Granted Patent B2

US 12,351,449 · App. 18/435,350 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventors: Mark Lyons (Ashburn, VA); Robert Lawson-Shanks (Reston, VA); Abraham Maclean (Arlington, VA); Justin Toelle (Washington, DC); Filipe Aguiar (Reston, VA); Aleksander Drozdetski (Herndon, VA)

Assignee: Cirkul, Inc.

B67D1/0888A47J43/27B01F33/50111B01F35/2112B67D1/0019B67D1/0882B67D1/1238B67D1/1243B01F2101/14

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A beverage apparatus that is hand-holdable by a user and portable, the beverage apparatus comprising:

a beverage chamber configured to hold a consumable liquid;

a vessel containing an additive to be combined with the consumable liquid to form a beverage, the vessel including a valve through which the additive is dispensed into the consumable liquid;

a tag that includes a tag memory portion (TMP) and a tag communication element, the tag being affixed to the vessel;

a controller that includes a processor and memory including instructions implemented by the processor, the processor configured to communicate with the tag; and

a communication element configured to transmit communications between the processor and the tag;

wherein the processor is configured to identify a change in state of the beverage apparatus, adjust a value of a state variable based on the change in state from a first value to a second value, and cause the second value of the state variable to be written to the TMP of the tag.

2. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a dispensing assembly configured to removably hold the vessel and having a dispense mechanism operably associated with the vessel, the dispense mechanism operable to cause dispensing of the additive from the vessel for mixing with the consumable liquid.

3. The beverage apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to control the dispense mechanism to dispense the additive from the vessel.

4. The beverage apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to input a default dose from the tag, determine a dispense amount based on the default dose, and control the dispense mechanism to dispense the dispense amount of the additive for mixing with the consumable liquid.

5. The beverage apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to adjust the value of the state variable to include an adjusted fill value that represents an amount of the additive in the vessel.

6. The beverage apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the dispense amount by comparing the dispense amount with a fill value representing an amount of the additive in the vessel to determine if sufficient additive is available.

7. The beverage apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to adjust the default dose based on a taste preference coefficient (TPC) so as to generate an adjusted dispense value, and to use the adjusted dispense value as the dispense amount.

8. The beverage apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to multiply the default dose by the TPC to generate the adjusted dispense value.

9. The beverage apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to compare the adjusted dispense value with a maximum dose of the additive to determine if the adjusted dispense value is more or less than the maximum dose.

10. The beverage apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to input a maximum dose of the additive from the tag, and compare the dispense amount with a maximum dose of the additive to determine if the dispense amount is more or less than the maximum dose.

11. The beverage apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to compare the dispense amount with a maximum dose of the additive to determine if the dispense amount is more or less than the maximum dose.

12. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to retrieve a fill value from the TMP.

13. The beverage apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to cause an adjusted fill value to be written over the fill value in the TMP.

14. The beverage apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to retrieve the adjusted fill value, and confirm that the vessel has sufficient additive for a dispense based on the retrieved adjusted fill value.

15. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

retrieve tag warning data from the tag;

retrieve profile warning data from the memory;

compare the tag warning data and the profile warning data; and

determine that there is not a match between the tag warning data and the profile warning data.

16. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

retrieve expiry data from the tag, the expiry data including at least one selected from the group consisting of (1) an expiration date, and (2) a fill date and life duration;

determine, based on the expiry data, whether the vessel is or is not expired, to respectively indicate whether the vessel is or is not suitable for use; and

determining that the vessel is not expired.

17. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , further including a light that is adjustable in color and configured to illuminate the consumable liquid;

wherein the processor is configured to retrieve light color data from the tag, and control the light to emit a predetermined color based on the light color data.

18. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to communicate with the tag including encrypting information to be sent to the tag, and decrypting information received from the tag.

19. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the tag is an RFID tag that includes an integrated circuit, the tag communication element includes an antenna, and the communication element includes a transceiver.

20. The beverage apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vessel is a first vessel, the tag is a first tag, and the beverage apparatus further includes a second vessel that is associated with a second tag that communicates with the controller to perform dispensing of a second additive from the second vessel.

Assignments (6)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (354)