METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPLICATING COFFEE FLAVOR

• US 20140263780A1
• Filed: 03/11/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Societe des Produits Nestle SA (Nestle SA)
• Original Assignee: Neil M. Day Jr
• Inventors: DAY, Neil M. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 10,342,386 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 241/63
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 31/42 Beverage-making apparatus with incorporated grinding or roasting means for coffee coffee mills A47J42/00; coffee roasters in general A23N12/08
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 31/4492 Means to read code provided on ingredient pod or cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 42/38 Parts or details

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for controlling brewing of a coffee drink and a computer-readable medium storing instructions to execute such a method are presented. The method entails receiving an identifier for the coffee drink, the identifier associated with a set of brew parameters used to make the coffee drink, and retrieving the set of brew parameters from a database storing the set of brew parameters using the identifier.

Claims

1. ) A computer-implemented method for controlling brewing of a coffee drink, the method comprising:

providing instructions to receive an identifier for the coffee drink, the identifier associated with a set of brew parameters used to make the coffee drink; and

retrieving the set of brew parameters from a database storing the set of brew parameters using the identifier.

2. ) The method of claim 1 further comprising:

encoding the identifier into an encoded machine-readable medium; and

associating the encoded machine-readable medium with a coffee.

3. ) The method of claim 2, wherein the coffee is ground coffee beans.

4. ) The method of claim 3, wherein the set of brew parameters are determined based on a size of the ground coffee beans.

5. ) The method of claim 2, wherein the coffee is whole beans and the set of brew parameters includes a grind size parameter.

6. ) The method of claim 2, wherein associating the encoded machine-readable medium with the coffee includes affixing the encoded machine-readable medium to a container containing the coffee.

7. ) The method of claim 2, wherein the encoded machine-readable medium comprises at least one of a barcode, QR code, RFID Tag, and URI code identifier.

8. ) The method of claim 1, wherein the set of brew parameters include a grind parameter, the method further comprising:

receiving an image of ground coffee beans and a calibration mark;

determining a ground size of the ground coffee beans using the image; and

comparing the ground size to the grind size parameter.

9. ) The method of claim 8, wherein determining the ground size of the ground coffee beans includes correcting the image for distortion effects to generate a corrected image, wherein a same correction factor is applied to image data of the ground coffee beans and the calibration mark.

10. ) The method of claim 8, wherein the grind size parameter includes at least one of a particle diameter distribution, particle area distribution, particle volume distribution, minimum particle size, maximum particle size and standard deviation, and determining the ground size of the ground coffee beans includes determining, for the ground coffee beans, the at least one of the particle diameter distribution, particle area distribution, particle volume distribution, minimum particle size, maximum particle size and standard deviation included in the grind size parameter.

11. ) The method of claim 8, further comprising sending results of the comparing the ground size to the grind size parameter to an interface.

12. ) The method of claim 1, wherein device settings for attaining a particular brew parameter with a device are stored in the database.

13. ) The method of claim 12, the method further comprising sending the set of brew parameters to an interface, wherein the device is a coffee grinder and the interface is connected to a processor controlling the coffee grinder, the method further comprising sending settings for the coffee grinder associated with the grind size parameter to the processor to control the coffee grinder.

14. ) The method of claim 1, wherein the brew parameters include at least one of a ratio of an amount of water to an amount of ground coffee beans, a temperature of the water, an amount of time the water and ground coffee beans is agitated, an amount of time the water and ground coffee beans steep, an extraction pressure, and a packing pressure for the ground coffee beans.

15. ) The method of claim 14, the method further comprising sending the set of brew parameters to an interface, wherein device settings for attaining a particular brew parameter with a device are stored in the database, and wherein the device is an extraction unit and the interface is connected to a processor controlling the extraction unit, the method further comprising sending settings for the extraction unit associated with the amount of time the water and ground coffee beans are agitated and the amount of time the water and ground coffee beans steep to the processor to control the extraction unit.

16. ) A computer-readable medium storing instructions for controlling brewing of a coffee drink, the instructions comprising instructions:

to receive an identifier for the coffee drink, the identifier associated with a set of brew parameters used to make the coffee drink; and

to retrieve the set of brew parameters from a database storing the set of brew parameters using the identifier.

17. ) The computer-readable medium of claim 16, the instructions further comprising instructions:

to encode the identifier into an encoded machine-readable medium; and

to associate the encoded machine-readable medium with a coffee.

18. ) The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the encoded machine-readable medium comprises at least one of a barcode, QR code, RFID Tag, and URI code identifier.

19. ) The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the set of brew parameters includes a grind parameter, the instructions further comprising instructions:

to receive an image of ground coffee beans and a calibration mark;

to determine a ground size of the ground coffee beans using the image; and

to compare the ground size to the grind size parameter.

20. ) The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the grind size parameter includes at least one of a particle diameter distribution, particle area distribution, particle volume distribution, minimum particle size, maximum particle size and standard deviation, and determining the ground size of the ground coffee beans includes determining, for the ground coffee beans, the at least one of the particle diameter distribution, particle area distribution, particle volume distribution, minimum particle size, maximum particle size and standard deviation included in the grind size parameter.

21. ) The computer-readable medium of claim 19, the instructions further comprising instructions to send results of the comparing the ground size to the grind size parameter to an interface.

22. ) A coffee grinder comprising:

a grinder for grinding coffee beans;

a grind control unit for controlling a ground size of the ground coffee beans; and

a computer processor connected to the grind control unit.

23. ) The coffee grinder of claim 22, wherein the grind control unit further includes a camera positioned over a calibration grid having a calibration mark.

24. ) The coffee grinder of claim 22, further comprising a database accessible by the processor, wherein the processor includes instructions for retrieving a set of brew parameters including a grind size parameter from the database.

25. ) The coffee grinder of claim 24, further comprising a memory connected to the processor, the memory storing a coffee bean identifier and grind settings associated with that identifier.