BEVERAGE PREPARATION MACHINE

Abstract

The present invention provides a beverage preparation machine comprising a housing; a reservoir for containing a liquid, wherein the reservoir is situated within the housing; a dispensing outlet for dispensing the liquid; a pump situated between the reservoir and the dispensing outlet; a user input means situated on an outer surface of the housing; and a pump controller configured to operate the pump for conveying liquid from the reservoir to the dispensing outlet for dispensing the liquid, wherein the input means is capable of communicating with the pump controller in order to initiate an operation of the pump; and the pump controller is configured to operate the pump based on a characteristic of the previous operation of the pump.

Claims

1. A beverage preparation machine comprising: a housing; a reservoir for containing a liquid, wherein the reservoir is situated within the housing; a dispensing outlet for dispensing the liquid; a pump situated between the reservoir and the dispensing outlet; a user input means situated on an outer surface of the housing; and a pump controller configured to operate the pump for conveying liquid from the reservoir to the dispensing outlet for dispensing the liquid, wherein the input means is capable of communicating with the pump controller in order to initiate an operation of the pump; and the pump controller is configured to operate the pump based on a characteristic of a previous operation of the pump.

2. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump comprises a time that has elapsed since the previous operation of the pump.

3. The beverage preparation machine of claim 2, wherein the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump comprises a time that has elapsed between each of a plurality of previous operations of the pump.

4. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump comprises a frequency of a plurality of previous operations of the pump.

5. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the pump controller is configured to vary the time of operation of the pump based on the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump.

6. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the pump controller is configured to vary the speed of operation of the pump based on the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump.

7. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the pump controller is configured to vary an electrical parameter of the pump based on the characteristic of the previous operation of the pump.

8. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the pump controller is configured to vary the power of operation of the pump based on a characteristic of the previous operation of the pump.

9. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the pump is a reciprocating positive displacement pump.

10. The beverage preparation machine of claim 9, wherein the pump comprises a shuttle mechanism.

11. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, further comprising a package receiving means for receiving a beverage preparation package that contains beverage preparation ingredient, wherein the dispensing outlet is configured to dispense the liquid into the beverage preparation package when the beverage preparation package is present in the package receiving means.

12. The beverage preparation machine of claim 11, further comprising a cup receiving station for receiving a beverage container, wherein the beverage preparation machine is configured so that the beverage container in the cup receiving station is capable of receiving a beverage from the beverage preparation package when the beverage preparation package is present in the package receiving means.

13. The beverage preparation machine of claim 1, wherein the beverage preparation machine does not comprise a flowmeter for measuring the volume of liquid conveyed from the reservoir to the dispensing outlet.

14. A method for operating a beverage preparation machine of claim 1, comprising the steps of: initiating a first operation of the pump; and initiating a second operation of the pump after a first time period; wherein the second operation of the pump is based on a characteristic of the first operation of the pump.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein when the first time period is less than a critical value, the second operation of the pump is different to the first operation of the pump.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second operation of the pump is for a longer time than the first operation of the pump.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the second operation of the pump is at a higher speed than the first operation of the pump.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the second operation of the pump is at a higher power than the first operation of the pump.

Description

[0042] The present invention will now described with reference to the following drawings.

[0043] FIG. 1 depicts the variation in dispensed liquid volume with number of consecutive vends in a machine without a compensation mechanism.

[0044] FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of beverage preparation apparatus of the present invention.

[0045] FIG. 3 depicts a graph of the dispensed volume with continuous vends for a beverage preparation apparatus of the present invention.

[0046] A beverage preparation apparatus of the present invention is depicted in a schematic manner in FIG. 2. The beverage preparation apparatus 2 comprises a user input means 4 in the form of a touch panel. The user input means 4 is connected to the pump controller 6 such that electrical signals can be communicated to the pump controller 6. The pump controller 6 controls pump 8 by being connected to the pump 8 so that electrical signals can be conveyed. Pump 8, when operating, conveys liquid from reservoir 10 to heater 12 and through to outlet 14. In this manner, the pump controller 6 can operate pump 8 so as to provide liquid from the reservoir 10 to be dispensed from outlet 14. The presence of heater 12 allows the water to be heated as it passes on its way to the outlet in order to produce hot beverages when desired. The tubing present between the pump 8 and the outlet 14 additionally has a valve 16 that can prevent undesired flow of liquid out of the outlet.

[0047] The beverage preparation apparatus 2 has a package receiving means 18 that retains a beverage preparation package 20. The outlet 14 is in the form of a needle that can pierce the top of the beverage preparation package 20 and so provide liquid directly into the beverage preparation package. The beverage preparation package has a heat sensitive seal on its lower edge 22 that can open under the action of the hot water that is injected into the beverage preparation package 20. In this way, the beverage can exit the beverage preparation package.

[0048] The beverage preparation machine has a beverage container receiving station 24 that can receive beverage container 26. The cup receiving station 24 ensures that the user places the beverage container 26 in the correct location to receive the prepared beverage from beverage preparation package 20.

[0049] The pump controller 6 is programmed to vary the operational time of pump 8 based on the operational history of pump 8.

[0050] An approach that is of general applicability and is not limited to the particular setup of FIG. 2 (but can be utilised with this setup) will now be described.

[0051] The pump controller 6 operates pump 8 for a time (Vend time) dictated by the following equation:

Vend time (secs)=T.sub.fixed+T1+T2+T3

[0052] Wherein T.sub.fixed is a baseline operational time for the pump, T1 is any adjustment to the vend time introduced during initial calibration of the beverage preparation apparatus, T2 is the time dictated by the user input from user input panel 4 (an optionally longer time for a larger required volume), and T3 is any volume variability compensation time that is based on the operational history of the pump 8.

[0053] Therefore, in the present example, the pump compensation is carried out by adjusting the operational time of the pump, although, as acknowledged above, other operational parameters of the pump may be varied.

[0054] In order to compensate for the decreasing vend volume depicted in FIG. 1, the following empirical compensation approach was formulated.

[0055] If the pump has not been operated for more than four minutes, then T3 in equation above is set at 0 and no compensation for recent operation is required. Whereas if a previous vend has occurred in the last four minutes then an adjustment factor is required. Accordingly, T3 was empirically found to be as follows:

T3=N×0.4 (N<10).

[0056] Wherein N is the number of vends that have occurred in the previous four minutes up to a maximum value of 9. Accordingly, 0.4 seconds is added for each vend that has occurred in the previous four minutes.

[0057] The effect of applying this compensation mechanism can be appreciated by comparing FIGS. 1 and 3. FIG. 3 depicts the volume dispensed with continuous vends with the compensation mechanism compared to the exact same setup without the compensation mechanism reported in FIG. 1. It can be seen that the compensation mechanism significantly increases the consistency of the dispensation of liquid without the need for a flowmeter.

[0058] The foregoing description describes aspects of the invention but should not be considered limiting. The invention is defined in the following claims.