Semi-automatic beverage making apparatus
View Patent ↗A beverage making system that includes a plurality of packs containing different beverage making ingredients and having different infrared reflectance spectra in a region thereof. A beverage making apparatus includes a station for receiving at least one of the packs; a source of liquid adapted to supply liquid into the at least one pack while the pack is located at the station; a system controller for controlling the supply of liquid from the source according to a beverage making program; and an infrared pack recognition system comprising an infrared light source for illuminating the region of the pack while it is located at the station. The apparatus also includes a detector for measuring an intensity of infrared light reflected from the region and for supplying an output signal to the system controller, whereby the beverage-making program is selected by the system controller in response to the output of the infrared pack recognition system.
1. A beverage making system comprising:
a plurality of packs containing different beverage making ingredients, said packs having different infrared reflectance spectra in a region of the packs;
a beverage making apparatus comprising a station for receiving at least one of the packs;
a source of liquid adapted to supply liquid into the at least one pack while the pack is positioned at the station;
a system controller for controlling the supply of liquid from said source according to a beverage making program;
and an infrared pack recognition system comprising an infrared light source for illuminating the said region of the pack while it is located at the said station and a detector for measuring an intensity of infrared light reflected from the said region and for supplying an output signal to the system controller,
wherein the beverage-making program is selected by the system controller in response to the output of the infrared pack recognition system.
2. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein each said pack is a capsule enclosing a predetermined portion of the beverage making ingredient.
3. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein each pack comprises a flexible film material, and said region is located on the flexible film material.
4. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein the source of liquid comprises an injector for injecting liquid into the pack.
5. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein the source of liquid can be programmed by the control system to provide a plurality of different beverage making programs.
6. A beverage making system according to claim 5 , wherein the different beverage making programs are characterized by one or more parameters selected from the group consisting of temperature, pressure and/or flow rate as a function of time, total volume, or combinations thereof.
7. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein the infrared pack recognition system comprises an integrating sphere.
8. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein the beverage making apparatus comprises a reference surface for self-calibration of the infrared pack recognition system.
9. A beverage making system according to claim 1 , wherein a single measurement (data point) of IR reflectance averaged over the measurement wavelength band and/or averaged over an area of the pack is used to discriminate between different packs of the system.
10. A beverage making system according to claim 9 , wherein different packs in the system have a constant visible appearance in the region where reflectance is measured, but different IR reflectances in that region.