An apparatus for making a beverage using a capsule (3), (4), wherein, respectively for a first and a second type of beverage selectable, first data and second data are saved which comprise a first and a second supplying start temperature value, a first and a second steady-state supplying temperature value, a first and a second total supplying time and a first and a second activation mode for the pump (16), and wherein an electronic control unit (19) is programmed to cause the supplying respectively of the first and second type of beverage using the first data and the second data for controlling a pump (16) and a boiler (17); wherein the first total supplying time comprises a pre-infusion time, a wait time and an infusion time; and wherein the first activation mode comprises an electricity supply to the pump (16) with an average power that is greater than that in the second activation mode. A capsule is also claimed, which is usable with the apparatus and the system which comprises the apparatus and two different capsules for making two different beverages.

A system for making beverages comprising a brewing unit (2) and a capsule (4) containing a powdered food substance (5), the capsule (4) comprising a recognition element (11) placed inside an outer casing (6), wherein the brewing unit (2) comprises a first piercing unit (17), a lighting device (26) configured to light the recognition element (11), a detecting device (13) configured to detect a return light radiation from the recognition element (11) and an electronic control unit programmed to execute a comparing step, wherein real data are compared with saved reference data and to manage brewing in a different way if the real data match reference data or do not, compared with if the comparing step indicates that the real data do not match the reference data, wherein the reference data comprise one or more combinations of division of the total intensity received in a main band, into a plurality of separate secondary bands of wavelengths, which are included in the main band.

Beverage cooling device (2) for rapidly cooling a beverage and serving the beverage when cooled, after having been dispensed from a beverage preparation machine (100) in the device, comprising a heat exchange container (3) comprising a closed chamber (4) containing a phase-change coolant capable of accumulating and restoring cooling energy and a beverage cavity (5) with an open upper end (6) for receiving the beverage; the closed chamber (4) and cavity (5) being separated by at least one heat conductive inner wall (8). The device is arranged to be handled separately from the beverage preparation machine and comprises a control unit (13) comprising a communication module (14) arranged for communicating to the beverage preparation machine information representative of the presence of the device at proximity of the beverage preparation machine and/or of a cooling state of the coolant in the chamber. The invention also relates to a system comprising a beverage preparation device and the cooling device.

Container for a beverage preparation machine or foodstuff preparation machine, the container for containing beverage or foodstuff material comprises a code encoding preparation information, in particular preparation information for a beverage preparation machine or foodstuff preparation machine to prepare a beverage or a foodstuff with beverage or foodstuff material contained in the container, the code comprising a reference portion and a data portion. The reference portion comprises at least one reference configuration defining a virtual reference line. The data portion comprises a virtual encoding line intersecting the virtual reference line at a virtual intersection point and a sequence of data units comprising at least two data units aligned at a distance from each other along the virtual encoding line for encoding a sequence of operations of the preparation information. Each data unit of the sequence of data units encodes an operation of the sequence of operations, wherein a relative position of each data unit in the sequence of data units encodes a nature of the encoded operation and wherein a distance between the data unit and the virtual intersection point and/or a distance between the data unit and another data unit of the sequence of data units or of another sequence of data units encodes a value of a condition for the performance of the encoded operation.

A method of recognizing a type of coffee from reference types of coffee, wherein each of the reference types of coffee is associated with a respective reference signal and wherein each type of coffee is associated to a characteristic combination of volatile organic compounds released from the type of coffee, may include: sensing, by one or more sensors, presence and concentration of one or more volatile organic compounds in a mixture of volatile organic compounds released from the type of coffee; generating a signal representative of the type of coffee according to the sensed one or more volatile organic compounds and the respective concentrations of the sensed one or more volatile organic compounds; comparing the generated signal with the reference signal associated with each of the reference types of coffee; and generating a recognition signal in response to the comparing of the generated signal with the reference signals.

An apparatus (1) for making a beverage, which uses a capsule (9) containing a food substance, comprises an optical capsule recognition system. The optical recognition system is intended to recognise an identification element (95) that is positioned inside the capsule (9). The optical recognition system comprises an optical reader (81) that has a reading head (82) associated with a piercer (37) and intended to enter the capsule (9) through a piercing made in said region (93) of the capsule (9). The apparatus (1) further comprises a detection system capable of detecting the reaching of a piercing position, interposed between a home position and an infusion position, wherein the piercer (37) makes a piercing in the capsule. The optical recognition system is operatively connected to the detection system and is configured to perform the recognition based on a reading performed by the optical reader (81) after the piercing position has been reached.

The present invention is directed to an authenticating apparatus, system and a method for authentication of an object or product having a secure glyph thereon. The invention is also directed to the use of the object or product in a machine wherein the secure glyph has an intellectual property protected feature and a machine readable feature.

In a cooling device (10) having a coolable storage chamber (15) for storing a plurality of storage containers (11, 12, 13, 14) having liquid foodstuffs to be made available for dispensing to a beverage dispensing device connected to the cooling device, two or more receiving compartments (21, 22, 23, 24) are provided, each of which receives one pump module (30, 30′, 30a, 30a′, 30a″, 30a′″) which is used to pump liquid foodstuff of a foodstuff type allocated to the relevant pump module to a beverage dispensing device connected to the cooling device.

An apparatus for making beverages using capsules (2) containing a food substance, having at least one image acquisition device (13) suitable for capturing images in electronic format, which show at least one portion of a capsule (2) located in an image capture zone (14) and which operates in the visible spectrum, a lighting device (15) associated with the capture zone (14) for lighting with light in the visible spectrum said portion of a capsule (2), and a detecting device (17) for detecting the presence of a capsule (2) at the capture zone (14) and/or the arrival of a capsule (2) in the capture zone (14), the detecting device (17) being operatively associated with the lighting device (15) for causing the switching of the lighting device (15) from a switched off condition to a switched on condition, depending on the detection of the presence of a capsule (2) at the capture zone (14) and/or of the arrival of a capsule (2) in the capture zone (14).

The invention concerns a system of: —a beverage preparation apparatus, wherein said apparatus comprises a mainframe (1) supporting a diluent supply (4), at least two container areas (11) with identification means reader device (13), at least two dissolution chamber areas (12), with identification means reader (14), and a user interface (16), and—a multiplicity of containers (2), with identification means (23) identifying the nature of the soluble beverage ingredient the container is designed to store, and—a multiplicity of dissolution chambers (3) with identification means (34) identifying the nature of the soluble beverage ingredient the dissolution chamber is designed to dissolve, wherein the apparatus comprises a control system (18) configured for comparing, for each pair of a container housed in a container area and a dissolution chamber housed in the chamber area positioned under the container area and receiving the soluble beverage ingredient from said container, the identification means (34) of the dissolution chamber and the identification means (23) of the container.