System and method for testing beverage apparatus before shipment

• US 20050230417A1
• Filed: 04/14/2005
• Published: 10/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bunn-O-Matic Corporation
• Inventors: Kaeding, Timothy P., Muller, Dean, Knepler, John T., Powell, Kurt, Kobylarz, Robert J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,766,112 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 222/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 25/0092 for metering by volume

Abstract

A system and method for testing a beverage apparatus such as a beverage maker and/or dispenser before shipment. The beverage apparatus includes at least one component that can produce monitorable and/or measurable characteristic. The measurable characteristic may be compared against a threshold value and may include an acceptable tolerance range. In response to an out-of tolerance condition, a fail condition is displayed, otherwise a pass condition is displayed. Also disclosed is a system for storing the measurable characteristic so that the beverage apparatus can be analyzed by comparing its current state versus the baseline state measured before the beverage apparatus was shipped.

Claims

1. A system for testing a beverage maker before shipment, the system comprising:

a beverage maker having at least one component that can produce at least one measurable characteristic;

a device for measuring the at least one measurable characteristic in communication with the at least one component, the device being configured to analyze the at least one measurable characteristic; and

an indicator in communication with and controllably operated by the device for indication of one of a pass or fail condition.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a controller in communication with the beverage maker for controllably operating the beverage maker.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising at least one sensor in communication with the at least one component and with the controller.

4. The system of claim 3, further comprising the sensor being adapted to sense one or more of a flow, a voltage, a current, a phase angle, a temperature, and a period of time.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising the device being an external device in communication with beverage maker, the external device having a communications port for receiving signals corresponding to the at least one measurable characteristic and having memory containing a software module for operating the external device to analyze the at least one measurable characteristic.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising a remote server in communication with the external device, the remote server being adapted to store the at least measurable characteristic as a baseline for the beverage maker.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising the indicator being at least one of an audio indicator and a visual indicator.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising the indicator being a computer monitor.

9. A method of testing a beverage maker before shipment, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a beverage maker having at least one component that can produce at least one measurable characteristic before shipment from a manufacturing facility;

testing the beverage maker by retrieving at least one signal from the beverage maker corresponding to the at least one measurable characteristic; and

assigning one of a pass condition and a fail condition to the beverage maker.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of testing the beverage maker further including comparing the at least one measurable characteristic to a predetermined tolerance to determine the pass condition or the fail condition.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising, after the step of providing the beverage maker, providing a device for measuring the at least one measurable characteristic in communication with at least one component of the beverage maker, the device being configured to analyze the at least one measurable characteristic, and providing an indicator in communication with and controllably operated by the device for indication of one of a pass condition and a fail condition.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing at least one sensor in communication with at least one component of the beverage maker, the at least one sensor being adapted to sense one or more of a flow, a voltage, a current, a phase angle, a temperature, and a period of time; and

using the at least sensor to produce the at least one signal.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing a controller in communication with and controllably operating at least one of the at least one sensor and the beverage maker.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising disabling at least one component of the beverage maker other than component for which the at least one characteristic is being measured while the step of testing is being performed.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising providing an external device attachable to the controller, and storing the at least one measurable characteristic in the external device.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing a remote server and sending the at least one measurable characteristic to the remote server over a communications network.

17. A method of analyzing a beverage maker, the method comprising the steps of:

storing at least one measurable characteristic of a beverage measured before the beverage maker is shipped from a manufacturing facility as a baseline;

deploying the beverage maker into the field;

identifying the beverage maker;

retrieving the baseline; and

comparing a current state of the beverage maker to the baseline to determine a deviation used to analyze the beverage maker.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising taking an action based on the deviation.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of taking an action being resetting the beverage maker to the reproduce the at least one measurable characteristic.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of taking an action being adjusting a configuration of the beverage maker to account for the deviation.