Beverage dispensing and tracking system

• US 9,679,329 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2015
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: iPourIt, Inc.
• Original Assignee: iPourIt, Inc.
• Inventors: Jones, Brett Michael Kaiakua
• Primary Examiner(s): Ludwig, Peter L
• Application Number:
  US14/805,826
• Publication Number:
  US 20150325075A1
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/221 using electrical or electro-mechanical means B67D7/224 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B67D 7/3281 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/065 for drink preparation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/00 Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A system for managing beverage sales and inventory, and for enabling customers to pour their own beverages while preventing shrinkage is disclosed. The system enables a user to access a beverage from a beverage dispenser by presenting a beverage-pour tracking device. The beverage dispenser can prevent a user from accessing the beverage without the beverage-pour tracking device. Further, the system can confirm whether the user is permitted to access the beverage dispenser before enabling the user to access the dispenser.

Claims

1. A system for tracking beverage pours, comprising:

a beverage-pour tracking device;

a first activator device coupled with a first beverage dispenser; and

at least one non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions that cause one or more processors to;

determine whether the beverage-pour tracking device is within a threshold distance from the first activator associated with the first beverage dispenser;

determine that the beverage-pour tracking device is within the threshold distance;

in response to the determining that the beverage-pour tracking device is within the threshold distance from the first activator, generating, by the first activator device, an activation request that includes a unique identifier obtained from the beverage-pour tracking device;

identify a customer account associated with a customer based on the unique identifier contained in the activation request;

calculate a minimum available beverage threshold, wherein the minimum available beverage threshold comprises a dynamic threshold based on a rate of consumption over a specified period of time;

in response to identifying the customer account, determine whether a measure of an amount of a first beverage available at the first beverage provider satisfies the minimum available beverage threshold, wherein the amount of the first beverage available at the first beverage provider includes a measure of an amount of the first beverage remaining in a first beverage container connected with the first beverage dispenser;

determine that the measure of the amount of the first beverage available at the first beverage provider satisfies the minimum available beverage threshold;

in response to determining that the measure of the amount of the first beverage available satisfies the minimum available beverage threshold, activate, in accordance with the activation request, the first beverage dispenser thereby enabling the dispensing of the first beverage; and

deactivate the first beverage dispenser in response to a deactivation event.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to determine pour information indicating a quantity of the first beverage poured from the first beverage dispenser.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to update a customer account associated with a customer based, at least in part, on the pour information.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

reduce the measure of the amount of the first beverage available based on the quantity of the beverage poured;

determine if the measure of the amount of the beverage available does not satisfy an available inventory threshold; and

in response to determining that the measure of the amount of the beverage available does not satisfy the available inventory threshold, at least one of;

alert an employee to obtain additional inventory of the beverage; and

initiate a purchase of additional inventory of the beverage.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the available inventory threshold and the minimum available beverage threshold are the same.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the minimum available beverage threshold comprises a combination of an inventory minimum threshold and a reserved beverage quantity.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

receive a reservation request for a reservation quantity of the first beverage, the reservation request associated with a second account;

determine whether the measure of the amount of the first beverage in stock is sufficient to satisfy the reservation request; and

in response to determining that the measure of the amount of the first beverage in stock is sufficient to satisfy the reservation request, reserve the reservation quantity of the first beverage for a second customer associated with the second account and adjusting the minimum available beverage threshold based on the reservation quantity.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

in response to determining that the measure of the amount of the first beverage in stock is insufficient to satisfy the reservation request;

reject the reservation request to reserve the first beverage; and

provide, to the second customer, at least one suggested alternative beverage based on information about the second user.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to update a social networking page associated with the customer.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein updating the social networking page comprises updating at least one of the following:

a location check-in, a drink rating, a favorite beverage provider, a favorite beverage type, a check-in reward credit, and a reclaimed beverage offer.

11. The system of claim 2, wherein instructions to determine the deactivation event further comprises instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

determine a maximum pour amount associated with the customer based at least in part on at least one of;

weight information about the customer, build information about the customer and gender information about the customer;

determine whether the customer has exceeded the maximum pour amount based on the determined pour information; and

in response to determining that the customer has exceeded the maximum pour amount, deactivate the first beverage dispenser to prevent the customer from further accessing the first beverage.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the maximum pour amount associated with the customer is based at least in part on a total amount of beverages poured by the customer per quantity of time.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the beverage-pour tracking device comprises at least one of a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) device and a Near-Field Communication (NFC) device.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the beverage-pour tracking device comprises a bracelet with a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) device that is configured to be positioned within the threshold distance from the first activator when the customer engages an activation mechanism associated with the first beverage dispenser.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to present information about the first beverage via a user interface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the information further comprises at least one of:

the identity of the type of beverage of the first beverage, information about where the first beverage was produced, trivia about the first beverage, quantity of the first beverage remaining, customer ratings for the first beverage, tips on how to best pour the first beverage, and a list of recommended foods to pair with the beverage.

17. The system of claim 2, wherein instructions to determine a deactivation event further comprises instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

determine that the quantity of the first beverage poured has met a maximum pour amount; and

in response to determining that the quantity of the first beverage poured has met the maximum pour amount, deactivate the first beverage dispenser.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein instructions to determine a deactivation event further comprises instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

in response to a failure to determine that the beverage-pour tracking is within the threshold distance from the first activator, deactivate the first beverage dispenser.