (but need not be limited to) the total volume of liquid dispensed, the total cost of that liquid, financial credit remaining, or the volume of liquid (or other consumables) left in the machine. The information will be displayed in units appropriate to the country and culture where the invention is used, for examples in litres or pints, in US dollars, French Francs, or whatever currency is appropriate.

Supplementary information may also be provided by use of further electronic output media, for example an alphanumeric liquid-crystal display module.

The invention will be under the control of the user insofar as the user can control when the liquid dispensing process starts and stops. This may be by a simple on/off finger-actuated momentary-action press button, an automatic glass-sensor (with the option to sense the depth of liquid in the glass and to switch off when the glass is full) or electronic/computer based recognition of human speech.

The invention also includes a mechanism for controlling the flow-rate of the liquid. Using the flow-meter described in the previous paragraph, the electronic processor can adjust the rate of flow using a solenoid valve suitable for linear control of liquid flow rate. This constitutes a closed-loop servo control system (familiar to those practised in the art) which can dynamically regulate the flow rate such that the liquid will be dispensed at a precise rate. For example, it is known to those practised in the art of beer/lager dispensing equipment that the best quality product will be enjoyed if dispensed at a precise rate. A typical recommended dispense rate for lager beers is 1 litre in 26 seconds. The dispense rate is optimised for a particular serving temperature (which is regulated by a thermostat and cooling system).

The aforementioned features of the invention (electronic metering, user-control and electronic flow-rate control) can be provided by the same electronic processor (for example a microprocessor). These features are all possible by simply adding further function to the electronic processor (more software). There may be different embodiments of the invention that use some or all of these features. If one feature is required then the others can be provided "free" to the user. Any feature not required by the user can be disabled at time of manufacture.

A number of preferred embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the invention Figures 1 shows a cutaway internal view of one potential implementation of the invention.

Figure 2 is an example of how information could be displayed.

Figure 3 shows a typical heat-exchanger (cooler) system.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of the flow measurement and control system.

Detailed description of the invention Figure 1 shows a container of liquid (1), typically a metal keg containing beer. This keg is kept at an elevated pressure by a cylinder of compressed gas (2). A method of delivering the liquid is shown, including pipes (3) and a device (12) for regulating the foaming effect of compressed gas dissolved in the liquid.

An electrically actuated liquid control valve (4) sets the rate of flow of the liquid, which can be linearly varied over a range that includes zero. After passing through the valve (4) the liquid then goes through a flow-meter (5). In this example implementation the flow-valve provides an electrical output of digital pulses whose frequency is in accurate proportion to the rate of flow of the liquid. One example device, of a type which will be familiar to those practised in the art of electronic transducers, provides an output of 1200 TTL-compatible pulses per litre volume of liquid passing through the flow-meter.

A cooling system, suitable for the embodiment of the invention that dispenses cold liquid products like lager beers, is also shown in figure 1. A liquid coolant (23) is pumped from the compressor (6), to the heat-exchanger (7), on to the radiator (15) and then back to the compressor (6). An electrically operated cooling fan (14) provides a flow of air through the radiator. The effect of this cooling system is to transfer heat energy from the dispensed liquid to the moving air, and therefore out of the dispenser enclosure.

The central function of the invention is provided by the flow-meter (5), the valve (4) and the electronic circuit (13). The interconnections ofthese devices is shown in figure 4. The pulses that are output from the flow-meter (5) are connected to the electronic circuit (13). The electronic circuit (see figure 4) counts these pulses and stores the pulse count in a digital counter (17). A processor (18) (typically a microprocessor, embedded microcontroller chip or dedicated sequential logic circuit) monitors the counter (17), the on/off control (10) and any other stop/start criteria, for example means of payment. The processor computes the relationship between the counter (17) and a realtime clock (22) to compare the flow-rate of the liquid to a predetermined target flow-rate. The result of this comparison indicates whether the flow-rate is too fast or too slow. The processor then adjusts the value in a digital-to-analogue converter (19). This drives the control valve (4) via a power driver (a power transistor, field-effect transistor or similar).

The valve is therefore frequently adjusted, and either slightly opened or slightly closed to maintain the flow-rate at an ideal value. The valve (4) is an electrically actuated type whose aperture can be linearly varied from the closed position, through a continuous range of intermediate positions, to the fully-open position. The adjustment of the valve is done at intervals, either at fixed times such as every 0.01 seconds, or each time a flow-meter pulse is detected. A suitable control algorithm may use both of these methods, to cater for special-case conditions such as an initial zero flow-rate. The combination of all of items (5), (17), (18), (19), (20) and (4) comprise a closed-loop servo control system. This closed-loop is capable of precise flow-rate control and also will provide on-off regulation for the special case where the flow must be stopped (a flow-rate of zero).

Information about the liquid is displayed via one or more information displays (21). In a typical implementation these will be light-emitting diode (LED) arrays, liquid-crystal displays, linear bargraph displays, visual display unit (VDU) or a combination of these or other electronic output devices. These displays, combined with the on/off control (10), form the major parts of the man-machine interface (MMI) of the invention.

The man-machine interface described above is suitable for some applications of the invention, for example where drinks are paid for at the end of a meal in a restaurant. However there are other applications where it will be necessary to include extra components to monitor the means of payment. Figure 2 shows an application of the invention where the means of payment is a plastic card, either a smartcard or a magnetic-stripe credit-card or debit-card. A card-reader (11) verifies that the card is of the correct type and that credit is available. This is done using techniques well know to those skilled in the art of electronic funds transfer at point-of-sale (EFTPOS). Status information, about the means of payment and/or the liquid flow, is provided by LED arrays (8), a liquid-crystal or bargraph display (9) or other electronic visual output devices.

Because the example implementation shown in figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 contains an electronic circuit, it is possible to monitor other information and to process and display it. Although not central to the invention, it will be useful for completeness of description to include examples here. The flow of liquid can be measured over a period of time to monitor and display the amount liquid left (keg contents). The amount of gas in the cylinder (2) can be monitored and measured in a similar way. Information about time-of-day, promotional messages or other data can be displayed. A warning can be given when the machine requires servicing or cleaning. A processor (18) of sufficient power could also communicate by speech recognition and/or speech-synthesis.

Claims

1. A system for dispensing liquids for human consumption, the system containing a means for accurate electronic measurement of the volume of liquid dispensed, the flow of liquid and amount dispensed being user controlled and actuated,

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, that electronically displays financial information with reference to payment for the amount of liquid dispensed.

3. A system as claimed in claims 1 and 2 that makes a financial transfer from an electronic smartcard, other portable electronic device or other similar legitimate means of payment, such payment being in proportion to the amount of liquid dispensed.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 that contains a means for electronic closed-loop control of the rate of dispensing of the liquid, thereby dispensing the liquid at an accurately controlled rate which will therefore deliver a good quality liquid product.

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 that is able to stop dispensing after a predetermined volume has been dispensed, so as to fill exactly one drinking-glass or other suitable container for liquids.