Beverage dispenser with consumable monitoring system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11084705-B1
Application number	US-202016786479-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 10, 2020
Priority date	Feb 10, 2020
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A beverage dispenser includes a system for detecting an empty state of a consumable in the dispenser. The system detects the physical movement of an element of a fluid delivery component that is fluidly connected to the consumable. The movement is triggered by the empty state of the consumable and is detected by a sensor disposed in the beverage dispenser. The system can be retrofitted into a legacy beverage dispenser with reduced installation effort.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A beverage dispenser, comprising:
a housing configured to receive a consumable, wherein the consumable comprises a source of beverage concentrate;
a fluid delivery component disposed in the housing and fluidly connected to the consumable, wherein the fluid delivery component is a pump; and
a sensor connected to the fluid delivery component,
wherein the sensor is configured to detect a movement of an element of the fluid delivery component, wherein the movement corresponds to an empty state of the consumable,
wherein at least a portion of the element of the pump extends beyond an external surface of the pump after the movement, and
wherein the sensor is configured to transmit a signal after detecting the movement.

2. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is disposed on an exterior of the pump.

3. The dispenser of claim 2 , wherein the sensor is connected to the pump without being in fluid contact with the beverage concentrate.

4. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the movement of the element is linear and wherein the sensor is disposed such that the element physically contacts the sensor after the movement.

5. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is selected from the group containing an electromechanical switch, a hall-effect sensor, and a reed sensor.

6. A system for sensing an empty state of a consumable source in a beverage dispenser, comprising:
a sensor disposed on an exterior of a pump of the beverage dispenser, wherein the consumable source comprises beverage concentrate and wherein the pump is fluidly connected to the consumable source,
wherein the sensor is configured to detect a movement of an element of the pump, where the movement occurs when the pump detects an empty state of the consumable source,
wherein the sensor is configured to transmit a signal after detecting the movement, and
wherein the sensor is not in fluid contact with the beverage concentrate.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein at least part of the element of the component extends beyond an external surface of the pump after the movement.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the movement of the element is linear and wherein the sensor is disposed such that the element physically contacts the sensor after the movement.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the sensor is selected from the group containing an electromechanical switch, a hall-effect sensor, and a reed sensor.

10. A method of sensing an empty state of a consumable of a beverage dispenser, comprising:
detecting a movement of an element of a component that comprises a pump of the beverage dispenser using a sensor, wherein the movement corresponds to an empty state of the consumable and wherein at least a portion of the element of the component extends beyond an external surface of the pump after the movement, and
transmitting a signal after detecting the movement.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the consumable is a source of beverage concentrate and wherein the component is a pump fluidly connected to the consumable.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor is connected to the pump without being in fluid contact with the beverage concentrate.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein detecting the movement comprises the element physically contacting the sensor such that a portion of the sensor moves with respect to the sensor.

Assignees

• Pepsico Inc

Inventors

• Kamble Rahul
• Ansari Muhammad
• Bakharev Aleksey

Classifications

• B67D1/1247

  Means for detecting the presence or absence of liquid · CPC title

• B67D2210/00091

  Bar management means · CPC title

• B67D2210/00089

  Remote control means, e.g. by electromagnetic signals · CPC title

• B67D1/10

  Pump mechanism (in general F04) · CPC title

• B67D1/0888 Primary

  Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means) · CPC title