Appliance having a user interface panel and a beverage dispenser
DCFirst Claim
1. An appliance comprising:
- a housing;
a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen;
a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and
a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to;
(a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;
(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers,(c) receive, via the touch screen, an input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, and(d) during a period of time when the user interface panel receives the input of the selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and(e) track, for each drink supply container held by the drink supply mechanism, a volume of the drink supply dispensed by the dispenser from said drink supply container.
1 Assignment
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An appliance including a housing, a dispenser, and a water supply mechanism. The appliance includes a drink supply mechanism configured to removably hold a plurality of drink supply containers, a user interface panel, and a computer. The computer is configured to: cause the user interface panel to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to a drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers held by the drink supply mechanism, enable the user interface panel to receive an input from a user of a selected one of the plurality of different displayed images, and after receiving the input from the user of the selected one of the plurality of different displayed images, cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage corresponding to the selected image.
463 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, an input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, and (d) during a period of time when the user interface panel receives the input of the selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) track, for each drink supply container held by the drink supply mechanism, a volume of the drink supply dispensed by the dispenser from said drink supply container. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to mix at a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container and at a pre-determined level;
(i) the drink supply from the drink supply container corresponding to the beverage associated with the selected image, and (ii) water from the water supply mechanism, said mixing causing the beverage associated with the selected image to be dispensed into the user beverage container,(e) track, for each of the drink supply containers, a volume of the drink supply dispensed by the dispenser from said drink supply container, (f) receive an input of information regarding a change of one of the drink supply containers, and (g) after one of the drink supply containers is replaced by a different drink supply container which holds a different drink supply, cause the user interface panel to display a different image associated with a different beverage which corresponds to the different drink supply in the different drink supply container. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) automatically cause an order repair message to be sent to a location remote from the appliance.
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29. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) display an indication that one of the drink supply containers needs to be replaced.
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30. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers held by the drink supply mechanism, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image, by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) receive, via the touch screen, user registration information.
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31. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) receive, via the touch screen, additional drink supply container order information.
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32. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) receive, via the touch screen, information regarding a change of one of the drink supply containers held by the drink supply mechanism.
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33. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) receive an authorization code for a drink supply container.
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34. An appliance comprising:
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a housing; a user interface panel supported by the housing and including a touch screen; a dispensing mechanism at least partially coupled to the user interface panel; and a computer configured to operate with the user interface panel and the dispensing mechanism to; (a) control operation of;
(i) the dispensing mechanism, (ii) a water supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, and (iii) a drink supply mechanism in fluid communication with the dispensing mechanism, said drink supply mechanism configured to obtain drink supply from each of a plurality of drink supply containers;(b) cause the touch screen to display a plurality of different images, each image associated with a different one of a plurality of different beverages which correspond to the drink supply in at least one of the plurality of drink supply containers, (c) receive, via the touch screen, at least one input of a selected one of said plurality of different displayed images, (d) cause the dispenser to dispense the beverage associated with the selected image by causing drink supply from said drink supply container associated with said beverage associated with the selected image to be directed to a dispensing point at a position of a user beverage container, and (e) after one of the drink supply containers held by the drink supply mechanism is replaced by a different drink supply container which holds a different drink supply, cause the user interface panel to display a different image associated with a different beverage which corresponds to the different drink supply in the different drink supply container.
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Specification