Beverage machine for a network
Contents
1. arranged to receive from the network and communicate via user communication means such as a display and or loud speaker information relating to handling of this type of machine by a user e g provide an on line user manual and or beverage recipes advertising relating to beverage preparation machines accessories one or more ingredients that are being processed or related products general information relating to one or more ingredients for the beverage processing and visualization and or music for generating an ambiance relat ing to such beverages or preparations thereof or consump tions thereof and news and or weather forecast etc For example the communication module with the appropriate user interface may be configured to permit distant ordering of ingredients via the network BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0038 The invention will now be described with reference to the schematic drawings wherein 0039 FIG 1 shows a perspective view of a beverage machine according to the invention 0040 FIG 2 schematically illustrates the functional archi tecture of a beverage preparation machine according to the invention within a network and Jun 21 2012 0041 FIG 3 schematically illustrates the functional archi tecture of another beverage preparation machine according to the invention within a network DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0042 FIG 1 shows a beverage preparation machine 1 according to the invention FIGS 22. 1 has a communi cation module 11 for bidirectional communication with an external network 511 such as the internet or an intranet Communication module 11 is connected to a user interface 10 in the form of a touch screen via a bidirectional data US 2012 0152125 Al communication channel 111 Touch screen 10 may be oper ated by finger touch or by way of a stylus 15 0049 Control unit 11 communication module 21 and ingredient processing arrangement 40 are all contained within the housing of beverage machine 1 0050 In accordance with the invention communication module 11 is permanently prevented from controlling the processing of the beverage ingredients In other words com munication module 11 of beverage machine 1 may not act directly or indirectly via control unit 21 on arrangement or affect the beverage preparation process or other processes carried out by arrangement 40 0051 Control unit 21 is prevented from accepting bever age preparation related control data from communication module 11 0052 In the architecture of FIG 3 the control unit 21 is arranged to communicate data to communication module 11 via unidirectional data communication channel 211 With the exception of a request for information and the signals neces sary to ensure proper communication e g data transmission control signals control unit 21 will not receive any data from communication module 11 Conversely the data transferred from control unit 21
3. and 3 illustrate two pos sible functional architecture of machine 1 within a network 0043 Beverage preparation machine 1 is an advanced design machine and has an open book like part 1 on a foot like part 1 having an general L shape in cross section The interactive functionalities and general constructional infor mation of such a machine are disclosed in greater details in PCT EP09 058 540 the content of which is hereby integrated by way of reference 0044 Machine 1 has an arrangement 40 for processing one or more beverage ingredients to dispense a beverage such as coffee Arrangement 40 includes a water reservoir 42 connected to a water circulation circuit with a pump a heater and a coffee brewing unit as known in the art The brewing unit is covered by a handle 41 pivotally mounted at the top of machine 1 Handle 41 serves to cover and uncover respec tively a passage leading to the brewing unit and to open and close the brewing unit for introducing allowing extraction and removing of a capsule containing ground coffee Upon extraction capsules are evacuated to a used capsule collector after reopening of the brewing unit The used capsule collec tor is mounted at the back of a removable tray device 43 in foot 1 Tray device 43 has a generally flat cup support surface with an opening 43 for the evacuation of drips to the tray underneath During use a cup 60 to be filled with a beverage is placed underneath beverage outlet 45 of
4. ingredient process ing arrangement 40 as schematically illustrated in FIGS 2 and 3 0045 Beverage preparation machine 1 includes a control unit 21 connected to a user interface 20 via a bi directional data communication channel 221 Interface 20 includes a pair of push buttons for allowing a user to request the dispensing of small or large volumes of beverages e g espressos or lungos 0046 Control unit 21 is connected to the ingredient pro cessing arrangement 40 for controlling the processing of the beverage ingredients Typically control unit 21 will control the powering of a heater and a pump and adjust the powering based on measured parameters of the beverage preparation process via sensors such as temperature sensors pressure sensors and flowmeters Moreover the control of the compo nents of the ingredient processing arrangement 40 may be adjusted to the type of ingredient capsule extracted upon automatic recognition thereof via a capsule recognition sys tem as known in the art for instance an electromagnetic mechanical colour or barcode recognition system 0047 Hence ingredient processing arrangement 40 includes a series of sensors for returning information to con trol unit 21 relating to the state of arrangement 40 and of the beverage preparation process Communication between con trol unit 21 and beverage preparation 41 is achieved via a bidirectional communication channel 421 0048 Furthermore beverage machine
5. to communication module 11 may relate to at least one of the beverage preparation process ingredient processing arrangement 40 beverage preparation settings stored in control unit 21 and or the state of control unit 21 e g in the view of identifying any malfunctioning at a station 50 remotely connected to network 511 0053 Itisalso possible to connect communication module 11 directly to the sensors in the beverage preparation module 40 Likewise communication between beverage preparation module 40 and communication module 11 is unidirectional via bus 411 However this communication channel may become redundant if the data relating to the beverage prepa ration module 40 can be communicated to the communication module 11 via control unit 21 Communication channel 411 is particularly useful in the absence of communication channel 211 for instance when the control unit 21 should benefit from an increased protection against network 511 0054 Communication module 11 is arranged to receive from said network and communicate via user communication interface such as display 10 and or loudspeaker information relating to at least one of a need to carry out a particular service e g descaling a need to repair said machine and information on a particular ingredient that is being processed in said machine For such information to be sent to commu nication module 11 corresponding information is first gath ered together by communication modu
6. 9 The machine of claim 1 wherein the communication module is connected to a communication user interface 10 The machine of claim 1 wherein the control unit is connected to a beverage preparation user interface and the communication module is connected to a communication user interface the beverage preparation user interface and the communication user interface being juxtaposed 11 The machine of claim 10 wherein the beverage prepa ration user interface is flush with the communication user interface 12 The machine of claim 10 wherein the beverage prepa ration user interface and the communication user interface are disposed in a single user interface canvas 13 The machine of claim 1 comprising a housing for housing the ingredient processing arrangement the control unit and the communication module 14 The machine of claim 1 wherein the communication module is arranged to receive from the network and commu Jun 21 2012 nicate via a user communication interface information relat ing to at least one state selected from the group consisting of a need to carry out a particular service a need to repair the machine and information on a particular ingredient that is being pro cessed in the machine 15 The machine of claim 1 wherein the communication module is arranged to receive from the network and commu nicate via a user communication interface information relat ing to at least one parameter selected from the
7. DE 2007 008 590 EP 1 302 138 EP 1 448 084 EP 1 676 509 EP 2 085 000 EP 08155851 2 FR 2 624 844 GB 2 397 510 U S Pat No 4 377 049 U S Pat No 4 458 735 U S Pat No 4 554 419 U S Pat No 4 767 632 U S Pat No 4 954 697 U S Pat No 5 312 020 U S Pat No 5 335 705 U S Pat No 5 372 061 U S Pat No 5 375 508 U S Pat No 5 731 981 U S Pat No 5 645 230 U S Pat No 5 836 236 U S Pat No 5 959 869 U S Pat No 6 182 555 U S Pat No 6 354 341 U S Pat No 6 759 072 US 2005 0154644 US 2007 0157820 WO 97 25634 WO99 50172 WO 2004 030435 WO 2004 030438 WO 2006 063645 WO 2006 090183 WO 2007 003062 WO 2007 003990 WO 2008 104751 WO 2008 138710 WO 2008 138820 and WO 2009 016490 0006 US 2005 0154644 very generally discloses a prod uct container such as a vending or fountain machine for supplying purchasable products of any kind such as tickets music pictures and digital content The machine is connected wirelessly to an external network for communicating with a content server Information retrieved from the content server may be displayed to a consumer and or used to identify an item selectable by the consumer such as a free item receiv able by the consumer after purchasing a product and or a purchasable item such as tickets music pictures and or digi tal content 0007 WO 2009 016490 discloses a beverage dispenser having different beverage modules connected to a control unit with
8. Publication 421 US 2012 0152125 Al BEVERAGE MACHINE FOR A NETWORK FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 The field of the invention pertains beverage prepa ration machines that are configured to be connected to a data exchange network such as the internet 0002 For the purpose of the present description a bev erage is meant to include any liquid food such as tea coffee hot or cold chocolate milk soup baby food etc BACKGROUND ART 0003 Certain beverage preparation machines use capsules containing ingredients to be extracted or to be dissolved for other machines the ingredients are stored and dosed auto matically in the machine or else are added at the time of preparation of the drink 0004 Most coffee or other beverage machines possess filling means that include a pump for liquid usually water which pumps the liquid from a source of water that is cold or indeed heated through heating means such as a heating resis tor a thermoblock or the like Such filling means are usually controlled via a control unit of the machine typically includ ing a printed circuit board with a controller 0005 For allowing the user to interact with such machines for providing operation instructions to the machine or obtaining feed back therefrom various systems have been disclosed in the art for instance as mentioned in the following references AT 410 377 CH 682 798 DE 44 29 353 DE 202 00419 DE 20 2006 019 039
9. a graphic user interface GUI displaying automatically re arrangeable virtual buttons The control unit is re pro grammed via a network to modify the operation of the mod ules in particular the user interface and for exchanging infor mation about the operation of the machine 0008 EP 1 302 138 discloses a beverage machine con nected to a network The machine is arranged to communicate Jun 21 2012 with a distant server to carry out diagnosis of the beverage machine and to update the machine s control software via the network 0009 EP 2 085 000 schematically discloses a coffee machine that has a coffee preparation module coupled via a controller to a user interface and to a network interface for an external network The machine further includes a sensor for sensing food components used by the coffee preparation module the sensor being coupled to the controller so that responsive information may be retrieved from the network regarding the food component sensed by the sensor and then presented to the user The responsive information retrieved from the network may be used to reprogram update the coffee machine to alter the coffee brewing process i e alter the operation of the coffee preparation module via the exter nal network especially when the food component is new The external network may also be used to avoid complex repro gramming of the coffee preparation module by downloading user preferences and parameterize automatica
10. achine com prises an arrangement for processing one or more beverage ingredients to dispense a beverage a control unit connected to the ingredient processing arrangement for controlling the processing of the one or more beverage ingredients and a communication module for communication with a network external to the beverage preparation machine 0014 Hence the invention relates to a machine connect able to a data exchange network the machine being config ured for preparing a beverage in particular from a pre por tioned beverage ingredient in a capsule or pod 0015 For instance the machine is a coffee tea chocolate or soup preparation machine In particular the machine is arranged for preparing within the ingredient processing arrangement a beverage by passing hot or cold water or another liquid through a capsule or pod containing an ingre dient ofthe beverage to be prepared such as ground coffee or tea or chocolate or cacao or milk powder US 2012 0152125 Al 0016 For example the preparation machine comprises a ingredient processing arrangement including one or more of a liquid reservoir liquid circulation circuit a heater a pump and a beverage preparation unit arranged to receive capsules or pods for use and evacuate capsules or pods upon use a housing having an opening leading into a seat to which cap sules or pods are evacuated from the preparation unit and a receptacle having a cavity forming a storage space for c
11. aration user interface and the communication user interface being juxtaposed In particular the beverage preparation user interface can be flush with the communica tion user interface The beverage preparation user interface and the communication user interface may be disposed in a single user interface canvas Hence the disposition of the user interfaces may be such as to appear like a single interface providing all the user access to the control unit and the com munication module 0033 Whereas the control unit and the communication module may be digitally and or physically entirely or partly separated within the machine the corresponding user inter faces may be configured as an apparent single interface Hence the user is confronted with a single or concentrated US 2012 0152125 Al user interface arrangement to avoid the dispersion of his her attention all over the beverage preparation machine 0034 Typically the beverage preparation machine com prises a housing for housing the ingredient processing arrangement the control unit and the communication mod ule This housing would normally also bear the user inter faces 0035 For instance the communication module is arranged to receive from the network and communicate via user communication means such as a display and or loud speaker information relating to at least one of a need to carry out a particular service a need to repair said machine and information on a p
12. articular ingredient that is being processed in said machine When the communication module is config ured to monitor the machine operation and or components of the machine the corresponding information may be commu nicated to a distant server of the network for evaluation and generation of suggestions to the user for instance via the communication module For example via appropriate sensor systems the communication module may monitor the ingre dient consumption and suggest timely reordering when the stock of ingredient is low or send general information regard ing the ingredient or beverage that is being processed for display on the machine Instead of a mere suggestion to reorder ingredients e g proportioned ingredients capsules the system may be configured to proceed to automatic re ordering when the ingredient stock is low 0036 The communication module may be arranged for remote monitor ofthe service periods for instance for carry ing out a descaling process or for general maintenance The communication module may communicate various parameter ofthe ingredient processing arrangement and the control unit for diagnosis purposes and or for carrying out a market sur vey as to the user s preferences for instance the actually used ratios of different ingredients Hence a distant server may monitor the preferred volume of beverage dispensing with certain ingredients etc 0037 More generally the communication module may be
13. as United States US 20120152125A1 a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2012 0152125 Al Yoakim et al 43 Pub Date Jun 21 2012 54 BEVERAGE MACHINE FOR A NETWORK 30 Foreign Application Priority Data 155 Inventors Alfred Yoakim St legier la Chiesaz Sep 2 2009 EP sauen 09169211 1 CH Fabien Ludovic Agon Le Publication Classification Bouveret CH 51 Int Cl A47J 31 44 2006 01 73 Assignee NESTEC S A Vevey CH 52 WIS CL reren reren tete eek 99 280 57 ABSTRACT 21 Appl No 13 393 674 A beverage preparation machine 1 comprises an arrange ment 40 for processing one or more beverage ingredients to 22 PCT Filed Sep 1 2010 dispense a beverage a control unit 21 connected to the Pes ingredient processing arrangement for controlling the pro cessing of such one or more beverage ingredients and a 86 PCT No PCT EP10 62781 communication module 11 for communication with an external network 50 511 The communication module 11 371 c 1 is prevented from controlling the ingredient processing 2 4 Date Mar 1 2012 arrangement 40 1 421 X arcc e pu Ceci Ap I RE 1 221 I i I 21 l Ft I 40 20 i I 317 I I 10 1 1 1 1 i on 11 i I 457 1 1 Lie a a Deneve eend 1 511 50 Patent Application Publication Jun 21 2012 Sheet 1 of 2 US 2012 0152125 A1 US 2012 0152125 A1 Jun 21 2012 Sheet 2 of 2 Patent Application
14. at may involve a safety issue if inappropriately operated and or that may be destroyed 0024 Without controlling or participating to the control of the ingredient processing arrangement the communication Jun 21 2012 unit may be configured in the beverage preparation machine to monitor certain aspects of the machine and in particular communicate such aspects onto the network to a remote server 0025 In one embodiment the control unit is arranged to communicate data to the communication module the data relating to at least one of the beverage preparation process the ingredient processing arrangement the control unit and or beverage preparation settings This information may then be communicated or not to a distant server and be processed for general or particular commercial or servicing or repair or counselling purpose 0026 In an even safer embodiment the control unit is prevented from communicating with the communication module In this case the communication is not even unidirec tional like above but inexistent Hence the control unit is configured to receive no signal at all from the communication module not even a signal for an information request In this embodiment no data communication channel is needed between the control unit and the communication module 0027 Typically the ingredient processing arrangement comprises one or more sensors for measuring parameters of the status ofthe ingredient processing arra
15. group consist ing of handling of the machine by a user advertising general information relating to one or more ingredients for the beverage processing visualization and or music for generating an ambiance relating to the beverage or preparation thereof or con sumption thereof news and weather forecast
16. ies of activity of touch screen 10 as delimited by the dotted lines in FIG 1 and user push buttons 20 extend via openings at the periphery of screen 10 Hence beverage preparation user interface 20 and commu nication module interface 10 are formed in the same canvas 2 to increase the interfaces user friendliness and ergonomics 0058 Furthermore canvas 2 bears a master switch 30 in its upper right corner This switch is arranged to connect and disconnect the powering of the various components of the beverage preparation machine including communication module 11 control unit 21 and ingredient processing arrange ment 40 all powered by the same power source typically the mains 0059 Generally communication module 11 can be arranged to receive from the network 511 and communicate via user communication interface such as a display 10 and or loudspeaker information relating to handling of such machine 1 by a user advertising relating to such machine 1 or related machines accessories and or one or more ingredients for the beverage processing general information relating to one or more ingredients for the beverage processing visual ization and or music for generating an ambiance relating to said beverage or preparation thereof or consumption thereof and news and or weather forecast 1 A beverage preparation machine comprising anarrangement for processing one or more beverage ingre dients to dispense a beverage a control un
17. it connected to the arrangement for controlling the processing of the one or more beverage ingredients a communication module for communication with an external network and the communication module is prevented from controlling the ingredient processing arrangement 2 The machine of claim 1 wherein the control unit is prevented from accepting beverage preparation related or service process related control data from the communication module 3 The machine of claim 2 wherein the control unit is arranged to communicate data to the communication module the data relating to at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of the beverage preparation process the ingredient processing arrangement beverage preparation settings and the control unit 4 The machine of claim 2 wherein the control unit is prevented from communicating with the communication module 5 The machine of claim 1 wherein the ingredient process ing arrangement comprises one or more sensors for measur ing parameters ofthe ingredient processing arrangement and or the beverage preparation process 6 The machine of claim 5 wherein the communication module is arranged to receive information from at least one of the sensors US 2012 0152125 Al 7 The machine of claim 5 wherein the sensor is uncon nected to the communication module 8 The machine of claim 1 wherein the control unit is connected to a beverage preparation user interface
18. le 21 from control unit 21 and or ingredient processing arrangement 40 and sent to a remote server 50 that processes and analyses the information before returning when appropriate warnings or other infor mation to communication module 11 via network 511 0055 In the architecture of FIG 2 control unit 21 is pre vented from communicating at all with communication mod ule 11 not even unidirectionally There is no data communi cation channel between control unit 21 and communication module 11 0056 The highest degree of safety is achieved when com munication module 11 is connected neither to control unit 21 nor to beverage preparation module 40 A slightly inferior protection is achieved when communication module 11 is allowed to read via a unidirectional channel sensors of bev erage preparation module 40 A still lower safety is obtained when communication module is allowed to obtain informa Jun 21 2012 tion from control unit 21 To ensure immunity against any upsetting of ingredient processing arrangement 40 and the control unit 21 via network 511 the possibility in particular any physical possibility for communication module 11 to change parameters of the control unit 21 or beverage prepa ration unit 40 should be avoided 0057 As shown in FIG 1 beverage preparation user inter face 20 is flush with communication user interface 10 As illustrated in FIG 1 screen 2 of touch screen 10 extends sideways beyond the boundar
19. lly via the net work the coffee preparation module 0010 Beverage preparation machines that can be inte grated in a network such as the internet are well known Typically such a network integration allows remote control or remote software upgrading of the beverage preparation machine e g as described in the above references 0011 However networked beverage preparation machines are exposed to malware and other unsuitable distant parameterisation that may completely upset their configura tion and lead to safety or integrity problems especially hard ware problems For instance the control of the beverage s heater or pump may be disturbed leading to destructive over powering or to unsuitable powering which degrades the qual ity of beverages prepared with such machines Moreover this kind of interference may occur silently i e without the user s knowledge until it is too late or without the user realizing it all when the quality of the beverage preparation is merely degraded by such inappropriate interference SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0012 It is a preferred object of the present invention to provide a beverage preparation machine that can be con nected in a network and that is protected against any upsetting involving a safety issue or a risk of damage or beverage preparation process degradation and originating from the network in particular in the form of a virus or other malware 0013 Therefore the beverage preparation m
20. ngement and or the beverage preparation process For instance such sensors may include at least one of temperature sensors a pressure sensor a flowmeter an electric power sensor an overheat sensor a scale sensor a water level sensor an ingredient recognition sensor etc Such sensors are usually connected to the control unit 0028 In an embodiment the communication module can be arranged to receive information from at least one of the sensor s The communication module may be directly con nected to the sensors usually in parallel to the control unit or it may be indirectly connected to the sensor s via the control unit and typically be communicated a sensor related infor mation after processing by the control unit 0029 Normally the control unit is connected to a bever age preparation user interface The user would use this user interface to operate the ingredient processing arrangement via the control unit 0030 Typically the communication module is connected to a communication user interface The user would use this user interface to retrieve information from the network or retrieve information therefrom 0031 Such user interfaces may include screens and touch screens buttons switches etc as known in the art 0032 In an embodiment the control unit is connected to a beverage preparation user interface and the communication module is connected to a communication user interface the beverage prep
21. ol lecting capsules or pods evacuated to the seat into the recep tacle to a level of fill The receptacle is insertable into the seat for collecting capsules or pods and is removable from the seat for emptying the collected capsules or pods Examples of such ingredient processing arrangements are disclosed in WO 2009 074550 and in PCT EP09 053 368 0017 The network to which the communication module is connectable may be the internet an intranet or a similar network to which one or more distant computers servers and terminals are connected for communicating with the commu nication module of the beverage preparation machine 0018 In accordance with the invention the communica tion module is prevented from controlling the ingredient pro cessing arrangement 0019 Hence unlike prior art networked beverage prepa ration machine the ingredient processing arrangement is pre vented from being operated or physically influenced via the network Interferences that are prevented concern in particu lar interferences with the beverage preparation process or with a maintenance process such as rinsing or descaling Hence the beverage preparation machine may not be remotely controlled in such a way as to upset machine com ponents such as a heater a pump or the processing of sensor data in such a way as to raise a safety or integrity issue or to degrade the beverage preparation process for instance by allowing a heater or pump to be excessivel
22. y powered or by upsetting the beverage preparation settings in any manner in particular such as to cause nuisance 0020 In other words the communication module may not serve to command the ingredient processing arrangement in particular a heater or a pump directly or indirectly via the control unit of the machine It follows that no program or instruction set received by the communication module will directly or indirectly via the control unit affect the beverage preparation process The beverage preparation process of the beverage preparation machine will remain unaffected by any data exchange between the beverage preparation machine and network via the communication module 0021 The hardware of the beverage preparation related parts of the machine in particular the ingredient processing arrangement and the cooperating control unit with its dedi cated interface is protected against remote interference 0022 Typically the control unit is prevented from accept ing beverage preparation related or service process related control data from the communication module In particular the control unit is prevented from accepting any reconfigura tion related data or any data extending beyond a request for data in a unidirectional communication with the communica tion module 0023 Hence the control unit may not be reprogrammed from a remote location to upset the beverage preparation process and in particular the control of components th
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