Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
  • B67D1/0003—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught the beverage being a single liquid
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
  • B67D1/08—Details
  • B67D1/0857—Cooling arrangements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
  • B67D1/08—Details
  • B67D1/0888—Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means)
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
  • B67D1/04—Apparatus utilising compressed air or other gas acting directly or indirectly on beverages in storage containers
  • B67D2001/0475—Type of gas or gas mixture used, other than pure CO2
  • B67D2001/0481—Single inert gas, e.g. N2
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D1/00—Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
  • B67D1/04—Apparatus utilising compressed air or other gas acting directly or indirectly on beverages in storage containers
  • B67D2001/0475—Type of gas or gas mixture used, other than pure CO2
  • B67D2001/0487—Mixture of gases, e.g. N2 + CO2
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D2210/00—Indexing scheme relating to aspects and details of apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught or for controlling flow of liquids under gravity from storage containers for dispensing purposes
  • B67D2210/00028—Constructional details
  • B67D2210/00081—Constructional details related to bartenders
  • B67D2210/00089—Remote control means, e.g. by electromagnetic signals
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B67—OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
  • B67D—DISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B67D2210/00—Indexing scheme relating to aspects and details of apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught or for controlling flow of liquids under gravity from storage containers for dispensing purposes
  • B67D2210/00028—Constructional details
  • B67D2210/00081—Constructional details related to bartenders
  • B67D2210/00091—Bar management means

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of automatic drink dispensing devices and apparatuses.
• it relates to the field of devices for dispensing beverages provided with remote user interface means.
• Devices and apparatuses adapted to automatically dispense drinks from containers, such as bottles and the like, are known in the prior art.
• the bottles or similar vessels are maintained upside-down and a valve is appropriately opened for dispensing the beverages contained therein allowing the beverage to fall by gravity into a container appropriately positioned at the mouth of the vessel itself.
• the devices and the apparatuses of this type belonging to the prior art comprise a display, a keyboard and a magnetic card reader which allow the user to interact with them, allowing to choose the beverage and the amount of beverage to be dispensed and to carry out the respective payment.
• the devices and the apparatuses adapted to automatically dispense beverages by the glass are mainly intended to dispense vintage wines, and are thus installed in wine shops, wine bars or similar venues.
• the user chooses the wine to be tasted, selects it on the specific interface on the dispensing device, pays for it by means of magnetic card and finally receives a glass of the chosen wine.
• the tasting of different wines by the glass is conductive to purchasing one or more bottles of the wine that the user finds particularly agreeable.
• the user must therefore take note of the tasted wine each time, highlight the wine of which he wants to purchase one or more bottles and finally hand the list over to the checkout to proceed with the purchase.
• users may be patrons who periodically taste wine and possibly proceed to purchasing the bottles of the wines they find most agreeable.
• the users must keep a sort of ledger of the wines they have tasted and of which they have possibly purchased bottles to avoid confusing previously tasted and possibly purchased wines with those which are still unknown.
• users are forced to take and keep note of the tasted and purchased wines.
• Another problem related to the machines for dispensing wine by the glass belonging to the prior art is related to the fact that said machines require specialised personnel for installation and also for management during operation. Indeed, during normal operation, the users choose the beverages - i.e. wines - to be tasted according to the label on the corresponding bottle contained in the dispensing machine and visible from the outside. In most cases, the users of said machines require further information on the wines available for tasting. For this reason, skilled personnel is required to assist customers in their choices in wine shops and wine bars etc. where said machines are installed. This may evidently limit the possibility of use of said machines for automatically dispensing wine by the glass if the aforesaid personnel is not available or if the management costs of the required personnel are too high.
• Fig. 1 shows a functional block chart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• the present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically dispensing beverages by the glass provided with user interface means of the remote type adapted to assist the user in using said apparatus.
• the apparatus for automatically dispensing beverages by the glass comprises:
• a container 1 adapted to contain the bottles and vessels from which to tap the liquid, said first container being provided with a resting base, preferably placed on the lower side of the container possibly associated to mobile lifting means 17 provided with manual, mechanical, electric or pneumatic actuators; thermal conditioning means 1 1 adapted to maintain the temperature of said container 10 at a controlled value;
• dispensing means 16 adapted to allow the tapping of the liquid from said bottles and vessels by blowing inert gas into the container of the beverage to be dispensed and causing the release of the amount required by the user; control and piloting means 12 associated to said possible mobile lifting means 17, to said thermal conditioning means 1 1 , to said dispensing means 16 and to control and management means 13 of the operation of said apparatus and of the dispensing carried out by said apparatus, adapted in particular to: collect all the operating data of the device according to the present invention, to regulate said operation according to the settings received and to communicate to the user information related to the operation and to possible alarm conditions by means of the user interface means 14, associated to said control and management means 13;
• feeding means 15 adapted to provide operating electric voltage and current to the various parts of the apparatus according to the present invention.
• Said control and management means 1 3 comprise further means for connecting to said local networks and means for connecting in wireless mode to portable communication devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, laptop personal computers etc.
• said user interface devices 14 comprise: a display and a keyboard, e.g. of the membrane type, arranged on said container 10 in a position which is easily visible and reachable by the user.
• the apparatus according to the present invention further comprises a further external control module 19, usually made using a personal computer or a server, adapted to supervise the operation of a single or a plurality of apparatuses according to the present invention monitoring the correction operation thereof, calculating the amount of dispensed beverage and the corresponding price thereof, indicating the need to replace the bottles when the liquid they contain is finished, indicating the need to replace the inert gas containers etc. ; and
• a remote control device 18 adapted to communicate in wireless mode with said control and management means 13 by means of said means for connecting to local networks and means adapted to connect to portable communication devices in wireless mode.
• Said remote control device 18 may connect to said control and management means 13 and towards said further external control module 19 and by connecting to the local network to which said apparatus belongs, and by connecting to the Internet, where said apparatus is identified by at least one I P address, is by means of a direct connection by means of low-power wireless connections such as for instance Bluetooth, Zigbee, RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics), ANT, NFC (Near Field Communication) etc.
• low-power wireless connections such as for instance Bluetooth, Zigbee, RF4CE (Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics), ANT, NFC (Near Field Communication) etc.
• Said remote control device 18 in turn, preferably comprises connection means to the Internet; means for viewing information ; means adapted to allow to send commands, data and information from the user to said control and management means 13 and means for storing information adapted to allow said user to record said data and information either locally or remotely.
• said remote control device will comprise a smartphone or tablet computer or laptop personal computer etc. adapted to host an appropriate software program adapted to allow the user to interact with said control and management means 13 and to said further external control module 19 to manage the choice and purchase beverages dispensed by said apparatus.
• Said software program will comprise, in turn and in particular, the functions of: viewing on an appropriate graphic interface by means of which the user may perform the following functions:
• said user profile may be created starting from one or more user cards, already in the user's hands, for purchasing beverages from said automatic dispensing apparatus;
• said remote control device 1 8 preferably comprises means for connecting to the Internet by means of which the user may, for example, search for further information on a beverage they are interested in or compare prices etc. by using said software program.
• the apparatus according to the present invention is thus adapted to allow the user to autonomously choose the beverage to be tasted from a series of available automatic dispensing machines without needing assistance from expert personnel.
• the tasting experience of the available beverages is advantageously complemented by the multiple possibilities offered by the user's interaction with the dispensing devices carried out by means of the mediation of said remote control device 18.

Landscapes

• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
• Control Of Vending Devices And Auxiliary Devices For Vending Devices (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=47631585

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (7)

Citations (1)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 2012
  • 2012-11-19 IT IT000249A patent/ITFI20120249A1/it unknown
• 2013
  • 2013-11-19 WO PCT/EP2013/074152 patent/WO2014076296A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-11-19 EP EP13810901.2A patent/EP2928809A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (1)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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