GB2448511A

GB2448511A - Controlled spirit supply system

Info

Publication number: GB2448511A
Application number: GB0707427A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nazar Sha Sha
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-04-18
Filing date: 2007-04-18
Publication date: 2008-10-22
Also published as: GB2448511A9; GB0707427D0

Abstract

A supply system for supplying alcoholic spirits to a bar supplies the drink from bulk containers (26, fig. 6) via drink carrying tubes 13 to the refillable bottles 6 located at the bar. Standard bar OPTICs õ 7 are used to deliver alcoholic spirits at the bar. An order is taken via conventional tills or PC which sends code via a PCB (12, fig 3) to a dispensing valve 3 to release alcoholic spirit into the self fill bottle 6, which contains a float, replacing alcoholic spirit which is dispensed as part of the order.

Description

CONTROLLED CELLAR AND BAR SYSTEM

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application also contains subject matter and is relating to pending UK patent application entitled "Drink Mixing System" filed October 3l 2006 which are entirely incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to a system that uses RFID tags to veri1' authorised stock connected to the cellar system, when authorised stock is present the system allows valves to operate sending stock up an automated drink mixing font or to a self filling bottle system.

The system solves the problem of supply and accountability of stock to the bar trade, by way of a rack system based in the cellar or stock room supplying alcoholic spirits to the bar either to a bar font for automatic delivery as in the "Drink Mixing System" or to a self filling bottle system using conventional optics for dispense.

Using RFID technology passive EPC class I tags are attached to the bulk storage containers, these containers are delivered through the conventional supply chain and placed onto the rack system in the cellar or stock room, above which is situated an RFID reader with integrated antenna, once the containers are in situation the Python tube connectors are attached, these are fitted with active RFII) tags which when read allow the solenoid valve fitted to the Drink mixing font or self ifiling bottle to open thus completing the task of delivery. Only stock which carry the authorised RFfl) tags will be allowed onto the system, this will eliminate any form of tampering such as adding unbranded alcoholic spirits or watering down of product as the system will only allow the container to be connected once, and when empty the tag is erased via the system to eliminate any unauthorised re-fill. The self-fill bottle is a fixed appliance comprising of a bottle to contain the alcoholic spirit and valve built into a separate compartment which is situated and attached to the base, which when inverted is located at the top of the appliance attached by a hinge attached to a plate which is used for support, the hinge moves forward to allow the standard optic to be removed for cleaning purposes, in order for the optic to be removed from the bottle the bar supervisor or manager puts the unit into service mode on the till, the remaining measures are recorded as sales until the bottle is empty the optic can then be removed, when this operation is complete the unit is taken out of service mode on the till, the valve is then instructed to replace the float stock eg: Sx 25m1 into the self filling bottle.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 Shows the bottle, dispensing valve compartment and standard optic mounted onto back plate mounted on the bar wall, the alcoholic spirit is dispensed via the optic as in conventional method with dispensing valve re-filling the bottle with exact measure(s) taken from bottle, a sale is taken at the till and the valve is instructed to release amount sold, which is then dispensed from volume containers held in the cellar or stock room.

Figure 2 shows side view of unit with holding bracket and hinge at the top of the unit with a standard optic connected to back plate via a connector and held in place by locator pin, with drink dispensing tube attached to dispensing valves supplying alcoholic spirits from volume containers in cellar or stock room.

Figure 3 shows side view of unit with fixed holding bracket attached to back plate and hinge attached to valve dispensing compartment in forward tilt position allowing access to optic, which is unclipped from connector attached to back plate ready for removal from empty bottle for the purpose of cleaning the optic.

Figure 4 shows the bottle which is detached from the valve dispensing compartment, showing the hole placed in the centre of the bottle allowing the valve head access into the bottle, also on the base of the bottle surrounding the hole are the locator tugs which the valve dispensing compartment connects to by twisting into position.

FigureS shows the valve dispensing compartment containing the valve and valve head which is then attached to the base of the bottle, the unit is then attached to the back plate ready for attachment to the wall and connected to the system.

Figure 6 shows the rack mounted bulk drink container which is connected to the system via standard bag in box type connector attached to the drink carrying tube, which carries an active RFID tag for connection verification to allow the dispensing valve to release alcoholic spirit into the bottle or "Drink mixing system" from the bulk drink container, the bulk container carries a passive RFII) tag which is used to verify authorised stock.

Figure 7 shows bulk drink containers which are mounted on the cellar rack system, attached are the drink carrying tubes which run up to the bar and are connected to the self fill bottles or "Drink mixing system" this is achieved by use of beverage grade propellant gasses or by compressed air controlled by the gas board.

Figure 8 shows an alternative bottle design to that shown in (figure 1 and figure 2) which instead of the dispensing valve attached via a dispensing valve compartment it is attached directly to the bottle, the optic can be removed for cleaning purposes by pulling the unit forward from the back plate and releasing the locator pin to gain access to the optic, the unit is attached to the back plate by a telescopic arm which is located directly onto the back plate and attached to the bottle by means of a seal which holds the bottle in place on the back plate telescopic arm.

Figure 9 shows the self-fill bottle pulled away from the back plate ready for the optic to be removed and cleaned or changed.

Figure 10 shows the self-fill bottle mounted onto a rotating rack, the self-fill bottles can be tilted forward to allow access to the optics for changing or cleaning, the drink carrying tubes are located through the centre of the unit and mounting arm to the reel which then takes them to the cellar or stock room.

Figure 11 shows the self-fill bottle mounted onto a rotating rack, the rack holds six bottles and is attached to the wall it is connected to the cellar via the drink carrying tubes attached to the valve through the arm and rotating unit, the unit turns to the left to allow access to three bottles and to the right to allow access to the other three, the tubes are located on a reel which allows the unit to move 180 degrees in either direction by releasing enough tube for each turn.

Figure 12 shows the self-fill bottle attached to a bar top mounted six bottle rack unit the optic can be removed by pulling the bottle forward to release the optic which is held in place by the holding pin.

Figure 13 shows the six bottle rack unit with the drink carrying tubes inside the unit can turn 180 degrees to allow access to three bottles to the right and three bottles to the left, the unit is attached to the bar by locating bolts, the centre section moves to allow the tubes to turn by means of rotating connectors near the top of the unit.

Figure 14 shows the multi-self fill bottle system, three bottles are attached to the back plate and are linked together, as the alcoholic spirit is released from the valve situated in the centre bottle it will fill the bottle with the lowest amount of liquid first, the advantage of this is in a busy bar where a customer orders a double measure the server does not have to wait for the optic to refill.

Figure 15 shows the multi-self fill bottle system from the top showing the unit attached to the back plate with the valve inserted into the centre bottle and the telescopic arm moving forward to allow access to the optics for cleaning or replacing.

In figure 1 the inverted self-fill bottle 6 (front view) is attached to the back plate 8 the valve compartment 1 shows cut away section to reveal the valve 3 which empties into bottle 6 via valve head 4 to bring level of alcoholic spirit up to dispense mark 5 when alcoholic spirit is dispensed through optic 7 according to sale made e.g.: single or double measure etc. the level will always be made up to full line 17 to ensure no un-paid for measures are taken from the bottle 6.

Figure 2 shows a self-fill bottle 6 is attached to back plate 8 via bracket 9 attached to dispensing valve compartment I via locking pin 10 which prevents unauthorised removal of the bottle 6 from the back plate 8 the dispensing valve compartment! with cut away section shows dispensing valve 3 and dispensing valve head 4 which fills the bottle to full line 17 each measure is marked by a line 5 on the bottle 6 for dispense through standard optic 7 which is located onto back plate 8 by holding pin 14 attached to optic connector 15, dispensing valve 3 is attached to drink carrying tube 13 which carries the alcoholic spirit from the cellar or stock room( as in figure 7 32) the dispensing valve 3 is instructed by PCB 19 and connected by wires from the PCB 19 to the dispensing valve 3 the PCB is wired to the till or computer located in the bar.

Figure 3 shows the bottle 6 attached to the back plate 8 by bracket 9 via locking pin connected to dispensing valve container I by bracket 2 through which is connected the dispensing valve 3 which houses the dispensing valve head 4 which dispenses the alcoholic spirit into the bottle 6 to fill bottle 6 by each measure marked S which has been dispensed via optic 7 to full line 17 the user places an order at the till and instruction is sent via PCB 12 to the dispensing valve 3 via the wires 11 attached to dispensing valve 3 to release the amount of alcoholic spirit sold at the till.

Figure 4 shows the bottle 6 detached from the valve-dispensing compartment I (figure 5) with the measure marks on side of bottle 5 and bottle full line 17 on the base of the bottle is the valve head aperture 20 and valve dispensing compartment I locating slots 21 these are used to connect the bottle 6 to the dispensing valve compartment 1 by means of twisting into position, for tight fit a seal can be used to avoid separation.

Figure 5 shows the valve dispensing compartment 1 which attaches to bottle 6 via locating lugs 22 with valve head 4 entering base of bottle for dispensing of alcoholic spirits into bottle through the optic locating lugs 22 are placed into locating slots 21 and twisted into position dispensing valve 3 is attached to bracket 9 and locking nut connected to drink carrying tubes 13 which run to the cellar rack 31.

Figure 6 shows the bulk drink container 26 with bag in box type connector 25 connected with drink carrying tube 13 which has the active RFII) tag 24 attached to verify the bulk drink container 26 which has passive R.F1D tag 23 attached for stock authorisation Figure 7 shows the cellar based rack system 31 which holds the bulk drink container 26 which supplies the alcoholic spirits to the self fill bottle 6 or "Drink mixing system" via drink carrying tubes 13 propelled by beverage grade gasses or compressed air 29 regulated through gas board 28 bulk drink containers have two way valves 33 which turn of the flow when the bulk drink containers 26 are empty the two way valve then moves the supply from the spare bulk drink container 26 attached to multi pump 30 the cellar based rack system 31 has an RFID reader attached 27 which reads the passive RFID tags 23 attached to the bulk drink containers 26 and sends the information via RFII) reader27 to verify authorised stock to an SQL database via a TCP/IP network34 the drink carrying tubes 13 have an active RFID tag 24 attached which instructs the dispensing valve 3 to open and release alcoholic spirits into the self fill bottle 6 or the "drink mixing system" Figure 8 shows an alternate design for the self-fill bottle 6 where the valve dispensing compartment I (see figS) is replaced by an all in one self filled bottle 6 which houses the dispensing valve 3 inside the self fill bottle 6 the dispensing valve 3 is attached to the self-fill bottle 6 by means of a seal 36 which is connected to the telescopic arm37 this is then attached to the back plate 8 the optic is held in place by the optic connector 15 which is also attached to the back plate 8 the optic 7 is held in place by the locator pin 14.

Figure 9 shows the self-fill bottle 6 pulled away from the back plate S via telescopic arm 37 the unit is pulled forward by releasing the locating pin 14 attached to the optic connector 15 the optic 7 can then be removed for cleaning.

Figure 10 shows an alternative unit which is mounted onto the bar walll6 by a bracket 38 attached to an arm 43 onto holding unit 42 connected to moving holder 41 the holding bracket 9 is attached to self fill bottle 6 by means of hinge 2 which allows the self fill bottle 6 to move forward to give access to the optic 7 for removal from the optic connector 15 attached to the back plate 8 and held in place by the holding pin 14 the drink carrying tubes 13 are fed through to the moving holder 41 by the tube reel 44.

Figure 11 show the alternate unit which is mounted onto the bar wall 16 by a bracket 38 attached to an arm 43 onto holding unit 42 connected to moving holder 41 the holding bracket 9 is attached to self fill bottle 6 by means of hinge 2 which allows the self fill bottle 6 to move forward to give access to the optic 7 for removal from the optic connector 15 attached to the back plateS and held in place by the holding pin 14 the drink carrying tubes 13 are fed through the moving holder 41 from the tube reel 44 which is mounted behind the bar wall 16 this feeds the extra tube up to the valve 3 as the moving holder 41 twists to give access to the optics 7 the drink carrying tubes 13 are held in place by the angled connectors 45 which allow the drink carrying tubes 13 to move along the angled path taking the extra drink carrying tube 13 from the tube reel 44.

Figure 12 shows a bar mounted solution, the holding unit 42 is attached to moving unit 41 the holding bracket 9 is attached to self fill bottle 6 by means of bracket 9 which allows the self fill bottle 6 to move forward by means of hinge 2 to allow access to optic 7 which is released from optic connector 15 attached to moving unit 41 held in place by holding pm 14 the holding unit moves 180 degrees to the right or left allowing access to optics 7 by means of a centre unit 37 attached to holding unit 42.

Figure 13 shows a bar mounted solution, the holding unit 42 is attached to moving unit 41 via centre unit 37, the holding bracket 9 attaches to the self fill bottle 6 (see figure 12) the drink carrying tubes travel up the unit from below the bar top 39 the unit is attached to the bar by a bracket 38 held in place by locking bolts 40 the drink carrying tubes travel through the centre unit 37 which has locator sections to guide the drink carrying tubes 13 while the centre unit 37 twists to allow the moving unit 41 to turn 180 degrees to the right and left to access the optics 7 attached to the drink carrying tubes 13 arc flexible connectors 36 attached to flexible tubes 35 which allow the moving unit 41 to keep the supply constant to the dispensing valves 3 (see figure 12) during movement of the unit.

Figure 14 shows the multi-self fill bottle system attached to back plate 8 the bottles 6 are linked together by connectors 46 which allow the alcoholic spirit to flow from the centre bottle 6 when liquid is released by the valve 3 through the dispensing valve container I and dispensing valve head 4 to bottle full line 17 when centre bottle 6 is at full line 17 the alcoholic spirit will flow to next bottle 6 to refill to full line 17 each measure 5 that is taken from the bottle will be replaced when alcoholic spirit is taken from the optic 7 Figure 15 shows the top view of multi-self fill bottle system attached to back plate 8 which is attached to bar wall 16 the drink carrying tube 13 is attached to the dispensing valve 3 through the dispensing valve container 1 connected to the telescopic arm 37 which moves forward to allow access to optic 7 via optic connector held in place by optic pin 14 the unit is held together by stabiliser 47 attached to bottle 6 the alcoholic spirit flows through the dispensing valve head 4 along the connectors 46 into the extra bottles 6 for delivery through the optic 7

Claims

Claims I. A supply system for the bar which through a bulk deliveiy

method, makes alcoholic spirits available through tubes which can then be dispensed via a valve controlled by a security solution, offering alcoholic spirits to automated or manual delivery methods available in the bar area.
2. A supply system for the bar which supplies alcoholic spirit to the bar through tubes controlled by valves, offering alcoholic spirits to automated or manual delivery methods available in the bar area.
3. A supply system according to claim 1 and 2 that offers alcoholic spirits to the bar via self fill bottles located in the bar.
4. A supply system according to claim I and 2 that offers alcoholic spirits to the bar through self fill bottles delivering alcoholic spirits through industry standard optics.
5. A supply system for which according to claim I and 2 uses RFID tags to authenticate authorised stock allowed on the system.
6. A supply system for the bar which according to claim I and 2 uses an RFID system to operate solenoid valves or pumps.