Beverage Preparation Machines and Methods For Operating Beverage Preparation Machines

Abstract

A method of operating a beverage preparation machine, the beverage preparation machine being of the type comprising a brewer comprising: a reservoir containing water; a delivery head for receiving in use a cartridge containing one or more beverage ingredients; a pump for pumping water from said reservoir to said delivery head; a primary heater for heating the water contained in said reservoir; a secondary heater in between the reservoir and the delivery head; a controller for controlling energisation of the primary heater and the secondary heater; and wherein the controller operates to prevent energisation of the primary heater simultaneous with energisation of the secondary heater. An apparatus for carrying out the method is also disclosed and methods and apparatus utilising first and second brewers.

Claims

1.-57. (canceled)

58. A beverage preparation machine comprising: a reservoir for water; a delivery head for receiving in use a cartridge containing one or more beverage ingredients; a pump for pumping water from said reservoir to said delivery head; a primary heater for heating water contained in said reservoir; a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of water in the reservoir; an inlet valve communicating with the reservoir and connectable to an external source of water and operable to control inflow of water into the reservoir; a controller for controlling operation of the inlet valve, said controller being operatively connected to the temperature sensor to receive temperature signals indicative of the temperature of water in the reservoir and operatively connected to the inlet valve to control opening and closing of the inlet valve; wherein the controller is operable to open the inlet valve to allow inflow of water into the reservoir in response to temperature signals from the temperature sensor; wherein the controller is operable to open the inlet valve to allow inflow of water when the temperature of the water in the reservoir is within a fill differential of a target water temperature; further, wherein the controller is operable to allow actuation of the pump in order to dispense a beverage only when the temperature of the water within the reservoir is within a vend differential of the target water temperature.

59. The beverage preparation machine of claim 58 wherein the target temperature is between 70 and 95 degrees Celsius.

60. The beverage preparation machine of claim 59 wherein the target temperature is approximately 85 degrees Celsius.

61. The beverage preparation machine of claim 58 wherein the fill differential is smaller than the vend differential.

62. The beverage preparation machine of claim 58 wherein the fill differential is approximately 5 degrees Celsius.

63. The beverage preparation machine of claim 58 wherein the vend differential is approximately 10 degrees Celsius.

64. The beverage preparation machine of claim 58 wherein the controller is operable to execute a time delay between closing of the inlet valve and re-opening of the inlet valve.

65. A beverage preparation machine comprising a first brewer and a second brewer, each of the first and second brewers comprising a beverage preparation machine as claimed in claim 58.

66. A method of operating a beverage preparation machine of the type comprising: a reservoir for water; a delivery head for receiving in use a cartridge containing one or more beverage ingredients; a pump for pumping water from said reservoir to said delivery head; a primary heater for heating water contained in said reservoir; a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of water in the reservoir; an inlet valve communicating with the reservoir and connectable to an external source of water and operable to control inflow of water into the reservoir; a controller for controlling operation of the inlet valve, said controller being operatively connected to the temperature sensor to receive temperature signals indicative of the temperature of water in the reservoir and operatively connected to the inlet valve to control opening and closing of the inlet valve; the method comprising the steps of operating the controller to open the inlet valve to allow inflow of water into the reservoir in response to temperature signals from the temperature sensor; operating the controller to open the inlet valve to allow inflow of water when the temperature of the water in the reservoir is within a fill differential of a target water temperature; further, operating the controller to allow actuation of the pump in order to dispense a beverage only when the temperature of the water within the reservoir is within a vend differential of the target water temperature.

67. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 66 wherein the target temperature is between 70 and 95 degrees Celsius.

68. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 67 wherein the target temperature is approximately 85 degrees Celsius.

69. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 66 wherein the fill differential is smaller than the vend differential.

70. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 66 wherein the fill differential is approximately 5 degrees Celsius.

71. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 66 wherein the vend differential is approximately 10 degrees Celsius.

72. The method of operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 66 comprising operating the controller to execute a time delay between closing of the inlet valve and re-opening of the inlet valve.

Description

[0132] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0133] FIG. 1 is perspective view of a first embodiment of beverage preparation machine according to the present invention which includes first and second brewers;

[0134] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of beverage preparation machine according to the present invention which includes a single brewer;

[0135] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the beverage preparation machine of FIG. 1;

[0136] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a water flow path within the beverage preparation machines of FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0137] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of the operation of a controller of the beverage preparation machine of FIG. 1; and

[0138] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating operation of the beverage preparation machine of FIG. 1 when first switched on.

[0139] The beverage preparation machines 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 each comprise a housing 2 containing the internal mechanisms of the machine such as a water reservoir, a pump and a heating means.

[0140] The machine 1 of FIG. 2 comprises a single brewer. The machine 1 of FIG. 1 comprises a first brewer and a second brewer coupled together.

[0141] Each brewer of the machines 1 comprises a delivery head 3 provided towards an upper part of the housing 2 in which, in use, is received a cartridge containing one or more beverage ingredients. Beverage is dispensed from the brewer through an outlet spout 5 by pumping water from the reservoir of the brewer through the cartridge to form the beverage which is then directed through the outlet spout 5 into a cup 6. As can be seen in FIG. 1, two outlet spouts 5 are provided for a machine with two brewers.

[0142] As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second brewers of the beverage machine of FIG. 1 are of the same configuration internally and functionally. The components of the first brewer are shown in FIG. 3 with the suffix ‘a’ and the components of the second brewer are shown with the suffix ‘b’. Each brewer comprises a reservoir 30, a power supply unit (PSU) 45, a controller 47, a pump 50, a secondary heater 51, a delivery head (shown in FIG. 3 by the collective numeral 55) and a user interface 61, 62.

[0143] The machine 1 further comprises a common flow diverter 63 which channels the output from the delivery heads 55 into one or more receptacles 6 positioned on a drip tray 64 or cup stand assembly 4. The drip tray 64 may be provided with a sensor 66 connected to one or both of the controllers 47 to indicate when the drip tray 64 is full. There is also provided a waste bin 60 for ejected cartridges. The waste bin 60 is provided with a sensor 65 connected to one or both of the controllers 47 to detect when the waste bin 60 is full. The cup stand assembly may comprise a cup stand 6 mounted on a shaft 10.

[0144] Each reservoir 30 comprises a primary heater 31 in the form of an immersion heater element, a water temperature sensor 32, an overheat sensor 33, water level sensors 34, a boil sensor 35, an overflow outlet 36 and a drain point 36. In addition the reservoir 30 is provided with a filling point where a manual fill 38 may be carried out—for example by accessing the reservoir through a removable lid, or an automatic fill may be carried out using an inlet valve 41 plumbed into a mains supply 40 of water.

[0145] Each PSU 45 provides electrical power to its respective brewer. The PSUs 45 are connected to an external mains supply 46. A single external connection to the mains power supply 46 is utilised. For example a single power flex terminating in a two or three pin plug is provided.

[0146] Each controller 47 comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) having mounted thereon a processor and memory as well as an input/output interface for transmitting and receiving signals from the primary heater 31, temperature sensor 32, overheat sensor 33, water level sensors 34, boil sensor 35, inlet valve 41, PSU 45, pump 50, secondary heater 51, delivery head 55 and user interface 61, 62 of its respective brewer. In addition, the controllers 47 of the two brewers transmit and receive signals from each other using interconnect 48 in order to co-ordinate operation of the two brewers as described below. The interconnect 48 may be a collection of wire connects or a dedicated data bus with onboard controller.

[0147] The memory stores operational code which is used to control the operational behaviour of the machine under various operational scenarios as will be described below. The memory may be a read-only memory or a writable memory such as an EPROM.

[0148] Each pump 50 has an input connected to its respective reservoir 30 and an output connected to its respective secondary heater 51. The pumps 50 may be a peristaltic type of pump wherein a known volume of water is throughput on each cycle or revolution of the pumping member. Alternatively, a pulse counter encoder may be utilised connected to the controller for determining volume throughput. The flow rate produced by the pumps 50 may be varied under the control of the controller 47 between dispense cycles and within an individual dispense cycle. Typically flow rates of between 0 and 13 mls.sup.−1 are utilised. Advantageously a very slow flow rate is used at the start of the dispense cycle to maximise heat transfer from the secondary heaters 51.

[0149] Preferably, an electromechanical check valve is located between the pump 50 and the secondary heater 51. In addition a 2.5 bar overpressure device is fitted to the flow line.

[0150] Each secondary heater 51 comprises an instantaneous flash heater having a through-flow tube in which water to be heated passes and an electrical heating element 52 thermally connected to an exterior of the tube. A temperature sensor 53 is located at the exit of the secondary heater 51 to monitor the temperature of the water exiting the secondary heater. This measurement is fed to the controller 47.

[0151] The output from the secondary heater 51 is delivered to the delivery head 55.

[0152] The delivery head 55 comprises a piercing element 56 and a clamping element 58 which can receive in use a cartridge 70 which is to be dispensed. A barcode reader 57 is provided for reading an identifying barcode located on the cartridge 70. The delivery head 55 can be moved in between an open configuration in which the cartridge 70 can be inserted into the delivery head 55 and a closed configuration in which the cartridge 70 is clamped by the clamping member 58 and an inlet and outlet are formed by the piercing element 56.

[0153] An ejection mechanism 59 may be provided for ejecting the cartridges 70 from the delivery head 55 after dispensation. However, for the purposes of the present invention the ejection mechanism and the detailed operation of the delivery head 55 will not be described in detail.

[0154] Each user interface comprises a start/stop button 61 and a LCD display panel 62 for displaying information to a user.

[0155] In use, assuming that the water in one of the reservoirs 30 is at the required temperature the LCD display 62 for that brewer will indicate that a cartridge should be inserted into the delivery head 55. The cartridge 70 is then inserted by a user and the delivery head 55 closed to pierce the cartridge 55. The start/stop button 61 is then pressed to commence the dispense cycle. During dispense water follows a flow path as shown schematically in FIG. 4. A portion of the water in the reservoir 30 that has been heated to a holding temperature by the primary heater 31 is pumped by the pump 50 through the secondary heater 51 to the delivery head 55. On passing through the secondary heater 51 the temperature of the water is raised, if required, by energisation of the secondary heater element 52. On reaching the delivery head 55 the water is directed through the cartridge 70 to form the beverage. The beverage exits the outlet of the cartridge and is directed via the flow diverter 63 out of one of the outlets 5 of the machine 1 into a receptacle 6.

[0156] The holding temperature of the reservoir is between 70 and 95 degrees Celsius and preferably is 85 degrees Celsius.

[0157] The temperature of the water on exiting the secondary heater 53 is set by the controller 47 and a positive feedback control is utilised using the temperature sensor 53 with the controller 47 adjusting the power of the heating element 52 as necessary to achieve the desired temperature for the water at the point the water reaches the delivery head. The temperature of the water reaching the delivery head is desired to be between 85 and 94 degrees Celsius depending on the type of beverage being dispensed. Thus, the desired temperature of the water directly exiting the secondary heater will be greater than this to allow for heat losses during transport of the water from the secondary heater to the delivery head. In practice the required temperature levels at the exit of the secondary heater for the water would be determined by experiment but may, for example, be in the range of 90 to 103 degrees Celsius.

[0158] According to the present invention, the control of the machine as determined by operation of the controllers 47 is programmed to limit the maximum power requirement of the machine 1.

[0159] Firstly, each controller 47 operates to prevent simultaneous energisation of the primary heater 31 and secondary heater 51 of its own brewer. Secondly, the controllers 47 of both brewers communicate using the interconnect 48 to prevent energisation of the primary heater 31 of one brewer at the same time as energisation of the primary heater 31 or secondary heater 51 of the other brewer. In other words, the two primary heaters 31 cannot be energised simultaneously and neither can either primary heater 31 be energised simultaneously with either secondary heater 51. An advantage of the present machine is that both secondary heaters 51 may be energised simultaneously. This allows both brewers to dispense at the same time.

[0160] The control logic applied by both controllers 47 is shown schematically in the flow chart of FIG. 5. The ‘start’ box represents the start point of the control loop and the machine would initially be in this position on first switching on. The primary heaters 31 of the brewers operate on a first come-first served basis such that the controller 47 that first requests to switch on its primary heater 31 will be successful and this primary heater 31 will remain energised until either the water in the reservoir 30 reaches the holding temperature or a dispense cycle is initiated.

[0161] Both controllers 47 can set or release a ‘heat inhibit’ condition which prevents energisation of the primary heater 31 of the other brewer.

[0162] An example of the control logic in operation is shown in FIG. 6 which illustrates the initial operation of the machine on switching on. At first the reservoirs 30 of the first and second brewers are below the holding temperature therefore on switching on both LCD displays show a ‘Heating Please Wait’ message. On switching on the first brewer, in this example, is first to request energisation of its primary heater 31a and thus its primary heater 31a switches on. Because of this the primary heater 31b of the second brewer remains off. Once the temperature of the reservoir 30a is up to the holding temperature a ‘Please Insert Cartridge’ message is displayed on the display 62a of the first brewer. At this point the controller 47a of the first brewer de-energises its primary heater 31a and clears the ‘heat inhibit’ condition allowing the controller 47b of the second brewer to energise its primary heater 31b.

[0163] FIG. 6 illustrates that if during heating of the water in reservoir 30b a user commences a dispense cycle using the first brewer by pressing the start/stop button 61a this takes precedence and the primary heater 31b of the second brewer is de-energised to allow the secondary heater 51a of the first brewer to be switched on.

[0164] FIG. 6 further illustrates that if dispensing the beverage from the first brewer causes its reservoir 30a to fall below the holding temperature (in reality this would require dispensation of a number of beverages) then the primary heater 31a will want to switch on at the end of the dispense cycle. However, in this example, using the first come-first served principle, the controller 47b of the second brewer is first to request energisation of its primary heater 31b. Thus the reservoir 30b of the second brewer heats up to the holding temperature first at which point the primary heater 31b switches off allowing the primary heater 31a of the first brewer to switch back on.

[0165] An advantage of this method of control is that one of the brewers will heat up quickly on initial start up to allow quick dispensation to take place.

[0166] The intercommunication between the controllers 47 allows for energisation of the primary heater 31 of one of the brewers even during relatively short pauses in use of the pumps or secondary heaters 51 of the brewers. For example, the primary heater 31 of one of the brewers may be energised during a steeping pause in a dispense cycle.

[0167] Optionally, the brewers may use a steam purge for cleaning the delivery heads 55 and also to help drive out liquid or beverage from the cartridges 70. The steam is generated by the secondary heater 51. The steam may be producing from water fed to the secondary heater 51 specifically for this purpose but is preferably generated from residual water remaining in the secondary heater 51 and associated pipework at the end of the beverage dispensation phase of the delivery cycle. The steam may be generated by specific energisation the secondary heater 51 for a period or relying on the residual heat energy contained in the secondary heater 51 and associated pipework from heating the liquid water.

[0168] Aspects of the present invention also apply to a beverage preparation machine comprising a single brewer as shown in FIG. 2. The operation, construction and temperature control of the single brewer is as explained above with regard to the beverage preparation machine comprising first and second brewers mutatis mutandis. In particular operation of the single brewer is controlled by controller 47. In this case the controller 47 acts to ensure that the primary heater 31 and secondary heater 51 are not energised simultaneously in the same manner as described above.

[0169] As described in the above embodiments the temperature of the water exiting the secondary heater 51 can be controlled by positive feedback control using the controller 47 and the temperature sensor 53. It has been found that positive feedback control of the water temperature is somewhat ineffective for the first few seconds of the water flow. In other words, it requires a few seconds for the feedback loop to be established before accurate temperature control is obtained. In order to provide more effective temperature control, especially for the initial period of water flow, feed-forward temperature control is implemented. The controller 47 is pre-programmed with a number of operational scenarios and adjusts the operation of the secondary heater 51 accordingly. The controller 47 selects the operational behaviour based on the time since the last dispense cycle and the temperature of the secondary heater 51.

[0170] For example, where a relatively long period has elapsed since the last dispense cycle (e.g. over 10 minutes) a ‘cold start’ program is initiated wherein a small volume (around 10 ml) of water is pumped through the pipework into the secondary heater 51 and then held there whilst the secondary heater 51 is energised to heat the water to the required pre-wet temperature before passing the water to the brew head. The length of this ‘stabilisation time’ will be longer for a ‘cold start’ than for an ‘intermediate start’ where a beverage has been dispensed within, say, the last five minutes. For a ‘hot start’ where a beverage is dispensed immediately or very shortly after a preceding beverage the stabilisation time will be shorter still—or indeed no stabilisation time may be required at all.

[0171] Feed-forward control of the secondary heater 51 applies equally to all of the embodiments described above.

[0172] In the above embodiments, a beverage dispense cycle may be operated using energisation of only the secondary heater(s) 51. In other words, the primary heater(s) may be off during the entire time that a beverage is being dispensed. Thereafter the primary heater(s) may be energised if required to maintain or raise the temperature in the reservoir(s) 30.

[0173] The controllers 47 of the machines 1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 can also be used to control automatic refilling of each reservoir 30. Operation of the inlet valve 41 is under the control of the controller 47. The controller 47 operates to limit the temperature drop of the reservoir 30 caused by injecting cold water into the heated water already in the reservoir 30. This is achieved by monitoring the actual temperature of the water using the temperatures sensor 32 and only allowing the inlet valve 41 to be opened when the actual temperature is within a fill differential of the target holding temperature. For example, when the target holding temperature is 85 degrees Celsius a fill differential of 5 degrees may be used meaning that the inlet valve 41 cannot be opened to admit water to the reservoir until the actual temperature is at least 80 degrees Celsius. In addition, the controller 47 utilises a vend differential parameter to control when the water in the reservoir is sufficiently close to the target holding temperature to allow a dispense cycle to take place. For example, the vend differential may be set at 10 degrees meaning that dispensation can take place as long as the actual water temperature is at least 75 degrees Celsius (in this case the secondary heater 51 is used to make up the initial temperature deficit to ensure the water is at the target delivery temperature when it reaches the delivery head 55).

[0174] As a result a reservoir 30 that is sitting at the target temperature may be refilled when water is pumped out of the reservoir until the temperature in the reservoir falls by 5 degrees. Thus top-up filling of the reservoir in these circumstances does not prevent the immediate use of further water if demanded. Under very heavy usage conditions (or on the first filling of the reservoir after plumbing in or emptying for servicing) the water level in the reservoir 30 may reach the low level sensor 34 at which point the controller 47 will open the inlet valve 41 to allow refilling and dispensation of beverages will not be possible until the reservoir reaches at least 75 degrees Celsius.