System and method for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment

Abstract

A remote data acquisition and transmission system and method are disclosed. A plurality of application controllers are interfaced with remote beverage dispensing equipment from which operation data is acquired by the application controllers. The application controllers communicate with an application host via a local area network, and the application host can communicate with a network operations center using a wide area network interface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 923,046 filed Aug. 6, 2001 and entitled “System and Method for Monitoring and Control of Beverage Dispensing Equipment, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 224,097 filed Aug. 9, 2000 and entitled “System and Method for Monitoring and Control of Beverage Dispensing Equipment”; and [0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 267,254 filed Mar. 12, 1999 entitled “Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System” which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 078,645, filed Mar. 19, 1998, and entitled “Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System for the Monitoring and Control of Vending Machines” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 099,434, filed Sep. 8, 1998, and entitled “Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System.”TECHNICAL FIELD OF TH...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a remote data acquisition and transmission system for beverage dispensing equipment. The system allows operators to gather data from the field without having to manually retrieve the data from the equipment and transmit it to the field. This leads to improved sales, lower operational costs, and better equipment performance. The system includes an application controller and an application host, which communicate with the beverage dispensing devices through a local area network. The system can be used to manage devices that collect data from distributed corporate assets and collect desired data from the devices. The system also allows generation of selected reports to optimize performance of the corporate assets. The technical effects of the invention include improved monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment, reduced operational costs, and better equipment performance."

Problems solved by technology

Although these computerized systems make it easier for operators to gather and analyze data, they generally do not provide real time capabilities that are needed to make a major impact on the overall business of using, maintaining and monitoring beverage dispensing equipment.

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