Feature disablement controlled brewer
First Claim
1. In a beverage brewer that is fully functional and capable of performing all brewer operations and having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
- means for automatically disabling at least one fully functional brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected plural number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient during a plurality of brew cycles, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container during a plurality of brew cycles, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time in excess of time needed for a plurality of brew cycles, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use in excess of a plurality of brew cycles since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A beverage brewer (10) with a controller (14) that automatically disables selected brewer functions unless enabled by an enablement code that enables use that is only sufficient to brew a preselected quantity of brew by mixing the brew ingredient (18) with water has a reader (54,56,58,56,59,62) for communicating with and reading the enablement code (86) from a smart card, card with magnetic strip or other data carrying medium (FIGS. 4 and 5). The enablement card when used by a delivery employee has codes for multiple customers, etc. that is used by the delivery employee to enable the brewers to brew the brew ingredient that is being delivered but no more to avoid brewing of ingredient not provided by the distributor of the brew ingredient. Alternatively, one card (52) is used for each location or each brewer and may only be used with the location or brewer that is indicated. The controller (14) is capable of disabling the brewer function, the hot water function, or both, the bypass function, the brewing function or all in response to overuse or in response to the passage of time without required maintenance. The individual enablement code medium may be attached to the container of the brew ingredient permanently or detachably, mailed to the customer with billing, etc. or the enablement code may be entered manually or via a communication modem associated with the brewer (10). When a smart card or magnetic stripe card is used, then the brewer may write to the card the amount of brewer usage or hot water usage which information can later be downloaded to a billing computer at the home office of the distributor in addition to, or in lieu of, automatic disablement of the brewer functions when they exceed preselected maximum amounts.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. In a beverage brewer that is fully functional and capable of performing all brewer operations and having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one fully functional brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected plural number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient during a plurality of brew cycles, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container during a plurality of brew cycles, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time in excess of time needed for a plurality of brew cycles, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use in excess of a plurality of brew cycles since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 50)
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20. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the receiving means includes a microphone, and the enablement code is received in the form of audible tones received by the microphone. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 51)
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21. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the receiving means includes a light sensor, and the enablement code is received in the form of light signals detected by the light sensor.
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22. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, a brew valve for passing hot brew water through the brew basket; and
means for measuring how much hot brew water has been dispensed through the brew valve, and the controlling means including means responsive to the measuring means for controlling the disabling means. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of the since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, a hot water valve for passing hot water directly from the hot water tank without passing through the ingredient; and
means for measuring how much hot water has been dispensed through the hot water valve, the controlling means including means responsive to the means for measuring how much hot water is dispensed through the hot water valve. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the controlling means includes a scheduled maintenance clock for measuring the time passed since the last maintenance period, means for storing a preselected maintenance time interval, and means for comparing the scheduled maintenance clock with the preselected maintenance time interval.
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31. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the controlling means includes means for storing the amount of actual use, means for storing a preselected amount of use between scheduled maintenance call, and means or comparing the stored amount of actual use with the preselected amount use between scheduled maintenance calls.
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32. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the controlling means includes a resettable clock for measuring the amount of time passed since the resettable clock was reset, means for storing a preselected time period, and means for comparing the preselected time period with the resettable clock. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance or a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means;
a brew valve for passing hot water from the hot water tank to the brew basket, said disabling means includes means for preventing the brew valve from opening to pass water to the brew basket; and
a hot water valve for dispensing hot water from the hot water tank and outside of the brew basket, said disabling means including means for preventing the hot water valve from opening to dispense hot water.
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36. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions or (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance or a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means;
at least one of a hot water valve for dispensing hot water from the hot water tank and a by-pass valve; and
in whichthe disabling means includes means for preventing the at least one of the hot water valve and the bypass valve from opening to dispense hot water.
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37. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of a preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means, and in which the at least one brewer operation is disabled unless a code relating to condition (d) is received. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. In a beverage brewer having a water tank for holding water that is to be passed through beverage ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for automatically disabling at least one brewer operation in response to occurrence of a preselected condition including at least one of the conditions of (a) performance of a preselected number of brew cycles, (b) passage of a preselected quantity hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) passage of a preselected quantity of mixing liquid through a by-pass to a beverage container, (d) passage of a preselected quantity of hot water passed through a hot water faucet, (e) passage of preselected continuous period of time, and (f) performance of a preselected amount of use since the last scheduled maintenance procedure;
means for receiving an enablement code from an external source, the external source being an enablement code carrying member having an enablement code relating to at least one of (a) the preselected number of brew cycles, (b) the preselected quantity of hot water dispensed into contact with the ingredient, (c) the preselected quantity of mixing liquid passed through the by-pass, (d) the preselected continuous period of time, and (e) the preselected amount of use allowed after the scheduled maintenance procedure; and
means responsive to receipt of the enablement code for controlling the automatically disabling means. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification