Device for dispensing beverages in glasses

• US 20080195252A1
• Filed: 02/06/2008
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Fabio Frasi, Gianni Innocenti
• Original Assignee: Fabio Frasi, Gianni Innocenti
• Inventors: Innocenti, Gianni, Frasi, Fabio
• Application Number:
  US12/068,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195252A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/240
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0008 based on weighing
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/04 Apparatus utilising compressed air or other gas acting directly or indirectly on beverages in storage containers
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0885 Means for dispensing under specific atmospheric conditions, e.g. under inert gas
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/0888 Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means)
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 1/1234 to determine the total amount
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/04 by weight

Abstract

A dispensing machine with one or more dispensing stations, each provided with a transceiver antenna connected to the programmed electronic unit of the machine. Each dispensing station accommodates a bottle of beverage to be dispensed, having a transponder card, bearing information and/or parameters of the beverage contained therein, which, read by the corresponding transceiver antenna, are provided to the electronic unit, for processing. Each dispensing station has a load cell which weighs continuously the bottle, so that by establishing a difference of the weights measured at two different times it determines the amount of beverage poured in the time interval defined by said times.

Claims

1. A device for dispensing beverages into glasses, comprising an electronic control unit and at least one dispensing station for pouring at least one beverage to consumers, the dispensing station comprising:

a transceiver antenna, which is connected to the electronic control unit;

a plurality of transponder cards, each of which is associated with a respective beverage bottle and bears information and/or parameters of a beverage to be dispensed that is contained in the bottle with which the transponder card is associated, each said transponder card being located in an area of the bottle that allows reading of the information borne by way of the transceiver antenna upon positioning of the bottle in the dispensing station;

a load cell connected to said electronic control unit, for continuously weighing the bottle with the liquid contained therein, and wherein said electronic control unit is provided with a dedicated software and memory means and is programmed to process information loaded in the memory means and information received at each activation of the dispensing station from said transponder cards and load cell and to drive dispensing of a requested beverage.

2. The dispensing device of claim 1, comprising a plurality of dispensing stations and a plurality of transceiver antennas, one for each dispensing station of the device, and wherein each one of said antennas is located in a position suitable to interact with the transponder card associated with the bottle arranged in a respective one of said plurality of dispensing stations.

3. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein said at least one dispensing station comprises a supporting base for bottle supporting, said transceiver antenna being arranged in said base of said at least one dispensing station in which the bottle with the beverage to be dispensed is positioned.

4. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein each said transponder card is applied to the body of the bottle containing a corresponding beverage to be dispensed.

5. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein each said transponder card is applied to the base of a respective bottle containing a corresponding beverage to be dispensed.

6. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the programmed electronic control unit is programmed to process the information contained in the transponder card associated with the activated dispensing station upon each activation of the device and drives dispensing of a beverage in a required and/or intended amount.

7. The dispensing device of claim 1, provided with inert gas nitrogen under pressure, for propelling beverage contained in a bottle toward a dispensing spout of the dispensing station.

8. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is programmed so as to correlate a weight variation measured by the load cell at least to the volume of beverage to be dispensed.

9. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is programmed so as to correct a weight variation during beverage dispensing measured at two different times with a weight of gas introduced in the bottle between said two times so as to be able to establish a quantity of and to replace dispensed beverage.