The method includes indentifying the beer keg to a brewery which fills the keg and for identifying the date on which the beer keg is filled. A sensor system is attachable to or built into the beer keg for identifying the temperature of the beer and for locating the keg. A communication system directly transmits information between the brewery and the sensor system on the keg.

A liquid storage apparatus including a container, an upper cover, a dispensing faucet, a conduit, a gas cylinder and a gas cylinder sleeve. The container includes a cavity and an upper opening. The upper cover is arranged on the upper opening. The dispensing faucet is led out from a side of the upper cover and is connected to the conduit in the upper cover; and the conduit extends to a bottom of the container. The upper cover includes an adjusting knob, and a pressure of the cavity of the container is adjusted by rotating to open or close a valve of the gas cylinder. The pressure in the container can be adjusted since the gas cylinder is arranged in the container and the valve of the gas cylinder can be opened or closed by rotating the adjustment knob.

A liquid storage apparatus including a container, an upper cover, a dispensing faucet, a conduit, a gas cylinder and a gas cylinder sleeve. The container includes a cavity and an upper opening. The upper cover is arranged on the upper opening. The dispensing faucet is led out from a side of the upper cover and is connected to the conduit in the upper cover; and the conduit extends to a bottom of the container. The upper cover includes an adjusting knob, and a pressure of the cavity of the container is adjusted by rotating to open or close a valve of the gas cylinder. The pressure in the container can be adjusted since the gas cylinder is arranged in the container and the valve of the gas cylinder can be opened or closed by rotating the adjustment knob.

A removable liquid transport assembly configured to be readily installed in and removed from a liquid dispenser to permit the liquid dispenser to be readily sanitized. The removable liquid transport assembly preferably includes a liquid manifold, a valve assembly and a pump head. The removable liquid transport assembly is configured such that liquid can flow in a first direction through the removable liquid transport assembly to permit a liquid to be dispensed from a liquid dispenser and liquid can flow in a second direction back to a liquid storage container to prevent damage to one or more components of the liquid dispenser.

A flexible container (80) includes a reservoir part (82) that reserves a liquid and a discharge passage part (81) that communicates with the reservoir part (82) to take out the liquid. A discharge pump includes a plurality of roller parts (50) that press the discharge passage part (81) and an endless transfer mechanism unit (60) that has the plurality of roller parts (50) attached at a predetermined interval and causes the roller parts (50) to go around. The endless transfer mechanism unit (60) has an arrangement including a straight-line portion in which the roller parts (50) linearly move, in a path of the go-around movement. An attachment interval of the plurality of roller parts (50) is set to such an interval that before a certain roller part (50) going around reaches a position where the certain roller part (50) does not press the discharge passage part (81), a subsequent roller part (50) is able to reach a position where the subsequent roller part (50) presses the discharge passage part (81). Each of the roller parts (50) linearly moves sequentially in a discharge direction of the liquid with respect to the discharge passage part (81) while pressing the discharge passage part (81).

A container management system (1) with a number of containers (2) which have identifying, electronically readable codes assigned to them, and with a number of dispensing/filling stations configured for dispensing a liquid from the container (2) or supplying said container with a fluid. The dispensing/filling stations are associated with electronic reading units by means of which the codes of containers (2) can be read. Data read by the electronic reading units are fed into a cloud-based computer system (13) configured for storing and analyzing the data.

A liquid dispenser may include a container having an upper opening, a pump provided in the container, a pipe through which liquid discharged from the pump is transferred, a top plate having an upper surface over which liquid flows, a filter assembly provided below the top plate, a base provided below the container, and a thermoelectric element provided in the base to cool the liquid in the container.

A system, device and method of use includes a data processing system configured to enable a first entity to control dispensing of a consumable provided in a package. An Internet-of-Things (IoT) device is directly associated with the package. A communications system communicatively couples the IoT device with the data processing system. The package may be a beer keg. The IoT device may include a valve for controlling the package by selecting an operating state for the valve. The data processing system enables a user to remotely control the valve. The IoT device captures and communicates consumable data, such as environmental data, location data, consumption data, and transactional data, to the data processing system. Transactional data may include payment information provided by a consumer. The IoT device controls the operating state of the valve based upon the payment information provided by the consumer.

An example system for detecting a beer keg includes a transmitter assembly attached to the beer keg, a receiver assembly attached to a handle for attaching to the mouth of the beer keg, and a data processing apparatus in communication with the receiver assembly. The transmitter assembly includes a memory storing a unique identifier for the beer keg, a wireless transmitter for transmitting a wireless signal encoding the unique identifier, and a loop antenna positioned around a mouth of the beer keg. The receiver assembly includes a reader for reading the wireless signal from the transmitter beacon when the handle is attached to the mouth. The data processing is programmed to detect the unique identifier based on the wireless signal read by the reader.

Automatic identification and pairing authentication systems, devices, and methods capable of identifying and verifying the pairing of kegs and taps regardless of the position of a tap relative to a keg on which it is installed. Such a system includes an identification (ID) unit integrated onto a keg and a pairing device integrated onto a tap, wherein the ID unit and the pairing device communicate through a wireless connection.