Apparatus and Method for Brewed and Espresso Drink Generation

Abstract

An apparatus that generates brewed beverages by performing one or more chemical and/or mechanical processes may receive requests to produce specified brewed beverages. The apparatus may include a master controller that initiates and controls performance of the chemical and/or mechanical processes to produce the specified beverages. The master controller may adaptively apply one or more process accelerators during the performance of one of the chemical or mechanical processes to accelerate the process or to achieve a desired qualitative or quantitative characteristic for a beverage or a component thereof. The adaptive application of one or more process accelerators may be dependent on a multiple-variable process profile developed for the process and/or a specified beverage. For example, the pressure in a steam wand and/or the depth of the wand may be varied during a process to froth milk in order to produce frothed milk having a desired temperature.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 423,593, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Brewed and Espresso Drink Generation”, which was filed on Dec. 16, 2010, and which names Charles F. Studor, J. Kevin Nater, and Marwan Hassoun as inventors, the content of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Disclosure[0003]This disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for brewing and dispensing beverages, and more particularly to automated systems and methods for scheduling, producing, and dispensing brewed beverages using shared process modules, process profiling, customer profiling, and / or demand information.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Most coffee consumed outside of the home requires either experienced baristas, or expensive automated espresso machines. Both require significant capital to equip the retail setting, as well as logistical challenges with hiring and training pe...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]In various embodiments, a system that generates brewed beverages by performing one or more chemical and / or mechanical processes may receive requests to produce specified brewed beverages through any input mechanism of the system, including, but not limited to, an input device that is co-located with the process modules for producing the beverages or an interface mechanism that receives requests made through a remote communication mechanism (e.g., a web interface or smartphone application). For example, an order for one or more specified beverages may represent a single transaction that includes an expected or requested beverage pick up time, or an order for one or more specified beverages may represent a regular or standing order that includes a pre-determined schedule of two or more times at which the specified brewed beverage(s) will be retrieved. As used herein, the term “brewed beverage” may refer to any beverage produced, at least in part, by an organic extraction process (including, but not limited to, espresso, coffee, tea, or chai), and which may or may not be combined with one or more other ingredients (including, but limited to, milk, soy milk, almond milk, flavorings, syrups, sweeteners or other additives).

Problems solved by technology

Most coffee consumed outside of the home requires either experienced baristas, or expensive automated espresso machines.

Both require significant capital to equip the retail setting, as well as logistical challenges with hiring and training personnel.

The resulting retail locations require ongoing operating costs that dominate the costs associated with delivering high quality coffee.

Alternatively, vending machines remove much of the cost and management difficulties, but the coffee quality suffers.

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