IE84971B1 - A beverage inventory management system - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT A beverage inventory management system has a plurality of keg supports (1), each comprising a structure (2,7,8) for supporting a keg, at least one weight sensor (630), and a transmitter (35) for transmitting keg weight data; and a host (100) for receiving weight data from the keg supports and for processing said data to provide inventory data for beverage in the kegs. The keg support structure comprises a retainer (7,8) for preventing keg lateral movement, there being is at least one pair of opposed retainers (7,8) for gripping opposed surfaces of keg skirts. The keg supports (1) both support the kegs (K) in a stacked configuration, but also wirelessly transmit keg weight data to the host (100), which processes the weight data to provide beverage inventory data. The weight data messages are event-driven, thus reducing the number of transmissions and host processing complexity. Weight is sensed at four strain gauges, thus providing a particularly reliable reading, accommodating non-uniformities in the keg skirts due to damage.

Description

A Beverage Inventory Management System INTRODUCTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to inventory management for beer or other beverages stored in kegs.

Prior Art Discussion At present, it is very awkward for the catering industry to store beer kegs, and it is often the case that there is limited available space. It is standard practice to stack kegs two or three high, the tapped keg on top. Given that the skirts often suffer handling damage, keg stability is a problem. Storing empty kegs is also a problem as they are even less stable when stacked. Thus, in general storage of kegs is a problem, especially in premises with limited space.

Another aspect of inventory management which presents a major difficulty is beverage stock control as it is difficult to determine the volume of liquid remaining in a tapped keg. At present it is common practice to manually weigh the keg and subtract the weight of an empty keg equivalent. This is time—consuming and laborious.

US3863724 and US5007560 describe systems for monitoring key weight for inventory control.

The invention is directed towards providing for improved inventory management for beverages stored in kegs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is provided a beverage inventory management system comprising: a plurality of keg supports (1), each comprising: a structure (2, 7, 8) for supporting a keg, at least one weight sensor (6, 30), and a transmitter (35) for transmitting keg weight data, and a host (100) for receiving weight data from the keg supports and for processing said data to provide inventory data for beverage in the kegs; wherein the keg support structure comprises a retainer (7, 8) for preventing keg lateral movement; wherein there is at least one pair of opposed top retainers (7) for gripping opposed surfaces of a skirt of a keg resting on the support, and at least one pair of opposed lower retainers (8) for gripping opposed surfaces of a keg on which the support rests.

In one embodiment, the retainers are mounted on an arm (4).

In another embodiment, there are two pairs of opposed retainers (7 , 8).

In a further embodiment, the arms extend from a central hub (3).

In one embodiment, the retainers (53, 54) have a tapered keg skirt-contacting surface.

In another embodiment, the system further comprises means (57) for engaging a connector for interlinking adjacent keg supports in use.

In a further embodiment, each keg support transmitter (35) comprises means for wireless transmission of weight data to the host.

In one embodiment, each keg support weight sensor comprises a plurality of load cells (6) and a circuit 30) for processing data from the load cells.

In another embodiment, the circuit comprises the transmitter, and the transmitter (35) is for wireless transmission of weight data to the host.

In a further embodiment, there is a load cell (6) on each arm (4).

In one embodiment, each load cell comprises a strain gauge (SGI, SG2, SG3, SG4) , and the strain gauges are connected to resistors in the circuit in a Wheatstone Bridge arrangement and act as potentiometers in the Bridge, their resistance changing according to load.

In another embodiment, the transmitter (35) transmits data in an event-driven manner, only generating a message when sensed load changes.

In a further embodiment, each keg support comprises a ring (2) interconnecting the arms and configured to act as a seat for a keg skirt in use.

In one embodiment, the ring comprises a plurality of accurate ring segments interconnected by interleaved tongues.

In another embodiment, the ring is connected to each load cell by a bracket (20) having a top flange secured to the ring, a web, and a bottom flange on a load cell.

In a further embodiment, the bracket is integral with a retainer for preventing lateral keg movement.

In one embodiment, the host (100) comprises means for filtering the weight data to eliminate noise.

In another embodiment, the host filter eliminates data for weight and weight change rate outliers arising form a person applying weight to a keg.

In a further embodiment, the host (100) generates the inventory data in discrete integer values representing units of volume closest to a current keg beverage volume.

In one embodiment, the host generates inventory data in messages with time stamps.

In another embodiment, the host generates output messages in a mark-up language.

In a further embodiment, the system further comprises a local area network (101) including a point-of-sale system (150) with an inventory database (152), and the host automatically populates the database.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE TNVENTION Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of an inventory management system of the invention, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit in a keg support of the system; Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective View showing two kegs being supported; Figs. 4 and 5 are top and underneath perspective views of a keg support of the system; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional elevational View of a keg support, with some parts omitted for clarity; Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram of a weighing sensor of a keg support; and Figs. 8 and 9 are top and underneath perspective views of an alternative keg support.

Description of the Embodiments Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 an inventory management system of the invention comprises a number of keg supports 1 wirelessly linked with a host server 100, in tum linked by a LAN 101 with a point-of-sale (“POS”) system 150. The POS system 150 comprises a number of POS terminals 151, only one of which is shown, and an inventory database 152. This is a simple configuration for illustrative purposes, and in practice there would often be many more supports 1 and terminals 151 in the POS 150.

The keg supports 1 support stacked kegs K in a stable arrangement, and also weigh the kegs by virtue of load cells 6 and wirelessly transmit weight data to the host 100. The host 100 converts the weight data to a volume amount per keg, and populates the inventory database 152. Thus, the system achieves improved physical storage of the kegs and also accurate real time inventory data. The operator at the point-of-sale has a real time. colour-coded, display of actual beverage levels in the kegs so that management of keg changeover is simplified. Also, the database 152 provides comprehensive inventory data for ordering and other management purposes.

In other embodiment, there may additionally be a repeater unit for relaying wireless signals to the host 100. Such a repeater unit may be incorporated in a keg support. In the latter embodiment, the keg supports may be marked to indicate which are “ordinary” supports and which also have a relay capability. The operator can then know how to position the relay supports for optimum capture of the wireless weight data. The relaying capability is particularly useful where there are at least 10 kegs and/or where the kegs are stored in a confined space, as the metal material of the kegs can cause a lot of interference for wireless communication.

Each keg support 1 has a circuit 30 which determines keg weight and wirelessly transfers it to the host 100. The circuit 30 comprises a power management circuit 31, a weighing circuit 32, an instrumentation amplifier 33, an analogue-to-digital converter 34. an RF transmitter 35, and control logic 36. The control logic 36 operates to generate a wireless update signal in an event-driven manner. Thus, a message is transmitted only when the keg is actively in use. This minimises the number of transmitter messages, thus reducing message-processing complexity in the host and also reducing the power requirement for each circuit 30.

Referring to Figs. 4 to 6 each keg support 1 comprises a load distribution aluminium ring 2, a central hub 3, and four spokes 4 linking the hub 3 with the load cell units 6 and the ring 2. One of the spokes 4 includes a battery compartment 5 for delivering DC power to the circuit 30 within the hub 3.

There are four load cell units 6, one at the end of each spoke 4. Also, at this location there is a top keg retainer 7 and a bottom keg retainer 8. The latter is removable as it is not required if the support 1 is on the ground. The retainers 7 and 8 are particularly advantageous as they prevent lateral movement of the kegs. They may have tapered surfaces for more convenient stacking, as shown in the embodiment of Figs. 8 and 9.

The ring 2 is of rigid aluminium material, so that it distributes the load uniformly around the four load cell units 6.

A C-shaped bracket 20 has a top flange fastened to the ring 2, a vertical web, and a bottom flange on a strain gauge load cell 21. Also, each lead cell unit 6 has a compartment 22 having a socket 23 to which a tube 24 is threaded to provide a spoke 4, and signal wires are trained through the spokes 4. There is also a corresponding socket, not shown, on the hub 3 for each spoke 4.

The brackets 20 directly transfer the load of the keg to the load cells 21, and each load cell has a strain gauge STl, ST2, ST3, or ST4. The brackets 20 are very effective for transferring the load directly to the load cells. Also, it is particularly strong, providing reliable load transfer and also overall structural strength to the full keg support 1. As will be apparent from Fig. 6, the bracket 20 may be integral with the upper keg retainer 7, thus further simplifying the structure and providing even more strength.

This drawing and Figs. 4 and 5 also show that the ring 2 consists of four quadrant segments, having interleaved tongues at their ends, and being fastened together and with the retainer 7 and the bracket 20 by a bolt fastener. It has been found that this arrangement is particularly robust.

Referring to Fig. 7, there is one strain gauge in each load cell unit 6, and in Fig. 7 they are referred to as SG1, SG2, SG3, and SG4. The output voltage (Vout) is _ R3 R2 our_V,,, —— R3+R,, 12,422 Each strain gauge is connected by three wires and behaves like a potentiometer. The strain gauge straddles two limbs of the bridge, and has an upper resistance device and a lower resistance device. When loaded, the upper device is in tension and its resistance increases, while the lower device is in compression and its resistance falls.

Onc resistance in the Wheatstone Bridge comprises of 2 x Rbtm, while another comprises 2 x RTop. Consequently, the output voltage varies with (Rtop ~ Rbtm).

The effect of the ring is to average the load over all the strain gauges. The effect of a buckled keg skirt is nullified as the keg load is entirely borne by the ring, which is in turn entirely and equally borne by the 4 strain gauges, through the actuators. The contribution of the full bridge circuit (half- and quarter— bridges could also have been used) is to provide better inherent temperature and voltage compensation.

The use of four discrete weighing points ensures that irregularities in the keg skirts due to damage do not affect accuracy. The load cells 21 are strain gauges, pressed upon by the bottom flange of the bracket 20. The strain gauges generate a DC voltage which is proportional to the load imposed on them. They are in a Wheatstone Bridge arrangement. The circuit 30 in the hub 3 performs conditioning (filtering, scaling, offset correction, and linearization), and it also wirelessly communicates with the host .

Regarding the host server 100, this receives the weight change event messages and processes these messages to generate beverage level data according to stored calibrations. It filters noise by performing initial validation filtering. For example massages arising because a person puts his weight on a keg are disregarded due to a filter which eliminates weight and rate of weight change outliers. It generates an XML output which specifies the beverage level in discrete volume units such as litres, choosing the nearest unit to the current level. Also, the XML output messages are time-stainped, thus providing a n audit trail of “raw” data which is archived in addition to being used to update the inventory database 152 and provide the operate GUI .

In use, each support 1 supports a keg K, and the retainers 7 and 8 allow two or three kegs to be stacked in a convenient space-saving manner. The weight data received by the host 100 is immediately used to update the volume level of each open keg. The user therefore has real time information for keg change-over, and the “back office" has real time inventory data for ordering and other management purposes.

It will be appreciated that the invention provides real time inventory data at the same time as allowing convenient and safe keg storage with space optimisation. As weight is sensed at four strain gauges, there is a particularly reliable reading, accommodating non-uniformities in the keg skirts due to damage.

Referring to Figs. 8 and 9 an alternative keg support, 50, is illustrated. A central hub 51 supports four spokes 52 at the ends of which there are upper and lower retainers 53 and 54 and load cells. The latter are linked to a processing circuit in the hub 51. The support 50 has holes 57 at the ends of two spokes. A wire connector is trained through holes 57 of adjacent supports 50 to provide cross-stack support. Such an arrangement may also be provided with the keg supports 1.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described but may be varied in construction and detail.

Claims (1)

1. A beverage inventory management system comprising: a plurality of keg supports (1), each comprising: a structure (2, 7, 8) for supporting a keg, at least one weight sensor (6, 30), and a transmitter (35) for transmitting keg weight data, and a host (100) for receiving weight data from the keg supports and for processing said data to provide inventory data for beverage in the kegs; wherein the keg support structure comprises a retainer (7, 8) for preventing keg lateral movement; wherein there is at least one pair of opposed top retainers (7) for gripping opposed surfaces of a skirt of a keg resting on the support, and at least one pair of opposed lower retainers (8) for gripping opposed surfaces of a keg on which the support rests. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retainers are mounted on an arm (4)- A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein there are two pairs of opposed retainers (7, 8). A system as claimed in claims 2 or 3, wherein the arms extend from a central hub (3). A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the retainers (53, 54) have a tapered keg skirt-contacting surface. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means (57) for engaging a connector for interlinking adjacent keg supports in use. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each keg support transmitter (35) comprises means for wireless transmission of weight data to the host. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each keg support weight sensor comprises a plurality of load cells (6) and a circuit 30) for processing data from the load cells. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the circuit comprises the transmitter, and the transmitter (35) is for wireless transmission of weight data to the host. A system as claimed in either of claims 8 or 9, wherein there is a load cell (6) on each arm (4). A system as claimed in any of claims 8 to 10, where each load cell comprises a strain gauge (SGl, SG2, SG3, SG4) , and the strain gauges are connected to resistors in the circuit in a Wheatstone Bridge arrangement and act as potentiometers in the Bridge, their resistance changing according to load. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the transmitter (35) transmits data in an event-driven manner, only generating a message when sensed load changes. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each keg support comprises a ring (2) interconnecting the arms and configured to act as a seat for a keg skirt in use. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the ring comprises a plurality of accurate ring segments interconnected by interleaved tongues. A system as claimed in either of claims 13 or 14, wherein the ring is connected to each load cell by a bracket (20) having a top flange secured to the ring, a web, and a bottom flange on a load cell. A system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the bracket is integral with a retainer for preventing lateral keg movement. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the host (100) comprises means for filtering the weight data to eliminate noise. A system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the host filter eliminates data for weight and weight change rate outliers arising form a person applying weight to a keg. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the host (100) generates the inventory data in discrete integer values representing units of volume closest to a current keg beverage volume. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the host generates inventory data in messages with time stamps. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the host generates output messages in a mark—up language. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the system further comprises a local area network (101) including a point-of-sale system (150) with an inventory database (152), and the host automatically populates the database.