Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/44—Parts or details or accessories of beverage-making apparatus
  • A47J31/52—Alarm-clock-controlled mechanisms for coffee- or tea-making apparatus ; Timers for coffee- or tea-making apparatus; Electronic control devices for coffee- or tea-making apparatus
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
  • A47J31/00—Apparatus for making beverages
  • A47J31/44—Parts or details or accessories of beverage-making apparatus
  • A47J31/52—Alarm-clock-controlled mechanisms for coffee- or tea-making apparatus ; Timers for coffee- or tea-making apparatus; Electronic control devices for coffee- or tea-making apparatus
  • A47J31/521—Alarm-clock-controlled mechanisms for coffee- or tea-making apparatus ; Timers for coffee- or tea-making apparatus; Electronic control devices for coffee- or tea-making apparatus the electronic control being performed over a network, e.g. by means of a computer or a handheld device

Definitions

• the field of the invention pertains to liquid food or beverage preparation machines having a user-friendly and ergonomic user interface screen, in particular a large size screen.
• beverage or food preparation machines use capsules containing ingredients to be extracted or to be dissolved; for other machines, the ingredients are stored and dosed automatically in the machine or else are added at the time of preparation of the drink.
• Most coffee machines possess filling means that include a pump for liquid, usually water, which pumps the liquid from a source of water that is cold or indeed heated through heating means, such as a heating resistor, a thermoblock or the like.
• US 5,959,869 discloses a vending machine with a multi-tasking controller, and mentions the possibility of implementing into the machine a sound reproduction circuit and a VGA-quality display for multimedia presentation, in particular for marketing purposes.
• DE 202 00 419 discloses a beverage preparation machine that has a user-interface that is separable from the machine for remote operation.
• a liquid food or beverage preparation machine with a predominant user- interface screen that can be set up for versatile communication between a user and the machine, that dominates the visual interaction between the user and the machine to attract naturally the user' s focus when using the machine and increase the user-comfort during use and/or that moves the visual user-interaction with the remaining features of the machine, such as the actual physical filling process of a cup or mug, into the background of the user's attention.
• the invention thus relates to a machine for filling a receptacle with a liquid food or beverage, comprising: a housing; an arrangement for dispensing a liquid food or a beverage to a receptacle upon a user-request; and a user-interface screen on the housing.
• the housing has a user-orientation for a user to request dispensing of the liquid food or beverage.
• the user-interface screen is arranged in this user-orientation to face the user within a user-visible housing portion that is delimited by user- visible outermost boundaries of the housing. In other words, in this normal user-orientation, the user is expected to look at the user-interface in the most user- convenient of comfortable manner, the eyes of the user facing the user-interface screen.
• the normal direction of vision of the user is generally orthogonal to the user-interface screen, typically a flat screen or possibly a slightly arched cathodic screen (CRT) , in the user-orientation and intercepts the centre or a central part of the user-interface screen, whereby the user- interface screen is arranged to face the user within the user-visible housing portion in this orientation.
• the machine is a coffee, tea or soup machine, in particular a machine for supplying a beverage or liquid food by passing hot or cold water or another liquid through a capsule containing an ingredient of the beverage or liquid food to be supplied, such as ground coffee.
• the user-interface screen forms: substantially the entire user-visible housing portion or a surface-predominant section thereof; or a surface- predominant section of a plurality of distinctively user- visible sections that form together the user-visible housing portion.
• the liquid food or beverage preparation machine of the invention has a user interface-screen that predominates the visual field of the user who is in the process of using the machine and that naturally attracts the user's attention and naturally incites the user to keep the user's attention focused on the user-interface screen. More specifically, this purpose is achieved either by extending the user- interface screen over substantially the entire user- visible part of the machine or over a user-visible section thereof that forms a surface-predominant section of the visible part of the machine.
• the user-visible housing portion may be made of a plurality of discrete user-visible parts, one of which has a predominant surface area and is made of the user- interface screen.
• the user-interface screen can be a touch-sensitive screen and/or comprise touch-sensitive input parts.
• the machine may have a user-input device, such as a touch pad, one or more buttons and/or switches or similar devices known in the art.
• the user-interface screen can be stylus sensitive.
• the liquid food or beverage machine has an interface for connection to a remote network, such as a network for accessing remote data displayable on the user-interface screen and/or for transferring local data acquired via the user interface screen, in particular a network for: supplying visual and/or audio information in relation with a liquid food or beverage that can be requested by the user; and/or for ordering, in particular from a remote supplier, goods such as liquid food or beverage ingredients or a service related to this machine by using the user-interface screen .
• a remote network such as a network for accessing remote data displayable on the user-interface screen and/or for transferring local data acquired via the user interface screen, in particular a network for: supplying visual and/or audio information in relation with a liquid food or beverage that can be requested by the user; and/or for ordering, in particular from a remote supplier, goods such as liquid food or beverage ingredients or a service related to this machine by using the user-interface screen .
• the user may be given the technical possibility to order directly through the beverage preparation machine liquid food or beverage ingredients that are missing or at a low level, or request directly through this machine the most up to date information on a particular item, in particular a liquid food or beverage he has requested or intends to request the machine to prepare or order from the supplier.
• the user-interface screen can be arranged to perform at least one function selected from: displaying information to the user regarding a parameter of the machine that requires a user intervention, displaying locally stored and/or remotely emitted graphic or text matter, a notepad function, and a visual ambiance generator, for instance by displaying appropriate pictures or moving colour shapes, for instance of the screen-saver type.
• the user- screen In order to noticeably affect the ambiance surrounding the machine by visual effects, the user- screen has to dominate the user-visible part of the machine. An interface screen of small size and/or lost somewhere on the user-visible part of the machine will not provide an optimal ambiance effect.
• liquid food or beverage preparation machine may include a sound input and/or output device.
• the sound device can be arranged to cooperate with the user-interface screen, in particular a sound device arranged to cooperate to cooperate functionally with the screen, such as a sound device for providing melodic acoustic feed back in reaction to a user-input on the user-interface screen and/or cooperating with the screen so that harmonious visual feed-back is generated on the user-interface screen in reaction to an audio signal.
• the sound device may include a voice recognition arrangement so as to be able to receive vocal user-commands and/or to link a particular user profile from a voice analysis.
• the user-interface screen may be arranged to display a movie, news, weather forecast, stock exchange information or anything alike while the machine is preparing a liquid food or beverage, so that the user does not have to wait until the liquid food or beverage is prepared to move on to such activities but can do them right from the beginning, with a comfortable interface screen whose functionalities go significantly beyond mere input and/or output of data.
• the machine has a generally panel- shaped main body containing the dispensing arrangement or a part thereof such as a pump, heating and/or cooling element, an ingredient infusion chamber...
• the user- interface screen may extend substantially over an entire main side of said main body, or over one entire surface- predominant distinctively user-visible section of a main side of said main body.
• the machine can be substantially formed by this main body.
• the machine may have a foot for supporting this main body, such as a foot having a base extending horizontally and a generally upright extending stand supporting the main body, in particular a generally L- shaped or inverted T-shaped foot.
• the foot may include at least one of: a drip tray having a support member for a receptacle to be filled with a liquid food or beverage, a capsule collector, and a liquid supply reservoir such as a water reservoir.
• the machine may have a liquid food or beverage outlet located above an area for receiving a receptacle to be filled, the outlet being hidden by the user-interface screen.
• the outlet is located perpendicularly behind the user-interface screen.
• the entire area or a substantial part thereof can be located perpendicularly behind the user-interface screen .
• the machine's outlet, and optionally the receptacle located thereunder may be hidden from the user' s visual field so as avoid distraction of the user' s attention by parts and/or operations of the machine other than those relating to the user-interface screen.
• the machine is a table-top machine, e.g. a machine dedicated for use on a table, such as a kitchen table, dinning room table, office desk or the like
• the user-interface screen may extend horizontally or at a slope adjusted to substantially face a user visual field, e.g. be adapted for a user down coming look onto the machine.
• the user-interface screen may be at an angle to the horizontal in the range of 0 to 60 deg, such as 15 to 45 deg, this angle being optionally user-adjustable.
• the user-interface screen may extend vertically or at a slope adjusted to substantially face a substantially horizontal user visual field, the user-interface screen being in particular at an angle to the vertical in the range of 0 to 30 deg, such as 0 to 15 deg, this angle being optionally user-adjustable.
• a table- top machine for filling a receptacle with a liquid food or beverage
• This machine comprises: a housing; an arrangement for dispensing a liquid food or a beverage to a receptacle upon a user-request; and a user-interface screen on the housing.
• the user-interface screen is horizontal or at a slope, in particular at an angle to the horizontal in the range of 0 to 60 deg and/or at an angle that is user-adjustable.
• a further aspect of the invention relates to a machine for filling a receptacle with a liquid food or beverage.
• the machine comprises: a housing; an arrangement with an outlet for dispensing a liquid food or a beverage to a receptacle upon a user-request; and a user-interface screen on the housing.
• the liquid food or a beverage outlet is located perpendicularly behind the user-interface screen.
• the outlet may be located above an area for receiving this receptacle, the entire area or a substantial part thereof being located behind the user-interface screen.
• Such liquid food or beverage machines are particularly handy for preparing a liquid food or beverage during an on-going broadcasted radio or TV program.
• the beverage preparation machine may include a receiver that is capable of reacting to a remote control device, such as an IR or radio remote control device, in particular a remote control device compatible with a radio or television, so that the user may start-up the food or beverage machine from a distance, in particular while he is sitting in front of his TV or nearby the radio.
• a remote control device such as an IR or radio remote control device, in particular a remote control device compatible with a radio or television
• the liquid food or beverage machines may of course be connected to a DVD or other media source so that the user can follow his favourite programs while he is preparing a liquid food or beverage.
• FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a beverage machine according to the invention, Figures Ia, Ib and Ic being right side, left side and rear side views of this machine; and
• Figure 2 shows a perspective view of another beverage machine according to the invention, Figure 2b being right side view of this machine.
• FIGS 1, Ia, Ib and Ic show a beverage preparation machine 1, e.g. a coffee machine using capsules of an ingredient of the beverage to be prepared, typically ground coffee capsules.
• Machine 1 has a housing 3 with a generally upright panel- or plate-like shape that contains an arrangement with an outlet 4 for dispensing upon a user request a beverage to a receptacle 2, such as a cup, glass or mug.
• Housing 3 has a user-interface screen 10 and a user touch key panel 11 that form, in a user-orientation, two distinctively user-visible sections 10,11 or discrete sections 10,11 on housing 3.
• User-interface screen 10 and housing 3 with touch key panel 11 have an orientation relative to a user (the user-orientation), schematically indicated in Fig. 1 by an eye 5, for inputting the request for the dispensing of the liquid food or beverage.
• User-interface screen 10 is arranged in the user-orientation to face the user 5 within a user-visible housing portion, as indicated by visual field ABCD, that is delimited by user-visible outermost boundaries of housing 3.
• the user has a normal direction of vision (indicated by dashed line V in Fig. 1) that is generally orthogonal to user-interface screen 10 and intercepts a central part screen 10.
• housing 3 corresponds to the normal orientation of machine 1 relative to the user when operated by a user to dispense a beverage.
• the user-visible interface screen 10 is located within the user' s visual field, as indicated by user visual focus AB' CD, and forms substantially the entire user-visible housing portion, as indicated by visual field ABCD.
• the visual field AB' CD corresponding to screen 10 makes over 90 or 95% of the visual filed ABCD of the entire user-visible housing portion.
• the remaining user-visible part of housing 3 is formed by touch key panel 11.
• screen 10 has a user-visible section delimited by field AB' CD with a surface area that is predominant relative to the entire user-visible part delimited by visual field ABCD of the housing 3, in this orientation of housing 3 relative to the user.
• screen 10 forms a the surface-predominant user-visible section delimited by field AB'CD of a pair of distinctively visible sections delimited by fields AB'CD and ABB' .
• These two distinctively user-visible sections i.e. formed by screen 10 and panel 11, form together the user-visible housing portion delimited by its outermost boundaries and the corresponding visual field ABCD in the user- orientation.
• machine 1 has a touch key panel 11 as a user-input interface.
• Screen 10 may merely serve to display visual information or may also be arranged as an input device, e.g. a touch screen with a touch- sensitive surface extending over the entire screen 10 or only part thereof.
• Screen 10 may be arranged to display various information and/or visual effects, as for example mentioned above, including network information when the machine is connectable to a user-network.
• machine 1 may include a sound generating arrangement with loudspeakers and/or microphone and be a true multimedia interactive device, as discussed above.
• machine 1 has a substantially vertical orientation of the user-interface screen 10.
• Such a machine is suitably placed in a location in which screen 10 will be at the normal level of the eyes 5 of a user, for instance on a shelf, such as a book-shelf, for example in a living room or library.
• Machine 1 may be used to contribute to the ambience in such places.
• housing 3 may in particular have a series of holes 31 on its lateral, rear and/or upper sides, in particular below panel 11, for the emission of light, of various colours, to create such an ambience.
• receptacle 2 and outlet 4 are located in a dispensing cavity 2' that is located behind screen 10, in the user-orientation, and hidden thereby.
• an automatic filling system with a control of the level of fill may be implemented into the machine, for instance of the type disclosed in US 4,458,735, WO97/25634 and WO99/50172.
• machine 1 has a capsule inlet arrangement 32 on the left lateral side for the supply of capsules containing an ingredient of the liquid food or beverage to be prepared, such as coffee.
• machine 1 has a top face 36, behind panel 11, for holding spare cups 2.
• Top face 36 may include a heating arrangement to preheat such spare cups 2.
• the cup heater may be of the resistive type, in particular a vapour circulation cup heater as known in the art, or any other suitable heating system.
• a spare capsule receptacle 38 is located on top face 36 of machine 1 for storing unused capsules.
• machine 1 has a reservoir 33 for liquid such as water, a drip tray arrangement 34 under outlet 4 with a used capsule collector 37 in a central part of machine 1, for instance of the type disclosed in EP 1731065.
• drip tray may include a positioning arrangement at its surface and/or vertical walls 35 delimiting dispensing cavity 2' may be positioned relative to outlet 4 to serve as references for a cup positioning, i.e. so that a cup 2 may simply be pushed against walls 35 to be properly positioned under outlet 4.
• drip tray 34 with capsule receptacle 37 is removable from the side of machine 1, in a movement behind screen and that goes away from screen 10 and/or generally parallel to the front side and screen 10 of machine 1. The same applies to reservoir 33. It follows that during use and after use, when the machine is serviced, e.g. drip tray 34 emptied, screen 10 is not exposed to parts of machine 1 that might project liquid, such as liquid food or beverage, against screen 10.
• FIGS 2 and 2a in which the same references designate generally the same elements, show another machine 1 according to the invention.
• Machine 1 has a housing 3 with a generally L-shaped foot 3' and a main body 3'' having the shape of a generally inclined panel or plate appearing like an open book.
• Housing 3 contains an arrangement with an outlet 4 for dispensing upon a user request a beverage to a receptacle 2 placed on the horizontally extending part of L-shaped foot 3' .
• the generally upright stand of foot 3' is slightly inclined to the vertical by an angle of a few degrees, such as about 5 to 10 deg.
• Main body 3' ' has on the right-hand side a user- interface touch screen 10 and on the left hand side a capsule inlet arrangement comprising a covering handle 32 that is pivotally mounted on an upper edge of body 3' ' and extending over an upper wall 16 of body 3'' which wall is inert.
• wall 16 may include an interface device and/or be formed at least partly by an extension of touch screen 10 or a second screen.
• Machine 1 is a table-top machine and its main body 3' ' with user-interface screen 10 is oriented at an angle of about 45 deg to the horizontal. This orientation of screen 10 relative to the user's eye 5 when he operates machine 1 to dispense a beverage is optimal to naturally invite and incite the user to focus his or her attention onto screen 10.
• the user-visible interface screen 10 is located within the user' s visual field, as indicated by user visual focus AB, and forms a surface-predominant section as indicated by visual field A'B' of a plurality of distinctively user-visible sections that form together the user-visible portion of housing 3.
• screen 10 forms the largest section of the distinctly visible sections in this normal orientation of use.
• the other distinctively visible sections having all a surface area that is smaller than the one of the screen section, include inert wall 16, handle 32 and user-visible part of foot 3' .
• Screen 10 is a touch sensitive screen an may be operated by finger contact and/or with a stylus 15. Furthermore, screen 10 is associated with a pair of buttons 12, for example for quick operation of machine 1 without having to access screen 10. Moreover, screen 10 includes a touch sensitive button 13 for navigating through pages and menus displayable on screen 10. Button 13 is in a shape suggesting a turned down corner of a book page to increase the intuitiveness of operation of screen 10. A main switch 14 is disposed next to button 13 at the corner of screen 10.
• Screen 10 may be arranged to display various information and/or visual effects, as for example mentioned above, including network information when the machine is connectable to a user-network.
• machine 1 may include a sound generating arrangement with loudspeakers and/or microphone and be a true multimedia interactive device, as discussed above.
• Foot 3' includes a drip tray 34 having a support plate for a cup and a single drain hole 34' through the plate for the evacuation of liquid. Foot 3' also includes a water reservoir 33 and a collector 37 for used capsules.
• Machine's outlet 4 is located perpendicularly behind screen 10 and hidden therebehind when the machine is in its normal orientation of use relative to a user.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)
• Devices For Dispensing Beverages (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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Cited By (1)

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• 2009
  • 2009-07-07 AU AU2009268073A patent/AU2009268073B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2009-07-07 JP JP2011517123A patent/JP5671458B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2009-07-07 RU RU2011104488/08A patent/RU2544762C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2009-07-07 US US13/001,955 patent/US20110108162A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2009-07-07 WO PCT/EP2009/058540 patent/WO2010003932A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2009-07-07 CN CN200980126287XA patent/CN102089733A/zh active Pending
  • 2009-07-07 EP EP09793938A patent/EP2300893A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-07-07 CA CA2726058A patent/CA2726058A1/en not_active Abandoned

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