Brewer with measured use controlled disablement feature
First Claim
1. In a beverage brewer having a water tank and a brew basket for holding brew ingredient and a brew valve for passing water from the water tank to the brew basket and into contact with the ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
- means for measuring a total amount of time that the brew valve is open;
means for storing the measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open;
means for storing a preselected stored amount of permitted amount of total time of opening of the brew valve;
means for selectively changing at least one of the stored preselected total amount of time of opening of the brew valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open;
means for disabling the brewer in response to the measured amount of opening of the brew valve becoming equal to the stored preselected amount of permitted amount of opening of the brew valve until at least one of the stored amount of permitted total time of opening of the brew valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open is changed by the selectively changing means such that the stored measured amount of permitted amount of total time of opening of the brew valve is greater than the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open.
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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 beverage 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
15 Claims
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1. In a beverage brewer having a water tank and a brew basket for holding brew ingredient and a brew valve for passing water from the water tank to the brew basket and into contact with the ingredient, the improvement being a controller, comprising:
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means for measuring a total amount of time that the brew valve is open; means for storing the measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open; means for storing a preselected stored amount of permitted amount of total time of opening of the brew valve; means for selectively changing at least one of the stored preselected total amount of time of opening of the brew valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open; means for disabling the brewer in response to the measured amount of opening of the brew valve becoming equal to the stored preselected amount of permitted amount of opening of the brew valve until at least one of the stored amount of permitted total time of opening of the brew valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open is changed by the selectively changing means such that the stored measured amount of permitted amount of total time of opening of the brew valve is greater than the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In a beverage brewer having a water tank and a brew basket for holding brew ingredient and a brew valve for passing water from the water tank to the brew basket and into contact with the ingredient, the improvement, comprising:
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a water valve for dispensing water from the water tank apart from the brew basket; means for measuring a measured amount of use of the water valve; means for storing the measured amount of use of the water valve; means for storing a preselected amount of permitted use of the water valve; means for selectively changing at least one of the stored preselected total amount of time of opening of the water valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open; means for disabling the brewer for an indefinite amount of time in response to the measured amount of use the water valve becoming equal to the stored preselected amount of permitted use of the water valve until at least one of the stored amount of permitted total time of opening of the brew valve and the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open is changed by the selectively changing means, such that the stored measured amount of permitted amount of total time of opening of the brew valve is greater than the stored measured total amount of time that the brew valve is open such that the stored preselected amount of permitted use of the water valve is greater than the stored measured amount of use. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification