A machine intended for cooling and draining contents of a metal beverage can comprising a refrigerated housing intended to receive a can; a tube projecting into the refrigerated housing and defining a bore. The machine further includes a removable subassembly including a stirrer mounted to slide with respect to the tube to pass through the bore between an upper position in which the stirrer projects above the upper edge of the tube and a position in which the stirrer is set back with respect to the upper edge of the tube; a duct having an outlet orifice and an inlet orifice communicating with the bore; a plug blocking or opening selectively the outlet orifice of the duct.

A system is described for providing automated bottled water reordering service based on monitored usage. The system comprises a water dispenser, a sensor and a server. The water dispenser is connected with a replaceable bottled water for supplying a drinking water from the bottled water. The sensor monitors a drinking water consumption in the water dispenser. The server receives a data associated with the drinking water consumption from the sensor and then determines whether a trigger event has occurred by comparing the drinking water consumption with a reference. After the trigger event has occurred, The server sends a replenishment message to a customer device for the customer to confirm whether or not to place a replenishment order of a bottled water delivery service.

A refrigeration appliance apparatus has an appliance body and an appliance door delimiting a refrigeration chamber. A water-dispensing unit is disposed on a side wall of the appliance body or appliance door. The water-dispensing unit has a guide for dispensing water and at least one actuating unit.

Systems and methods for dispensing consumable liquids are disclosed. An example networked system includes a server and a plurality of beverage dispenser stations. Each of the beverage dispenser stations includes a filler including a filler outlet configured to deliver a beverage into a container, an RFID reader configured to read an RFID tag fixed to a water filter through which water for the beverage is to flow, and a controller. The controller is configured determine a duration-of-use of the water filter and a volume of water that has passed through the water filter. Each of the beverage dispenser stations also includes a network communications interface configured to communicate the duration-of-use and the volume of water to the networked administrative server to track use of the water filter among the plurality of beverage dispenser stations.

A water purifier according to an aspect includes: a cooling water tank that keeps cooling water; a cold water pipe provided in the cooling water tank; an evaporator provided in the cooling water tank; a separator on which the evaporator is provided and that is provided over the cold water pipe to divide the internal space of the cooling water tank into a first space and a second space; a stirring member that is provided in the cooling water tank and stirs the cooling water; a stirring motor that has a rotary shaft to which the stirring member is coupled; a stirring motor cap that covers the side and the top edge of the stirring motor; and a stirring motor support to which the stirring motor cap is fastened and that is provided at the top of the cooling water tank to seal the top of the cooling water tank.

A refrigerator utilizes a quick fill dispenser that incorporates a fluid storage receptacle that is easily removable for cleaning and/or dispensing independently of the refrigerator.

A refrigerator includes an outer case, an inner case configured to define a storage space, an insulation material between the outer case and the inner case, a tank provided inside the storage space to store liquid, a rear guide provided at a rear through which a supply tube configured to supply liquid to the tank passes, a dispenser provided inside of the storage space to dispense liquid from the tank, and a tube guide embedded in the insulation material between the inner case and the outer case to define a passage through which a discharge tube configured to connect the tank to the dispenser passes.

Fill stations, cup dispensers and faucet clips configured for robotic interaction and associated methods and systems are disclosed herein. One disclosed system includes a robot with a visible light sensor and an end effector, a mechanical scale for weighing a vessel, and a visual flag translated by the mechanical scale. The visual flag is hidden when the vessel is below a target weight and is revealed when the vessel is above a target weight. The robot is programmed to detect the visual flag using the visible light sensor and disengage a dispenser of the fill station in response to the detecting of the visual flag.

An apparatus for making a beverage includes a housing, a first receptacle, a second receptacle, a cutting assembly, a water source, and at least one water outlet. The first receptacle is positioned in the housing for accepting a first beverage container containing a liquid. The second receptacle is positioned in the housing for accepting a second beverage container containing a liquid. The cutting assembly has a cutting blade that is movable relative to the first and second receptacles for opening the first and second containers substantially simultaneously so that liquid stored therein can be at least in part evacuated. The water source is coupled to the housing The at least one water outlet is associated with one or more of the first and second receptacles for adding water to the liquid from the first and second beverage containers from the water source.

A networked system for providing and maintaining a set of liquid dispenser stations is described. The fluid dispensers communicate with a managing/supervisory cloud server via an interposed base station. The fluid dispensers communicate locally with the base station via wireless communication network links. The base station operates as an accumulator of status/usage information provided by the dispenser stations and bridge for passing information and control commands between the cloud server and the individual dispenser stations. The dispenser stations are configured with control processors (controllers) to facilitate performing a variety of local control operations associated with dispensing liquids that have been cooled (or heated) prior to dispensing by the dispenser stations. Additionally, the dispenser stations cooperatively operate with the cloud server (via the base station) to support a variety of real time control and maintenance operations relating to the dispenser stations operating at potentially thousands of distinct geographic locations.