Method for operating a drinks vending machine and arrangement for operating a drinks vending machine

Abstract

The invention accordingly relates to a method and an arrangement (1) for operating a drinks vending machine (2), wherein the drinks vending machine (2) is coupled to an operating unit (3), wherein the operating unit (3) obtains operating information from a remote administration unit (4), which, for making payment for purchases of drinks, can be connected to a payment unit (5) (cf. Figure 5).

Description

[0001] Method for operating a drinks vending machine and arrangement for operating a drinks vending machine

[0002] The invention relates to a method for operating a drinks vending machine.

[0003] The invention further relates to an arrangement for operating a drinks vending machine.

[0004] It is known to operate beverage vending machines, such as fully automatic coffee machines, using mobile operating units, such as smartphones. The mobile operating unit is configured to store the beverages that can be produced with the beverage vending machine, and the operating unit is wirelessly linked to the beverage vending machine, for example via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, in order to trigger the dispensing of a beverage from the beverage vending machine.

[0005] The invention is concerned with integrating a payment function into a system for wirelessly operating a drinks vending machine.

[0006] According to the invention, the features of claim 1 are provided to solve this problem.In particular, to achieve the object, it is proposed according to the invention in a method for operating a drinks machine that the method uses an administrative instance that is arranged remotely from the drinks machine, an operating instance and a payment instance, wherein beverage-specific information is held in the administrative instance, and wherein in a selection step a user selects a beverage at the operating instance, in an ordering step an order for the selected beverage is determined from the operating instance to the administrative instance, in a payment step the administrative instance initiates a payment process at the payment instance and the administrative instance, after successful payment, transmits an order release to the operating instance in a release step to trigger a beverage dispensing of the selected beverage at the drinks machine in a triggering step.

[0007] By creating an administrative instance and participating in the payment process, the invention enables a payment function to be implemented without the beverage vending machine itself having to be connected to the Internet to verify a payment transaction. Another advantage is that the operating instance does not require special security to prevent the dispensing of unpaid drinks.

[0008] The process described can be used with particular advantage in fully automatic coffee machines, which can produce a wide variety of coffee specialities, for example drinks with and without added milk.

[0009] For example, the management instance can be implemented as a stationary entity, particularly on a server. The advantage here is that the management instance can be maintained independently of the operating instance, particularly by being provided with updated information.

[0010] This updated information is then available to all operating instances simultaneously, without requiring any changes to these operating instances. An example of this could be the selection of a specific payment method or payment instance.

[0011] The control unit is preferably mobile, for example, a smartphone, tablet, or similar mobile control unit. The advantage here is that each user can use their own control unit.

[0012] Preferably, the payment instance is stationary. This can be a payment instance provided by a payment service provider with a corresponding interface via the Internet. Thus, the payment instance is preferably set up separately from the administrative instance.

[0013] For example, it can be provided that the operating instance is wirelessly connected to the drinks machine and / or to the management instance at least in a section of a respective communication path.

[0014] For example, it may be provided that the payment instance is provided as a cloud service or other service on the Internet that can be accessed via a standardized interface.

[0015] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that, in an identification step, the operating instance obtains a machine-specific identifier from the beverage vending machine. It is advantageous in this case that the operating instance can process the machine-specific identifier in order to be adjusted to the beverage vending machine to be operated.

[0016] For example, this identification step can be performed before the selection step. Thus, a range of selectable beverages for the default step can be adapted to the respective vending machine to be served.

[0017] For example, it may be provided that the

[0018] The identification step is performed before the ordering step. This allows the ordering step to be adapted to the specific conditions of the beverage vending machine being operated.

[0019] In particular, it can be provided that the machine-specific identifier is transmitted with the order information. Thus, the information about which vending machine is being served can be used by the administrative authority.

[0020] For example, it can be provided that the machine-specific identifier is read optically. This is advantageous in that a wireless connection between the operating instance and the beverage vending machine is not required at the time the machine-specific information is read. For example, the machine-specific identifier can be provided on the outside of the beverage vending machine with a machine-readable code, such as a QR code, either permanently as a marking or temporarily with a display unit.

[0021] The provision and transmission of the machine-specific identifier before the selection step has the advantage that this identifier can be transmitted to the management instance before the selection step, so that the management instance can transmit beverage-specific information to the operating instance before the selection is made.

[0022] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that a control connection is established between the operating instance and the beverage vending machine in a coupling step. This is advantageous in that wireless control, for example via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, in particular Bluetooth Low Energy or Web-Bluetooth, can be carried out via this control connection. This can be done, for example, after the identification step, so that the machine-specific identifier is available when setting up the operating instance.

[0023] This can, for example, also be done before the selection step, so that communication with the vending machine is already available while a drink is being selected.

[0024] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the operating instance obtains, in a setup step, from the management instance a set of beverages that are available at the beverage vending machine and / or for the machine-specific identifier. It is advantageous that the available beverages for a beverage vending machine can be changed by modifying the management instance, without having to intervene in the operating instance or the beverage vending machine.

[0025] For example, the set of available drinks with their associated prices can be communicated more easily. This allows price information to be changed without requiring intervention in the vending machine or the operator.

[0026] Alternatively or additionally, it can be provided that recipe parameters associated with the set of drinks, for example an amount of milk to be added or other ingredients, an amount of water or a water temperature, a type of coffee, a degree of grinding or similar parameters, on the basis of which the available drinks can be differentiated and / or individually adapted, can be transmitted. Here, too, there is the advantage that the behavior of the drinks machine can be modified remotely without having to intervene in the drinks machine. This can be done, for example, simply by modifying the management instance and / or the drink-specific information. For this purpose, a user interface can be set up on the management instance, for example, to read and / or modify a database.

[0027] It is preferably provided that the setup step takes place before the selection step in order to make an update of information carried out at the management instance available, in particular visible, at the operating instance before the selection step is carried out.

[0028] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that, in a verification step, the beverage vending machine transmits a verifier to the operating instance. This is advantageous in that authentic information can be transmitted from the beverage vending machine to the administrative instance without the operating instance having to be configured in a special way. For example, a verifier can contain time information about its creation, for example, as a nonce.

[0029] It is particularly advantageous if the verification step is performed as part of the selection step. This has the advantage that the order or selection of the desired beverage is already available at the vending machine when the verifier is generated. This allows the selected beverage to be linked to the verifier for later verification.

[0030] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that in the ordering step or a payment step, for example the one mentioned, a verifier, for example the verifier already mentioned, is transmitted to the administrative instance. This provides an instrument for making a payment process secure. In particular, if the verifier is transmitted from the vending machine via the operating instance to the administrative instance, the administrative instance can process information that originates from the vending machine and cannot be changed by the intermediate operating instance. In this case, the administrative instance can also sign the verifier, as described further below.

[0031] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the administrative instance sends a verifier, for example the verifier already mentioned, to the operating instance in the release step. The administrative instance thus has a means at hand to indicate, for example, a completed payment and to enable the operating instance to initiate the dispensing of the selected beverage. For this purpose, it is advantageous if the verifier is signed by the administrative instance. This can be done, for example, with a key from a key pair, for example in an RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) method or generally in an asymmetric cryptographic method, so that the drinks machine can verify the signature.

[0032] For example, it can be provided that the operating instance forwards the verifier to the vending machine. Thus, information that was verifiable or processable by the administrative instance is available at the vending machine. Processing can be performed using the described signature. One of the signature methods already known in the state of the art or another signature method can be used as the signature.

[0033] It is particularly advantageous if this transmission or

[0034] The verifier is forwarded automatically from the operating instance to the drinks vending machines, i.e. without any additional action by the user.

[0035] The use of a verifier processed by the management instance to automatically trigger the selected beverage has the further advantage that the management instance can count the number of dispensed beverages for the beverage machine or for the machine-specific identifier almost error-free, without requiring feedback from the beverage machine to the management instance after the beverage has been prepared. This is achieved because, once approved by the management instance, it is practically impossible to prevent the dispensing of a beverage because all further steps can be performed automatically and within a short period of time.

[0036] In particular, a connection of the drinks machine to the Internet is therefore not necessary, regardless of the operating instance, in order to provide such feedback.

[0037] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the drinks vending machine checks a verifier transmitted by the operating instance in the triggering step before the selected beverage is dispensed. This makes it possible to verify an ordering process at the drinks vending machine. It is particularly advantageous if the verifier was generated and processed as described. In particular, if the verifier contains time information about its creation time, it is practically impossible to trigger a beverage dispensing twice in succession with a processed verifier.

[0038] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that, in the payment step, a payment request is transmitted from the payment instance to the operating instance. Thus, the payment transaction can be processed at the operating instance.

[0039] It is particularly advantageous if this payment request is transmitted from the payment authority to the service authority via the administrative authority. This allows the administrative authority to monitor the entire payment process.

[0040] A direct connection between the operating instance and the payment instance is therefore not necessary. This has the advantage that modification of the payment instance is not required to obtain information about a completed payment from a central location such as the administrative instance, and that the information about a completed payment does not have to be transmitted to the administrative instance via the operating instance.

[0041] In one embodiment of the invention it can be provided that before the payment step it is checked in the administrative instance whether a payment process is necessary. This provides a means of storing in the administrative instance whether payment is required for a drinks machine. This may not be the case, for example, if the drinks machine is located in a non-public space or is intended to be available free of charge to a specific group of people. In this case the administrative instance can decide that the payment step is to be skipped if this is stored so. The advantage here is that the administrative instance allows a flexible design of the operating process without the drinks machine or the operating instance having to be modified.A further advantage is that even in this case, secure recording of the drinks purchased is available at the administrative authority without the need for a direct Internet connection between the drinks machine and the administrative authority.

[0042] For example, this information can be stored based on the drinks machine or the machine-specific identifier, so that the correct assignment of whether or not a payment process is necessary in a service process can be easily carried out in the administrative instance.

[0043] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that an execution of the release step is stored in the administrative instance. This allows for a statistical and / or accounting evaluation of beverages purchased at the vending machine without having to access the vending machine, for example, via a separate internet connection. This enables a simple comparison of payment transactions and beverages purchased at the vending machine, the implementation of predictive maintenance, or other statistical and / or accounting evaluations.

[0044] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that, in a configuration step, a machine-specific identifier, in particular the aforementioned machine-specific identifier, is transmitted to the administrative instance. This enables registration of the beverage vending machine with the administrative instance. Preferably, it is provided that the configuration step can be carried out separately from the previously described operating instance, for example, via another operating instance of an authorized person, and is blocked for the previously mentioned operating instance.

[0045] For example, it may be provided that the

[0046] The administrative instance generates a public / secret key pair, the public key of which is transmitted to the vending machine. This key pair can be generated using an asymmetric cryptographic method, such as the RSA method. This makes it possible to provide information at the vending machine that can be used to generate a verifier or other information that cannot be modified by the operating instance. This enables secure communication between the vending machine and the administrative instance via the operating instance, without the need for a separate connection between the administrative instance and the vending machine that is not routed via the operating instance.

[0047] For example, it can be provided that the public key is used to verify a verifier, in particular the one mentioned above, transmitted in the triggering step, preferably a signed one, in the vending machine, in particular to verify the signature. This makes it possible to verify the proper completion of a payment transaction in the vending machine.

[0048] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that the beverage vending machine and the operating instance are coupled via a point-to-point connection. This enables simple establishment of a control connection between the beverage vending machine and the operating instance without requiring the integration of the beverage vending machine into another communication network. For example, this point-to-point connection can be established via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, in particular Bluetooth Low Energy and / or Web Bluetooth.

[0049] The advantage here is that complete communication with the vending machine, in particular between the vending machine and the management instance, can be carried out via the operating instance, which can itself be connected to the Internet via mobile data access.

[0050] The invention uses the fact that the operating instance, in particular if it is a smartphone, is technically set up for data connection, for example via the mobile radio network or a WLAN, with the Internet and thus with the administrative instance, without the user having to make any modifications to operate the drinks machine.

[0051] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that in a configuration step, for example the configuration step already mentioned, it is stored in the administrative instance for a machine-specific identifier, for example the machine-specific identifier already mentioned, whether a payment transaction is necessary or not. The advantage here is that this configuration step can be carried out independently of the operating instance by an authorized person, for example with a separate operating instance. This information can thus be designed in such a way that an operating instance cannot access it during the normal operating process, so that an unauthorized user can practically not modify this information.

[0052] In one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that a manual input unit on the beverage vending machine is deactivated when the method is to be executed. This has the advantage that complete control over the beverage vending machine can be realized by the administrative authority.

[0053] Alternatively or additionally, it can be provided that an optical output unit, for example the aforementioned output unit, presents a machine-specific identifier, for example the aforementioned machine-specific identifier. This enables simple optical readout of the identifier without a control connection having to be established between the beverage vending machine and the operating instance at this time. Preferably, it can be provided that this presentation of the machine-specific identifier also contains information for establishing the control connection to the beverage vending machine.

[0054] For example, error messages can be displayed via the identifier. This reliably prevents a user from operating a faulty vending machine.

[0055] To achieve the stated object, an arrangement for operating a drinks machine, in particular wherein the arrangement has a drinks machine, an operating instance and an administrative instance, is further provided according to the invention, wherein means are designed to carry out a method according to the invention, in particular as described above and / or according to one of the claims directed to a method.

[0056] The invention will now be described in more detail using an exemplary embodiment, but is not limited to this exemplary embodiment. Further exemplary embodiments result from combining the features of one or more claims with one another and / or with one or more features of the exemplary embodiment.

[0057] It shows :

[0058] Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a configuration step, Fig. 2 shows the continuation of the configuration step from Figure 1 in a second part,

[0059] Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a method according to the invention for operating a drinks vending machine,

[0060] Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a detail from Figure 3 and

[0061] Fig. 5 shows an arrangement for operating a drinks machine in a highly schematic representation.

[0062] Figure 5 shows an arrangement, designated as a whole by 1, for operating a drinks vending machine 2 .

[0063] The arrangement 1 accordingly has a beverage machine 2 , for example a fully automatic coffee machine, a mobile operating instance 3 , for example a smartphone , an administrative instance 4 , for example a database 11 accessible via the Internet , and a payment instance 5 , for example a cloud service .

[0064] The drinks machine 2 has a display unit 6 on which a machine-readable code, for example a QR code, can be presented.

[0065] This machine-readable code contains a machine-specific identifier and information for starting an app on the operating instance 3 .

[0066] The operating instance 3 has a reading unit 7 with which information presented on the display unit 6 can be read in for further machine processing.

[0067] The information read in is used to build a

[0068] A control connection 8 is used between communication units 9 of the beverage machine 2 and the operating instance 3. In the example, the control connection 8 is a web Bluetooth connection or a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) connection.

[0069] The operating instance 3 is connected to the administrative instance 4 via a data connection 10, for example at least partially via the Internet.

[0070] The data connection 10 can also be established on the basis of information transmitted from the beverage machine 2 via the reading unit 7, for example on the basis of the machine-specific identifier.

[0071] The administrative authority 4 has the aforementioned database 11 with beverage-specific information, in particular in association with the machine-specific identifier.

[0072] This beverage-specific information can, for example, contain recipe parameters and / or price information.

[0073] The administrative instance 4 also has a manual user interface for maintaining, servicing and updating the database 11 .

[0074] The user interface 12 can also be accessed via remote access.

[0075] The administrative instance 4 can be connected at least temporarily to the payment instance 5 via a further data connection 13.

[0076] Figures 1 and 2 show the individual substeps of a configuration step 14. The devices and instances involved are arranged in columns.

[0077] "KVA" refers to the beverage vending machine (e.g., KVA = fully automatic coffee machine) that has a wireless connector ("Frog"). This wireless connector forms the communication unit 9 of the beverage vending machine 2 in Figure 5.

[0078] In the third column, "Setup App," an operating instance 3 is presented. This operating instance 3 does not have to correspond to the operating instance in normal operating mode, but can be an operating instance 3 of a specially authorized user.

[0079] The column “Operator Frontend” refers to the administrative instance 4 .

[0080] User interventions are marked by a horizontal dashed line.

[0081] It can be seen that first the communication unit 9 is activated in a sub-step marked with a 1 in a circle.

[0082] The beverage machine 2 then displays a QR code on its display unit 6, which is scanned by the operating instance 3 to provide a link to a setup routine.

[0083] With this link, a user can now start a setup app on the operating instance 3 in a sub-step marked with a 2 in a circle and log in to the administration instance 4 or register a new user.

[0084] Now the user selects on the operating instance 3 that a new drinks machine 2 should be registered.

[0085] A control connection 8 is now established between the drinks machine 2 and the operating instance 3 .

[0086] The drinks machine 2 now transmits a machine-specific identifier via the communication unit 9, which contains a unique designation of the machine ("machine ID") and an indication of the device type (e.g. "product name"). In a sub-step designated by a 3 in a circle, the user first selects on the operating instance 3 which operating mode is to be selected. The modes shown in Fig. 4 are available for selection.

[0087] There is now the "Authorisation" mode, the "Payment" mode and the "Open Access" mode.

[0088] In the open mode "open access", in which the user sees the QR code on the vending machine 2 (on the display unit 6), but everything is available without payment. In this case, a payment step 20, described in more detail below, is skipped.

[0089] This mode is used to obtain the statistics of the vending machine 2 and display them in the management instance 4 .

[0090] The second mode is the "Payment" mode, in which the user scans the QR code, makes a payment in payment step 20, which is described in more detail below, and receives a drink.

[0091] The third mode is referred to as authorized access "authorization", in which users of a drinks machine 2 can be assigned via an operator front end 24 (with manual control elements such as a touchscreen, switch), i.e. if a user is assigned to a drinks machine 2, they can use the drinks machine 2; if not, they cannot use the drinks machine 2. For this, the user must log into the coffee app at the operating instance 2, and the system can then see who can use the drinks machine 2.

[0092] Returning to Fig. 1, the operating instance 3 now sends the machine-specific identifier and further information (e.g. the selected operating mode "chosen mode" and possibly a protocol version of the data communication, a MAC address of the communication unit 9 and a relevant version number) to the management instance 4 in order to register the beverage machine 2 with the management instance 4.

[0093] These data are now stored in the database 11 of the administrative instance 4 .

[0094] The administrative instance 4 now generates a key pair with a public key and a secret key.

[0095] This public key is then transmitted to the operating instance 3 and from there to the drinks machine 2 or its communication unit 9 in order to be stored in the drinks machine 2.

[0096] This public key is thus kept available for further use in the beverage machine 2, independent of the operating instance 3.

[0097] At the end of the circle marked with a 3

[0098] Substep, the drinks machine 2 outputs the

[0099] Control connection 8 sends feedback to the operating instance 3 and switches the display unit 6 in such a way that local operation on the drinks machine 2 is no longer possible and is no longer displayed.

[0100] In a sub-step designated by a 4 in a circle, the user at the operating instance 3 has the option of assigning an individual name for the drinks machine 2 ("Frog name"), which is stored in the communication unit 9. As soon as the drinks machine 2 has transmitted the successful name change to the operating instance 3, this newly defined name for the drinks machine 2 is transmitted to the management instance 4 for storage in the database 11.

[0101] This completes configuration step 14 .

[0102] Figure 3 shows the normal operating mode for carrying out the method according to the invention.

[0103] Here, the "Frog" column represents the communication unit 9 of the beverage machine 2 and thus the beverage machine 2 , the "Coffee App" column represents the operating instance 3 , the "Operator Frontend / Server" column represents the administration instance 4 , and the "Payment Provider" column represents the payment instance 5 . Dashed horizontal lines again indicate inputs at the operating instance 2 .

[0104] In an identification step 15 at the beginning of the sub-step designated by a circled 5 in Figure 3, an operating instance 3 reads machine-readable information into the display unit 6, which in particular also contains a machine-specific identifier of the beverage machine 2 and a link to the app to be executed on the operating instance 3. This app ("Coffee App") is generally different from the app previously described for configuration step 14.

[0105] Now the operating instance 2 can query the set mode from the management unit 4 - as shown in Fig. 4.

[0106] In "Open Access" mode, the payment step 20 described later is skipped, in "Payment" mode the procedure described below runs completely, and in "Authorization" mode, local operation of the beverage vending machine takes place by authorized users without recording the beverage purchases in the administration unit 4.

[0107] The following describes the process when the "Payment" mode is set.

[0108] Using the aforementioned identifier, the operating instance 3 then queries the available beverages of the beverage machine 2 in the management instance 4 and the associated prices and, if applicable, parameters of a recipe in a setup step 16.

[0109] If this is stored in the operating instance 3, the operating instance 3 is ready to select a beverage and can establish the control connection 8 with the information from the identification step 15.

[0110] At the beginning of the sub-step designated by a 5 in a circle, i.e. in the identification step 15, part of the transmitted information can be used by the beverage vending machine 2 to establish the data connection 10 between the operating instance 3 and the management instance 4, for example via a mobile radio data connection and a subsequent Internet connection to the management instance 4. At the end of the setup step 16, the operating instance 3 now shows the user a menu structure ("coffee menu" in Fig. 4) of available beverages at the beverage vending machine.

[0111] 2 on .

[0112] This information therefore does not originate from the drinks machine 2 , but can be changed and updated via the administrative instance 4 without access to the drinks machine 2 .

[0113] In a sub-step designated by a 6 in a circle, the user selects a desired beverage in a selection step 17 at the operating instance 3. This beverage is then transmitted from the operating instance 3 to the beverage dispenser 2, requesting a verifier ("nonce").

[0114] This verifier is generated in a verification step 18 in the beverage machine 2 and transmitted to the operating instance 3.

[0115] In a subsequent ordering step 19, the operating instance 3 transmits the order with the details of the selected beverage and the verifier as a payment request to the administrative instance 4 .

[0116] Management instance 4 calls payment instance 5 to initiate the payment process. A response from payment instance 5 is returned by management instance 4 to service instance 3.

[0117] In a payment step 20, the user enters the

[0118] 3 enters the data required to initiate the payment process at the beginning of the sub-step marked with a 7 in a circle. This data is then transmitted, along with the verifier, to the administrative authority 4, which forwards the payment data to the payment authority 5 to initiate the payment.

[0119] The payment instance 5 sends a feedback message to the administrative instance 4 when the payment process has been completed correctly.

[0120] The administrative instance 4 then signs the verifier with the aforementioned key pair and sends it back to the operating instance 3 .

[0121] If the "Open Access" mode is selected, the management instance 4 skips the call to the payment instance 5 and the payment step 20 and signs and sends the verifier directly to the operating instance 2 .

[0122] The signed verifier is therefore transmitted to the operating instance 3 in a release step 21 in both the "Open Access" mode and the "Payment" mode.

[0123] In a triggering step 22, the signed verifier is transmitted from the operating instance 3 to the beverage machine 2 without further intervention by the user.

[0124] The beverage machine 2 checks the signed verifier with its public key and, after successful verification, triggers the dispensing of the selected beverage at the dispensing unit 23 of the beverage machine 2.

[0125] The app can then be closed on the operating instance 3 or can be run again from the sub-step marked with a 6 in a circle to obtain another drink.

[0126] The invention accordingly relates to a method and an arrangement 1 for operating a drinks machine 2, wherein the drinks machine 2 is coupled to an operating instance 3, wherein the operating instance 3 obtains operating information from a remotely arranged management instance 4, which can be connected to a payment instance 5 for the payment of drinks.

[0127] List of reference symbols Arrangement for operating a beverage vending machine Vending machine Operating instance Administrative instance Payment instance Display unit Reading unit Control connection Communication unit Data connection Database User interface (further) Data connection Configuration step Identification step Setup step Selection step Verification step Ordering step Payment step Release step Release step Output unit Operator frontend

Claims

Claims: Method for operating a beverage vending machine (2), in particular a fully automatic coffee machine, comprising a preferably stationary management instance (4) which is arranged remotely from the beverage vending machine (2), a preferably mobile operating instance (3) and a preferably stationary payment instance (5), wherein beverage-specific information is stored in the management instance (4), wherein in a selection step (17) a user is selected at the operating instance (3) selects a beverage, in an order step (19) an order for the selected beverage is transmitted from the service instance (3) to the management instance (4), in a payment step (20) the management instance (4) initiates a payment process at the payment instance (5) and the management instance (4) After successful payment in a release step (21), an order release is transmitted to the operating instance (3) to trigger the dispensing of the selected beverage at the beverage dispenser (2) in a release step (22). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that in an identification step (15), preferably before the selection step (17) or before the order step (19), the operating instance (3) obtains a machine-specific identifier from the beverage dispenser (2), in particular wherein the machine-specific identifier is transmitted with the order information and / or wherein the machine-specific identifier is optically read. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in a coupling step, in particular after the identification step (15) and / or before the selection step (17), a Control connection between the operator instance (3) and the A beverage vending machine (2) is set up. A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operating instance (3) obtains from the administrative instance (4) a set of beverages available at the beverage vending machine (2) and / or for the machine-specific identifier, in particular with an associated price and / or with at least one associated recipe parameter, in a setup step (16), in particular before the selection step (17). A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in a verification step (18), in particular as part of the selection step (17), the beverage vending machine (2) transmits a verifier, in particular a nonce, to the operating instance (3). A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the ordering step (19) and / or the payment step (20), the verifier is transmitted to the administrative instance (4).A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the management instance (4) sends the or a preferably signed verifier to the operating instance (3) in the release step (21), in particular wherein the operating instance (3) preferably forwards the verifier automatically to the beverage vending machine (2). A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the beverage vending machine (2) sends the or a signed verifier to the operating instance (3) in the triggering step (22). The operator instance (3) checks the verifier transmitted before the selected beverage is dispensed. A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the payment step (20) a payment request is transmitted from the payment instance (5) to the operator instance (3), in particular via the administrative instance (4). A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the administrative instance (4) it is checked before the payment step (20) whether a payment transaction is necessary, in particular for the beverage dispenser and / or the machine-specific identifier, in particular wherein the payment step (20) is skipped if this is not the case. A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an execution of the release step (21) is stored in the administrative instance (4), in particular for statistical and / or accounting evaluation.A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in a configuration step (14) the or a machine-specific identifier is transmitted to the management instance (4), in particular wherein the management instance (4) generates a public / secret key pair, the public key of which is transmitted to the vending machine (2) and / or is used to verify the or a verifier transmitted in the triggering step (22) in the vending machine (2). A method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the vending machine (2). and the operating instance (3) is coupled with a point-to-point connection, in particular via Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth (BLE, Web Bluetooth), in particular wherein complete communication with the beverage dispenser (2) takes place via the operating instance (3).

14. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the configuration step (14) the machine-specific identifier is stored in the management instance (4) as to whether a payment process is necessary.

15. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a manual input unit on the beverage dispenser (2) is deactivated and / or an optical output unit presents the or a machine-specific identifier, in particular wherein error messages are displayed via the identifier.

16. Arrangement for operating a beverage vending machine (2) , in particular a fully automatic coffee machine, with means for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims.

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