GB2429694A

GB2429694A - Water flavouring system and a water dispenser

Info

Publication number: GB2429694A
Application number: GB0518008A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Andrew Wallace
Original assignee: IMI Vision Ltd
Current assignee: IMI Vision Ltd
Priority date: 2005-09-03
Filing date: 2005-09-03
Publication date: 2007-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 2025-09-03
Also published as: GB0518008D0; GB2429694B

Abstract

A water flavouring system 10 comprising a first flavour reservoir 12 containing a flavour essence, a second flavour reservoir 14 containing a flavour essence, a liquid sugar reservoir 16 and a citric acid reservoir 18. Each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is mounted within a respective docking station 20, 22, 24, 26, operable by a controller 84 to cause flavour essence, liquid sugar and citric acid to be dispensed into a metered volume of water to be flavoured. Each flavour reservoir 12, 14 is preferably provided within a cartridge 30 on which an RFID tag 80 is provided which contains information relating to the liquid flavour essences and a flavour recipe. RFID transceivers 82 are provided on the docking stations 20, 22, 24, 26, and are operable by the controller 84 to read the information on the RFID tags 80 and to write information back to the RFID tags 80.

Description

Water flavourinci system and a water dispenser The invention relates to a

water flavouring system and to a flavoured water dispenser incorporating the water flavouring system.

Water dispensing systems that dispense still mineral water from a bottle and systems that dispense filtered mains water are well known. At present, these systems are fairly limited in that they can only dispense chilled or un-chilled water. In the current trend of consumer choice and variety it is highly desirable to be able to offer the consumer the option of adding flavour to the water.

Soft drinks systems that produce a drink by mixing a flavour concentrate with io carbonated water diluent are widely known in the art. For example, in US 4753370 unsweetened flavour concentrate and an unflavoured base mixture syrup are mixed with carbonated water to produce a post-mix beverage. Commonly soft drinks dispensers are operated and restocked by untrained staff and as such it is considered advantageous to have a system which is as simple as is possible to use and maintain.

This is currently achieved by using ingredients having concentrations such that an equivalent volume of each ingredient is added to the carbonated water.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a water flavouring system comprising: a flavour reservoir containing liquid flavour essence; a sweetener reservoir containing liquid sweetener solution; an acid reservoir containing a liquid acid solution; each reservoir being provided with dosing means operable to dispense a selected amount of the respective liquid into a volume of water to be flavoured according to a flavour recipe; each flavour reservoir being provided with identification means to identify at least the contents of the reservoir; memory means containing a flavour recipe detailing the dose of each liquid to be dispensed into the water; and control means operable to select and read the desired flavour recipe corresponding to the type of water to be dispensed from the memory means and to cause one or more of the dosing means to dispense.

The system preferably comprises a plurality of flavour reservoirs each containing liquid flavour essence. Preferably, each flavour reservoir contains a different liquid flavour essence.

Preferably, the or each flavour reservoir contains a first volume of liquid flavour essence, the sweetener reservoir contains a second volume, greater than the first volume, of liquid sweetener, and the acid reservoir contains a third volume of liquid acid.

Preferably the liquid acid is one of the liquid citric acid, malic acid or other food grade acids.

The dosing means preferably comprise a syringe chamber within which a plunger io member is provided, a check valve assembly provided in fluid communication between the reservoir and one end of the syringe chamber, a delivery conduit extending from the check valve assembly, and a nozzle assembly provided at the distal end of the delivery conduit, whereby when the plunger member is drawn towards the other end of the syringe chamber liquid is caused to flow from the reservoir, through the check valve assembly, into the syringe chamber, and when the plunger member is subsequently pushed towards the one end of the syringe chamber the liquid is expelled from the syringe chamber through the delivery conduit and nozzle assembly. Preferably there is provided at least one check valve between the syringe chamber and the nozzle to prevent liquid or air being drawn into the syringe chamber as the plunger member is drawn to its other end apart from the reservoir.

In a preferred arrangement there are provided two check valves between the syringe chamber and the nozzle, one situated immediately adjacent the syringe and the other situated within the nozzle assembly.

The reservoirs are preferably disposable reservoirs. The reservoirs preferably comprise a collapsible bag provided within a rigid cartridge. The cartridge and the syringe chamber are preferably integrally moulded with one another.

The system preferably further comprises a plurality of docking stations, one for each of the or each flavour reservoir cartridge, the sweetener reservoir cartridge and the acid reservoir cartridge, for receiving the respective cartridges, and comprising drive means for driving engagement with the plunger member of each dosing means. The drive means preferably comprises a stepper motor coupled to a drive piston which engages the plunger member. Each docking station is preferably provided with visual indicator means operable to indicate the status of the respective liquid reservoir; ready for use, in use, approaching empty, and empty. The visual indicator means preferably comprise illuminated visual indicator means, and most preferably comprise one or more light emitting diodes.

The or each flavour reservoir preferably has identification means associated with it, the identification means storing information identifying the liquid flavour essence and being readable by the control means. The sweetener reservoir and/or the acid reservoir may also have identification means associated with them, the respective identification means storing information respectively identifying the sweetener or the acid and being readable by the control means.

The or each identification means preferably additionally stores a unique alphanumeric is identification code, for uniquely identifying the respective reservoir to the control means.

The or each identification means may additionally store information pertaining to the fluid within the reservoir including, but not limited to one or more of the following: the volume of liquid within the reservoir; the number of doses of liquid within the reservoir; the concentration of the liquid within the reservoir; the shelf life of the liquid within the reservoir; and the active shelf life of the liquid within the reservoir (the life of the contents once the cartridge has been introduced into the system).

The or each identification means is preferably provided on the respective cartridge. The or each identification means may comprise a radio frequency identification tag, most preferably an active radio frequency identification tag, a radio frequency identification transceiver being provided within the respective docking station and being operable to interrogate the tag and transmit information received from the tag to the control means.

The or each identification means may alternatively comprise an integrated circuit, preferably mounted on a printed circuit board comprising an Electro Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) which is capable of storing the information and an inductive aerial to transmit to and receive signals from the control means. Alternatively one or more electrical contact pins may be being provided on the respective docking station and being arranged to electrically couple the integrated circuit to the control means.

The memory means may be provided on the cartridge, and may comprise the identification means. The memory means may alternatively be provided within the control means.

The control means is preferably further operable to identify the date of first use and calculate the active shelf life of the liquid in each reservoir. The control means is preferably further operable to write the date of first use and the active shelf life back to the respective identification means. The control means is preferably further operable to count the number of doses of liquid dispensed from each reservoir, and to thereby determine the remaining volume of liquid and/or the number of doses of liquid remaining in each reservoir. The control means is preferably further operable to write the remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses back to the respective identification means. The remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses may be written back to the identification means prior to the reservoir being removed from its docking station or may be written back to the identification means following each dispense of liquid from the respective reservoir.

The control means is preferably further operable to actuate the visual indicator means on each docking station to display the status of the respective reservoir.

The control means is preferably further operable to disable the identification means when the status of the respective reservoir is "empty" or when the active shelf life has expired, whichever occurs first, to thereby prevent re-filling and re-use of the reservoir.

The control means is preferably further operable to mechanically disable the cartridge and/or the dosing means when the status of the respective reservoir is "empty" or when the active shelf life has expired, whichever occurs first.

The or each liquid flavour essence preferably comprises one or more of the following: Terpenes, including Limonene; Carvones; Menthol; Methone; Aldehydes, including Acetalaldehyde; Water; Propylethylene Glycol; Triacetine; Diacetyl; Isopropyl alcohol; Ethanol; Amyl alcohols; Amyl propionate; Pentyl pentanoate; Hexanol propylene; Glycol acetate; Isobomyl acetate; Alpha pinene; Aeta pinene; Alpha terpene; Gamma terpenes; Linalool; Linyl acetate; Neryl acetate; and Geryl acetate.

The liquid sweetener preferably has a low viscosity. The liquid sweetener may comprise liquid natural sugar, most preferably concentrated liquid natural sugar, or may comprise liquid artificial sweetener for example aspartame, acesulfame-K or sucralose.

The water to be flavoured may be still water, which may be bottled mineral or spring water or may be filtered or unfiltered mains water. The still water may be chilled, un- chilled or heated prior to the addition of one or more liquid flavour essences, liquid sweetener and/or liquid acid solution. The water to be flavoured may alternatively be carbonated water, which may be bottled carbonated water or carbonated mains water.

The flavour recipe may be a volumetric recipe or a ratiometric recipe.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a water dispenser comprising: water inlet means in communication with a water supply and operable to supply a metered volume of water to be flavoured; a water flavouring system according to the first aspect of the invention; and outlet means for delivering flavoured water into a receptacle.

The water supply may supply still water, which may be bottled mineral water, bottled spring water or filtered mains water. The still water may be un-chilled, chilled or heated.

The water supply may comprise water carbonation means operable to carbonate the still water.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a water flavouring system according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a disposable reservoir and part of a dosing means, for use in the system of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a cartridge and dosing means, for use with the disposable reservoir of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a water dispenser according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the water dispenser of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a diagrammatic internal view of the water dispenser of Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1, a first embodiment of the invention provides a water flavouring system 10 comprising a first flavour reservoir 12, a second flavour reservoir 14, a sweetener reservoir 16 and an acid reservoir 18. Each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is io mounted within a respective docking station 20, 22, 24, 26.

In this example, the first flavour reservoir 12 contains liquid apple flavour essence and the second flavour reservoir 14 contains liquid strawberry flavour essence. The sweetener reservoir 16 contains low viscosity concentrated liquid natural sugar. The acid reservoir 18 contains liquid citric acid.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is a disposable reservoir and comprises a collapsible plastic bag 28 provided within a rigid cartridge 30. The bag 28 is provided with a small valve 32 for filling the bag with liquid flavour essence, sweetener or citric acid, as appropriate. In this example, the flavour reservoirs 12, 14 each contain, when full, lOOmI of liquid flavour essence. The cartridge 30 comprises a moulded plastic two-piece shell 30a 30b which defines a cavity 34 for receiving the reservoir bag 28.

Each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is respectively provided with dosing means 32, 34, 36, 38 comprising a syringe chamber 40 within which a plunger member 42 is located for reciprocating movement, a check valve assembly 44 provided in fluid communication between the reservoir bag 28 and one end 40a of the syringe chamber 40, a delivery conduit 46 extending from the check valve assembly 44, and a nozzle assembly 48 provided at the distal end of the delivery conduit 46.

The syringe chamber 40 comprises an integral part of the cartridge 30 and is defined by the two-piece shell 30a, 30b. The check valve assembly 44 comprises a plastic moulding 50 which defines a first valve conduit 52 extending from the one end 40a of the syringe chamber 40 to a first nonreturn valve 54, and a second valve conduit 56 extending from a second non-return valve 58, in communication with the reservoir bag 28, to the first valve conduit 52. Each non-return valve 54, 58 comprises a ball element and a spring 62 seated within a valve chamber 64.

The delivery conduit 46 comprises a flexible tube. The nozzle assembly 48 comprises a tip valve 66 provided on a mounting member 68 receivable by the manifold of a water dispenser (not shown) such that the tip valve 66 is located within the flow of water being dispensed, as will be described in more detail below.

The syringe plunger 42 is driven from one end 40a of the syringe chamber 40 to the other end 40b of the syringe chamber 40, and vice versa, respectively drawing liquid into and expelling liquid from the syringe chamber 40, as will be described in more detail is below.

The docking stations 20, 22, 24, 26 are each provided with drive means in the form of a stepper motor 70, 72, 74, 76 which engages the respective plungers 42 via respective drive pistons 78.

The cartridge 30 of each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is provided with identification means, which in this example take the form of active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags 80, operating at a signal frequency of approximately 13 MHz. The RFID tags 80 contain the following information about the liquid held within the respective reservoirs: the type of liquid stored within the reservoir, and, if the liquid is a flavour essence, the flavour; the concentration of the liquid; a unique alphanumeric cartridge/reservoir identification code; the volume of liquid within the reservoir; the number of doses of liquid within the reservoir; the date on which the reservoir was filled; the use by date of the liquid; the date of first use of the reservoir (set to zero if the reservoir has not been used before) and the active shelf life of the liquid. In this example, the RFID tags 80 on the flavour reservoirs 12, 14 also function as memory means storing a flavour recipe detailing the volumetric ratio of liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid to be dispensed into the water per unit of liquid flavour essence dispensed.

Each docking station 20, 22, 24, 26 is provided with an RFID tag transceiver 82 operable to interrogate the respective RFID tag 80, to read one or more of the pieces of information and flavour recipes stored on the RFID tags 80.

The RFID tag transceivers 82 are operated by control means, in the form of a microcontroller 84. When a reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 is located within its docking station 20, 22, 24, 26 the controller 84 causes the respective transceiver 82 to read the information stored on the reservoir's RFID tag 80.

The controller 84 is operable to identify the date of first use of a reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18, either the date held on the RFID tag 80 or the current date if the date of first use on the RFID tag 80 is set to zero. From this the controller 84 calculates the end date of the active shelf life of the reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18. The controller 84 is also operable to cause the RFID transceiver 82 to write the date of first use and the active shelf life end date back to the respective RFID tag 80.

The controller 84 is also operable to read the flavour recipes stored on the RFID tags 80 on the flavour reservoirs 12, 14. In response to a user input actuation signal, the controller 84 is operable to actuate the stepper motor 70, 72 of the relevant flavour reservoir 12, 14 and the stepper motors 74, 76 of the sweetener reservoir and the acid reservoir to cause the relevant amount of liquid flavour essence, liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid to be drawn into the respective syringe chambers 40 and subsequently expelled from the syringe chambers 40, through the dosing means 32, 34, 36, 38 into the water to be flavoured.

The size of each syringe chamber 40 is varied by movement of its drive piston 78, coupled to the respective stepper motor 70, 72, 74, 76, such that when the plunger 42 is driven from one end 40a of the syringe chamber 40 to the other end 40b of the syringe chamber 40 liquid is drawn from the reservoir 28 through the second non return valve 58 and into the syringe chamber 40, and when the plunger 42 is driven in the other direction the plunger 42 pushes the liquid out of the syringe chamber 40, through the first non return valve 54, down the delivery conduit 46 and out of the tip valve 66.

In this example, each dose of liquid flavour essence comprises 0.lml of liquid flavour essence. The volume of the flavour essence dose is controlled by the controller 84, according to how strong a flavour is required, which causes the stepper motor 70, 72, 74, 76 to move to draw the required dose volume of flavour essence into the syringe chamber 40 for dispensing. The liquid flavour dose can range in volume from 0.05m1 to 0.5m1, meaning a full flavour reservoir 12, 14 holds between 2000 and 200 doses.

The controller 84 is additionally operable to count the number of doses of liquid dispensed from each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18, and to thereby determine the remaining volume of liquid and/or number of doses of liquid remaining in each reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18. After each dispense of liquid from a reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18, the RFID transceiver 82 writes the remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses back to the respective RFID tag 80.

It will be appreciated that the remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses may alternatively be written back to the respective RFID tag 80 prior to a reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 being removed from its docking station 20, 22, 24, 26.

Two reservoir status indicator light emitting diodes (LEDs), one green and one red, (not shown) are provided on each docking station 20, 22, 24, 26 and are illuminated under the control of the controller 84, to indicate whetherthe respective reservoir 12, 14,16, 18 is "ready for use", "in use", "approaching empty", "empty" or "requires changing". The green LED is illuminated continuously if the reservoir status is "ready for use" and flashes on and off if the reservoir status is "in use". The red LED flashes on and off to indicate a reservoir status of "approaching empty" and illuminates continuously when the status is "empty" or "requires changing".

When the status of a reservoir 12, 14, 16, 18 becomes "empty" or when the end date of the active shelf life has passed, whichever occurs first, the controller 84 causes the respective RFID transceiver 82 to transmit a disable signal to the reservoir's RFID tag 80, to cause the RFID tag 80 to be electronically disabled, to thereby prevent re-filling and re-use of the reservoir. The controller 84 also causes the respective stepper motor 70, 72, 74, 76 to drive its plunger 42 into a mechanically disabled position.

Referring to Figures 4 to 6, a second embodiment of the invention provides a water dispenser 90 comprising the water flavouring system 10 of the first embodiment, water inlet means 92 and water outlet nozzle 94.

The water inlet means 92 comprises a carbonated water inlet conduit 96 and a still water inlet conduit 98. A flow measurement device 100, 102 is provided on each conduit 96, 98 respectively. The carbonated water inlet conduit 96 delivers carbonated water to a first one-way valve 104 and the still water inlet conduit 98 delivers still water to a second one-way valve 106. The valves 104, 106 are operated under the control of the controller 84.

The water dispenser 90 includes a manifold 110. The valves 104, 106 are in fluid communication with the manifold 110, to deliver water into the manifold 110 from where it is routed to the outlet nozzle 94. The tip valves 66 of the dosing means 32, 34, 36, 38 of the reservoirs 12, 14, 16, 18 are coupled, via mounting holes 108, to the manifold 110 such that the dosing means 32, 34,36, 38 are also provided in fluid communication with the manifold, to thereby dispense the respective liquids into the dispensed water.

The dispensed water flows from the respective valve 104, 106, through the manifold 110, where liquid flavour essence, liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid can be added is to the water, and through the outlet nozzle 94 into a cup or other receptacle (not shown). The nozzle 94 contains internal detail as known in the art to promote mixture of the water and the liquid flavour essence, liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid.

A user interface panel 112 is provided on the water dispenser 90, via which a user can select to dispense still water or carbonated water, and can select a flavour to be added to the water. The use input selection is transmitted from the interface panel 112 to the controller 84, where it is read and acted upon by the controller 84. It will be appreciated that un-flavoured water can also be dispensed by the water dispenser 90.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The memory means holding the flavour recipe for each flavour reservoir may alternatively be provided separately to the identification means, being provided within the control means. The control means would then be operable to identify the flavour within each flavour reservoir from the information held within the identification means, and then select the appropriate flavour recipe held within the control means. This arrangement would also facilitate the addition of more complex flavours, comprising more than one flavour essence, to the dispensed water.

The flavour essences may be different flavours to those described. A different number of flavour reservoirs may be provided to that described, with a correspondingly different number of docking stations and dosing means. The sweetener reservoir and the acid reservoir may be of a different size to the flavour reservoirs, and will generally be larger than the flavour reservoirs, since a single sweetener reservoir and acid reservoir will be used in conjunction with a plurality of flavour reservoirs, It will be appreciated that the liquid sweetener and the liquid citric acid will generally be of a different concentration than the flavour essences, requiring a different volume of liquid sweetener, liquid citric acid and flavour essence to be dispensed into the water to be flavoured.

The described RFID tags may be replaced by integrated circuits mounted on printed circuit boards optionally comprising EEPROM's and the RFID transceivers replaced by an inductive aerial or plurality of connection pins provided on the respective docking stations for electrically coupling the integrated circuits to the controller.

The described embodiments provide various advantages, as follows. The provision of is both a source of liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid for mixing with liquid flavour essences and water provides significant advantages over known post-mix beverage dispensers which only have a base syrup for mixing with a flavour concentrate and water. The flavour essences comprise top notes which produce the smell of the flavour and base notes which produce the taste of the flavour and support the top notes. By providing both liquid sweetener and citric acid the acidity/sharpness of the flavour and the sweetness can be tailored for each flavour; for example, apple flavour should be more acid/sharper than strawberry flavour which is sweeter, so different amounts of liquid sweetener and citric acid need to be mixed with the flavour essence in the water to produce a true apple flavour and a true strawberry flavour. If only a single premixed base syrup was provided, instead of the liquid sweetener and liquid citric acid of the present invention, then either the strawberry flavour would be good but the apple flavour would be too sweet, or the apple flavour would be good but the strawberry flavour would be too sharp.

The use of liquid flavour essences rather than liquid flavour concentrates provides the advantage that the flavour reservoirs of the present invention can be much smaller than prior art post-mix beverage dispenser which use flavour concentrates, since flavour essences provide a much more concentrated flavour than known flavour concentrates, so a smaller volume is required to provide the same amount of flavour. In addition, since the volumes of the flavour essence doses are very small, there is no need to pre- cool the flavour essence to avoid raising the temperature of the dispensed flavoured water, as is required when using liquid flavour concentrate.

Claims

Claims 1. A water flavouring system comprising: a flavour reservoir

containing liquid flavour essence; a sweetener reservoir containing liquid sweetener; an acid reservoir containing liquid acid solution; each reservoir being provided with dosing means operable to dispense a selected dose of the respective liquid into a volume of water to be flavoured; memory means containing a flavour recipe detailing the dose of each liquid to be dispensed into the water; and control means operable to read the flavour recipe from the memory means and to cause one or more of the dosing means to dispense.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system comprises a plurality of flavour reservoirs each containing liquid flavour essence.
3. A system as claimed in claims br 2, wherein the or each flavour reservoir contains a first volume of liquid flavour essence, the sweetener reservoir contains a second volume, greater than the first volume, of liquid sweetener, and the acid reservoir contains a third volume of liquid citric acid.
4. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dosing means comprise a syringe chamber within which a plunger member is provided, a check valve assembly provided in fluid communication between the reservoir and one end of the syringe chamber, a delivery conduit extending from the check valve assembly, and a nozzle assembly provided at the distal end of the delivery conduit, whereby when the plunger member is drawn towards the other end of the syringe chamber liquid is caused to flow from the reservoir, through the check valve assembly, into the syringe chamber, and when the plunger member is subsequently pushed towards the one end of the syringe chamber the liquid is expelled from the syringe chamber through the delivery conduit and nozzle assembly.
5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reservoirs are disposable reservoirs and comprise a collapsible bag provided within a rigid cartridge.
6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the system further comprises a plurality of docking stations, one for each of the or each flavour reservoir cartridge, the sweetener reservoir cartridge and the acid reservoir cartridge, for receiving the respective cartridges, and comprising drive means for driving engagement with each dosing means.
7. A system as claimed in claim 6 as dependent on claim 4, wherein the drive means comprises a stepper motor coupled to a drive piston which engages the plunger member of each dosing means.
8. A system as claimed in claims 6 or 7, wherein each docking station is provided with visual indicator means operable to indicate the status of the respective liquid reservoir; ready for use, in use, approaching empty, and empty, the visual indicator means comprising illuminated visual indicator means, such as one or more light emitting diodes.
9. A system as claimed in any of claims 5 to 8, wherein the or each flavour reservoir has identification means associated with it, the identification means storing information identifying the liquid flavour essence and being readable by the control means, and the sweetener reservoir and/or the acid reservoir have identification means associated with them, the respective identification means storing information respectively identifying the sweetener or the citric acid and being readable by the control means.
1O.A system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the or each identification means additionally stores a unique alphanumeric identification code, for uniquely identifying the respective reservoir to the control means.
11.A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the or each identification means additionally stores information relating to one or more of the following: the volume of liquid within the reservoir; the number of doses of liquid within the reservoir; the shelf life of the liquid within the reservoir; and the active shelf life of the liquid within the reservoir.
12.A system as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11, wherein the or each identification means is provided on the respective cartridge.
13.A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the or each identification means comprises a radio frequency identification tag, a radio frequency identification transceiver being provided within the respective docking station and being operable to interrogate the tag and transmit information received from the tag to the control means.
14.A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the or each identification means comprises an integrated circuit, one or more electrical contact pins being provided on the respective docking station and being arranged to electrically couple the integrated circuit to the control means.
15.A system as claimed in any of claims 9 to 14, wherein the memory means are provided on the cartridge, and comprise the identification means.
16.A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the memory means are provided within the control means.
17.A system as claimed in any of claims 9 to 16, wherein the control means is operable to identify the date of first use and calculate the active shelf life of the liquid in each reservoir.
18.A system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the control means is further operable to write the date of first use and the active shelf life back to the respective identification means.
19.A system as claimed in any of claims 9 to 18, wherein the control means is further operable to count the number of doses of liquid dispensed from each reservoir, and to thereby determine to remaining volume of liquid and/or the number of doses of liquid remaining in each reservoir.
20.A system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the control means is further operable to write the remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses back to the respective identification means.
21.A system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the remaining volume and/or the remaining number of doses are written back to the identification means prior to the reservoir being removed from its docking station or following each dispense of liquid from the respective reservoir.
22.A system as claimed in any of claims 19 to 21, wherein the control means is operable to actuate the visual indicator means on each docking station to display the status of the respective reservoir.
23.A system as claimed in any of claims 19 to 22, wherein the control means is operable to disable the identification means when the status of the respective reservoir is "empty" or when the active shelf life has expired, whichever occurs first, to thereby prevent re-filling and re-use of the reservoir.
24.A system as claimed in any of claims 19 to 23, wherein the control means is operable to mechanically disable the cartridge and/or the dosing means when the status of the respective reservoir is "empty" or when the active shelf life has expired, whichever occurs first.
25.A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each liquid flavour essence comprises one or more of the following: Terpenes, including Limonene; Carvones; Menthol; Methone; Aldehydes, including Acetalaldehyde; Water; Propylethylene Glycol; Triacetine; Diacetyl; Isopropyl alcohol; Ethanol; Amyl alcohols; Amyl propionate; Pentyl pentanoate; Hexanol propylene; Glycol acetate; Isobomyl acetate; Alpha pinene; Aeta pinene; Alpha terpene; Gamma terpenes; Linalool; Linyl acetate; Neryl acetate; and Geryl acetate.
26.A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the liquid sweetener has a low viscosity, and comprises liquid natural sugar or liquid artificial sweetener.
27.A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the water to be flavoured is still bottled mineral water, still spring water, still filtered mains water, still unfiltered mains water, bottled carbonated water or carbonated mains water.
28.A system as claimed in claim 27, wherein the still water is chilled, un-chilled or heated prior to the addition of one or more liquid flavour essences, liquid sweetener and/or liquid citric acid.
29.A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the flavour recipe is a volumetric recipe or a ratiometric recipe.
30.A water dispenser comprising: water inlet means in communication with a water supply and operable to supply a metered volume of water to be flavoured; a water flavouring system as claimed in any preceding claim; and outlet means for delivering flavoured water into a receptacle.
31.A water dispenser as claimed in claim 30, wherein the water supply supplies still bottled mineral water, still bottled spring water, still filtered mains water.
32.A water dispenser as claimed in claim 31, wherein the still water is un-chilled, chilled or heated water.
33.A water dispenser as claimed in claim 31, wherein the water supply comprises water carbonation means operable to carbonate the still water.
34.A water flavouring system substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.
35.A water dispenser substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.