Granted Patent B2

US 12,428,283 · App. 18/006,905 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: David James Mulcahey (Roswell, GA); Michael Lawrence Connor (Atlanta, GA); Jason Franz Hejna (Atlanta, GA)

Assignee: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

B67D1/07B67D1/0888

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A beverage dispenser for dispensing a beverage into a cup, comprising:

a dispensing area;

a nozzle in the dispensing area;

an optical recognition system;

the optical recognition system comprising a camera positioned about the dispensing area;

wherein the camera comprises an infrared camera and/or an ultraviolet camera; and

wherein the cup comprises a code in invisible ink and wherein the infrared camera and/or the ultraviolet camera reads the code.

2. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the camera detects the cup within the dispensing area.

3. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the dispensing area comprises residue of the beverage therein and wherein the camera detects the residue.

4. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a visible spectrum camera.

5. The beverage dispenser of claim 4 , wherein the cup comprises a code in visible ink thereon and wherein the camera reads the code.

6. The beverage dispenser of claim 4 , wherein the code comprises dispensing parameters for operating the beverage dispenser.

7. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , where the cup comprises the code in infrared ink and wherein the infrared camera reads the code.

8. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , where the cup comprises the code in ultraviolet ink and wherein the ultraviolet camera reads the code.

9. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the optical recognition system comprises an artificial intelligence module in communication with the camera.

10. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the optical recognition system comprises a plurality of cameras.

11. The beverage dispenser of claim 10 , wherein the optical recognition system comprises one or more of a visible spectrum camera, the infrared camera, and the ultraviolet camera.

12. The beverage dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a processor in communication with the optical recognition system.

13. A method of operating a beverage dispenser, comprising:

providing a cup with a code thereon in invisible ink indicating dispensing parameters;

receiving the cup within a dispensing area of the beverage dispenser;

reading the code with an infrared camera and/or an ultraviolet camera positioned about the dispensing area;

determining the dispensing parameters; and

dispensing a beverage into the cup according to the dispensing parameters.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (25)