GB2367214A - Draught beverage dispensing system responsive to mobile communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

A self service draught beverage dispensing system includes a mobile communications device which can receive beverage orders 100, preferably short message service (SMS) text messages, from a consumer. The order message preferably indicates the volume and type of beverage. On receipt of an order the mobile device passes the order to a controller 102 and returns an acknowledgement. The acknowledgement is logged by the mobile communications service who bills the consumer for the value of the order through the call billing service. The controller opens a solenoid 106 on receipt of the order and monitors flow of beverage 108 by means of a flow wheel or the like in the dispensing line. When the order has been dispensed the flow actuator is closed 112. The dispensing tap is operated by a user who can pour their own drinks and can open and close the tap as often as they like until the total volume of the order has been dispensed.

Description

DRAUGHT BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM This invention relates to dispensing systems for dispensing draught beverages, and in particular, but not exclusively, to systems for dispensing beers.

Traditionally draught beverages such as beers and cider have been dispensed in bars and pubs by bar staff who pour drinks to orders given by customers. At busy times customers can be inconvenienced by the length of time they have to wait to be served which can lead to customers taking their custom to a different, less busy, bar.

More recently a number of devices have been introduced onto the market that allow customers to access their beverage of choice using electronic or infra red actuation. There are also a number of systems which use smart cards to provide credit for the release of beverages to the consumer. One such system is sold by Cybeer Limited of Southsea, England and described in GB-A-2320488 in the name of Charles Raymond Ryan and Neil Morris.

There are also known a number of systems which allow preentry of credit using a keypad which can subsequently be actuated by triggering a stand by mode using an infra red beam to release the beverage. The beverage can be dispensed in any desired volume up to the limit of the customer's credit.

A number of manufacturers produce circuit boards which allow a fixed amount of liquid to be dispensed once a circuit is broken. These systems are all dumb in the sense that they do not allow any flexibility in the manner or rate at which liquid is dispensed into a receiving

vessel. One example of such a circuit board is Pectron Pumps Limited.

We have appreciated that all the existing systems suffer either from the disadvantage of being inflexible and/or requiring on the spot payment and interaction with staff during the experience which can be inconvenient.

Furthermore, many of the existing systems remove much of the experience of purchasing a draught beverage which is well understood in the art to be very important to consumers. None of the systems are both convenient to use and enable the consumer to take part fully in the experience of draught beer.

Some of the existing systems are inflexible in that they only allow a pre-set volume of beverage to be dispensed automatically. We have appreciated that the consumer finds this to be an unwanted restriction on the draught beer experience as it does not allow any creativity on the part of the consumer which is well known to be an essential part of the draught beverage experience. Other systems are inconvenient in that they require interaction with an employee on the premises to start and complete the experience.

The invention aims to overcome or reduce the problems with the prior art systems discussed. In its broadest form the invention contemplates the use of mobile communications devices such as mobile telephones to send beverage orders to a dispensing system. A customer can then be billed through the conventional mobile communications billing system removing the need for on the spot transactions either with a card reader of a person.

More specifically there is provided a system for dispensing draught beverages, comprising : a mobile communications device for receiving a draught beverage order from a consumer; a beverage flow actuator switchable to permit or prevent beverage to flow in a dispensing line; and a controller coupled to the beverage flow actuator for causing the beverage flow actuator to permit flow of draught beverage to a dispensing tap on receipt of a draught beverage order, for monitoring the amount of beverage dispensed and for causing the beverage flow actuator to prevent flow of draught beverage once an amount equal to the size of the order has been dispensed.

Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that the consumer may pour the beverage themselves, enabling them to enjoy the draught experience fully. The user can choose the size of head on a glass of beer by controlling the attitude of the glass during pouring. Moreover, the system allows the amount of beverage ordered to be dispensed either all at once or in several pourings, giving great flexibility. The user ceases to be able to pour any beverage once the system has detected the flow of an amount of liquid equal to that ordered.

Preferably the order is sent as a text message, preferably using the SMS system. This has the advantage of being easy and quick to use.

Preferably, the system sends an acknowledgement to the consumer indicating that the order has been received.

This acknowledgement can be used by the mobile communications service provider to bill the consumer for the order. This has the advantage that the consumer does

not have to bother with payment for the beverage at the point of dispensing.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a beverage dispensing system embodying the invention; Figure 2 is a flow chart showing the process of operation of the system of figure 1 ; and Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a beverage dispensing system of a second embodiment the invention Referring to the figure, the embodiment to be described enables a consumer to order a drink form a dispensing system using a mobile communications device 12 such as a mobile telephone. Other mobile communications devices such as laptop computers, personal data assistants and the like could also be used. The figure shows the control system 10 for a draught beverage dispensing system. The actual system including a tap, a beverage reservoir and any necessary cooling is standard and may be of the type described in GB-A-2320488 or any other known dispensing system.

The beverage dispenser includes a mobile communications device 16 which receives mobile communications messages from consumer mobile communications devices one of which is shown at 12, over a standard mobile communications link 14 such as a GSM link provided by all European Union and other mobile telecommunications service providers.

Preferably, the consumer mobile device 12 sends a text message to the dispenser mobile device 16 the content of which indicates the volume of liquid to be dispensed.

Preferably the text message is sent using the short message format (SMS). In the embodiment of figure 1, the dispensing device only dispenses a single beverage and the message sent needs only to identify the volume of liquid that is being purchased.

The SMS signal received at the dispenser mobile device 16 is passed to a system logical control unit 18, which may be a programmable logic controller (PLC). This unit decodes the beverage order and has three main control functions: to ensure that the dispenser can commence dispensing the beverage; to ensure that the dispenser stops dispensing the beverage once the amount ordered has been dispensed; and to ensure that the consumer is billed for the amount of beverage ordered.

The first of these functions is achieved by a control signal passed from the controller 18 to a solenoid 20.

The solenoid is a switch which allows liquid to flow in the dispenser to a dispensing tap such that the beverage will be dispensed when the user opens the tap at the and of the dispensing line. When the logic unit receives a SMS order message from the embedded mobile device it sends the control signal to the solenoid.

The second function of the controller 18 is achieved in conjunction with a counter 22 which counts the amounts of liquid that has flowed since the solenoid was switched.

The counter may be a conventional flow meter such as an intrusive wheel which generates a pulse every revolution.

The pulse is returned to the controller 18 which determines the amount of liquid dispensed and compares it to the amount ordered by the customer. When all the beverage has been dispensed the controller sends a signal to the solenoid which closes the solenoid and prevents any further dispensing.

The third function of the controller is to ensure that the consumer is billed for the beverages amount that has been ordered. The consumer will be billed by the mobile communications service provider for the call to the dispensing system. The consumer then pays for the beverages using the same mechanism as he or she pays for the mobile calls and the mobile communications service company passes the payments for the beverages to the drinks dispenser less any service charge. When the order SMS is received, the controller instructs the embedded mobile device to send an order acknowledgement message back to the consumer mobile device from which the order was received. That message is logged by the service provider which can decode the order for billing. The acknowledgement also ensures that the consumer knows that he or she can commence pouring of the beverage.

The content of the SMS message sent to order a beverage may be very simple. For example 1 PINT or 1 LITRE will instruct the dispensing system to make that amount available and to bill that telephone number for that amount. Other messages may be PINT, 2 PINT 3 PINT etc.

The embodiment described makes a volume of liquid available to the consumer but the consumer physically dispenses the liquid themselves. Thus the actual act of

filling up the glass from the tap is performed by the consumer. This has a number of advantages. First, the consumer participates fully in the draught experience, even more so that when ordering a drink from a bar.

Secondly, the quality of the presented draught product is in the hands of the consumer as they are the responsible for pouring it. In practice the system will dispense the beverage at the optimal rate for that particular beverage, but factors such as the amount of head will, to an extent, be under the consumer's control.

The embodiment has the further advantage that the consumer can control when the beverage is dispensed. The system does not require all the beverage ordered to be dispensed at the same time but will allow the consumer to draw from the amount paid for until it has all been dispensed.

Thus, at the consumer's choice the beverage may all be dispensed in a single pouring or in a number of separate pourings. For example. A user may order a large volume for consumption by a party of people over the course of an evening leaving to individuals to fill their glasses when they are ready.

Figure 2 is a flow chart which illustrates the steps in the process described. At step 102 the order is received at the system mobile device as an SMS message and at step 102 the order is passed to the controller 18. At step 104 the order is decoded and at step 106 the solenoid is opened. At this time an acknowledgement is also sent to the consumer for logging by the communications service provider for billing purposes. At step 108 the controller detect pulses sent from the counter and at step 110 compares the number of pulses received and the volume of

dispensed liquid that represents with the amount ordered by the consumer. If all the liquid ordered has been dispensed the solenoid is closed at step 112. If the liquid has not all been dispensed, the process loops back to step 108 and keeps counting pulses from the counter until all has been dispensed.

Figure 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention in which the consumer can select from three different beverages, for example, Bitter, Guinness (RTM) and Cider.

The controller communicates with three separate solenoids 20a, 20b and 20c arranged respectively in the three dispensing lines and actuates the appropriate solenoid depending on the content of the SMS message. Similarly, counters 22a, 22b and 22c in each of the lines send pulses back to the controller so that the controller con control the amount of liquid dispensed in each line. This embodiment may be used to allow a certain amount of each of the beverages to be dispensed or, a total amount made up of any combination of the three. In the latter case the controller is required to sum the pulses from all the counters and to shut all the solenoids when the total has been reached. Any number of lines may be used, figures 1 and 3 being purely exemplary.

To minimise the content of the SMS message, the consumer identifies the beverage to be dispensed by including an abbreviation, for example at the end of the message. For example, to order a pint of Guinness where there is a choice of three beverages, the SMS message 1 PINT GNS will be sent.

The dispensing device may be configured in a number of ways. In one embodiment the tap of the dispensing device is mounted on a table that has in its support structure the capability to house a sealed container of draught beverage with the means to both refrigerate the beverage, if necessary, and to dispense it. Alternatively, the sealed container of beverage and the dispensing means may be housed remotely from the table with the tap provided at the table and the beverage delivered to the table by a conduit system common to those skilled in the art of beverage dispensing. The control system of figure 1 may be mounted in a separate section and may also be in the table support structure or remote from the tap. The table is typically a bar type table which allows several consumers to sit around with one or more consumers operating the dispenser and passing the dispensed product to others seated around the table. The sealed container may be pre-chilled to a temperature in the range 8-100C and the refrigeration system should be able to deliver the

beverage at a temperature in the range 3-7OC. The structure may also have a storage area for glasses and a waste facility.

Various modifications to the embodiments described are possible and will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the claims appended hereto.

Claims (12)

Claims

1. A system for dispensing draught beverages, comprising: a mobile communications device for receiving a draught beverage order from a consumer; a beverage flow actuator switchable to permit or prevent beverage to flow in a dispensing line; and a controller coupled to the beverage flow actuator for causing the beverage flow actuator to permit flow of draught beverage to a dispensing tap on receipt of a draught beverage order, for monitoring the amount of beverage dispensed and for causing the beverage flow actuator to prevent flow of draught beverage once an amount equal to the size of the order has been dispensed.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the draught beverage order is received as an SMS message.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein the SMS message comprises and identification of the volume of beverage to be dispensed.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the SMS message further includes an identification of the beverage to be dispensed.

5. A system according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the beverage flow actuator comprises a solenoid.

6. A system according to ant of claims 1 to 5, comprising a means for monitoring the amount of liquid

dispensed, the monitoring means being coupled to the controller.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein the monitoring means comprises a pulse generator in the dispensing line, the pulse generator providing pulses to the controller indicative of the amount of beverage dispensed.

8. A system according to any of claims 1 to 7, comprising a plurality of beverage flow actuators, each arranged to permit or prevent beverage flow in a respective dispensing line.

9. A system according to claim 7 and 8, comprising a plurality of pulse generators, a one of the plurality of pulse generators being a arranged in each dispensing line.

10. A system according to any preceding claim, comprising means for sending, on receipt of a beverage order, an order acknowledgement to the consumer from whom the order is received.

11. A system for dispensing draught beverages, comprising a mobile communications device for receiving beverage orders, and a controller for permitting an amount of beverage to be dispensed by a user, for monitoring the amount of beverage dispensed and for preventing dispensing of beverage when the order has been completed.

12. A system for dispensing draught beverages, substantially as herein described with reference to figures 1 and 2 or 3 of the accompanying drawings.