Remote beverage equipment monitoring and control system and method

• US 8,170,834 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2006
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
• Inventors: Knepler, John T., Kaeding, Timothy Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Charioui, Mohamed
• Assistant Examiner(s): Suarez, Felix E
• Application Number:
  US11/908,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20090216490A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,244 Days
• Field of Search: 702/50, 702/81, 702/137, 702/182, 702/183, 702/185, 702/187, 702/188, 992/75, 141/83, 221/125, 700/231, 700/237
• US Class Current: 702/182
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/065 for drink preparation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system and method for monitoring and controlling modifications to beverage equipment. The system includes at least one beverage equipment which may include a controller. The controller communicates over a communications network with a data collection server which may be accessible to a central office or equipment provider. A method is also disclosed for first monitoring or querying beverage equipment for a setting or configuration modification. Next, the modification may be compared against a modification threshold to determine whether the modification warrants corrective action. A corrective action may include but is not limited to, resetting the equipment to original or default settings, notifying an end user, notifying the equipment providers, logging the action, or some combination of two or more of these actions.

Claims

1. A method of remotely monitoring and controlling beverage equipment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing beverage equipment having a setting for operating the beverage equipment;

detecting an end user modification to the setting of the beverage equipment;

communicating the modification to the setting of the beverage equipment to a designated party; and

performing remotely at least one corrective action changing the modification to the setting of the beverage equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the end-user modification being an intentional modification.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the end-user modification having been made to reduce the amount of raw material needed to make a volume of beverage according to a predetermined ratio.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the end-user modification having been made to reduce the amount of beverage powder used to make a diluted beverage.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising a quality-determining party providing the predetermined ratio.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the quality-determining party being one of an equipment provider, a central office, or a franchisor.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the step of detecting, providing beverage equipment that has a beverage dispensing portion and a controller in communication with the beverage dispensing portion.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a controller having at least one equipment setting stored in the controller; and

detecting a modification to the at least one equipment setting.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing a communications device in communication with the controller, the communications device being for communicating the modification.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the communications device being a two-way communications device.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the communication device being one of a modem, a network card, and a global positioning communications device.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising running a diagnostic using the controller to determine the current state of the beverage dispensing portion and comparing the current state with a previously determined state to detect a modification.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising a state being one of a voltage, a current, a phase, and a time of power.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the state being a physical quantity.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the state being one of a size, a texture, a volume, a dilution level, or a weight.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising the state being one of a brand characteristic and an industry quantity level.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising the state being a configuration of at least one component of the beverage dispensing portion.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the component being one of a controller, a dilution source, a product source, a meter, a heater, a mixing chamber, a dispensing port, a thermostat, and a solenoid.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the modification to a variance threshold prior to performing the at least one corrective action, and only performing the at least one corrective action in response to the modification exceeding the variance threshold.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing a different variance threshold for each type of modification.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising the corrective action being contacting a designated party, the designated party having an interest in maintaining a predetermined beverage equipment configuration.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the designated party being one of a central office, a franchise owner, and an equipment provider.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing the equipment to a franchisee.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising the corrective action being logging the modification.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising the corrective action being resetting the beverage equipment.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of resetting the beverage equipment comprising remotely at least partially disabling the equipment until the modification has been reversed.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising notifying an equipment user of the equipment modification and a need to reverse the equipment modification in order to end the disabling of the equipment.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the step of detecting the modification on a predetermined interval.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising the predetermined interval being one of hourly, daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

30. A method of remotely monitoring and controlling beverage equipment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing beverage equipment, the beverage equipment having a beverage dispensing portion and controller in communication with the beverage dispensing portion, the controller having at least one beverage equipment setting stored in the controller;

transmitting the at least one beverage equipment setting to a data collection system over a communications network;

determining an end user modification has been made to the at least one beverage equipment setting; and

performing remotely a corrective action to the end user modification of the at least one beverage equipment setting.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising comparing the modification to a variance threshold prior to performing the at least one corrective action, and only performing the at least one corrective action in response to the modification exceeding the variance threshold.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

the dispensing portion including at least one tube for allowing flow of one of a beverage and a beverage-making substance therethrough,

positioning a flow control device along the at least one tube; and

using the flow control device to measure a modification.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the flow control device being a flow meter.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising the at least one tube being one of an inlet tube and an outlet tube.

35. A method of remotely monitoring and controlling beverage equipment, the method comprising the steps of

providing beverage equipment, the beverage equipment having a beverage dispensing portion having a state, a controller in communication with the beverage dispensing portion, at least one sensor in communication with the beverage dispensing portion and the controller for sensing the state of the beverage dispensing portion, and a transmitting device in communication with the controller;

sensing at least one state of the beverage dispensing portion using the sensor;

sending the at least one state to the transmitting device;

providing a data collection system accessible by a designated party, the data collection system having a communications device in communication with a communications network;

transmitting the at least one state from the transmitting device to the data collection system over the communications network via the communications device;

determining that there has been an end user modification to the at least one state; and

performing remotely a corrective action to the at least one state.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising only performing the corrective action in response to the modification exceeding a variance threshold.

37. A system for remotely monitoring and controlling beverage equipment, the system comprising:

beverage equipment, the beverage equipment including a food dispensing portion, a controller in communication with the food dispensing portion, and a communications device in communication with the controller, the controller being operable to determine at least one state of the equipment; and

a modification control system in communication with the transmitting device, the modification control system being operable to detect an end user modification to the at least one state and take a remote corrective action based on the modification.

38. The system of claim 37, the modification control system further comprising a general purpose computer operated by at least one program module containing instructions for detecting at least one state of the beverage equipment, comparing the at least one state to at least one preselected state, and determining there has been a modification when a change between the at least one state and the at least one preselected state exceeds a variance threshold.

39. The system of claim 37, the program module further comprising instructions for, in response to determining there has been a modification, resetting the equipment to the at least one preselected state.

40. The system of claim 37, the program module further comprising instructions for sending a notification to the designated party, the designated party being one or more of an equipment provider, a central office, and an equipment user.

41. The system of claim 37, the beverage food dispensing portion further comprising:

a dilution source in communication with the controller;

a product source in communication with the controller; and

a mixing passage extending from the dilution source and the product, for allowing mixing of a dilution material and a food product therein.

42. The system of claim 41, further comprising at least one flow monitor positioned along at least one of the dilution source, the product source, and the mixing passage and being in communication with the controller.

43. The system of claim 42, further comprising the flow monitor being a flow meter.

44. The system of claim 41, further comprising:

an inlet valve in communication with the product source and the controller; and

a flow monitor positioned along inlet valve and in communication with the controller.

45. The system of claim 41, further comprising:

a heated water reservoir as the dilution source, the heated water reservoir including a dispensing outlet;

a flow monitor positioned along the dispensing outlet, the flow monitor being in communication with the controller.

46. The system of claim 41, further comprising:

a pressurized water line as the dilution source; and

a flow monitor positioned along the inlet valve and in communication with the controller.

47. The system of claim 41, further comprising:

a pour-in basin as the dilution source; and

a flow monitor positioned along at least a portion of the pour-in basin, the flow monitor being in communication with the controller.

48. The system of claim 37, further comprising at least one additional beverage equipment in communication with the modification control system to form a network of controlled beverage equipment.

49. The system of claim 37, further comprising a data collection portion positioned between and in communication with the controller and the modification control system, the data collection portion being one of internal to the beverage equipment and external to the beverage equipment.