JP6608802B2 - Product extraction system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates generally to processing systems, and more particularly to processing systems used to produce products from a plurality of separate ingredients.

  A processing system can combine one or more raw materials to form a product. Unfortunately, such systems are often of a fixed configuration and can only produce a relatively limited number of types of products. Such a system may be reconfigured to produce other products, but such a reconfiguration may require significant mechanical / electrical / software changes.

  For example, creating different products may require adding new components, such as new valves, lines, manifolds, software subroutines, and the like. Such major modifications are necessary because existing equipment / processes within the processing system are not reconfigurable, and the application is a single dedicated application, and therefore another task is required to perform a new task. This is because components must be added.

  In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system is disclosed. The system includes a user interface that facilitates selection and product selection, a machine control processor in communication with the user interface, a power distribution module connected to the machine control processor, and a power supply unit that provides power to the system through the power distribution module. including.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the machine control processor further includes a microprocessor and a communication interface. The machine control processor controls the distribution of products under the control of the power distribution module and the control logic subsystem.

  The power distribution module provides power to the machine control processor through the power supply unit. Communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wireless communication. Communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wired communication.

  According to one aspect of the invention, a method for controlling product selection and distribution from a product dispensing system is disclosed. The method includes the steps of facilitating product selection on the user interface, communicating the selection from the user interface to the machine control processor, and dispensing the product under control of the machine control processor and product distribution module. Including.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the machine control processor may further include a microprocessor and a communication interface. This selection is communicated from the wireless device to the user interface. The wireless device selects a product from the user interface using the downloaded application. This wireless device is a device belonging to a group including a smartphone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an MP3 player, and a tablet computer. The communication of choice from the user interface to the machine control processor is wireless communication.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a system for monitoring the flow state of fluid flowing from a product container through a solenoid pump is disclosed. The system includes at least one solenoid pump including a solenoid coil that generates a stroke of the solenoid pump when energized, and at least one product container connected to the at least one solenoid pump, wherein the at least one solenoid pump is At least one PWM controller configured to discharge fluid from at least one product container during each stroke and to energize at least one solenoid pump, and to detect current flow through the solenoid coil and detect current flow At least one current sensor that produces an output of the current, and controls the flow of fluid through the solenoid pump by commanding the PWM controller, and monitors the current through the solenoid pump by receiving the output from the current sensor. Anda control logic subsystem, the control logic subsystem, using measurements of current flow through the solenoid coil, it is determined whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is functional.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out using at least a measurement of current flow through the solenoid coil. The control logic subsystem uses a measurement of current flow through the solenoid coil to determine whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is non-functional. The control logic subsystem uses the measured current flow through the solenoid coil to determine whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is a sold out stroke. The control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out when a threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes is reached. The at least one product container further includes an RFID tag that stores a remaining capacity value representing the amount of fluid remaining in the at least one product container. The control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out when a certain number of consecutive sold out strokes are determined and the remaining value exceeds a threshold volume.

  According to one aspect of the invention, a method for monitoring the flow rate of fluid from a product container through a solenoid pump is disclosed. The method includes energizing a solenoid coil of a solenoid pump to generate one stroke of the solenoid pump, discharging fluid from the product container through the solenoid pump during each stroke, and a solenoid using a current sensor. Detecting current flow through and generating an output of the detected current flow, and using a control logic subsystem to monitor current through the solenoid pump, the control logic subsystem from the current sensor Receiving the detected current and determining whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is functional.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out using at least a measurement of current flow through the solenoid coil. The control logic subsystem uses a measurement of current flow through the solenoid coil to determine whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is non-functional. The control logic subsystem uses the measured current flow through the solenoid coil to determine whether the stroke of the solenoid pump is a sold out stroke. The control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out when a threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes is reached. Measuring the amount of fluid remaining in the product container using an RFID tag that stores a remaining capacity value representative of the amount of fluid remaining in the at least one product container. The control logic subsystem determines that the product container is sold out when a certain number of consecutive sold out strokes are determined and the remaining capacity display exceeds a threshold volume.

  In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for determining that a product container is sold out is disclosed. The system includes at least one solenoid pump including a solenoid coil that generates a stroke of the solenoid pump when energized, and at least one product container connected to the at least one solenoid pump, wherein the at least one solenoid pump is At least one PWM controller configured to discharge fluid from at least one product container during each stroke and to energize at least one solenoid pump to control a voltage applied to at least one solenoid coil; At least one current sensor that detects the current flow through the solenoid coil and generates an output of the detected current flow; and controls the flow rate of the fluid through the solenoid pump by commanding the PWM controller, and outputs from the current sensor A control logic subsystem for monitoring current through the pump by scraping, wherein the control logic subsystem uses at least a measurement of current flow through the solenoid coil to sell out at least one product container. It is determined that it is in a state.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the control logic subsystem determines whether the stroke of at least one solenoid pump was a functional stroke based on the output of the current sensor. The control logic subsystem determines whether the stroke of at least one solenoid pump was a sold out stroke based on the output of the current sensor. The control logic subsystem determines that at least one product container is sold out when a threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes is reached. The control logic subsystem determines whether the stroke of the at least one solenoid pump was a non-functional stroke based on the output of the current sensor. The at least one product container further includes an RFID tag that stores a remaining capacity value representing the amount of fluid remaining in the at least one product container. The control logic subsystem determines that the system is sold out when a certain number of consecutive sold out strokes is determined and the remaining capacity display exceeds a threshold volume. A control logic subsystem controls the current measured by the current sensor by changing the high frequency duty cycle of the PWM controller. At least one power source connected to at least one solenoid pump via at least one PWM controller and at least one current sensor.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for reducing cross-reading of a product dispensing system is disclosed. The method includes scanning a plurality of RFID tag assemblies in a product dispensing system and evaluating the RFID tag assembly when one or more RFID tag assemblies are read in multiple slots. Identifying a position in the exit system, comparing the fitment map, and comparing the received signal strength indication value.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in a first embodiment, the flow meter includes a fluid chamber configured to receive fluid. The diaphragm assembly is configured to displace whenever the fluid in the fluid chamber is displaced. The transducer assembly is configured to monitor the displacement of the diaphragm assembly and generate a signal based at least in part on the amount of fluid displaced within the fluid chamber.

  Some embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. That is, the transducer assembly includes a linear variable differential transformer coupled to the diaphragm assembly by a coupling assembly, the transducer assembly includes a needle / magnet cartridge assembly, the transducer assembly includes a magnetic coil assembly, the transducer assembly Including a Hall effect sensor assembly, the transducer assembly including a piezoelectric buzzer element, the transducer assembly including a piezoelectric sheet element, the transducer assembly including an audio speaker assembly, the transducer assembly including an accelerometer assembly, the transducer assembly Includes a microphone assembly and / or the transducer assembly is optical To include a place assembly.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a method for determining that a product container is empty is disclosed. The method includes energizing a pump assembly, discharging micro raw material from a product container, displacing a capacitive plate by a displacement distance, measuring a capacitance of the capacitor, and displacing the measured capacitance value. Calculating a distance and determining whether the product container is empty.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a method for determining that a product container is empty is disclosed. The method includes at least one of energizing a pump assembly, displacing the diaphragm assembly by a displacement distance by discharging micro raw material from the product container, and measuring the displacement distance using the transducer assembly. Using a transducer assembly that generates a signal based on the amount of micro raw material dispensed from the product container, and using the signal to determine whether the product container is empty. .

  In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a bracket for a product dispensing system is disclosed. The bracket includes a plurality of tabs configured to be aligned with at least one barcode reader on a door of the product dispensing system.

  The above aspects of the invention are not intended to be exclusive, and other features, aspects, and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art when read in conjunction with the appended claims and accompanying drawings. Will.

  These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a processing system. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a control logic subsystem included in the processing system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a bulk feed subsystem included in the processing system of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a micro raw material subsystem included in the processing system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of one embodiment of a capacitive flow sensor included in the processing system of FIG. 1 (in a non-ejection state). FIG. 5B is a schematic top view of the capacitive flow sensor of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram of two capacitive plates included in the capacitive flow sensor of FIG. 5A. 5B is a time-dependent graph of the capacitance value of the capacitive flow sensor of FIG. FIG. 5B is a schematic side view of the capacitive flow sensor of FIG. 5A (in a discharge state). FIG. 5B is a schematic side view of the capacitive flow sensor of FIG. 5A (when empty). FIG. 5B is a schematic side view of an alternative embodiment of the flow sensor of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5B is a schematic side view of an alternative embodiment of the flow sensor of FIG. 5A. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a piping / control subsystem included in the processing system of FIG. 1. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a geared volumetric flow meter. 4 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the flow control module of FIG. Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; Figure 4 schematically illustrates various alternative embodiments of the flow control module of Figure 3; 1 schematically shows a portion of a variable line impedance. 1 schematically shows a portion of a variable line impedance. 1 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a variable line impedance. 1 schematically illustrates a gear of a geared volumetric flow meter according to one embodiment. 1 schematically illustrates a gear of a geared volumetric flow meter according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a user interface subsystem included in the machining system of FIG. 1. 2 is a flowchart of an FSM process performed by the control logic subsystem of FIG. It is the schematic of a 1st state diagram. It is the schematic of a 2nd state figure. 2 is a flowchart of a virtual machine process executed by the control logic subsystem of FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a virtual manifold process performed by the control logic subsystem of FIG. FIG. 2 is an isometric view of an RFID system included in the processing system of FIG. 1. FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram of the RFID system of FIG. 23. FIG. 24 is a schematic view of an RFID antenna assembly included in the RFID system of FIG. FIG. 26 is an isometric view of the antenna loop assembly of the RFID antenna assembly of FIG. FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a housing assembly for storing the processing system of FIG. 1. 2 is a schematic view of an RFID access antenna assembly included in the processing system of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an alternative RFID access antenna assembly included in the processing system of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the processing system of FIG. 1. FIG. 31 is a schematic view of an internal assembly of the processing system of FIG. 30. It is the schematic of the upper side cabinet of the processing system of FIG. FIG. 31 is a schematic view of a flow rate control subsystem of the processing system of FIG. 30. FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of a flow control module of the flow control subsystem of FIG. 33. It is the schematic of the upper side cabinet of the processing system of FIG. It is the schematic of the power module of the processing system of FIG. It is the schematic of the power module of the processing system of FIG. 36 schematically illustrates a flow control module of the flow control subsystem of FIG. 36 schematically illustrates a flow control module of the flow control subsystem of FIG. 36 schematically illustrates a flow control module of the flow control subsystem of FIG. It is the schematic of the lower cabinet of the processing system of FIG. It is the schematic of the micro raw material tower of the lower cabinet of FIG. It is the schematic of the micro raw material tower of the lower cabinet of FIG. FIG. 40 is a schematic view of a quadruple product module of the micro raw material tower of FIG. 39. FIG. 40 is a schematic view of a quadruple product module of the micro raw material tower of FIG. 39. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a micro raw material container. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a micro raw material container. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of a micro raw material container. FIG. It is the schematic of other embodiment of a micro raw material container. Fig. 32 schematically illustrates an alternative embodiment of the lower cabinet of the processing system of Fig. 30; Fig. 32 schematically illustrates an alternative embodiment of the lower cabinet of the processing system of Fig. 30; 45A schematically illustrates one embodiment of the micro-stock shelf in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. FIG. 45A schematically illustrates one embodiment of the micro-stock shelf in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. FIG. 45A schematically illustrates one embodiment of the micro-stock shelf in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. FIG. 45A schematically illustrates one embodiment of the micro-stock shelf in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. FIG. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 46A, 46B, 46C, and 46D schematically illustrate the quadruple product module of the micro raw material shelf. 47A schematically illustrates the piping assembly of the quadruple product module of FIGS. 47A, 47B, 47C, 47D, 47E, 47F. 45A and 45B schematically illustrate a high volume micro ingredient assembly in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. 45A and 45B schematically illustrate a high volume micro ingredient assembly in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. 45A and 45B schematically illustrate a high volume micro ingredient assembly in the lower cabinet of FIGS. 45A and 45B. 49A schematically illustrates a plumbing assembly of the bulk micro raw material assembly of FIGS. 49A, 49B, 49C. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a user interface screen in a user interface bracket. 1 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a user interface bracket without a screen. FIG. 53 is a detailed side view of the bracket of FIG. 52. 1 schematically shows a membrane pump. 1 schematically shows a membrane pump. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module in a non-energized position. 2 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module with a binary valve in an open position. FIG. It is sectional drawing of one Embodiment of the flow control module in the middle of an electricity supply position. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module in a fully energized position. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module comprising an anemometer sensor. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module comprising a paddle wheel sensor. FIG. 6 is a cutaway top view of one embodiment of a paddle wheel sensor. 2 is an isometric view of one embodiment of a flow control module. FIG. It is one embodiment of a dithering plan formulation method. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a flow control module in a fully energized position with a fluid flow path shown. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary solenoid pump measurement and control circuit. It is the schematic of a PWM controller and a current detection circuit. 68A, 68B, 68C, 68D are graphs of the time-dependent current of the solenoid pump for various states, normal, empty, and occluded, according to one embodiment. 68A, 68B, 68C, 68D are graphs of the time-dependent current of the solenoid pump for various states, normal, empty, and occluded, according to one embodiment. 68A, 68B, 68C, 68D are graphs of the time-dependent current of the solenoid pump for various states, normal, empty, and occluded, according to one embodiment. 68A, 68B, 68C, 68D are graphs of the time-dependent current of the solenoid pump for various states, normal, empty, and occluded, according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. 69A, 69B, 69C, 69D, 69E, 69F schematically illustrate an alternative quad product module of the micro stock shelf of FIGS. 46A, 46B, 46C, 46D according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram of one embodiment of an external communication module according to one embodiment. 2 is an exploded view of one embodiment of an external communication module according to one embodiment. FIG. FIG. 6 is an isometric view of one embodiment of an external communication module attachment means for an upper door of a processing system according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is an isometric view of one embodiment of an external communication module attachment means for an upper door of a processing system according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is an isometric view of one embodiment of an external communication module attachment means for an upper door of a processing system according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is an illustration of one embodiment of an alignment bracket according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a crosstalk reduction method according to one embodiment. 4 is a graph of product pulses and sold out values according to one embodiment. 6 is a graph of pulse versus sold out value and pulse versus expected standard deviation according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of leak detection for a flow control module according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of leak detection for a flow control module according to one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a time and volume graph showing leakage integrator and detected leakage. FIG. It is a block diagram of a power module. FIG. 80 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the power module of FIG. 79. FIG. 81 is a schematic diagram of one power module of FIG. 80 communicating with a user interface module in one embodiment. FIG. 81 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a configuration of connections between the power module of FIG. 80 and other subsystems and devices of the processing system in one embodiment. FIG. 83 illustrates one embodiment of a configuration within the connection of FIG.

  Like reference symbols in the different drawings indicate like elements.

  In this specification, a product dispensing system will be described. The system includes one or more modular components, also referred to as “subsystems”. Although the exemplary system is described herein in various embodiments, the product dispensing system may include one or more of the described subsystems, and the product dispensing system is described sub It is not limited to just one or more of the systems. Thus, in some embodiments, additional subsystems may be used for the product dispensing system.

  The following disclosure describes various electrical components, mechanical components, electromechanical components, software processes (i.e., "" that allow various ingredients to be mixed and processed to produce a product. Explain the interaction and collaboration of subsystems)). Examples of such products include milk-based products (eg milk shakes, floats, malts, frappes), coffee-based products (eg coffee, cappuccino, espresso), soda-based products (eg floats, fruits Juice soda), tea-based products (eg iced tea, sweet tea, hot tea), water-based products (eg natural water, natural water with flavor, natural water with vitamins, high-concentration electrolyte-containing beverages, high Concentrated carbohydrate-containing beverages, etc.), solid based products (eg trail mix, granola based products, mixed nuts, cereal products, millet products), medical products (eg infusible drugs, injectable drugs, ingestible Drugs, dialysate), alcohol-based products (eg Drinks, wine spritzers, soda-based alcoholic beverages, water-based alcoholic beverages, flavored “shot” beer), industrial products (eg solvents, paints, lubricants, dyes, etc.), health / beauty supplements (For example, shampoo, cosmetics, soap, hair conditioner, skin conditioner, topical ointment) may be included, but is not limited thereto.

  The product may be produced using one or more “raw materials”. The raw material may contain one or more fluids, powders, solids or gases. Fluids, powders, solids and / or gases may be reduced or diluted in the context of processing and dispensing. The product may be fluid, solid, powder or gas.

  The various raw materials may be referred to as “macro raw materials”, “micro raw materials”, or “mass micro raw materials”. One or more of the raw materials used may be housed in a housing, i.e. part of the product dispenser. However, one or more of the raw materials may be stored or produced outside the machine. For example, in some embodiments, large amounts (different amounts) of water or other ingredients may be stored outside the machine (eg, in some embodiments, high fructose corn syrup is Other ingredients, such as powdered ingredients, concentrated ingredients, nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals and / or gas cylinders, may be stored within the machine itself, which may be stored outside the machine.

  Various combinations of the above electrical components, mechanical components, electromechanical components, and software processes are described below. In the following, for example, combinations that disclose production using various subsystems of beverages and pharmaceuticals (eg, dialysate) are described, but this is not intended to be a limitation of the present application; rather, the subsystems cooperate. It is an exemplary embodiment of a method that can work to produce / dispens a product. Specifically, using electrical components, mechanical components, electromechanical components, software processes (each of which is described in more detail below), the above products or any other product similar to them Either of these may be generated.

  Referring to FIG. 1, an overview of a processing system 10 is shown, which includes a plurality of subsystems: a storage subsystem 12, a control logic subsystem 14, a bulk feed subsystem 16, and a micro feed subsystem 18. And a piping / control subsystem 20, a user interface subsystem 22, and a nozzle 24. Each of the above subsystems 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22 will be described in more detail below.

During use of the processing system 10, the user 26 may use the user interface subsystem 22 to select a particular product 28 to be dispensed (into the container 30). The user 26 may select one or more options to be included in such products via the user interface subsystem 22. For example, options may include, but are not limited to, the addition of one or more ingredients. In one exemplary embodiment, the system is a system for dispensing beverages. In this embodiment, the user can add various flavorings to be added to the beverage (eg, including but not limited to lemon flavoring, lime flavoring, chocolate flavoring, vanilla flavoring), 1 to the beverage. The addition of one or more nutritional supplements (eg, including but not limited to vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B ₆ , vitamin B ₁₂ and zinc), The addition of multiple types of food (eg ice cream, yogurt) can be selected.

Once the user 26 makes the appropriate selection via the user interface subsystem 22, the user interface subsystem 22 can send the appropriate data signal (via the data bus 32) to the control logic subsystem 14. The control logic subsystem 14 can process these signals and can read (via the data bus 34) one or more selected recipes from the plurality of recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12. The term “recipe” refers to instructions for processing / generating the requested product. When the control logic subsystem 14 reads the recipe from the storage subsystem 12, it processes the recipe and sends appropriate control signals (via the data bus 38), for example, the bulk ingredient subsystem 16 and the micro ingredient subsystem. 18 (and, in some embodiments, unillustrated bulk micro-raw materials that may be included in the description of the micro-raw materials for processing. In some embodiments, an alternative to the micro-raw material assembly may be used) and can be supplied to the piping / control subsystem 20 resulting in the product 28 (which is in the container 30). Be dispensed).

  Referring also to FIG. 2, a schematic diagram of the control logic subsystem 14 is shown. The control logic subsystem 14 includes a microphone processor 100 (eg, ARM ™ microphone processor manufactured by Intel Corporation of California, Santa Clara), non-volatile memory (eg, read only memory 102), and volatile memory (eg, Random access memory 104), each of which may be interconnected via one or more data / system buses 106,108. As described above, the user interface subsystem 22 may be coupled to the control logic subsystem 14 via the data bus 32.

  The control logic subsystem 14 may also include, for example, an audio subsystem 110 that provides an analog audio signal to the speaker 112, which may be incorporated into the processing system 10. Audio subsystem 110 may be coupled to microphone processor 100 via data / system bus 114.

  The control logic subsystem 14 may run an operating system, examples of which include Microsoft Windows CE ™, Redhat Linux ™, Palm OS ™, or device specific (ie custom) operating systems. However, it is not limited to these.

  The operating system instruction set and subroutines that may be stored in the storage subsystem 12 include one or more processors (eg, the microphone processor 100) and one or more embedded in the control logic subsystem 14. It may be performed by a memory configuration (eg, read only memory 102 and / or random access memory 104).

  Storage subsystem 12 includes, for example, a hard disk drive, solid state drive, optical drive, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), CF (ie, compact flash) card, SD (ie, secure digital), for example. Cards, SmartMedia cards, Memory Sticks and MultiMedia cards may be included.

  As described above, the storage subsystem 12 may be coupled to the control logic subsystem 14 via the data bus 34. The control logic subsystem 14 may also include a storage controller 116 (shown in dashed lines) for converting the signal supplied by the microphone processor 100 into a format usable by the storage system 12. Further, the storage controller 116 can convert the signal supplied by the storage subsystem 12 into a format that can be used by the microprocessor 100.

  In some embodiments, an Ethernet connection is also included.

  As described above, the bulk feed subsystem (also referred to herein as “macro feed”) 16 and the micro feed subsystem 18 and / or the piping / control subsystem 20 are connected via the data bus 38 to the control logic subsystem 14. It may be connected to. Control logic subsystem 14 provides a bus interface 118 (for converting signals provided by microprocessor 100 into a format that can be used by bulk ingredient subsystem 16, micro ingredient subsystem 18, and / or piping / control subsystem 20. May be included). Further, the bus interface 118 may convert signals provided by the bulk material subsystem 16, the micro material subsystem 18, and / or the piping / control subsystem 20 into a format usable by the microprocessor 100.

  As will be described in more detail later, the control logic subsystem 14 executes one or more control processes 120 (eg, a finite state machine process (FSM process 122), a virtual machine process 124, a virtual manifold process 126, etc.). This may control the operation of the processing system 10. The instruction set and subroutines of the control process 120 that may be stored in the storage subsystem 12 include one or more processors (eg, the microprocessor 100) and one or more memories embedded in the control logic subsystem 14. It may be performed by a configuration (eg, read only memory 102 and / or random access memory 104).

  Referring also to FIG. 3, a schematic diagram of the bulk feed subsystem 16 and the piping / control subsystem 20 is shown. The bulk ingredient subsystem 16 may include a container for storing consumables that are used at a rapid rate in producing the beverage 28. For example, the mass raw material subsystem 16 may include a carbonic acid supply unit 150, a water supply unit 152, and a high fructose corn syrup supply unit 154. In some embodiments, the bulk feed is located in the vicinity of other subsystems. An example of the carbon dioxide supply unit 150 may include a compressed carbon dioxide tank (not shown), but is not limited thereto. Examples of the water supply unit 152 may include a water supply (not shown), a distilled water supply unit, a filtered water supply unit, a reverse osmotic pressure (RO) water supply unit, or other desired water supply unit. However, it is not limited to these. Examples of high fructose corn syrup supply 154 include one or more tanks (not shown) of high concentration high fructose corn syrup or one or more bag-in-box packages of high fructose corn syrup. However, it is not limited to these.

  The mass raw material subsystem 16 may include a carbonator 156 for generating carbonated water from carbon dioxide gas (supplied by the carbonic acid supply unit 150) and water (supplied by the water supply unit 152). Carbonated water 158, water 160, and high fructose corn syrup 162 may be supplied to cold plate assembly 163 (eg, in embodiments where it may be desirable to cool the product. In some embodiments, cold plate assembly). May not be included as part of the dispensing system or may be bypassed). Cold plate assembly 163 may be designed to cool carbonated water 158, water 160, and high fructose corn syrup 162 to a desired serving temperature (eg, 40 ° F.).

  Although a single cooling plate 163 is shown to cool carbonated water 158, water 160, and high fructose corn syrup 162, this is for illustration purposes only, and other configurations are possible. It is not intended to be limiting. For example, separate cooling plates may be used to cool each of carbonated water 158, water 160, and high fructose corn syrup 162. After cooling, cooled carbonated water 164, cooled water 166, and cooled high Kato corn syrup 168 may be supplied to the piping / control subsystem 20. In another embodiment, the cooling plate may not be included. In some embodiments, only at least one heating plate may be included.

  Although the piping is depicted as having the order shown, in some embodiments, this order is not used. For example, the flow control modules described herein may be configured in a different order: flow measurement device, binary valve, then variable line impedance.

  For illustrative purposes, the system will be described below with respect to dispensing soft drinks as products using this system, ie, high fructose corn syrup, carbonated water, water to the described macro / mass ingredients. Is included. However, in other embodiments of the dispensing system, the macro raw material itself and the number of macro raw materials may be different.

  For illustrative purposes, the piping / control subsystem 20 is shown to include three flow control modules 170, 172, 174. The flow control modules 170, 172, 174 can generally control the amount and / or flow rate of bulk feedstock. Each of the flow control modules 170, 172, 174 may include flow measurement devices (eg, flow measurement devices 176, 178, 180), which are (respectively) cooled carbonated water 164, cooled water 166. Measure the amount of chilled high fructose cornship 168. The flow measuring devices 176, 178, 180 can provide feedback signals 182, 184, 186 (respectively) to the feedback controller systems 188, 190, 192 (respectively).

  Feedback controller systems 188, 190, 192 (which will be described in more detail later) provide flow feedback signals 182, 184, 186 to the desired flow rates (cooled carbonated water 164, cooled water 166, cooling, respectively). Set for each of the high fructose corn syrups 168). Upon processing the flow rate feedback signals 182, 184, 186, (respectively) the feedback controller systems 188, 190, 192 can generate (respectively) flow control signals 194, 196, 198, which are (respectively) variable line impedance 200, 202, 204. Examples of variable line impedances 200, 202, 204 are shown in US Pat. No. 5,755,683 (Attorney Docket No. B13) and US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0085049 (Attorney Docket No. E66). Disclosed and claimed. Variable line impedances 200, 202, and 204 can adjust the flow rates of cooled carbonated water 164, cooled water 166, and cooled Takato corn syrup 168 passing through lines 218, 220, and 222 (respectively). Are fed into the nozzle 24 and (following) the container 30. However, another embodiment of variable line impedance is described herein.

  Lines 218, 220, 222 may further include (respectively) binary valves 212, 214, 216, which are when fluid flow is not desired / required (eg, during shipping, maintenance procedures, downtime). Prevents fluid from flowing in lines 218, 220, 222.

  In one embodiment, the binary valves 212, 214, 216 may include solenoid type binary valves. However, in other embodiments, the binary valve may be any binary valve known in the art, including but not limited to a binary valve that is actuated by any means. In addition, the binary valves 212, 214, 216 may be configured to prevent fluid from flowing into the lines 218, 220, 222 whenever the processing system 10 is not dispensing product. Furthermore, the function of the binary valves 212, 214, 216 completely closes the variable line impedances 200, 202, 204 via the variable line impedances 200, 202, 204, so that fluid flows through the lines 218, 220, 222. It may be realized by not having it.

  As mentioned above, FIG. 3 only provides an exemplary diagram of the piping / control subsystem 20. Accordingly, the method in which the piping / control subsystem 20 is shown is not intended to be a limitation of the present application as other configurations are possible. For example, some or all of the functionality of the feedback controller system 182, 184, 186 may be incorporated into the control logic subsystem 14. Also, with respect to the flow control modules 170, 172, 174, the arrangement of the components is shown for illustration in FIG. Therefore, the arrangement of the figures serves only as an exemplary embodiment. However, in other embodiments, the components may be arranged in different arrangements.

  Referring also to FIG. 4, a schematic top view of the micro raw material subsystem 18 and the piping / control subsystem 20 is shown. The micro raw material subsystem 18 may include a product module assembly 250, which may be configured to releasably engage one or more product containers 252, 254, 256, 258, which are May be configured to hold the micro raw material used in the production of the product 28. Micro raw materials are substrates used in the production of products. Examples of such micro ingredients / substrates may include a first part of soft drink flavoring, a second part of soft drink flavoring, coffee flavoring, nutritional supplements, pharmaceuticals, It is not limited to these, but may be fluid, powder, or solid. However, for purposes of illustration, the following description relates to fluid micro-raw materials. In some embodiments, the micro raw material is a powder or a solid. If the micro raw material is a powder, the system may include additional subsystems for metering the powder and / or reducing the powder (but as described in the examples below, the micro raw material is If it is a powder, the powder may be reduced as part of the method of mixing the product, ie a software manifold).

  Product module assembly 250 may include a plurality of slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266 configured to releasably engage a plurality of product containers 252, 254, 256, 258. In this particular example, product module assembly 250 is shown to include four slot assemblies (ie, slots 260, 262, 264, 266) and can therefore be referred to as a quad product module assembly. When positioning product containers 252, 254, 256, 258 in product module assembly 250, the product container (eg, product container 254) is slid into the slot assembly (eg, slot assembly 262) in the direction of arrow 268. Also good. As shown herein, in this exemplary embodiment, a “quadruple product module” assembly is described, but in other embodiments, more products are contained within a single module assembly. Or less. Depending on the product being dispensed by the dispensing system, the number of product containers may vary. Thus, the number of products housed in any module assembly may vary from application to application, and the desired characteristics of the system, such as, but not limited to, system efficiency, need, and It may be selected to satisfy the function.

  For illustration, each slot assembly of product module assembly 250 is shown to include a pump assembly. For example, the slot assembly 252 is shown to include a pump assembly 270, the slot assembly 262 is shown to include a pump assembly 272, the slot assembly 264 is shown to include a pump assembly 274, and the slot assembly 266 is a pump Shown to include an assembly 276.

  An inlet port may be coupled to each of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 to releasably engage a product opening included within the product container. For example, the pump assembly 272 is shown to include an inlet port 278 configured to releasably engage a container opening 280 included in the product container 254. Inlet port 278 and / or product opening 280 may include one or more sealing assemblies (not shown), such as one or more O-rings or luer fittings, to facilitate a leak-tight seal. . The inlet port (eg, inlet port 278) coupled to each pump assembly may be constructed of a rigid “pipe-like” material or may be constructed of a flexible “tube-like” material.

  Examples of one or more pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 include solenoids that provide an expected amount of fluid based on calibration each time one or more of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 is energized. A piston pump assembly may be included, but is not limited to such. In one embodiment, such a pump is manufactured by ULKA Costrusion Elettromeccaniche S., Pavia, Italy. p. A. Is available from For example, each time a pump assembly (eg, pump assembly 274) is energized by control logic subsystem 14 via data bus 38, the pump assembly supplies approximately 30 μL of fluid micro-raw material contained within product container 256. (However, the amount of flavoring supplied may vary based on the calibration). Again, for illustration purposes only, the micro ingredient is fluid in this part of the description. The term “calibration based” refers to a volume that is ascertainable through calibration of the pump assembly and / or its individual pumps, or other information and / or characteristics.

  Other examples of pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 and various pumping techniques are disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,808,161 (Attorney Docket A38), US Pat. No. 4,826,482. (Attorney Docket Number A43), US Pat. No. 4,976,162 (Attorney Docket Number A52), US Pat. No. 5,088,515 (Attorney Docket Number A49), US Pat. , 350,357 (Attorney Docket No. 147), the entire text of all these patents is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the pump assembly may be a membrane pump as shown in FIGS. In some embodiments, the pump assembly can be any of the pump assemblies described in US Pat. No. 5,421,823 (Attorney Docket No. 158) and such pump technology. Any of which may be used, the entire text of which is incorporated herein by reference.

  The above references describe non-limiting examples of pneumatically actuated membrane pumps that can be used to discharge fluid. Pneumatically actuated membrane pump assemblies can be advantageous for one or more reasons, including ensuring reliable and accurate flow of fluids of various compositions, such as microliter quantities, over a number of duty cycles. And / or pneumatically operated pumps may include, but are not limited to, requiring less power because, for example, pneumatic power from a carbonic acid source may be used. In addition, the membrane pump can eliminate the need for dynamic sealing such that the surface will move relative to the sealing material. Vibration pumps, such as ULKA products, generally require the use of dynamic resilient seals, which can fail over time, for example after exposure to certain types of fluids and / or wear. is there. In some embodiments, pneumatically actuated membrane pumps may be more reliable, more cost effective, and easier to calibrate than other pumps. They may also generate less noise than other pumps, generate less heat, and consume less power. A non-limiting example of a membrane pump is shown in FIG.

  Various embodiments of the membrane pump assembly 2900 shown in FIGS. 54-55 include a cavity, which may be referred to as 2942 in FIG. 54 and may be referred to as a pump chamber, and may be referred to as a control fluid chamber in FIG. . The cavity includes a diaphragm 2940 that separates the cavity into two chambers: a pump chamber 2942 and a volume chamber 2944.

  Referring now to FIG. 54, a schematic diagram of an exemplary membrane pump assembly 2900 is shown. In this embodiment, the membrane pump assembly 2900 includes a membrane or diaphragm 2940, a pump chamber 2942, a control fluid chamber 2944 (best seen in FIG. 55), a three-port switching valve 2910, a check valve 2920, 2930. In some embodiments, the volume of the pump chamber 2942 may range from about 20 microliters to about 500 microliters. In certain exemplary embodiments, the volume of the pump chamber 2942 may range from about 30 microliters to about 250 microliters. In other exemplary embodiments, the volume of the pump chamber 2942 may range from about 40 microliters to about 100 microliters.

  The switching valve 2910 may operate to place the pump control channel 2958 in fluid communication with either the switching valve fluid channel 2954 or the switching valve fluid channel 2956. In a non-limiting embodiment, the switching valve 2910 may be a solenoid valve that operates with electromagnetic force and operates in response to an electrical signal input via a control line 2912. In other non-limiting embodiments, the switching valve 2910 may be a pneumatic or hydraulic membrane valve and operates in response to a pneumatic or hydraulic signal input. In yet another embodiment, the switching valve 2910 may be a piston that is mechanically or electromechanically operated by fluid, pneumatics, in a cylinder. More generally, any other type of valve can be envisioned for the pump assembly 2900, with the valve switching fluid communication with the pump control channel 2958 between the switching valve fluid channel 2954 and the switching valve fluid channel 2956. It is preferable.

  In some embodiments, the switching valve fluid channel 2954 communicates with a positive fluid pressure source, which may be pneumatic or hydraulic. The amount of fluid pressure required may depend on one or more factors, including the tensile strength and elasticity of the diaphragm 2940, the concentration and / or viscosity of the fluid being dispensed, and the dissolution in the fluid It includes, but is not limited to, solid solubility and / or the length and size of fluid channels and ports in pump assembly 2900. In various embodiments, the fluid pressure source may range from about 15 psi to about 250 psi. In certain exemplary embodiments, the fluid pressure source may range from about 60 psi to about 100 psi. In other exemplary embodiments, the fluid pressure source may range from about 70 psi to about 80 psi. As mentioned above, some embodiments of the dispensing system can produce carbonated beverages and may therefore use carbonated water as a raw material. In these embodiments, the CO2 gas pressure used to produce carbonated beverages is often about 75 psi, and in some embodiments, the same gas pressure source is adjusted to a lower pressure so that beverage injection It may also be used to drive a membrane pump for discharging a small amount of fluid in the machine.

  In response to an appropriate signal supplied via control line 2912, valve 2910 can place switching valve fluid channel 2954 in fluid communication with pump control channel 2958. The positive fluid pressure is therefore communicated to diaphragm 2940, which can push fluid in pump chamber 2942 out of pump outlet channel 2950. Check valve 2930 reliably prevents discharged fluid from flowing out of pump chamber 2942 through inlet channel 2952.

  The switching valve 2910 can place the pump control channel 2958 in fluid communication with the switching valve fluid channel 2956 via the control line 2912 so that the diaphragm 2940 can reach the wall of the pump chamber 2942 (shown in FIG. 54). ) In some embodiments, the switching valve fluid channel 2956 may be in communication with a vacuum source that, when in communication with the pump control channel 2958, can retract the diaphragm 2940, reducing the volume of the pump control chamber 2944. Thus, the volume of the pump chamber 2942 is increased. Retraction of diaphragm 2940 causes fluid to be drawn into pump chamber 2942 via pump inlet channel 2952. Check valve 2920 prevents discharged fluid from flowing back into pump chamber 2942 via outlet channel 2950.

  In certain embodiments, the diaphragm 2940 may be constructed of a semi-rigid spring-like material, whereby the diaphragm tends to retain a curved or spheroid shape and functions as a cup-shaped diaphragm spring. For example, the diaphragm 2940 may be at least partially constructed from a thin metal sheet or stamped, and usable metals include high carbon spring steel, nickel silver, high nickel alloy, stainless steel, titanium alloy, Beryllium copper and others may be included, but are not limited to these. Pump assembly 2900 may be configured such that the convex surface of diaphragm 2940 faces pump control chamber 2944 and / or pump control channel 2958. Therefore, the diaphragm 2940 can have an inherent tendency to retract after being pressed against the surface of the pump chamber 2942. In this situation, the switching valve fluid channel 2956 may be in communication with ambient (atmospheric) pressure, which causes the diaphragm 2940 to automatically retract, allowing fluid to flow into the pump chamber 2942 via the pump inlet channel 2952. Can be pulled in. In some embodiments, the recess of the spring-like diaphragm defines an amount that is equal to or substantially / approximately equal to the amount of fluid to be delivered with each stroke of the pump. This has the advantage that the pump chamber need not be configured with a given volume, which can be difficult and / or costly to produce accurate dimensions within an acceptable error range. In this embodiment, the pump control chamber has a shape that accommodates the convex surface of the diaphragm at rest, and the shape of the opposite surface may be any shape, that is, may not be related to performance.

  In some embodiments, the amount supplied by the membrane pump may be implemented in an “open loop” manner, without providing a mechanism to detect and confirm that an expected amount of fluid has been supplied with each stroke of the pump. Also good. In other embodiments, the amount of fluid dispensed through the pump chamber during one stroke of the membrane may be measured using Fluid Management System (FMS) technology, which is described in US Pat. No. 4,808,161 (Agency reference number A38), No. 4,826,482 (Agency reference number A43), No. 4,976,162 (Agency reference number A52) ), No. 5,088,515 (Agency reference number A49) and No. 5,350,357 (Agency reference number 147). Which is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the FMS measurement method is used to detect the amount of fluid delivered with each stroke of the membrane pump. A small constant reference air chamber is located outside the pump assembly, eg, in a pneumatic manifold (not shown). A valve separates the reference chamber and the second pressure sensor. The pump stroke can be accurately calculated by filling the reference chamber with air, measuring the pressure, and then opening the valve towards the pump chamber. The amount of air on the reference chamber side can be calculated based on a certain amount of the reference chamber and a change in pressure when the reference chamber is connected to the pump chamber. In some embodiments, the amount of fluid dispensed through the pump chamber during one stroke of the membrane may be measured using an Acoustic Volume Sensing (AVS) method. Acoustic volume measurement methods are disclosed in US Pat. Nos. 5,575,310 (Attorney Docket B28) and 5,755,683 (Attorney Docket B13) assigned to DEKA Products Limited Partnership. And US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0228071 A1 (Attorney Docket No. E70), 2007/0219496 A1, 2007/0219480 A1, 2007/0219597 A1. , International Application No. 2009/088956, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. This embodiment allows detection of fluid volume in the nanoliter range and is therefore useful for very accurate and precise monitoring of discharge volume. Other alternative techniques for measuring fluid flow can also be used, such as Doppler based methods, combined use of Hall effect sensors and vane or flapper valves, strain beams (e.g., for flexible membranes above fluid chambers, Detect the deflection of this flexible membrane), use capacitive sensing with plates, or temperature time-of-flight.

  Product module assembly 250 may be configured to releasably engage bracket assembly 282. The bracket assembly 282 may be part of the processing system 10 (and rigidly secured therein). Although referred to herein as a “bracket assembly”, this assembly may be different in other embodiments. The bracket assembly serves to secure the product module assembly 282 in the desired location. An example of the bracket assembly 282 may include, but is not limited to, a shelf in the processing system 10 that is configured to releasably engage the product module 250. For example, product module 250 may include an engagement device (eg, clip assembly, slot assembly, latch assembly, pin assembly) that releasably engages a complementary device incorporated in bracket assembly 282. Configured as follows.

  The plumbing / control subsystem 20 may include a manifold assembly 284 that may be rigidly secured to the bracket assembly 282. The manifold assembly 284 may be configured to include a plurality of inlet ports 286, 288, 290, 292, which are pump openings (eg, incorporated in each of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276). Pump openings 294, 296, 298, 300) may be configured to releasably engage. When positioning the product module 250 in the bracket assembly 282, the product module 250 may be moved in the direction of arrow 302 so that the inlet ports 286, 288, 290, 292 (respectively) are pump openings 294, 296, 298. , 300 can be releasably engaged. Inlet ports 286, 288, 290, 292 and / or pump openings 294, 296, 298, 300 include one or more O-rings or other sealing assemblies (not shown) as described above to prevent leakage. It may be easy to be in a sealed state. Inlet ports (eg, inlet ports 286, 288, 290, 292) included in manifold assembly 284 may be constructed of a rigid “pipe-like” material, or constructed of a flexible “tube-like” material. Also good.

  Manifold assembly 284 may be configured to engage tube bundle 304, which may be plumbed (directly or indirectly) to nozzle 24. As described above, the bulk feed subsystem 16 also provides fluid (directly in the form of chilled carbonated water 164, chilled water 166, and / or chilled high fructose corn syrup 168 in at least one embodiment). Or indirectly) to the nozzle 24. Thus, the control logic subsystem 14 (in this particular example) includes a specific amount of various bulk ingredients, such as cooled carbonated water 164, cooled water 166, cooled high fructose corn syrup 168, and Various micro ingredients (e.g., control logic subsystem 14 because the amount of first substrate (i.e. flavoring, second substrate (i.e. nutritional supplement and third substrate (i.e. pharmaceutical)) can be adjusted. Can precisely control the composition of the product 28.

  As described above, one or more of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 may be a solenoid piston pump assembly, which is one or more of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 being a logic subsystem. Each time it is energized by 14 (via data bus 38), it supplies a predetermined, always equal amount of fluid. Further, as described above, the control logic subsystem 14 may perform one or more control processes 120, which may control the operation of the processing system 10. An example of such a control process is a drive signal generation process (not shown) that generates drive signals that can be supplied from the control logic subsystem 14 to the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 via the data bus 38. It may be included. One exemplary method for generating the drive signal described above was filed on September 6, 2007 and is now US Pat. No. 7,905,373 (Attorney Docket F45). US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 851,344 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATION A DRIVE SIGNAL”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

  Although FIG. 4 shows one nozzle 24, a plurality of nozzles 24 may be included in various other embodiments. In some embodiments, multiple containers 30 may receive products that are dispensed from the system, eg, via multiple sets of tube bundles. Thus, in some embodiments, the dispensing system may be configured to allow one or more users to dispense one or more products at the same time.

  Capacitive flow sensors 306, 308, 310, 312 may be used to detect the flow rate of the micro-raw material described above through each of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276.

  Referring also to FIG. 5A (side view) and FIG. 5B (top view), a detailed view of an exemplary capacitive flow sensor 308 is shown. The capacitive flow sensor 308 may include a first capacitive plate 310 and a second capacitive plate 312. The second capacitive plate 312 may be configured to be movable with respect to the first capacitive plate 310. For example, the first capacitive plate 310 may be rigidly fixed to the structure in the processing system 10. Further, the capacitive flow sensor 308 may also be rigidly secured to the structure within the processing system 10. However, the second capacitive plate 312 may be configured to be movable with respect to the first capacitive plate 310 (and the capacitive flow sensor 308) by using the diaphragm assembly 314. Diaphragm assembly 314 may be configured such that second capacitive plate 312 can be displaced in the direction of arrow 316. Diaphragm assembly 314 may be composed of various materials that allow displacement to arrow 316. For example, the diaphragm assembly 314 may be composed of a stainless steel flake having a PET (ie, polyethylene terephthalate) coating to prevent corrosion of the stainless steel flake. Alternatively, the diaphragm assembly 314 may be composed of titanium flakes. Still further, the diaphragm assembly 314 may be constructed of plastic, in which case one side of the plastic diaphragm assembly is plated to form a second capacitive plate 312. In some embodiments, the plastic may be, but is not limited to, injection molded plastic or PET rolled sheet.

  As described above, each time a pump assembly (e.g., pump assembly 272) is energized by control logic subsystem 14 via data bus 38, the pump assembly is accommodated in a suitable product container 254, for example. The micro raw material fluid may be supplied in an amount based on calibration, for example, 30 to 33 μL. Thus, the control logic subsystem 14 may control the flow rate of the micro feedstock by controlling the rate at which the appropriate pump assembly is energized. An exemplary speed for energizing the pump assembly is between 3 Hz (ie, 3 times per second) and 30 Hz (ie, 30 times per second).

  Thus, when the pump assembly 272 is energized, a suction force is generated (in the cavity 318 of the capacitive flow sensor 308), which suctions a suitable micro ingredient (eg, substrate) from the product container 254, for example. Thus, when the pump assembly 272 is energized and a suction force is generated in the cavity 318, the second capacitive plate 312 may be displaced downward (relative to FIG. 5A), and hence the distance “d” (ie, The distance between the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312) increases.

により決まり、式中、「ε」は第一の容量性プレート３１０と第二の容量性プレート３１２の間に配置された誘電材料の透過性であり、「Ａ」は容量性プレートの面積であり、「ｄ」は第一の容量性プレート３１０と第二の容量性プレート３１２との間の距離である。「ｄ」は上式の分母に置かれているため、「ｄ」が大きくなると、これに対応して「Ｃ」（すなわち、コンデンサのキャパシタンス）が小さくなる。 Referring also to FIG. 5C, as is known in the art, the capacitance (C) of a capacitor is:

Where “ε” is the permeability of the dielectric material disposed between the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 and “A” is the area of the capacitive plate , “D” is the distance between the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312. Since “d” is placed in the denominator of the above equation, as “d” increases, “C” (that is, the capacitance of the capacitor) decreases correspondingly.

  Continuing with the above example, also referring to FIG. 5D, when the pump assembly 272 is not energized, the value of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 is 5.00 pF. Assume that there is. Further, when the pump assembly 272 is energized at time T = 1, a suction force is generated in the cavity 316, which causes the second capacitive plate 312 to move downward, the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 310 to move downward. Assume that the capacitance of the capacitor formed by capacitive plate 312 is sufficient to displace by a distance that can be reduced by 20%. Accordingly, the new value of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 may be 4.00 pF. An illustrative example in which the second capacitive plate 312 is displaced downward during the pumping sequence described above is shown in FIG. 5E.

  As the appropriate micro-raw material is aspirated from the product container 254, the aspiration force in the cavity 318 is reduced and the second capacitive plate 312 is displaced upward to its original position (shown in FIG. 5A). May be. As the second capacitive plate 312 is displaced upward, the distance between the second capacitive plate 312 and the first capacitive plate 310 may decrease and return to its original value. Therefore, the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 may be 5.00 pF again. When the second capacitive plate 312 moves upward and returns to its original position, the momentary movement of the second capacitive plate 312 causes the second capacitive plate 312 to pass through its original position and momentarily. , Closer to the first capacitive plate than when the second capacitive plate 312 is in its original position (shown in FIG. 5A). Therefore, the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 is instantaneously larger than its initial value of 5.00 pF and can be stabilized at 5.00 pF shortly thereafter.

  The change in capacitance value as described above (in this example) between 5.00 pF and 4.00 pF while the pump assembly 272 repeats on and off cycles, for example, until the product container 254 is empty. Can continue. For purposes of illustration, assume product container 254 is empty at time T = 5. At this point, the second capacitive plate 312 may not return to its original position (shown in FIG. 5A). Further, as the pump assembly 272 continues to cycle, the second capacitive plate 312 can continue to be drawn down until the second capacitive plate 312 can no longer be displaced (shown in FIG. 5F). . At this point, the distance “d” is greater than that shown in FIGS. 5A and 5E, so that the capacitance value of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312 is minimized. The capacitance value 320 can be minimized. The actual value of the minimum capacitance value 320 may vary depending on the flexibility of the diaphragm assembly 314.

  Thus, for example, proper operation of the pump assembly 272 is verified by monitoring the capacitance value (absolute or peak-to-peak variation) of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312. it can. For example, if the capacitance value described above fluctuates periodically between 5.00 pF and 4.00 pF, this capacitance variation indicates that the pump assembly 272 is operating properly and the product container 254 is not empty. Can be shown. However, if the capacitance value described above does not vary (eg, remains at 5.00 pF), this may indicate a failure of the pump assembly 272 (eg, a mechanical component in the pump assembly has failed and / or electrical It may indicate that the mechanical component has failed) or that the nozzle 24 has become clogged.

  Furthermore, if the capacitance value described above drops to a point below 4.00 pF (such as to a minimum capacitance value of 320), this may indicate that the product container 254 is empty. Still further, if the inter-vertex variation is less than expected (eg, less than the aforementioned 1.00 pF variation), this may indicate that there is a leak between the product container 254 and the capacitive flow sensor 308.

  In order to measure the capacitance value of the capacitor formed by the first capacitive plate 310 and the second capacitive plate 312, a signal may be supplied to the capacitance measurement system 326 (via conductors 322, 324). Good. The output of the capacitance measurement system 326 may be provided to the control logic subsystem 14. An example of a capacitance measurement system 326 may include the CY8C21434-24LFXI PSOC provided by Cypress Semiconductor, California, San Jose, whose design and operation is described by “CSD User” published by Cypress Semiconductor, published by Cypress Semiconductor. Which is incorporated herein by reference. Capacitance measurement circuit 326 may be configured to compensate for environmental factors (eg, changes in temperature, humidity, power supply voltage).

  Capacitance measurement system 326 performs a capacitance measurement (with respect to the capacitor formed by first capacitive plate 310 and second capacitive plate 312) for a predetermined period of time to determine whether the above-described variation in capacitance has occurred. It may be configured to determine whether or not. For example, the capacitance measurement system 326 may be configured to monitor the aforementioned change in capacitance value occurring over a time frame of 0.50 seconds. Thus, in this particular example, the capacitance measurement system 326 during each 0.50 second measurement cycle as long as the pump assembly 272 is energized at a minimum speed of 2.00 Hz (ie, at least once every 0.50 seconds). Should detect at least one of the above capacitance variations.

  Although the flow sensor 308 is described above as being capacitive, this is for illustrative purposes only, and other configurations are possible and are considered to be within the scope of the present application and are not intended to be a limitation of the present application. .

  For example, referring also to FIG. 5G, for purposes of illustration, assume that the flow sensor 308 does not include a first capacitive plate 310 and a second capacitive plate 312. Alternatively, the flow sensor 308 may include a transducer assembly 328 that may be coupled (directly or indirectly) to the diaphragm assembly 314. When directly coupled, transducer assembly 328 may be attached / attached to diaphragm assembly 314. Alternatively, when coupled indirectly, the transducer assembly 328 may be coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314, for example, with a coupling assembly 330.

  As described above, diaphragm assembly 314 can be displaced as fluid is displaced within cavity 318. For example, diaphragm assembly 314 may move in the direction of arrow 316. In addition / alternatively, the diaphragm assembly 314 may be distorted (eg, slightly concave / convex as indicated by the dashed diaphragm assemblies 332, 334). As known in the art, while (a) the diaphragm assembly 314 remains essentially flat during displacement in the direction of arrow 316 or (b) remains stationary with respect to arrow 316. Whether it bends into a convex diaphragm assembly 332 / concave diaphragm assembly 334, or (c) shows a combination of both displacement configurations, of multiple elements (eg, various portions of the diaphragm assembly 314). Stiffness, etc.). Accordingly, the transducer assembly 328 (in combination with the coupling assembly 330 and / or the transducer measurement system 336) is utilized to monitor the displacement of all or part of the diaphragm assembly 314, thereby allowing fluids that are displaced within the cavity 318 to move. The amount can be measured.

  By using various types of transducer assemblies (described in more detail below), the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318 can be measured.

  For example, the transducer assembly 328 may include a linear variable actuation transformer (LVDT) and may be rigidly secured to a structure in the processing system 10 that is coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314 via a coupling assembly 330. May be. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such an LVDT is SE 750 100 manufactured by Macro Sensors of New Jersey, Pennsauken. The flow sensor 308 may also be rigidly secured to the structure within the processing system 10. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced (eg, bent along the arrow 316 or to be convex / concave), the movement of the diaphragm assembly 314 can be monitored. Thus, the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318 can also be monitored. Transducer assembly 328 (ie, it includes LVDT) may generate a signal that may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a needle / magnetic cartridge assembly (eg, a gramophone needle / magnetic cartridge assembly) and may be rigidly secured to a structure within the processing system 10. An illustrative, non-limiting example of such a needle / magnetic cartridge assembly is N 16 D manufactured by Toshiba Corporation, Japan. The transducer assembly 328 may be coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314 via a coupling assembly 330 (eg, a rigid rod assembly). The needle of the transducer assembly 328 may be configured to contact the surface of the coupling assembly 330 (ie, the rigid rod assembly). Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the coupling assembly 330 (ie, the rigid rod assembly) may also be displaced (in the direction of arrow 316) and rub against the needle of the transducer assembly 328. . Thus, the combination of transducer assembly 328 (ie, needle / magnetic cartridge) and coupling assembly 330 (ie, rigid rod assembly) may generate a signal that is processed (eg, amplified / transformed / converted) by transducer measurement system 336. Filter processing). This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a magnetic coil assembly (eg, similar to a voice coil of a speaker assembly) and may be rigidly secured to a structure within the processing system 10. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such a magnetic coil assembly is New York, East Aurora API Delavan Inc. Is 5526-I manufactured. The transducer assembly 328 may be coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314 via a coupling assembly 330, which may include an axial magnet assembly. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such an axial magnet assembly is Pennsylvania, Jameson's K & J Magnetics, Inc. Is D16 manufactured. The axial magnet assembly included in the coupling assembly 330 may be configured to slide coaxially within the magnetic coil assembly of the transducer assembly 328. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the coupling assembly 330 (ie, the axial magnet assembly) is also displaced (in the direction of arrow 316). As is known in the art, the movement of the axial magnet assembly within the magnetic coil assembly induces a current in the windings of the magnetic coil assembly. Accordingly, a combination of the magnetic coil assembly (not shown) of the transducer assembly 328 and the axial magnet assembly (not shown) of the linkage assembly 330 may generate a signal that is processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered). ) And then supplied to the control logic subsystem 14 and may be used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a Hall effect sensor assembly and may be rigidly secured to a structure within the processing system 10. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such a Hall effect sensor assembly is Massachusetts, Worcester, Allegro Systems Inc. Is manufactured by AB0iKUA-T. The transducer assembly 328 may be coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314 via a coupling assembly 330, which may include an axial magnet assembly. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such an axial magnet assembly is Pennsylvania, Jameson's K & J Magnetics, Inc. Is D16 manufactured. The axial magnet assembly included in the coupling assembly 330 may be configured to be positioned near the Hall effect sensor assembly of the transducer assembly 328. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the coupling assembly 330 (ie, the axial magnet assembly) is also displaced (in the direction of arrow 316). As is known in the art, a Hall effect sensor assembly is an assembly that generates an output voltage signal that changes in response to changes in a magnetic field. Thus, the combination of the Hall effect sensor assembly (not shown) of the transducer assembly 328 and the axial magnet assembly (not shown) of the coupling assembly 330 may generate a signal that is processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered). Processed) and then fed to the control logic subsystem 14 and may be used to determine the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  In this specification, the piezoelectric substance refers to any substance that exhibits a piezoelectric effect. This material may include but is not limited to ceramic, film, metal, quartz.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a piezoelectric buzzer element, which may be directly coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314. Accordingly, the coupling assembly 330 need not be used. An illustrative, non-limiting example of such a piezoelectric buzzer element is KBS-13DA-12A manufactured by AVX Corporation of South Carolina, Myrtle Beach. As is known in the art, a piezoelectric buzzer element may generate an electrical output signal that varies depending on the amount of mechanical stress experienced by the piezoelectric buzzer element. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the piezoelectric buzzer element (included in the transducer assembly 328) may be subjected to mechanical stress and thus a signal may be generated, This may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a piezoelectric sheet element, which may be directly coupled to the diaphragm assembly 314. Therefore, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. An illustrative, non-limiting example of such a piezoelectric sheet element is 0-100002794-0 manufactured by MSI / Schaevitz of Virginia, Hampton. As is known in the art, a piezoelectric sheet element may generate an electrical output signal that varies depending on the amount of mechanical stress experienced by the piezoelectric sheet element. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the piezoelectric sheet elements (included in the transducer assembly 328) may be subjected to mechanical stress and thus a signal may be generated, This may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the piezoelectric sheet element described above (included in transducer assembly 328) may be positioned near diaphragm assembly 314 and acoustically coupled thereto. The piezoelectric sheet element (included in the transducer assembly 328) may or may not include a weighting assembly for improving the resonance capability of the piezoelectric sheet element. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the piezoelectric sheet element (included in the transducer assembly 328) may be subjected to mechanical stress (due to the acoustic coupling), thus generating a signal. This may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include an audio speaker assembly, in which case the cone of the audio speaker assembly may be coupled directly to the diaphragm assembly 314. Therefore, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such an audio speaker assembly is AS01308MR-2X manufactured by Projects Limited of Ohio, Dayton. As is known in the art, the audio speaker assembly may include a voice coil assembly and a permanent magnet assembly in which the voice coil assembly slides. A signal is generally applied to the voice coil assembly to move the speaker cone, but when the speaker is moved by hand, a current is induced in the voice coil assembly. Thus, when diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the voice coil of the audio speaker assembly (included in transducer assembly 328) can be displaced with respect to the permanent magnet assembly described above, and thus the signal May be generated and processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, transducer assembly 328 may include an accelerometer assembly, which may be directly coupled to diaphragm assembly 314. Accordingly, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. Exemplary, non-limiting examples of such accelerometer assemblies are Massachusetts, Norwood's Analog Devices, Inc. Is AD22286-R2. As is known in the art, an accelerometer assembly can generate an electrical output signal that varies depending on the acceleration experienced by the accelerometer assembly. Thus, if the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the accelerometer assembly (included in the transducer assembly 328) may experience different levels of acceleration and thus a signal may be generated. This may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the chamber 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include a microphone assembly, which may be positioned in the vicinity of the diaphragm assembly 314 and acoustically coupled thereto. Therefore, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. An illustrative, non-limiting example of such a microphone assembly is EA-21842 manufactured by Knowles Acoustics of Illinois, Itasca. Thus, if the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the microphone assembly (included in the transducer assembly 328) may be subjected to mechanical stress (due to the acoustic coupling), thus generating a signal. This may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by the transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  Alternatively, the transducer assembly 328 may include an optical displacement assembly configured to monitor the movement of the diaphragm assembly 314. Therefore, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. An exemplary, non-limiting example of such an optical displacement assembly is New York, Pittsford's Advanced Motion Systems, Inc. Is Z4W-V manufactured. For illustration, the optical displacement assembly described above includes an optical signal generator that directs the optical signal to the diaphragm assembly 314, which is reflected by the diaphragm assembly 314 (also included in the optical displacement assembly). ) Detected by an optical sensor. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / deflected (as described above), the optical signal detected by the optical sensor described above (included in the transducer assembly 328) may change. Accordingly, a signal may be generated by an optical displacement assembly (included in transducer assembly 328), which may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the cavity 318.

  The above example of the flow sensor 308 is for illustration, but other configurations are possible and are considered to be within the scope of the present application, and are not intended to be all. For example, although the transducer assembly 328 is shown as being positioned external to the diaphragm assembly 314, the transducer assembly 328 may be positioned within the cavity 318.

  Although some of the above examples of flow sensor 308 are described as being coupled to diaphragm assembly 314, this is for illustration only and other configurations are possible and are within the scope of this application. It is not intended to be a limitation of the present application. For example, referring also to FIG. 5H, the flow sensor 308 may include a piston assembly 338, which may be biased by a spring assembly 340. Piston assembly 338 may be positioned near diaphragm assembly 314 and configured to bias it. Accordingly, the piston assembly 338 can follow the movement of the diaphragm assembly 314. Accordingly, the transducer assembly 328 may be coupled to the piston assembly 338 to achieve the results described above.

  Further, if the flow sensor 308 is configured to include a piston assembly 338 and a spring assembly 340, the transducer assembly 328 may include an inductance monitoring assembly configured to monitor the inductance of the spring assembly 340. . Therefore, the coupling assembly 330 need not be utilized. An illustrative, non-limiting example of such an inductance monitoring assembly is L / C Meter IIB manufactured by Almost All Digital Electronics of Washington, Auburn. Thus, when the diaphragm assembly 314 is displaced / flexed (as described above), the inductance of the spring assembly 340 detected by the inductance monitoring assembly (included in the transducer assembly 328) is the resistance to which the spring assembly 340 is deflected. May change due to changes in Thus, the signal may be generated by an inductance monitoring assembly (included in transducer assembly 328), which may be processed (eg, amplified / transformed / filtered) by transducer measurement system 336. This processed signal may then be provided to the control logic subsystem 14 and used to verify the amount of fluid passing through the chamber 318.

  Referring also to FIG. 6A, a schematic diagram of the piping / control subsystem 20 is shown. The piping / control subsystem described below relates to a piping / control system used to control the amount of cooled carbonated water 164 added to the product 28 via the flow control module 170, which is for illustrative purposes. However, other configurations are also possible and are not intended to be a limitation of the present application. For example, the piping / control subsystem described below may also be added to the product 28, for example, chilled water 166 and / or (eg, via the flow control module 174) (eg, flow control also via the surreal 172). It may also be used to control the amount of chilled high fructose corn syrup 168.

  As described above, the plumbing / control subsystem 20 may include a feedback controller system 188 that receives the flow feedback signal 182 from the flow measurement device 176. The feedback controller system 188 may compare the flow feedback signal 182 with the desired flow (set by the control logic subsystem 14 via the data bus 38). Upon processing the flow feedback signal 182, the feedback control system 188 may generate a flow control signal 194 that may be provided to the variable line impedance 200.

  The feedback controller system 188 may include a trajectory shaping controller 350, a flow regulator 352, a feed forward controller 354, a unit delay 356, a saturation controller 358, and a stepper controller 360, each of which: This will be described in detail below.

  Trajectory shaping controller 350 may be configured to receive control signals from control logic subsystem 14 via data bus 38. This control signal is trajectory for the way the piping / control subsystem 20 is supposed to deliver fluid for use in the product 28 (in this case, cooled carbonated water 164 via the flow control module 170). It may be set. However, the trajectory provided by the control logic subsystem 14 may need to be adjusted before being processed by the flow controller 352, for example. For example, the control system tends to be difficult to process a control curve composed of a plurality of line sections (that is, including a step change). For example, the flow regulator 352 may be difficult to process the control curve 370 because it consists of three different straight sections, namely sections 372, 374, 376. Accordingly, at the transition point (transition points 378, 380, etc.), specifically, the flow controller 352 (and the piping / control subsystem 20 as a whole) instantaneously changes from the first flow rate to the second flow rate. Will need to be. Thus, the trajectory shaping controller 350 may filter the control curve 30 to form a smooth control curve 382, since an instantaneous change from the first flow rate to the second flow rate is not necessary. Specifically, it can be more easily handled by the flow controller 352 (and the piping / control subsystem 20 as a whole).

  In addition, the trajectory shaping controller 350 may allow the nozzle 24 to be wet before injection and rinsed after injection. In some embodiments, and / or for some recipes, the one or more ingredients have the ingredients (referred to herein as “contaminated ingredients”) directly on the nozzle 24, ie, it has been stored. Contact in form can be a problem for the nozzle 24. In some embodiments, the nozzles 24 may be wetted prior to injection with a “pre-injection” raw material, such as water, so that these “contaminated raw materials” are in direct contact with the nozzle 24. Is prevented. The nozzle 24 may then be rinsed after pouring with a “washed raw material”, eg water.

  Specifically, if the nozzle 24 is wetted prior to injection with, for example, 10 mL of water, and / or rinsed after injection with, for example, 10 mL of water or “after-washing” raw material, When the addition is stopped, the trajectory controller 350 provides an additional amount of contaminated raw material during the injection process to offset the pre-cleaning raw material added during the pre-injection wetting and / or post-injection rinse. You may be made to do. Specifically, when the product 28 is being injected into the container 30, the product 28 initially having a low concentration of contaminating components may be obtained by rinsing water before injection or “before washing”. The trajectory shaping controller 350 may then add the contaminated material at a higher flow rate than necessary, and as a result, determine whether the product 28 transitions from “underconcentration” to “appropriate concentration” to “excess concentration”. Present at a higher concentration than required by the recipe. However, once the proper amount of contaminated material has been added, additional water, or other suitable “washed material” may be added in the post-rinsing process, so that again the contaminated material is added. A raw material 28 having a “proper concentration” is obtained.

  The flow controller 352 may be configured as a proportional integral (PI) loop controller. The flow controller 352 may perform comparison and processing, as described above, which is generally performed by the feedback controller system 188. For example, the flow controller 352 may be configured to receive the feedback signal 182 from the flow meter 176. The flow controller 352 may compare the flow feedback signal 182 with a desired flow rate (set by the control logic subsystem 14 and adjusted by the trajectory shaping controller 350). When the flow controller 352 processes the flow feedback signal 182, it may generate a flow control signal 194 that may be provided to the variable line impedance 200.

  The feedforward controller 354 may provide a “best guess” estimate of where the initial position of the variable line impedance 200 should be. Specifically, assume a variable line impedance (cooled carbonated water 164) flow rate between 0.00 and 120.00 mL / sec at a given constant pressure. Further assume that a flow rate of 40 mL / sec is desirable when injecting beverage product 28 into container 30. Thus, feedforward controller 354 may provide a feedforward signal (at feedforward line 384), which initially opens variable line impedance 200 to 33.33% of its maximum aperture (variable line impedance 200). Is assumed to work linearly).

  In determining the value of the feedforward signal, the feedforward controller 354 may utilize a look-up table (not shown), which may be created empirically and is supplied for various initial flow rates. May be defined. An example of such a lookup table may include, but is not limited to, the following table.

  Again, assuming, for example, that a flow rate of 40 mL / second is desired when injecting beverage product 28 into container 30, feedforward controller 354 may utilize the look-up table described above (using feedforward line 384). B) A pulse signal for rotating the stepping motor by 60.0 degrees may be sent. While a stepping motor is used in this exemplary embodiment, in other various embodiments, any other type of motor may be used, including a servo motor, It is not limited to this.

  Unit delay 356 may form a feedback path through which the previous version of the control signal (supplied to variable line impedance 200) is provided to flow controller 352.

  The saturation controller 358 disables the integral control of the feedback controller system 188 (which may be configured as a PI loop controller as described above) whenever the variable line impedance 200 is set to the maximum flow rate (by the stepper controller 360). It may be configured to improve system stability by reducing excess flow rate and system vibration.

  The stepper controller 360 may be configured to convert the signal provided by the saturation controller 358 (on line 386) to a signal available to the variable line impedance 200. The variable line impedance 200 may include a stepping motor for adjusting the size (and thus the flow rate) of the opening of the variable line impedance 200. Therefore, the control signal 194 may be configured to control the stepping motor included in the variable line impedance.

  Referring also to FIG. 6B, examples of flow measurement devices 176, 178, 180 of flow rate control modules 170, 172, 174, respectively, include paddle wheel flow measurement devices, turbine-type measurement devices, or positive displacement flow measurement devices (eg, A geared volumetric flow measurement device 388) may be included, but is not limited to such. Thus, in various embodiments, the flow measurement device may be any device that can measure flow directly or indirectly. In this exemplary embodiment, a geared volumetric flow meter 388 is used. In this embodiment, the flow measurement device 388 may include a plurality of meshing gears (eg, gears 390, 392), which, for example, ensure that any content that passes through the geared volumetric flow measurement device 388 must be present. One or more predetermined paths (eg, paths 394, 396) may be followed so that, for example, gear 390 rotates counterclockwise and gear 392 rotates clockwise. By monitoring the rotation of gears 390, 392, a feedback signal (eg, feedback signal 182) may be generated and provided to an appropriate flow controller (eg, flow controller 352).

  Referring also to FIGS. 7-14, various exemplary embodiments of a flow control module (eg, flow control module 170) are shown. However, as described above, the order of the various assemblies may vary in various embodiments, i.e., the assemblies may be arranged in any desired order. For example, in some embodiments, the assembly is arranged in the following order: flow measurement device, binary valve, variable impedance, and in other embodiments, the assembly is in the following order: flow measurement device, variable Arranged in the order of impedance and binary valve. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to change the order of the assembly to retain pressure and fluid on the variable impedance or to change the pressure on the variable impedance. In some embodiments, the variable impedance valve may include a lip seal. In these embodiments, it may be desirable to maintain pressure and fluid on the lip seal. This can be achieved by placing the assembly in the following order: flow measurement device, variable impedance, binary valve. A binary valve downstream of the variable line impedance holds the pressure and liquid on the variable impedance so that the lip seal maintains the desired tightness.

  Referring first to FIGS. 7A and 7B, one embodiment of a flow control module 170a is shown. In some embodiments, the flow control module 170a may generally include a flow meter 176a, a variable line impedance 200a, and a binary valve 212a, even though there is a generally straight fluid flow path therein. Good. The flow meter 176a may include a fluid inlet 400 for receiving a bulk feed from the bulk feed subsystem 16. The fluid inlet 400 may communicate bulk material to a geared volumetric flow meter (eg, the geared volumetric device 388 generally described above), which is a plurality of disposed in the housing 402. Meshing gears (e.g., including gears 390). A large amount of raw material can pass from the flow meter 176a to the binary valve 212a via the flow path 404.

  The binary valve 212 a may include a banjo valve 406 that is actuated by a solenoid 408. The banjo valve 406 may be biased (eg, by a spring not shown) so that the banjo valve 406 is positioned toward the closed position so that bulk feed flows through the flow control module 170a. I can't. The solenoid coil 408 is energized (eg, in response to a control signal from the control logic subsystem 14) and the plunger 410 is driven linearly through the coupling means 412 to move the banjo valve 406 and the valve. The sealed engagement with the seat 414 may be removed and, as a result, the banjo valve 212a may be opened so that a large amount of material flows to the variable line impedance 200a.

  As described above, the variable line impedance 200a may adjust the flow rate of a large amount of raw materials. The variable line impedance 200a may include a drive motor 416, which may include, but is not limited to, a stepping motor or a servo motor. Drive motor 416 may generally be coupled to variable impedance valve 418. As described above, the variable impedance valve 418 may control the flow rate of a large amount of raw material exiting from the fluid discharge port 422 from the binary valve 212a via the flow path 420, for example. Examples of variable impedance valve 418 are disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,755,683 (Attorney Docket No. B13) and US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0085049 (Attorney Docket No. E66). Both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Although not shown, a gear device may be connected between the drive motor 416 and the variable impedance valve 418.

  Referring also to FIGS. 8 and 9, another embodiment of a flow control module (eg, flow control module 170b) is shown, which generally includes a flow meter 176b, a binary valve 212b, a variable line impedance 200b, including. Similar to the flow control module 170a, the flow control module 170b may include a fluid inlet 400, which may communicate a large amount of raw material to the flow meter 176b. The flow meter 176b may include meshing gears 390, 392 disposed in the cavity 424, which may be formed in the housing member 402, for example. The meshing gears 390, 392 and the cavity 424 may define a flow path near the periphery of the cavity 424. The bulk material may pass from the flow meter 176b through the flow path 404 to the binary valve 212b. As shown, fluid inlet 400 and flow path 404 may provide a 90 degree flow path that enters and exits flow meter 176b (ie, enters and exits cavity 424).

  Binary valve 212b may include banjo valve 406, which is biased to engage valve seat 414 (eg, in response to a biasing force applied by spring 426 via coupling means 412). . When the solenoid coil 408 is energized, the plunger 410 is retracted toward the solenoid coil 408, and as a result, the banjo valve 406 is moved to remove it from the sealing engagement with the valve seat 414. Can flow into. In other embodiments, the banjo valve 406 may be downstream of the variable line impedance 200b.

  Variable line impedance 200b may generally include a first rigid member (eg, shaft 428) having a first surface. The shaft 428 may define a first flow path portion having a first end on a first surface. The first end may include a groove (eg, groove 430) defined in a first surface (eg, of shaft 428). The groove 430 may taper perpendicularly to the tangent to the curve of the first surface, from a large cross-sectional area to a small cross-sectional area. However, in other embodiments, the shaft 428 may include a hole (ie, a straight spherical hole, see FIG. 15C) rather than the groove 430. The second rigid member (eg, housing 432) may include a second surface (eg, inner hole 434). The second rigid member (eg, housing 432) may define a second flow path portion having a second end on the second surface. The first and second rigid members can rotate relative to each other from the fully open position continuously through the partially open position to the closed position. For example, shaft 428 may be rotatably driven with respect to housing 432 by drive motor 416 (eg, which may include a stepping motor or servomotor). The first and second surfaces define a space between them. The hole (eg, opening 436) in the second rigid member (eg, housing 432) is either one in which the first and second rigid members are fully open with respect to each other or in a partially open position. When there is one, the first and second flow path portions may be in fluid communication. Fluid flowing between the first and second flow path portions flows through grooves (ie, grooves 430) and holes (ie, openings 436). In some embodiments, at least one sealing member (eg, a gasket, O-ring or the like not shown) may be placed between the first and second surfaces, and the first and second stiffnesses Sealing between the members prevents fluid leakage from the space, which also prevents fluid leakage from the desired flow path. However, in the exemplary embodiment shown, this type of sealing means is not used. Rather, in the exemplary embodiment, a lip seal 429 or other sealing means is used to seal the space.

  Various connection devices may be included to fluidly connect the flow control modules 170, 172, 174 to the bulk feed subsystem 16 and / or downstream components, such as the nozzle 24. For example, a locking plate 438 may be slidably installed with respect to the guide member 440, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 for the flow control module 170b. A fluid line (not shown) may be inserted at least partially into the fluid outlet 422 and the locking plate 438 is linearly moved by a slide to lock the fluid line in engagement with the fluid outlet. Also good. Various gaskets, O-rings, or the like may be used to connect the fluid line and the fluid outlet 422 in a fluid tight manner.

  10-13 illustrate various other embodiments of the flow control module (eg, flow control modules 170c, 170d, 170e, 170f, respectively). The flow control modules 170c, 170d, 170e, 170f generally differ from the previously described flow control modules 170a, 170b in the relative orientation of the fluid connector, the variable line impedance 200, and the binary valve 212. For example, the flow control modules 170d and 170f shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, respectively, may include a barbed fluid connector 442 for fluid communication to / from the flow meters 176d and 176f. Similarly, the flow control module 170c may include a barbed fluid connector 444 for fluid communication to / from the variable line impedance 200c. Various additional / alternative fluid connector arrangements are equally available. Similarly, various relative orientations of the solenoid 408 and spring biased configurations of the banjo valve 406 may be used to suit various packaging configurations and design criteria.

  14A-14C, yet another embodiment of a flow control module is shown (ie, flow control module 170g). The flow control module 170g may generally include a flow meter 176g, a variable line impedance 200g, and a binary valve 212g (eg, this may be the generally solenoid operated banjo valve described above). Referring to FIG. 14C, the lip seal 202g is visible. FIG. 14C also shows one exemplary embodiment in which the flow control module includes a cover that can protect various flow control module assemblies. Although not depicted in all of the illustrated embodiments, each of the embodiments of the flow control module may also include a cover.

  It should be noted that the flow control module (eg, flow control modules 170, 172, 174) may be configured such that the bulk feed from the bulk feed subsystem 16 to the flow meter (eg, flow meters 176, 178, 180) and then the variable line. Although described as being configured to flow to an impedance (eg, variable line impedance 200, 202, 204) and finally to a binary valve (eg, binary valves 212, 214, 216), this limits this application. Should not be interpreted as For example, as shown in and described with respect to FIGS. 7-14C, the flow control module may move from the bulk feed subsystem 16 to a flow meter (eg, flow meters 176, 178, 180) and then a binary valve (eg, , The binary valves 212, 214, 216) may have a flow path that finally passes through a variable line impedance (eg, variable line impedances 200, 202, 204). Various additional / alternative configurations can be equally utilized. In addition, one or more additional components may be interconnected between one or more of the flow meter, binary valve, variable line impedance.

  Referring to FIGS. 15A and 15B, a portion of a variable line impedance (eg, variable line impedance 200) including a drive motor 416 (eg, this may be a stepper motor, servo motor, or others) is shown. Yes. Drive motor 416 may be coupled to a shaft 428 having a groove 430 therein. Referring now to FIG. 15C, in some embodiments, the shaft 428 includes a hole, and in this exemplary embodiment as shown in FIG. 15C, the hole is a ball-shaped hole. For example, as described with respect to FIGS. 8 and 9, drive motor 416 may rotate shaft 428 relative to a housing (eg, housing 432) to adjust the flow rate through the variable line impedance. The magnet 446 may be coupled to the shaft 428 (eg, perhaps at least partially disposed within an axial opening in the shaft 428. The magnet 446 may be generally dipole magnetized. Well, it provides an South Pole 450 and a North Pole 452. The rotational position of the shaft 428 is based, for example, on the magnetic flux that the magnet 446 applies to one or more magnetic flux detection devices, such as the sensors 454, 456 shown in FIG. The magnetic flux detection device may include, but is not limited to, for example, a Hall effect sensor or the like, such as providing a position feedback signal to the control logic subsystem 14, for example. May be.

  Referring again to FIG. 15C, in some embodiments, the magnet 446 is disposed on the opposite side of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and described in this regard. In addition, in this embodiment, the magnet 446 is held by a magnet holder 480.

  In addition to / alternatively using a magnetic position sensor (eg to determine the rotational position of the shaft), based on a variable line impedance, at least one, a motor position, or an optical sensor that detects the shaft position You may decide.

  Referring now to FIGS. 16A and 16B, a gear (eg, gear 390) of a geared volumetric displacement measuring device (eg, geared volumetric flow measuring device 388) has one or more gears coupled thereto. Of magnets (eg, magnets 458, 460). As described above, the gear 390 (and gear 392) can rotate as fluid (eg, bulk material) flows through the geared volumetric flow meter 388. The rotational speed of the gear 390 may be generally proportional to the flow rate of the fluid passing through the geared volumetric flow meter 388. The rotation (and / or rotational speed) of gear 390 may be measured using a magnetic flux sensor (eg, a Hall effect sensor or the like), which is the rotational motion of axial magnets 458, 460 coupled to gear 390. May be measured. For example, a magnetic flux sensor, shown in FIG. 8, that can be disposed on a printed circuit board 462 provides a flow feedback signal (eg, flow feedback signal 182) to a flow feedback controller system (eg, feedback controller system 188). May be.

Flow Control Module Leakage Detection In various embodiments, the flow control module may be in an operational state, but fluid should not flow, i.e., the flow control module is not operating with any pump command. In some embodiments, a system including a leak detection method may be used to detect fluid flow from the flow control module when fluid should not flow.

  In various embodiments of the flow control module leak detection, leak detection is performed when the flow control module is not operating with any pump command, the banjo valve or other valve controller is idle, and the gear meter spin after injection. It may be activated when the gear meter monitor is idle after all downtime has elapsed. When these conditions are met, leak detection is triggered. In some embodiments, a predetermined elapsed time is provided before the flow control module triggers leak detection.

  Referring now also to FIG. 76, in various embodiments, the leak detection method includes three states: leak test initiation, leak test initialization, and leak test execution. In the leak test start state, one or more of the activation criteria are not yet met, so the leak detection is idle. In various embodiments, the activation criteria may include one or more of the above criteria. In the leak test initialization state, a timing guard band that is generated when the flow rate control module shifts from the operating state to the idle state (that is, when the activation criterion is satisfied) is controlled. In the leak test execution state, when the timing guard band elapses, the leak test method remains in this state until the flow control module is activated.

  Referring now also to FIG. 77, at a high level, the FCM leak detection method receives and monitors the measured fluid volume communicated by the gear meter. An alarm is triggered when the reported amount exceeds a predetermined preset threshold. To do this, a “leak integrator” algorithm is used, which in some embodiments, is measured by a gear meter and added to the intermediate total at each update. That is, when the integral value includes the integral value and exceeds the threshold value, it is determined that there is leakage. Thereafter, the integral value is reduced by a certain “attenuation amount” at each update. The interim cumulative is not lower than zero.

  In various embodiments, three factors may be used, including update period, leak detection threshold, and integral decay rate. Various other embodiments may use different coefficients, or additional or fewer coefficients.

In some embodiments, the update period defines how often leak detection is performed. In some embodiments, leak detection may be performed periodically, for example, once every 2 seconds (0.5 Hz). In some embodiments, a leak detection threshold is set and a leak is declared when the integral value exceeds this number. The leak detection threshold may be set as the maximum flow rate set in the flow control module calibration data as follows in some embodiments.
Leak_Detection_Threshold = (0.25 ^* FCM_Maximum_Flow_Rate) ^* Update_Period

In some embodiments, the integral decay rate is a value that is reduced each time the gear meter's integrated flow is updated. This can be advantageous because, for example, the attenuation of the integral value improves the noise immunity of the method and the algorithm is reset when the leak condition disappears. The integral value decay rate is set as the maximum flow rate defined in the calibration data of the flow rate control module as follows.
Integrator_Drain_Rate = (0.001 ^* FCM_Maximum_Flow_Rate) ^* Update_Period

  In various embodiments, an alarm or alarm is generated when the following conditions are met: the integral value exceeds the leak detection threshold and the alarm occurrence is “ready for operation”. In various embodiments, the alarm generation is “ready” when the algorithm is initialized and whenever the integral value is zero. In various embodiments, when an alarm is triggered, the alarm occurrence is “unprepared”. This operational preparation / unpreparation process prevents the method and system from generating multiple alarms in a single leak event. The following is an example of when an alarm can be issued. These are given only by way of explanation and example and are not intended to be exhaustive. In various embodiments, the method may be different and alarms / alarms may be triggered under different conditions. In various embodiments, a warning / alarm may be generated under the conditions added above.

  As an example, the flow control module always leaks until the integral value exceeds the threshold. The flow control module continues to leak. In this example, a single alarm may be issued when the integral value first exceeds the threshold.

  As another example, the flow control module has intermittent leakage until the integrated value eventually exceeds the threshold. Then, the integral value oscillates around the threshold value. In this example, a single alarm may be issued when the integral value first exceeds the threshold. The de-preparation logic present in some embodiments may prevent a noisy alarm from sounding if the integral value again exceeds the threshold.

  As another example, the flow control module always leaks until the integral value exceeds the threshold. Then, the fluid control module stops leakage. In this example, an alarm may be issued when the integral value first exceeds a threshold value. When the flow control module stops leaking, the integrated value slowly decays and returns to zero. When the integral value decays back to zero, the alarm generation is again ready for operation, so that an alarm may also be issued when the flow control module begins to leak again.

  Referring now also to FIG. 77, this graph represents data collected in one example of a leak detection method. In this example, leakage of high fructose corn syrup was simulated using the manual override of the flow control module. Manual override was toggled between open and closed states over a period of time and then held in the fully open position. When detection was declared, manual override was closed. It can be seen that the integral value increases until a leak is declared, as shown in FIG. At that point, the integral value cannot increase any further. When the manual override is closed, the integral value is found to decay to zero, at which point the leak condition is cleared and the alarm is ready for operation again.

  Referring also to FIG. 17, a schematic diagram of the user interface subsystem 22 is shown. The user interface subsystem 22 may include a touch panel interface 500 (an exemplary embodiment is described below with respect to FIGS. 51-53), which allows the user 26 to select various options for the beverage. For example, the user 26 may be able to select the size of the beverage 28 (via the “Drink Size” column 502). Examples of selectable sizes may include, but are not limited to, “12 oz”, “16 oz”, “20 oz”, “24 oz”, “32 oz”, “48 oz” Not.

  User 26 may select the type of beverage 28 (via “Drink Type” column 504). Examples of selectable types may include, but are not limited to, “cola”, “lemon lime”, “root beer”, “ice tea”, “lemonade”, “fruit punch”.

  User 26 may also select one or more flavorings / products for inclusion in beverage 28 (via “additional” column 506). Examples of selectable additives may include “cherry flavor”, “lemon flavor”, “lime flavor”, “chocolate flavor”, “coffee flavor”, “ice cream”. It is not limited.

  Further, the user 26 may select one or more nutritional supplements for inclusion in the beverage 28 (via the “Nutritional Supplements” column 508). Examples of such nutritional supplements may include “vitamin A”, “vitamin B6”, “vitamin B12”, “vitamin C”, “vitamin D”, “zinc”. It is not limited.

  In some embodiments, another screen at a lower height than the touch panel may include a “remote control” (not shown) for the panel. The remote control may include, for example, buttons that indicate up, down, right, left, and selection. However, in other embodiments, other buttons may be included.

  When user 26 makes the appropriate selection, user 26 may select “Execute!” Button 510 and user interface subsystem 22 sends the appropriate data signal (via data bus 32) to the control logic sub. It may be supplied to the system 14. Upon receipt of this, the control logic subsystem 14 may retrieve the appropriate data from the storage subsystem 12 and send appropriate control signals to, for example, the bulk ingredient subsystem 16, the micro ingredient subsystem 18, the piping / control subsystem 20. This may be dispensed and processed (as described above) to prepare the beverage 28. Alternatively, the user 26 may select a “Cancel” button 512 and the touch panel interface 500 may be reset to a default state (eg, no button is selected).

  The user interface subsystem 22 may be configured to allow two-way communication with the user 26. For example, the user interface subsystem 22 may include an information screen 514 that allows the processing system 10 to provide information to the user 26. Examples of the types of information that can be provided to the user 26 may include, but are not limited to, advertisements, information / warnings regarding system anomalies, and information regarding prices of various products.

  As described above, the control logic subsystem 14 may execute one or more control processes 120, which may control the operation of the processing system 10. Accordingly, control logic subsystem 14 may execute a finite state machine process (eg, FSM process 122).

  As also described above, during use of the processing system 10, the user 26 may use the user interface subsystem 22 to select a particular beverage 28 to be dispensed (into the container 30). User 26 may use user interface subsystem 22 to select one or more options to be included in such a beverage. When the user 26 makes an appropriate selection using the user interface subsystem 22, the user interface subsystem 22 provides appropriate instructions indicating the user 26's selection and preferences (with respect to the beverage 28) to the control logic subsystem 14. May be sent to.

  In making the selection, the user 26 may select a multi-part recipe that is essentially a composite of two separate and different recipes that produce a product of multiple ingredients. For example, the user 26 may select a root beer float, which is a multi-part recipe that is basically a composite of two separate and different ingredients (ie vanilla ice cream and root beer soda). As another example, user 26 may select a drink that is a combination of cola and coffee. This cola / coffee composite is basically a composite of two separate and different ingredients (ie, cola soda and coffee).

  Referring also to FIG. 18, upon receipt of the above instructions (550), the FSM process 122 processes the instructions (552) to determine whether the product to be produced (eg, beverage 28) is a product of multiple ingredients. It may be determined whether or not.

  If the product to be produced is a product of multiple ingredients (554), the FSM process 122 may identify the recipe required to produce each of the ingredients of the multiple ingredients (556). ). The identified recipe may be selected from a plurality of recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12 shown in FIG.

  If the product to be produced is not a product of multiple ingredients (554), the FSM process 122 may identify a single recipe for producing the product (558). A single recipe may be selected from a plurality of recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12. Thus, if the received (550) and processed (552) instruction is an instruction defining lemon lime soda, the FSM process 122 produces lemon lime soda because this is not a multi-component product. A single recipe may be identified (558).

  If the indication is for a product of multiple ingredients (554), once an appropriate recipe selected from multiple recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12 is identified (556), the FSM process 122 Each may be parsed into a plurality of individual states (560) to determine one or more state transitions. The FSM process 122 may then define at least one finite state machine (for each recipe) using at least a portion of the plurality of separate states (562).

  If the instruction is not for a product made up of multiple ingredients (554), the FSM process 122 selects the recipe once an appropriate recipe selected from multiple recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12 is identified (558). Parsing into multiple separate states (564) may define one or more state transitions. The FSM process 122 may then define (566) at least one finite state machine for the recipe using at least some of the plurality of different states.

  As is known in the art, a finite state machine (FSM) is a behavioral model consisting of a finite number of states, transitions between these states and / or actions. For example, referring also to FIG. 19, defining a finite state machine for a physical doorway that can be fully opened or fully closed, the finite state machine has two states: an “open” state 570 and a “closed” state 572. May be included. In addition, two transitions may be defined, which allows a transition from one state to another. For example, transition state 574 “opens” the door (hence transitions from “closed” state 572 to “open” state 570), and transition state 576 “closes” the door (hence “open” state 570 “ Transition to “closed” state 572).

  Referring also to FIG. 20, a state diagram 600 relating to how coffee can be extracted is shown. The state diagram 600 is shown to include five states: an idle state 602, an extractable state 604, an extracting state 605, a warming state 608, and an off state 610. In addition, five transition states are shown. For example, transition state 612 (e.g., installed coffee filter, filled with coffee powder, and infused water into the coffee machine) may transition from idle state 602 to extractable state 604. Transition state 614 (eg, pressing the extract button) may transition from extractable state 604 to extracting state 606. The transition state 616 (for example, end of water supply) may transition from the extracting state 606 to the heat retaining state 608. A transition state 618 (eg, turning off the power button or exceeding the maximum “warming” time) may transition from the warming state 608 to the off state 610. Transition state 620 (eg, power on) may transition from off state 610 to idle state 602.

  Accordingly, the FSM process 122 may generate one or more finite state machines corresponding to the recipe (or part thereof) used to generate the product. Once a suitable finite state machine has been created, the control logic subsystem 14 executes this finite state machine, for example, to produce a product (eg, consisting of multiple ingredients or a single ingredient) requested by the user 26. It may be generated.

  Accordingly, it is assumed that the processing system 10 has received (550) an indication that the user 26 has selected the root beer float (via the user interface subsystem 22). The FSM process 122 may process this instruction (552) to determine whether the root beer float is a product of multiple ingredients (554). Since Root Beer Float is a product of multiple ingredients, FSM process 122 identifies the recipes that are required to generate Root Beer Float (ie, Root Beer Soda recipe and Vanilla Ice Cream recipe) (556) and Root Beer Soda recipe. And vanilla ice cream recipes may be analyzed (560) into a plurality of separate states to define one or more state transitions. The FSM process 122 may then utilize at least a portion of the plurality of separate states to define at least one finite state machine (for each recipe) (562). These finite state machines are then executed by the control logic subsystem 14 to generate the root beer float selected by the user 26.

  When executing the state machine corresponding to the recipe, the processing system 10 may utilize one or more manifolds (not shown) included in the processing system 10. In the present application, a manifold is a temporary storage area designed to perform one or more processes. In order to facilitate the transfer of raw materials to and from the manifold, the processing system 10 includes a plurality of valves (e.g., controllable by the control logic subsystem 14) to facilitate transfer of the raw materials between the manifolds. Also good. Examples of various manifolds may include mixing manifolds, blend manifolds, grinding manifolds, heating manifolds, cooling manifolds, frozen manifolds, bleed manifolds, nozzles, pressure manifolds, vacuum manifolds, and stirring manifolds. It is not limited to.

  For example, when making coffee, a grinding manifold may grind coffee beans. As the beans are ground, water may be fed to the heating manifold, where water 160 is heated to a predetermined temperature (eg, 212 ° F.). As the water is heated, hot water (produced by the heating manifold) may be filtered through the coffee grounds (produced by the grinding manifold). In addition, depending on how the processing system 10 is configured, the processing system 10 may add cream and / or sugar to the produced coffee in other manifolds or at the nozzle 24. Good.

  Thus, each part of the multi-part recipe may be executed with a different manifold included in the processing system 10. Accordingly, each ingredient in a recipe consisting of a plurality of ingredients may be generated in a different manifold included in the processing system 10. Continuing with the above example, a first ingredient (ie, root beer soda) of a product made up of a plurality of ingredients may be generated in a mixing manifold included in the processing system 10. Further, a second ingredient of the product consisting of a plurality of ingredients (ie, vanilla ice cream) may be generated in a frozen manifold included in the processing system 10.

  As described above, the control logic subsystem 14 may execute one or more control processes 120 that may be controlled by the operation of the machining system 10. Accordingly, the control logic subsystem 14 may execute the virtual machine process 124.

  As also described above, during use of the processing system 10, the user 26 may use the user interface subsystem 22 to select a particular beverage 28 to be dispensed (into the container 30). The user 26 may select one or more options to be included in such a beverage via the user interface subsystem 22. Once the user 26 makes an appropriate selection via the user interface subsystem 22, the user interface subsystem 22 may send appropriate instructions to the control logic subsystem 14.

  In making the selection, the user 26 may select a multi-part recipe, which is basically a composite of two separate and different recipes that produce a product of multiple ingredients. For example, the user 26 may select a root beer float, which is a multi-part recipe that is essentially a composite of two separate and different ingredients (ie, vanilla ice cream and root beer soda). As another example, user 26 may select a drink that is a combination of cola and coffee. This cola / coffee composite is basically a composite of two separate and different ingredients (ie, cola soda and coffee).

  Referring also to FIG. 21, upon receiving the above instructions (650), the virtual machine process 124 processes these instructions (652) and the product to be generated (eg, beverage 28) is a product of multiple ingredients. It is determined whether or not.

  If the product to be generated is a product composed of a plurality of raw materials (654), the virtual machine process 124 generates a first recipe for generating a first material of the product composed of the plurality of raw materials, and the plurality of the plurality of raw materials. At least a second recipe for generating at least a second ingredient of the product comprising the ingredient may be identified (656). The first and second recipes may be selected from a plurality of recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12.

  If the product to be generated is not a product of multiple ingredients (654), the virtual machine process 124 may identify a single recipe for generating the product (658). A single recipe may be selected from a plurality of recipes 36 stored in the storage subsystem 12. Therefore, if the received instruction (650) is an instruction related to lemon lime soda, this is not a product of multiple ingredients, so the virtual machine process 124 generates a single recipe required to produce lemon lime soda. It may be specified (658).

  When a recipe is identified from a plurality of recipes 36 stored in the storage subsystem 12 (656, 658), the control logic subsystem 14 executes the recipe (660, 662) and sends an appropriate control signal (data For example, the bulk ingredient subsystem 16 may be fed to the micro ingredient subsystem 18 and the plumbing / control subsystem 20 (via the bus 38) so that a beverage 28 is produced (which is dispensed into the container 30). .

  Accordingly, assume that the processing system 10 receives instructions (via the user interface subsystem 22) to generate a root beer float. The virtual machine process 124 may process these instructions (652) to determine whether the root beer float is a product of multiple ingredients (654). Since Root Beer Float is a product of multiple ingredients, the virtual machine process 124 identifies recipes (ie, Root Beer Soda Recipe and Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe) that are required to generate Root Beer Float (656) and both The recipe may be executed (660) to produce both root beer soda and vanilla ice cream (respectively). Once these products are generated, the processing system 10 may combine the individual products (ie, root beer soda and vanilla ice cream) to generate the root beer float requested by the user 26.

  In executing the recipe, the processing system 10 may utilize one or more manifolds (not shown) included in the processing system 10. In the present application, a manifold is a temporary storage area designed to perform one or more processes. In order to facilitate the transfer of raw materials to and from the manifold, the processing system 10 includes a plurality of valves (e.g., controllable by the control logic subsystem 14) to facilitate transfer of the raw materials between the manifolds. May be. Examples of various manifolds may include mixing manifolds, blend manifolds, grinding manifolds, heating manifolds, cooling manifolds, frozen manifolds, bleed manifolds, nozzles, pressure manifolds, vacuum manifolds, and stirring manifolds. It is not limited to.

  For example, when making coffee, coffee beans may be ground with a grinding manifold. As the beans are ground, water may be fed to the heating manifold, where water 160 is heated to a predetermined temperature (eg, 212 ° F.). As the water is heated, hot water (produced by the heating manifold) may be filtered through the coffee grounds (produced by the grinding manifold). In addition, depending on how the processing system 10 is configured, the processing system 10 may add cream and / or sugar to the produced coffee in other manifolds or at the nozzle 24.

  Accordingly, each part of the multi-part recipe may be executed in a different manifold included in the processing system 10. Accordingly, each ingredient in a recipe consisting of a plurality of ingredients may be generated in a different manifold included in the processing system 10. Continuing with the above example, the first part of the multi-part recipe (ie, one or more processes utilized by the processing system 10 to make root beer soda) is performed in a mixing manifold included in the processing system 10. May be. Further, the second part of the multi-part recipe (ie, the one or more processes utilized by the processing system 10 to make vanilla ice cream) may be performed in a freezing manifold included in the processing system 10. Good.

  As described above, during use of the processing system 10, the user 26 may use the user interface subsystem 22 to select a particular beverage 28 to be dispensed (into the container 30). User 26 may select one or more options for inclusion in such a beverage via user interface subsystem 22. When the user 26 makes an appropriate selection via the user interface subsystem 22, the user interface subsystem 22 may send an appropriate data signal (via the data bus 32) to the control logic subsystem 14. The control logic subsystem 14 may process these data signals (via the data bus 34) to process one or more recipes selected from the plurality of recipes 36 held in the storage subsystem 12. You may read. When the control logic subsystem 14 reads the recipe from the storage subsystem 12, it processes the recipe and sends the appropriate control signals (via the data bus 38), for example, the bulk ingredient subsystem 16, the micro ingredient subsystem 18, The plumbing / control subsystem 20 may be supplied so that a beverage 28 is produced (which is dispensed into the container 30).

  When the user 26 makes a selection, the user 26 may select a multi-part recipe, which is basically a composite of two separate and different recipes. For example, user 26 may select a root beer float, which is a multi-part recipe that is basically a composite of two separate and different recipes (ie, vanilla ice cream and root beer soda). As another example, user 26 may select a drink that is a combination of cola and coffee. This cola / coffee composite is basically a composite of two separate and different recipes (ie cola soda and coffee).

  Thus, assuming that the processing system 10 receives an instruction to create a root beer float (via the user interface subsystem 22), the processing system 10 simply determines that the root beer float recipe is a multi-part recipe and the processing system 10 simply An independent recipe for soda may be obtained, an independent recipe for vanilla ice cream may be obtained, and both recipes may be executed (respectively) to produce root beer soda and vanilla ice cream. Once these products are generated, the processing system 10 may combine the individual products (ie, root beer soda and vanilla ice cream) to generate the root beer float requested by the user 26.

  In executing the recipe, the processing system 10 may utilize one or more manifolds (not shown) included in the processing system 10. In the present application, a manifold is a temporary storage area designed to perform one or more processes. In order to facilitate the transfer of raw materials to and from the manifold, the processing system 10 includes a plurality of valves (e.g., controllable by the control logic subsystem 14) to facilitate transfer of the raw materials between the manifolds. May be. Examples of various manifolds may include mixing manifolds, blend manifolds, grinding manifolds, heating manifolds, cooling manifolds, frozen manifolds, bleed manifolds, nozzles, pressure manifolds, vacuum manifolds, and stirring manifolds. It is not limited to.

  For example, when making coffee, coffee beans may be ground with a grinding manifold. As the beans are ground, water may be fed to the heating manifold, where water 160 is heated to a predetermined temperature (eg, 212 ° F.). As the water is heated, hot water (produced by the heating manifold) may be filtered through the coffee grounds (produced by the grinding manifold). In addition, depending on how the processing system 10 is configured, the processing system 10 may add cream and / or sugar to the produced coffee in other manifolds or at the nozzle 24.

  As described above, the control logic subsystem 14 may execute one or more control processes 120, which may control the operation of the processing system 10. Accordingly, the control logic subsystem 14 may execute the virtual manifold process 126.

  Referring also to FIG. 22, the virtual manifold process 126 monitors one or more processes that occur in a first portion of a multi-part recipe that is being executed in the processing system 10 (680), for example. Data regarding at least part of the process may be obtained. For example, assuming a multi-part recipe is related to the preparation of root beer float, this is basically a composite of two separate different recipes (ie root beer soda and vanilla ice cream), as described above, It may be selected from a plurality of recipes 36 stored in the storage subsystem 12. Thus, the first part of the multi-part recipe may be considered as one or more processes that the processing system 10 uses to make the root beer soda. Further, the second part of the multi-part recipe may be thought of as one or more processes that the processing system 10 uses to make vanilla ice cream.

  Each part of these multi-part recipes may be executed on a different manifold included in the processing system 10. For example, the first part of a multi-part recipe (ie, one or more processes utilized by processing system 10 to make root beer soda) may be performed in a mixing manifold included in processing system 10. . In addition, the second part of the multi-process recipe (ie, the process or processes utilized by the processing system 10 to make vanilla ice cream) may be performed in a freezing manifold included in the past system 10. Good. As described above, the processing stem 10 may include a plurality of manifolds, examples of which include mixing manifolds, blending manifolds, grinding manifolds, heating manifolds, cooling manifolds, freezing manifolds, bleed manifolds, nozzles, pressures. Manifolds, vacuum manifolds, agitation manifolds, and the like are peritoneal, but are not limited thereto.

  Accordingly, the virtual manifold process 126 may monitor the process utilized to make the processing system 10 root beer soda (680) (or monitor the process utilized by the processing system 10 to make vanilla ice cream). Well), thereby getting data about these processes.

  Examples of the types of data to be acquired may include raw material data and processing data, but are not limited thereto.

  The ingredient data may include a list of ingredients used in the first part of the multi-part recipe, but is not limited to this. For example, if the first part of the multi-part recipe relates to the production of root beer soda, the ingredient list includes a predetermined amount of root beer flavoring, a predetermined amount of carbonated water, a predetermined amount of non-carbonated water, a predetermined amount Of high fructose corn syrup.

  Processing data may include, but is not limited to, a series of lists of processes performed on the raw material. For example, a predetermined amount of carbonated water may begin to be introduced into a manifold in the processing system 10. While injecting carbonated water into the manifold, a predetermined amount of root beer flavoring, a predetermined amount of high fructose corn syrup, and a predetermined amount of non-carbonated water may also be introduced into the manifold.

  At least a portion of the acquired data may be stored (temporarily or permanently) (682). Further, the virtual manifold process 126 may then make this stored data available, for example, by one or more processes performed in the second part of the multi-part recipe (684). Upon saving the acquired data (682), the virtual manifold process 126 may save the acquired data as an archive in a non-volatile memory system (eg, storage subsystem 12) for subsequent diagnostic purposes. (686). Examples of such diagnostic purposes may include allowing a maintenance technician to review the characteristics of raw material consumption and develop a purchase plan for consumable purchases for the processing system 10. Alternatively / additionally, when storing the acquired data (682), the virtual manifold process 126 may write the acquired data to a volatile memo system (eg, random access memory 104) (688).

  In making the acquired data available (684), the virtual manifold process 126 sends the acquired data (or a portion thereof) to one or more processes performed in the second part of the multi-part recipe. (690). Continuing, in the above example regarding one or more processes that the processing system 10 uses to make the vanilla ice cream, the second part of the multi-part recipe, the virtual manifold process 126 is the acquired data (or part thereof). ) May be made available to one or more processes utilized to make vanilla ice cream (684).

  Suppose that the root beer flavoring used to make the above root beer float is flavored with a significant amount of vanilla flavoring. Further assume that a significant amount of vanilla flavoring is used in making vanilla ice cream. The virtual manifold process 126 is based on acquired data (eg, ingredients and / or process data) through a control logic subsystem (ie, a subsystem that integrates one or more processes utilized to make vanilla ice cream). As it may be available, the control logic subsystem 14 may review this data to change the ingredients used to make the vanilla ice cream. Specifically, the control logic subsystem 14 may reduce the amount of vanilla flavoring used to make vanilla ice cream to avoid excessive vanilla flavoring within the root beer float.

  In addition, by making the acquired data available to subsequent processes (684), procedures are performed that would otherwise be impossible if the data was not made available to subsequent processes. sell. Continuing with the above example, assume that the consumer has empirically determined that they tend not to prefer one product containing more than 10.0 mL of vanilla flavoring. In addition, the root beer flavoring used to make root beer soda for root beer float includes 8.0 mL vanilla flavoring, which is another way to make vanilla ice cream used to make root beer float. Assume that 8.0 mL of vanilla roughing is utilized. Thus, when these two products (root beer soda and vanilla ice cream) are combined, the final product will be flavored with 16.0 mL of vanilla flavoring (this is set empirically 10 .. Exceeds 0mL rule).

  Accordingly, the root beer soda material data is not stored by the virtual manifold process 126 (682), and if such stored data is not available (684), the root beer soda includes 8.0 mL vanilla roughing. And the end product will be produced with 16.0 mL of vanilla flavoring. Thus, acquired and stored (682) This data may be used to generate undesirable effects (eg, undesired flavor characteristics, undesired appearance characteristics, undesired scent characteristics, undesired texture characteristics, nutritional supplements) Can be used to avoid (or reduce) the exceeding of the maximum appropriate dose.

  The availability of this acquired data can make subsequent processes adjustable. For example, assume that the amount of salt used to make vanilla ice cream varies depending on the amount of carbonated water used to make root beer soda. Again, the virtual manifold process 126 does not store root beer soda raw data (682), and if no such stored data is available (684), the amount of carbonated water used to make the root beer soda. Will be unclear and the amount of salt used to make ice cream will not be adjustable.

  As described above, the virtual manifold process 126 monitors (680) one or more processes that occur, for example, in a first portion of a multi-part recipe running on the processing system 10, one, or Data regarding at least some of the plurality of processes may be obtained. The monitored one or more processes (680) may be performed in one manifold of the machining system 10, but may be one of a plurality of procedures performed in one manifold of the machining system 10. It may represent one part.

  For example, when making root beer soda, four inlets (eg, one for root beer flavoring, one for carbonated water, one for non-carbonated water, one for high fructose corn syrup) and one outlet One manifold with (because the entire root beer soda is fed into one second manifold) may be used.

  However, if the manifold has two outlets (one flow rate is four times that of the other) instead of one outlet, the virtual manifold process 126 includes two separate distinct parts that are within the same manifold. You may think that it is executed at the same time. For example, 80% of the total raw material may be mixed to produce 80% of the total amount of root beer soda, while the remaining 20% of the total raw material is mixed at the same time (in the same manifold). 20% of root beer soda may be generated. Thus, the virtual manifold process 126 may make the data obtained for the first portion (ie, 80% portion) available to downstream processes that utilize 80% of the root beer soda (684) The data obtained for this portion (ie, the 20% portion) may be made available to downstream processes utilizing 20% of the root beer soda (684).

  In addition / alternatively, one part of a multi-part procedure executed within one manifold of the processing system 10 is one that occurs within one manifold that performs multiple separate processes. It may indicate a process. For example, when making vanilla ice cream in a frozen manifold, individual ingredients may be introduced, mixed, and cooled until frozen. Thus, the process of making vanilla ice cream may include a raw material introduction process, a raw material mixing process, a raw material refrigeration process, each of which may be individually monitored by a virtual manifold process 126 (680).

  As described above, the product module assembly 250 (of the micro ingredient subsystem 18 and the piping / control subsystem 20) is configured to releasably engage a plurality of product containers 252, 254, 256, 258. Slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266 may be included. Unfortunately, when refilling the product containers 252, 254, 256, 258 during maintenance of the processing system 10, the product containers can be attached to the wrong slot assembly in the product module assembly 250. Such a mistake may result in one or more pump assemblies (eg, pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276) and / or one or more tube assemblies (eg, tube bundle 304) having one or more micros. It can be contaminated with raw materials. For example, root beer flavoring (i.e., micro ingredients contained in product container 256) has a very strong taste, so if a particular pump assembly / tube assembly is used to dispense root beer flavoring, for example, It cannot be used to distribute weaker-tasting micro ingredients (eg lemon lime flavoring, ice tea flavoring, lemonade flavoring).

  In addition, as described above, the product module assembly 250 may be configured to releasably engage the bracket assembly 282. Accordingly, if the processing system 10 includes a plurality of product module assemblies and a plurality of bracket assemblies, the product module assembly may be attached to the wrong bracket assembly during maintenance of the processing system 10. Unfortunately, such a mistake also causes one or more pump assemblies (eg, pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276) and / or one or more tube assemblies (eg, tube bundles 304) to be 1 It can be contaminated with one or more micro raw materials.

  Accordingly, the processing system 10 may include an RFID based system to ensure proper positioning of product containers and product modules within the processing system 10. Referring also to FIGS. 23 and 24, the processing system 10 may include an RFID system 700, which may include an RFID antenna assembly 702 that is positioned on a product module assembly 250 of the processing system 10.

  As described above, product module assembly 250 may be configured to releasably engage at least one product container (eg, product container 258). RFID system 700 may include an RFID tag assembly 704 positioned (eg, attached) to product container 258. Whenever the product module assembly 250 releasably engages a product container (eg, product container 258), the RFID tag assembly 704 may be positioned, for example, in the upper detection area 706 of the RFID antenna assembly 702. Thus, in this example, RFID tag assembly 704 should be detected by RFID antenna assembly 702 whenever product container 258 is positioned within product module assembly 250 (ie, releasably engaged).

  As described above, the product module assembly 250 may be configured to releasably engage the bracket assembly 282. The RFID system 700 may further include an RFID tag assembly 708 positioned (eg, attached) to the bracket assembly 282. Whenever the bracket assembly 282 is releasably engaged with the product module assembly 250, the RFID tag assembly 708 may be positioned, for example, in the lower detection area 710 of the RFID antenna assembly 702.

  Thus, through the use of RFID antenna assembly 702 and RFID tag assemblies 704, 708, RFID system 700 ensures that various product containers (eg, product containers 252, 254, 256, 258) are properly positioned within product module assembly 250. It can be determined whether or not it has been. Further, the RFID system 700 can also determine whether the product module assembly 250 is properly positioned within the processing system 10.

  Although the RFID system 700 is shown to include one RFID antenna assembly and two RFID tag assemblies, this is merely illustrative and other configurations are possible and are therefore a limitation of the present application. Not intended. Specifically, an exemplary configuration of RFID system 700 may include one RFID antenna assembly positioned within each slot assembly of product module assembly 250. For example, RFID system 700 may additionally include RFID antenna assemblies 712, 714, 716 positioned within product module assembly 250. Accordingly, the RFID antenna assembly 702 may determine whether a product container has been inserted into the slot assembly 266 (of the product module assembly 250), and the RFID antenna assembly 712 may include a product container (of the product module assembly 250). The RFID antenna assembly 714 may determine whether a product container has been inserted into the slot assembly 262 (of the product module assembly 250) and the RFID antenna. Assembly 716 may determine whether a product container has been inserted into slot assembly 260 (of product module assembly 250). Further, since the processing system 10 may include a plurality of product module assemblies, each of these product module assemblies is one or more for determining which product container has been inserted into a particular product module assembly. RFID antenna assemblies may be included.

  As described above, by monitoring the presence of the RFID tag assembly in the lower detection area 710 of the RFID antenna assembly 702, the RFID system 700 determines whether the product module assembly 250 is properly positioned in the processing system 10. Can be determined. Thus, any of the RFID antenna assemblies 702, 712, 714, 716 can be utilized to read one or more RFID tag assemblies attached to the bracket assembly 282. For illustration purposes, the product module assembly 282 is shown as having only one RFID tag assembly 708. However, this is for illustration only and other configurations are possible and are not intended to be a limitation of the present application. For example, the bracket assembly 282 includes a plurality of RFID tag assemblies: an RFID tag assembly 718 (shown in broken lines) read by the RFID antenna assembly 712, an RFID tag assembly 720 (shown in broken lines) read by the RFID antenna assembly 714, An RFID tag assembly 722 (shown in dashed lines) that is read by the RFID antenna assembly 716 may be included.

  One or more of the RFID tag assemblies (eg, RFID tag assemblies 704, 708, 718, 720, 722) may be passive RFID tag assemblies (eg, RFID tag assemblies that do not require a power source). In addition, one or more of the RFID tag assemblies (eg, RFID tag assemblies 704, 708, 718, 720, 722) may be writable RFID tag assemblies, in which case RFID system 700 is Data may be written to the RFID tag assembly. Examples of types of data that can be stored in an RFID tag assembly include: product container quantity identifier, product container manufacturing date identifier, product container disposal deadline identifier, product container raw material identifier, product module identifier, bracket identifier. Although it may be included, it is not limited to these.

  With respect to the quantity identifier, in some embodiments, each of the quantities of ingredients dispensed from the container that includes the RFID tag, wherein the tag is written to include the latest quantity in the container and / or the quantity dispensed. Yes. If the container is later removed from the assembly and reattached to another assembly, the system reads the RFID tag and knows the capacity of the container and / or the amount dispensed from the container. In addition to this, the date on which ejection was performed may also be written on the RFID tag.

  Thus, an RFID tag assembly (e.g., RFID tag assembly 708) may be attached when each of the bracket assemblies (e.g., bracket assembly 282) is installed in processing system 10, in which case the attached RFID tag assembly is attached. May define a bracket identifier (to uniquely identify the bracket assembly). Thus, if the processing system 10 includes 10 bracket assemblies, 10 RFID tag assemblies (ie, one attached to each bracket assembly) will have 10 unique bracket identifiers (ie, one for each bracket assembly). May be set.

  Further, when a product container (eg, product containers 252, 254, 256, 258) is manufactured and filled with micro-materials, the RFID tag assembly has a material identifier (to identify the micro-materials in the product container). ), Quantity identifier (to identify the amount of micro raw material in the product container), manufacturing date identifier (to identify the manufacturing date of the micro raw material), disposal deadline identifier (to identify the date on which the product container should be disposed / recycled) May be included).

  Accordingly, when the product module assembly 250 is installed in the processing system 10, the RFID antenna assemblies 702, 712, 714, 716 may be energized by the RFID subsystem 724. The RFID subsystem 724 may be coupled to the control logic subsystem 14 via the data bus 726. When the RFID antenna assemblies 702, 712, 714, 716 are energized, they scan their respective upper and lower detection areas (eg, upper detection area 706 and lower detection area 710) to confirm the presence of the RFID tag assembly. You may start.

  As described above, one or more RFID tag assemblies may be attached to a bracket assembly with which product module assembly 250 is releasably engaged. Thus, when product module assembly 250 is slid into bracket assembly 282 (ie, releasably engaged), one or more of RFID tag assemblies 708, 718, 720, 722 (respectively) are RFID antenna assemblies. 702, 712, 714, 716 may be positioned in the lower detection area. For purposes of illustration, assume that bracket assembly 282 includes only one RFID tag assembly, ie, RFID tag assembly 708 only. Further, for purposes of illustration, assume that product containers 252, 254, 256, 258 are mounted in slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266 (respectively). Accordingly, RFID subsystem 714 should detect bracket assembly 282 (by detecting RFID tag assembly 708) and detect RFID tag assemblies (eg, RFID tag assembly 704) attached to each product container. This should detect product containers 252, 254, 256, 258.

  Location information regarding the various product modules, bracket assemblies, and product containers may be stored, for example, in the storage subsystem 12 coupled to the control logic subsystem 14. Specifically, if nothing changes, RFID subsystem 724 should expect RFID antenna assembly 702 to detect RFID tag assembly 704 (ie, attached to product container 258), and RFID antenna It should be expected that assembly 702 detects RFID tag assembly 708 (ie, attached to bracket assembly 282). In addition, if nothing changes, RFID antenna assembly 712 should detect an RFID tag assembly (not shown) attached to product container 256 and RFID antenna assembly 714 attached to product container 254. An RFID tag assembly (not shown) should be detected and RFID antenna assembly 716 should detect an RFID tag assembly (not shown) attached to product container 252.

  For purposes of illustration, assume that product container 258 is incorrectly positioned in slot assembly 264 and product container 256 is incorrectly positioned in slot assembly 266 during normal maintenance. When the RFID subsystem 724 obtains information contained in the RFID tag assembly (using the RFID antenna assembly), it uses the RFID antenna assembly 262 to detect the RFID tag assembly associated with the product container 258. The RFID antenna assembly 702 may be used to detect the RFID tag assembly associated with the product container 256. The RFID subassembly 724 compares the new location of the product containers 256, 258 to the location of the product containers 256, 258 previously stored (stored in the storage subsystem 12) and compares each of these product containers. It may be determined whether or not the position is incorrect.

  Thus, the RFID subsystem 724 may display a warning message via the control logic subsystem 14, for example, on the information screen 514 of the user interface subsystem 22, which may be Explain that the container has not been correctly reinstalled. Depending on the type of micro raw material in the product container, the maintenance technician may, for example, choose to continue or be informed that it should not continue. As noted above, certain micro ingredients (eg, root beer flavoring) have a very strong taste, so once this is dispensed through a particular pump assembly and / or tube assembly, the pump assembly / tube assembly is otherwise It becomes impossible to use any of the micro raw materials. In addition, as described above, the various RFID tag assemblies attached to the product container may clearly indicate the micro raw material in the product container.

  Thus, if the pump / tube assembly used for lemon lime flavoring is now being used for root beer flavoring, the maintenance technician may be warned to confirm that it is okay. . However, if the pump assembly / tube assembly used for root beer flavoring is now to be used for lemon lime flavoring, the maintenance technician must not proceed and the product container must be Or a warning may be given explaining that the defective pump assembly / tube assembly must be removed and replaced with a new pump assembly / cheap assembly. A similar warning may be provided if the RFID subsystem 724 detects that the bracket assembly has been moved within the processing system 10.

  The RFID subsystem 724 may be configured to monitor consumption of various micro raw materials. For example, as described above, the RFID tag assembly may initially be encoded to specify the amount of micro ingredients in a particular product container. Since the control logic subsystem 14 knows the amount of micro raw material discharged from each of the various product containers at a predetermined interval (for example, every hour), the various RFID tag assemblies included in the various product containers are The RFID subsystem 724 (via the RFID antenna assembly) may be rewritten to specify the current amount of micro raw material contained in the product container.

  When RFID subsystem 724 detects that the product container has reached a predetermined minimum amount, it may display a warning message on information screen 514 of user interface subsystem 22 via control logic subsystem 14. In addition, the RFID subsystem 724 can be used when one or more product containers have reached or exceeded their expiration date (indicated in the RFID tag assembly attached to the product container) ( Alerts may be provided (via information screen 414 of user interface subsystem 22).

  Although RFID system 700 has been described above as having an RFID antenna assembly and bracket assembly attached to a product module and an RFID tag assembly attached to a product container, this is for illustration purposes only and is not a limitation of the present application. Not intended. Specifically, the RFID antenna assembly may be positioned in any product container, bracket assembly, or product module. In addition, the RFID tag assembly may be located in any product container, bracket assembly, or product module. Thus, if the RFID tag assembly is not attached to the product module assembly, the RFID tag assembly may specify a project module identifier that defines, for example, the serial number of the product module.

  Due to the proximity of slot assemblies (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266) included in product module assembly 250, RFID antenna assembly 702 is read, for example, a product container positioned in an adjacent slot assembly. It may be desirable to configure so that it can be avoided. For example, the RFID antenna assembly 702 should be configured such that the RFID antenna assembly 702 can only read the RFID tag assemblies 704, 708, and the RFID antenna assembly 712 can be combined with the RFID tag assembly 718. The RFID antenna assembly 714 should be configured so that only the RFID tag assembly (not shown) attached to the product container 256 can be read, and the RFID antenna assembly 714 includes the RFID tag assembly 720 and the product container 254. The RFID antenna assembly 716 should be configured to read only the RFID tag assembly (not shown) attached to the RFID antenna assembly. Li 716 and RFID tag assembly 722, attached to the product container 252 RFID tongue assembly (not shown) should be configured so as to be capable of reading only.

Reduce RFID Misreading In some embodiments, for example, during machine start-up, and in some embodiments, when the machine door is open, a scan of the RFID tag assembly is performed in the machine. The location of the various elements, for example the location of each product container, is mapped. As described herein, accurate mapping is important for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, holding recipes and dispensing products and maintaining the quality of the dispensed products. In some embodiments, various embodiments of tag scanning methods, such as the following, may be used to reduce unintentional reading, e.g., by an RFID antenna assembly of a product container positioned in an adjacent slot assembly. May be.

  Referring now also to FIG. 73, all of the RFID tag assemblies are scanned, and then the scanning data is evaluated to determine the location of each RFID tag assembly. If the RFID tag assembly is deemed to belong to multiple slots after scanning, the scanning data is further evaluated to determine the correct slot to which the RFID tag assembly is assigned. In some embodiments, in-slot time, fitment map, RSSI values are used to determine the correct location of the RFID tag assembly.

  With respect to in-slot time, in some embodiments, this is an identification of an RFID tag assembly within each slot that was assigned to it prior to the scan where the RFID tag assembly was deemed to belong to multiple slots. It may be a count of the number of scan cycles. If the RFID tag assembly is in the slot assigned before the scan (referred to as the “current slot”) and the result of the scan is that it belongs to another slot and the current slot, The time that was in would be significantly longer than another slot. In some embodiments, the system then assigns the RFID tag assembly to the slot assigned to it in the most number of scans, which in this example is the current slot.

  In some embodiments, the product container may be a “double width” product container, and in these embodiments, the product container requires two slots adjacent to each other in the same product module. It will be. In some embodiments, the product module is a quadruple product module and is therefore configured to receive four product containers, but for a double width product container, the quadruple product module has two It is configured to receive a double width product container and / or two single width product containers and one double width product container. For double-width product containers, these cannot span two product modules (ie, cannot cross product module boundaries), so multiple RFID tag assemblies attached to a double-width product container can have multiple If the slot is read and one of the slots is, for example, an odd slot (ie, slot 1 or 3 in a quad product module), the system uses this information to locate the slot for the location of the RFID tag assembly. You may remove it from the candidate. Thus, in some embodiments, the system may use a fitment map to determine the actual / correct location of the double width product container.

  In some embodiments, if the RFID tag assembly is read in multiple slots and not all of the second or more slots have been eliminated using an in-slot time and / or fitment map scheme, the system Compares the value of the received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In some embodiments, the slot with the higher RSSI value will be assigned as the location of that RFID tag assembly.

  If a plurality of RFID tag assemblies are considered to belong to one slot (referred to as “the slot”) after scanning all RFID tag assemblies, the system performs the following method to correct the RFID tag assigned to that slot Determine the assembly. In some embodiments, in-slot time, fitment map, RSSI values are used to determine the correct location of the RFID tag assembly.

  With respect to in-slot time, in some embodiments, this may be a count of the number of scan cycles that the RFID tag assembly has been identified in that slot. If an RFID tag assembly is in another slot (referred to as the “current slot”) that was assigned prior to that scan, and the scan indicates that it belongs to another slot, ie, that slot, The time in the current slot will be significantly longer than another slot, i.e. the slot. In some embodiments, the system then assigns the RFID tag assembly to the slot assigned to it in the most number of scans, which in this example is the current slot. However, if the RFID tag assembly is in the slot for a predetermined period longer than any of the other candidate RFID tag assemblies for that slot, the longest RFID tag assembly in that slot is assigned to that slot. Will be done.

  In some embodiments, the product container may be a “double width” product container, and in these embodiments, the product container requires two slots adjacent to each other in the same product module. It will be. In some embodiments, the product module is a quad product module and is therefore configured to receive four product containers, but for a double width product container, the quad product module is 2 Configured to receive two double-width product containers and / or two single-width product containers and one double-width product container. For double width product containers, they cannot span two product modules (ie, cannot cross the product module boundary), so one of the RFID tag assemblies read for that slot is double width. The system uses this information if it is attached to a product container and the slot is, for example, an odd number of slots (ie, slot 1 or 3 of a quadruple product module) or cannot accommodate a double width product container. Thus, the product module / RFID tag assembly may be removed from candidates for the slot. Thus, in some embodiments, the system may use a fitment map to determine the actual / correct location of the double width product container.

  In some embodiments, multiple RFID tag assemblies are read in the slot, and not all of the second or more RFID tag assemblies have been eliminated using an in-slot time and / or fitment map scheme. If so, the system compares the value of the received signal strength indicator (RSSI). In some embodiments, the RFID tag assembly with the higher RSSI value of the antenna associated with the slot will be assigned as the position of the slot.

  Thus, referring also to FIG. 25, one or more of the RFID antenna assemblies 702, 712, 714, 716 may be configured as a loop antenna. The following description relates to the RFID antenna assembly 702, but this is merely an example, and the following description is equally applicable to the RFID antenna assemblies 712, 714, 716 and is therefore a limitation of the present application. Is not intended.

  RFID antenna assembly 702 may include a first capacitor assembly 750 (eg, a 2.90 pF capacitor) that is coupled between ground 752 and port 754 to energize RFID antenna assembly 702. A second capacitor assembly 756 (eg, a 2.55 pF capacitor) may be positioned between port 754 and electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758. Resistor assembly 760 (eg, a 2.00 ohm resistor) may couple electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 and ground 752, while reducing Q factor to increase bandwidth and reduce operating width. Make it wider.

  As is known in the art, the characteristics of RFID antenna assembly 702 can be adjusted by changing the physical properties of electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758. For example, increasing the diameter “d” of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 may improve the far field performance of the RFID antenna assembly 702. Further, reducing the diameter “d” of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 may degrade the far field performance of the RFID antenna assembly 702.

  Specifically, the far field performance of the RFID antenna assembly 702 may vary depending on the energy emission capability of the RFID antenna assembly 702. As is known in the art, the energy emission capability of the RFID antenna assembly 702 is determined by the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 708 with respect to the wavelength of the carrier signal 762 used to energize the RFID antenna assembly 702 via port 754 Can depend on the circumference.

  Referring also to FIG. 26, in a preferred embodiment, the carrier signal 762 may be a 915 MHz carrier signal having a wavelength of 12.89 inches. With respect to the loop antenna design, when the circumference of the inductive loop assembly 758 approaches or exceeds 50% of the wavelength of the carrier signal 762, the inductive loop assembly 758 is moved radially from the axis 812 of the inductive loop assembly 758. Energy may be released to the outside (eg, as indicated by arrows 800, 802, 804, 806, 808, 810), resulting in strong far field performance. Conversely, by keeping the circumference of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 below 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal 762, the amount of energy emitted by the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 is reduced and the far field performance is weak. Become. Furthermore, magnetic coupling can occur in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 (indicated by arrows 814, 816), resulting in strong near field performance.

  As described above, due to the proximity of slot assemblies (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266) included in product module assembly 250, RFID antenna assembly 702 can be placed within, for example, an adjacent slot assembly. It may be desirable to configure in a way that avoids reading the product container positioned in the. Accordingly, by configuring the inductive loop assembly 758 such that the circumference of the inductive loop assembly 758 is no more than 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal 762 (eg, 3.22 inches for a 915 MHz carrier signal). The far electric field performance can be reduced, and the near electric field performance can be improved. Further, the RFID tag assembly is electromagnetically coupled to the RFID antenna assembly 702 by positioning the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 so that the RFID tag assembly to be read is either above or below the RFID antenna assembly 702. sell. For example, when the circumference of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 is configured to be 10% of the wavelength of the carrier signal 762 (1.29 inches for a 915 MHz carrier signal), the diameter of the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 is 0. As a result, the near-field performance is at a relatively high level and the far-field performance is at a relatively low level.

  Referring also to FIGS. 27 and 28, the processing system 10 may be incorporated into the housing assembly 850. The housing assembly 850 may include one or more access doors / panels 852, 854, which allow, for example, maintenance of the processing system 10 to provide an empty product container (eg, product container 258). ) Can be exchanged. For various reasons (eg, security, safety, etc.), it is desirable to secure the access door / panel 852, 854 so that only authorized personnel can access the internal components of the beverage dispenser 10. It may be. Thus, the aforementioned RFID subsystem (ie, RFID subsystem 700) is configured such that the access door / panels 852, 854 are not opened except when a suitable RFID tag assembly is positioned near the RFID access antenna assembly 900. May be. Examples of such suitable RFID tag assemblies may include an RFID tag assembly attached to a product container (eg, RFID tag assembly 704 attached to a product container 258).

  The RFID access antenna assembly 900 may include an electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 composed of a plurality of segments. A first matching component 904 (eg, a 5.00 pF capacitor) may be coupled between ground 906 and port 908, which may energize RFID access antenna assembly 900. A second matching component 910 (eg, a 16.56 nanohenry inductor) may be positioned between the port 908 and the multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902. The matching components 904, 910 may adjust the impedance of the multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 to a desired impedance (eg, 50.00 ohms). In general, the matching components 904, 910 can improve the efficiency of the RFID access antenna assembly 900.

  The RFID access antenna assembly 900 may include a Q factor reduction element 912 (eg, a 50 ohm resistor), which may be configured to allow the RFID access antenna assembly 900 to be utilized in a wider frequency range. . Thereby, the RFID access antenna assembly 900 can be used in the entire band and can also accommodate tolerances in the matching network. For example, the band of interest of the RFID access antenna assembly 900 is 50 MHz and a Q factor reduction element (also referred to herein as a “de-Qing element”) 912 is configured to make the antenna 100 MHz wide. In some cases, the center frequency of the RFID access antenna assembly 900 may move by 25 MHz without affecting the performance of the RFID access antenna assembly 900. The De-Qing element 912 may be positioned in a multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 or may be positioned elsewhere in the RFID access antenna assembly 900.

  As described above, utilizing a relatively small electromagnetic induction loop assembly (eg, the electromagnetic induction loop assembly 758 of FIGS. 25 and 26) can reduce the far field performance of the antenna assembly and improve the near field performance. Unfortunately, utilizing such a small electromagnetic induction loop assembly also reduces the detection range depth of the RFID antenna assembly (eg, generally proportional to the loop diameter). Therefore, a larger loop diameter may be used to increase the detection range depth. Unfortunately, as described above, using a larger loop diameter can improve far field performance.

  Accordingly, a multi-segment electromagnetic induction assembly 902 includes a plurality of individual antenna segments (eg, antenna segments 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924, 926) and phase shift elements (eg, capacitor assemblies 928, 930). 932, 934, 936, 938, 940). Examples of capacitor assemblies 928, 930, 932, 934, 936, 938, 940 may include 1.0 pF capacitors or varactors (eg, voltage variable capacitors), such as 0.1 to 250 pF varactors. . The phase shift element described above can adaptively control the phase shift of the multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 to compensate for variations in conditions or modulate the characteristics of the multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902. Thus, various electromagnetic induction loop coupling functions and / or magnetic properties may be provided. An alternative example of the above phase shift element is a connected line (not shown).

  As described above, maintaining the length of the antenna segment below 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal that energizes the RFID access antenna assembly 900 reduces the amount of energy emitted outward by the antenna segment and increases the distance. Electric field performance is weakened, and near-field performance is increased. Thus, each of the antenna segments 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924, 926 may be sized such that they are not longer than 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal that energizes the RFID access antenna assembly 900. In addition, each of the capacitor assemblies 928, 930, 932, 934, 936, 938, 940 may be sized to cause the carrier signal to propagate around a multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902. All phase shifts can be offset by various capacitor assemblies incorporated into a multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902. Thus, for purposes of illustration, assume that a 90 ° phase shift occurs for each of the antenna segments 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924, 926. Thus, by utilizing appropriately sized capacitor assemblies 928, 930, 932, 934, 936, 938, 940, the 90 ° phase shift that occurs in each segment can be reduced / eliminated. For example, if the frequency of the carrier signal is 915 MHz and the length of the antenna segment is less than 25% (and generally 10%) of the wavelength of the carrier signal, the desired phase can be achieved by using a 1.2 pF capacitor assembly. Shift cancellation may be realized and segment resonance may be adjusted.

  The multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 is shown as being composed of a plurality of linear antenna assemblies connected via a joint joint, but this is for illustrative purposes only and is a limitation of the present application. It is not intended to be. For example, an electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 composed of a plurality of segments may be configured using a plurality of curved antenna segments. In addition, the electromagnetic induction loop segment 902 composed of a plurality of segments may be configured in any loop type shape. For example, a multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902 may be configured as an ellipse (shown in FIG. 28), a circle, a square, a rectangle, or an octagon.

  The system has been described above as being utilized within a processing system, but this is for illustration only and other configurations are possible. It is not intended to be a limitation of this application. For example, the system described above may be utilized to process / dispense other consumables (eg, ice cream and alcoholic beverages). In addition, the above system can be used in fields other than the food industry. For example, the systems described above may be utilized for vitamins, pharmaceuticals, medical products, cleaning products, lubricants, paint / dye products, other non-consumable liquids / semi-fluids / particulate solids and / or fluids.

  The system has an RFID tag assembly (eg, RFID tag assembly 704) attached to a product container (eg, product container 258), which is an RFID tag (eg, RFID tag assembly 708) attached to a bracket assembly 282. Although described above as being positioned above an RFID antenna assembly that is positioned above (eg, RFID antenna assembly 702), this is merely illustrative and other configurations are possible, so the limitations of this disclosure It is not intended to be. For example, an RFID tag assembly (eg, RFID tag assembly 704) attached to a product container (eg, product container 258) may be positioned below the RFID antenna assembly (eg, RFID Anna assembly 702), which is a bracket. It may be positioned below an RFID tag (eg, RFID tag assembly 708) attached to assembly 282.

  Utilizing relatively short antenna segments (eg, 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924, 926) that do not exceed 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal that energizes the RFID antenna assembly 900, as described above. Thus, the far electric field performance of the antenna assembly 900 can be lowered, and the near electric field performance can be improved.

  Referring also to FIG. 29, when a high level of far field performance is desired by the RFID antenna assembly, the RFID antenna assembly 900a is electrically coupled to a portion of a multi-segment electromagnetic induction loop assembly 902a. It may be configured to include an assembly 942 (eg, a dipole antenna assembly). Far field antenna assembly 942 includes a first antenna portion 944 (ie, forming a first portion of a dipole) and a second antenna portion 946 (ie, forming a second portion of a dipole). You may go out. As described above, by keeping the length of the antenna segments 914, 916, 918, 920, 922, 924, 926 below 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal, the far field performance of the antenna assembly 900a can be reduced, Electric field performance can be improved. Accordingly, the sum of the lengths of the first antenna portion 944 and the second antenna portion 946 may be greater than 25% of the wavelength of the carrier signal, which can provide a higher level of far field performance.

  Referring also to FIG. 30, the processing system 10 may be incorporated into the housing assembly 850 as described above (eg, with respect to FIG. 27). The housing assembly 850 may include one or more access doors / panels (eg, upper door 852 and lower door 854), which, for example, allows maintenance of the processing system 10 and is empty. It becomes possible to replace the product container (for example, product container 258). The touch panel interface 500 may be installed on the upper door 852, which makes it easier for the user to access. The upper door 852 also provides access to the dispensing assembly 1000 so that beverage, ice or the like can be injected into the beverage container (eg, container 30) (eg, via the nozzle 24 not shown). In addition, the lower door 854 may include an RFID communication area 1002, for example, which may be associated with the RFID access antenna assembly 900, thereby, for example, one of the access door / panels 852, 854. Or you can open several. The communication area 1002 is depicted for illustrative purposes only because the RFID access antenna assembly 900 can be equally positioned in various other locations, including locations other than the access door / panel 852, 854. .

  Referring also to FIGS. 51-53, an exemplary embodiment of a user interface assembly 5100 is shown, which may be incorporated into the housing assembly 850 shown in FIG. The user interface assembly may include a touch panel interface 500. The user interface assembly 5100 may include a touch panel 5102, a frame 5104, an edge 5106, a seal material 5108, and a system controller case 5110. The edge 5106 may be spaced around the touch panel 5102 and also serves as a clear visual boundary. The touch panel 5102 is a capacitive touch panel in this exemplary embodiment, but other types of touch panels may be used in other embodiments. However, in this exemplary embodiment, due to the nature of touch panel 5102 being capacitive, it may be desirable to maintain a predetermined distance between touch panel 5102 and door 852 via edge 5106.

  The sealant 5108 may protect the display shown as 5200 in FIG. 52 and may serve to prevent moisture and / or particulates from reaching the display 5200. In this exemplary embodiment, the seal 5108 contacts the door of the housing assembly 852 to better hold the seal. In this exemplary embodiment, display 5200 is an LCD display and is held in the frame by at least one set of spring fingers 5202 that can engage display 5200 to hold display 5200. In this exemplary embodiment, display 5200 is a 15 "LCD display, such as model LQ150X1LGB1 from Sony Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. However, in other embodiments, the display may be any other type of display. In addition, the spring finger 5202 may function as a spring, which can accommodate the tolerances of the user interface assembly 5100, and thus in this exemplary embodiment, causes the touch screen 5102 to float relative to the display 5200. The touch panel 5102 is a projected capacitive touch panel, such as the Zytronics model ZYP15-1001D of Braydon on Tyne, UK, but in other embodiments, the touch panel may be of other types. In this exemplary embodiment, the sealing material is a construction type foam gasket, which in this exemplary embodiment is made from a die cut of polyurethane foam. However, in other embodiments, it may be made of silicon foam or other similar material, hi some embodiments, the seal is a dissimilar material integral seal or any other type of sealing body. There may be.

  In the exemplary embodiment, user interface assembly 5100 includes four sets of spring fingers 5202. However, other embodiments may include a greater or lesser number of spring fingers 5202. In this exemplary embodiment, spring fingers 5202 and frame 5104 are made of ABS, but in other embodiments, they may be made of any other material.

  Referring also to FIG. 53, the user interface assembly 5100 may also include at least one PCB and at least one connector 5114 in this exemplary embodiment, which in some embodiments may include a connector cap 5116. It may be covered with.

  Referring also to FIG. 31, according to an exemplary embodiment, the processing system 10 may include an upper cabinet portion 1004a and a lower cabinet portion 1006a. However, other configurations can be used equally and should not be construed as a limitation of the present application. Still referring to FIGS. 32 and 33, the upper cabinet portion 1004a (eg, which may be at least partially covered by the upper door 852) includes one or more functional members of the piping subsystem 20 described above. May be. For example, the upper cabinet portion 1004a includes one or more flow control modules (eg, flow control module 170), a fluid cooling system (eg, cold plate 163 not shown), and a discharge nozzle (eg, not shown). The nozzle 24) may include piping for connecting with a large amount of raw material supply unit (for example, a carbonic acid supply unit 150, a water supply unit 152, and an HFCS supply unit 154 not shown) and others. In addition, the upper cabinet portion 1004a may include an ice hopper 1008 for storing ice and an ice discharge chute 1010 for discharging ice from the ice hopper 1008 (eg, into a beverage container).

  The carbonic acid supply unit 150 may be supplied by one or a plurality of carbonic acid cylinders. For example, the carbonic acid supply unit 150 may be disposed at a remote location and piped to the processing system 10. Similarly, the water supply part 152 may be supplied as water supply, for example, this may also be piped to the processing system 10. The high fructose corn syrup supply 154 may include, for example, one or more reservoirs (eg, in the form of a 5 gallon bag-in-box container) that is stored remotely (eg, in a storage compartment). May be. The high fructose corn syrup supply unit 154 may be piped to the processing system 10. Piping for various mass feedstocks may be realized with conventional hard or soft line piping configurations.

  As described above, the carbonated water supply unit 158, the water supply unit 152, and the high fructose corn syrup supply unit 154 are arranged at remote locations and are piped to the processing system 10 (for example, the flow control modules 170, 172, and 174). Also good. Referring to FIG. 34, a flow control module (eg, flow control module 172) may be coupled to a bulk feedstock (eg, water 152) via a vertical point connector 1012. For example, the water supply 152 may be coupled to the piping connector 1012, which may be releasably coupled to the flow control module 172, thereby completing the piping of the water supply 152 to the flow control module 170. To do.

  35, 36A, 36B, 37A, 37B, 37, another embodiment of an upper cabinet portion (eg, upper cabinet portion 1004b) is shown. Similar to the exemplary embodiment described above, the upper cabinet portion 1004b may include one or more functional members of the piping subsystem 20 described above. For example, upper cabinet portion 1004b includes one or more flow control modules (eg, flow control module 170), a fluid cooling system (eg, cold plate 163 not shown), and a discharge nozzle (eg, shown). Nozzles 24), piping for connecting to a large amount of raw material supply unit (for example, carbon dioxide supply unit 150, water supply unit 152, HFCS supply unit 154 not shown) and the like may be included. In addition, the upper cabinet portion 1004b may include an ice hopper 1008 for storing ice and an ice discharge chute for discharging ice from the ice hopper 1008 (eg, into a beverage container).

  36A to 36b, the upper cabinet portion 1004b may include a power supply module 1014. The power supply module 1014 may store, for example, a power supply, one or more power distribution buses, a controller (eg, the control logic subsystem 14), a user interface controller, the storage device 12, and the like. The power module 1014 may include one or more status indicator means (generally indicator lamps 1016) and a power / data connector (eg, generally a connector 1018).

  Referring also to FIGS. 37A, 37B, 37C, the flow control module 170 may be mechanically and fluidly coupled to the upper cabinet portion 1004b, generally via a connection assembly 1020. The connection assembly 1020 may include a feed fluid passage, for example, which may be coupled to a bulk feedstock (eg, carbonated water 158, water 160, high fructose corn syrup 162, etc.) via an inlet 1022. Good. The inlet 1024 of the flow control module 170 may be configured to be received at least partially within the outlet passage 1026 of the connection assembly 1020. Accordingly, the flow control module 170 may receive a bulk material via the connection assembly 1020. The connection assembly 1020 may further include a valve (eg, a ball valve 1028) that is movable between an open position and a closed position. When the ball valve 1028 is in the open position, the flow control module 170 may be fluidly coupled to the bulk material supply. Similarly, when the ball valve 1028 is in the closed position, the flow control module 170 may be fluidly separated from the bulk material supply.

  The ball valve 1028 may be moved between an open position and a closed position by actuating the locking tab 1030 rotatably. In addition to opening and closing the ball valve 1028, a locking tab 1030 may engage the flow control module 170, for example, thereby holding the flow control module with respect to the connection assembly 1020. For example, shoulder 1032 may engage tab 1034 of flow control module 170. Engagement between shoulder 1032 and tab 1034 may retain inlet 1024 of flow control module 170 within outlet passage 1026 of connection assembly 1020. By connecting the inlet 1024 of the flow control module 170 within the outlet passage 1026 of the connection assembly 1020 (eg, by maintaining sufficient engagement between the inlet 1024 and the outlet 1026), the connection to the flow control module 170 is achieved. A liquid tight connection between the assemblies 1020 can be further maintained.

  The locking tab surface 1036 of the locking tab 1030 may engage an outlet connector 1038 (eg, it may be fluidly connected to the outlet of the flow control module 170). For example, as shown, the locking tab surface 1036 may engage the surface 1040 of the outlet connector 1038, thereby holding the outlet connector 1038 in fluid tight engagement with the fluid control module 170.

  The connection assembly 1020 may facilitate attachment / detachment of the flow control module 170 to the processing system 10 (eg, to replace a damaged / failed flow control module 170). According to the orientation of the figure, the locking tab 1030 may be rotated counterclockwise (eg, about a quarter turn in the depicted embodiment). The outlet connector 1038 may be disengaged from the tab 1034 of the flow control module 170 by rotating the locking tab 130 counterclockwise. Outlet connector 1038 may be disconnected from flow control module 170. Similarly, the inlet 1024 of the flow control module 170 may deviate from the outlet passage 1026 of the connection assembly 1020. In addition, when the locking tab 1030 rotates counterclockwise, the ball valve 1028 may rotate to the closed position, thereby closing the fluid supply passage connected to the bulk material. Thus, when the locking tab 1030 rotates and the flow control module 170 is disengaged from the connection assembly 1020, the fluid connection with the bulk material is closed, for example, thereby reducing / preventing contamination of the processing system with the bulk material. The tab extension 1042 of the locking tab 1030 may prevent the flow control module 170 from being removed from the connection assembly 1020 until the ball valve 1028 is in a fully closed position (for example, the ball valve 1028 may be The flow control module 170 is disengaged from the fluid engagement until it is rotated 90 degrees to the fully closed position so that it cannot be removed).

  The flow control module 170 may be coupled to the connection assembly 1020 in a related manner. For example, when the locking tab 1030 is rotated counterclockwise, the inlet 1024 of the flow control module 170 can be inserted into the outlet passage 1026 of the connection assembly 1020. Outlet connector 1038 may engage an outlet (not shown) of flow control module 170. The locking tab 1030 may be rotated clockwise so that the flow control module 170 and the outlet connector 1038 are engaged. In the clockwise rotated position, the connection assembly 1020 may hold the inlet 1024 of the flow control module 170 in a fluid tight connection with the outlet passage 1026 of the connection assembly. Similarly, the outlet connector 1038 may be held in a liquid tight state with the outlet of the flow control module 170. Further, when the locking tab 1030 rotates clockwise, the ball valve 1028 may move to the open position, thereby fluidly connecting the fluid control module 170 to the bulk material.

  Referring also to FIG. 38, the lower cabinet portion 1006a may include one or more functional members of the micro raw material subsystem 18 and stores one or more built-in consumable raw material supplies. Also good. For example, the lower cabinet portion 1006a includes one or more micro ingredient towers (eg, micro ingredient towers 1050, 1052, 1054) and non-nutritive sweeteners (eg, artificial sweeteners or a combination of artificial sweeteners). The supply unit 1056 may be included. As shown, the micro ingredient towers 1050, 1052, 1054 may include one or more product module assemblies (eg, product module assembly 250), each of which includes one or more product containers (eg, , May be configured to releasably engage product containers 252, 254, 256, 258) not shown. For example, each of the micro ingredient towers 1050 and 1052 may include three product module assemblies, and the micro ingredient tower 1054 may include four product module assemblies.

  Referring also to FIGS. 39 and 40, one or more of the microstock towers (eg, microstock tower 1052) may be coupled to an agitation mechanism, such as, for example, microstock tower 1052, and / or a portion thereof. May be vibrated, slid linearly, or otherwise agitated. The agitation mechanism can help to maintain a mixture of separate ingredients stored in the micro ingredient tower 1052. The stirring mechanism may include, for example, a stirring motor 1100, which may drive the stirring arm 1102 via the connecting portion 1104. The agitation arm 1102 may be driven in a generally longitudinal vibration motion and may be coupled to one or more product module assemblies (eg, product module assemblies 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d), thereby providing product modules. A vibration agitation motion is applied to the assemblies 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d. A safety stop function may be associated with the lower door 854, for example, which may disable the agitation function when the lower cabinet door 1154 is open.

  As described above, the RFID system 700 may detect the presence, location (eg, product module assembly and slot assembly), and contents of various product containers. Accordingly, RFID system 700 can be configured when a product container containing content that needs to be agitated is installed in a micro ingredient tower (eg, micro ingredient tower 1052) that is not coupled to the agitator container (eg, RFID subsystem). Alerts (via 724 and / or control logic subsystem 14). Furthermore, the control logic subsystem 14 may prevent the use of unstirred product containers.

  As described above, a product module assembly (eg, product module assembly 250) may be configured to have four slot assemblies, and thus a quadruple product module and / or a quadruple product module assembly and Can be called. Still referring to FIG. 41, the product module assembly 250 may include a plurality of pump assemblies (eg, pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276). For example, one pump assembly (eg, pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276) may be associated with each of the four slot assemblies of product module 250 (eg, for a quad product module). Pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 may dispense product from a product container (not shown) in product module assembly 250 that is releasably engaged with a corresponding slot assembly.

  As shown, each product module assembly (eg, product module assembly 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d) of a micro ingredient tower (eg, micro ingredient tower 1052) is coupled to a common wiring harness, eg, via a connector 1106. May be. Thus, the micro raw material tower 1052 may be electrically connected to the control logic subsystem 14, the power source, and the like through one connection point, for example.

  Referring also to FIG. 42, as described above, the product module 250 may include a plurality of slot assemblies (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266). The slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266 may be configured to releasably engage a product container (eg, product container 256). Slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266 may include respective doors 1108, 1110, 1112. As shown, two or more of the slot assemblies (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262) are releasably engaged within a double width product container (eg, two slot assemblies). Product containers) and / or two separate product containers containing products for free delivery (eg, separate ingredients for a beverage recipe comprising two ingredients) to be releasably engaged. May be configured. Accordingly, slot assembly 260, 262 may include a double width door (eg, door 1108) that covers both slot assemblies 260, 262.

  The doors 1108, 1110, 1112 can be releasably engaged with the hinge rails, whereby the doors 1108, 1108, 1112 can be pivoted to open and close. For example, the doors 1108, 1110, 1112 may include a snap-fit feature that allows the doors 1108, 1108, 1112 to snap into and out of the hinge rail. Thus, the doors 1108, 1110, 1112 may be snapped onto and removed from the hinge rails, thereby replacing broken doors or changing the door configuration (eg, double-width doors 2 One single-width door or vice versa.

  Each door (eg, door 1110) may include a tongue-like functional member (eg, tongue-like member 1114), which is a functional member of the product container that cooperates with it (eg, notch 1116 of product container 256). ) May be engaged. The tongue 1114 can transmit force to the product container (eg, via the notch 1116) and can assist in inserting and removing the product container 256 from the slot assembly 264. For example, during insertion, product container 256 may be inserted into slot assembly 264 at least halfway. Closing the door 1110 causes the tongue 1114 to engage the notch 1116 and transmit the door closing force to the product container 256, thereby securing the product container 256 to the slot assembly 264 (eg, door 1110). Due to the action of the lever). Similarly, the tongue 1114 may engage at least partially with the notch 1116 (eg, at least partially captured by the edge of the notch 1116) and exert a removal force on the product container 256 (eg, , By lever action supplied by door 1110 as above).

  Product module 250 may include one or more indicator lamps that convey information regarding the status of one or more slot assemblies (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266), for example. Also good. For example, each of the doors (eg, door 1112) may include a light guide (eg, light guide 1118) coupled to a light source (eg, light source 1120), as desired. The light guide 1118 may include, for example, a piece of clear or transparent material (eg, clear plastic such as acrylic, glass, etc.) that transmits light from the light source 1120 to the front of the door 1112. it can. The light source 1120 may include, for example, one or more LEDs (eg, a red LED and a green LED). In the case of a double width door (eg, door 1108), only one light guide corresponding to one of the slot assemblies and one light source associated with one light guide may be utilized. The unused light source corresponding to the other slot assembly of the double width door may be shielded by at least a portion of the door.

  As described above, light guide 1118 and light source 1120 may convey various information regarding slot assemblies, product containers, and the like. For example, the light source 1120 may provide green light (which may be transmitted to the front of the door 1112 via a light guide 1118) to allow the slot assembly 266 to operate and the slot assembly 266 to be released. A state may be indicated that the engaged product container is not empty. The light source 1120 supplies red light (which may be transmitted to the front of the door 1112 via the light guide 1118) and the product container that is releasably engaged with the slot assembly 266 is empty. You may show that. Similarly, the light source 1120 supplies a flashing red light (which may be conveyed to the front of the door 1112 via the light guide 1118) to indicate an anomaly or failure associated with the slot assembly 266. Also good. Various additional / alternative information may be displayed using light source 1120 and light guide 1118. In addition, additional associated lighting schemes may also be utilized (eg, blinking green light, orange light from a light source that provides both green and red light, and others).

  Referring also to FIGS. 43A, 43B, and 43C, product container 256 may include, for example, a two-part housing (eg, front housing portion 1150 and rear housing portion 1152). The front housing portion 1150 may include a protrusion 1154, which may provide an edge 1156, for example. Edge 1156 may facilitate handling of product container 256 (eg, while the product container is being inserted into and / or removed from slot assembly 264).

  The rear housing portion 1152 may include a fitment functional member 1158a, for example, that engages a product container (eg, product container 256) with a pump assembly (eg, pump assembly 272 of product module 250). It may be fluidly connected to. The fitment functional member 1158a may include a blind mate fluid connector that pushes the product container 256 when the fitment functional member is pushed into the cooperating functional member (eg, stem) of the pump assembly 272. A fluid connection may be made to the pump assembly 272. Various alternative fitment functional members (eg, the fitment functional member 1158b shown in FIG. 44) may be provided to fluidly connect the product container 256 and the various pump assemblies.

  The front housing portion 1150 and the rear housing portion 1152 may include separate plastic components, which may be joined to form a product container 256. For example, the front housing portion 1150 and the rear housing portion 1152 may be coupled by hot crimping, adhesive bonding, ultrasonic welding, or other suitable methods. Product container 256 may further include a product pouch 1160, which may be at least partially disposed in front housing portion 1150 and rear housing portion 1152. For example, the product pouch 1160 may be filled with consumables (eg, beverage flavoring) and positioned within the front housing portion 1150 and the rear housing portion 1152, which are then joined together to make the product pouch 1160. Is stored. Product pouch 1160 may include a flexible bag that collapses when, for example, consumables are discharged from product pouch 1160 (eg, by pump assembly 272).

  Product pouch 1160 may include a fold 1162 such that, for example, product pouch 1160 can occupy a relatively large portion of the interior space defined by front housing portion 1150 and rear housing portion 1152. By doing so, the capacity efficiency of the product container 256 can be improved. In addition, the folds 1162 can make the product pouch 1162 more likely to collapse as the consumable is discharged from the product pouch 1160. In addition, the fitment functional member 1158a may be physically coupled to the product pouch 1160, for example, by ultrasonic welding.

  As described above, in addition to the micro raw material tower, the lower cabinet portion 1006a may include a supply unit 1056 for a large amount of micro raw material. For example, in some embodiments, the bulk micro ingredient may be a non-nutritive sweetener (eg, an artificial sweetener or a combination of artificial sweeteners). Some embodiments may include micro raw materials that are required in larger amounts. In these embodiments, one or more bulk micro raw material supply units may be included. In the illustrated embodiment, the supply 1056 may be a non-nutritive sweetener, which may include, for example, a bag-in-box container, for example, which is disposed in a generally rigid box. It is known to include a flexible bag containing a non-nutritive sweetener product, and a rigid box can protect the flexible bag from, for example, bursting. For illustration purposes only, examples of non-nutritive sweeteners are used. However, in other embodiments, any micro raw material may be stored in the mass micro raw material supply unit. In some alternative embodiments, other types of ingredients may be stored in a supply similar to the supply 1056 described herein. The term “bulk microraw material” refers to a micro raw material that is distinguished from a frequently used micro raw material such that multiple micro raw material pump assemblies are used because of the frequent use of the dispensed product.

  The non-nutritive sweetener supply 1056 may be coupled to a product module assembly, which may include one or more pump assemblies (eg, as described above). For example, the non-nutritive sweetener supply 1056 may be coupled to a product module that includes four pump assemblies as described above. Each of the four pump assemblies includes a tube or line that directs to a nozzle 24 for dispensing non-nutritive sweeteners (eg, in combination with one or more additional ingredients) from the respective pump assembly. May be.

  45A and 45B, the lower cabinet portion 1006b may include one or more functional members of the micro raw material subsystem 18. For example, one or a plurality of micro raw material supply units may be stored in the lower cabinet portion 106b. The one or more micro ingredient supply units may be configured as one or more micro ingredient shelves (eg, micro ingredient shelves 1200, 1202, 1204) and a non-nutritive sweetener supply unit 1206. As shown, each micro ingredient shelf (eg, micro ingredient shelf 1200) includes one or more product module assemblies (eg, product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f) configured in a generally horizontal arrangement. May be. One or more of the microstock shelves may be configured to agitate (eg, in a generally similar manner as the microstock tower 1052 described above).

  Continuing with respect to the above embodiment, where the one or more micro ingredient supply may be configured as one or more micro ingredient shelves, as described above, the shelves 1200 may comprise a plurality of product module assemblies (ie, products Module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f) may be included. Each product module assembly (eg, product module assembly 250f) is released from one or more product containers (eg, product containers 256) in a respective slot assembly (eg, slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266). It may be configured to engage as possible.

  In addition, each of the product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f may include a respective plurality of pump assemblies. For example, referring to FIGS. 47A, 47B, 47D, 47E, 47F, product module assembly 250d may generally include pump assemblies 270a, 270b, 270d, 270e. Each one of the pump assemblies 270a, 270b, 270c, 270d includes a slot assembly 260, 262, 264, 266, for example, for discharging the ingredients contained in a respective product container (eg, product container 256). It may be associated with one. For example, each of the pump assemblies 270a, 270b, 270c, 270d may include a fluid connection stem (eg, fluid connection stem 1250, 1252, 1254, 1256), for example, which includes a cooperating fitment (eg, 43B and 44, may be fluidly coupled to a product container (eg, product container 256) via fitment feature members 1158a, 1158b).

  Referring to FIG. 47E, a cross-sectional view of the pump module assembly 250d is shown. Assembly 250d includes a fluid inlet 1360, which is shown as a cross-sectional view of the fitment. The fitment mates with a female portion (shown as 1158a in FIG. 43B) of a product container (not shown but shown as 256 in FIG. 43B in other drawings). Fluid from the product container enters pump assembly 250d at fluid inlet 1360. The fluid enters the capacitive flow sensor 1362 and then flows through the pump 1364, through the back pressure regulator 1366, and to the fluid outlet 1368. As shown here, the fluid flow path through the pump module assembly 250d causes air to flow through the assembly 250d and not be trapped within the assembly. The fluid inlet 1360 is on a lower plane than the fluid outlet 1368. In addition, the fluid moves longitudinally toward the flow sensor and then lies again above the inlet 1360 when moving through the pump. Therefore, with this arrangement, fluid flows continuously upward and air flows in the system without being trapped. Therefore, the design of the pump module assembly 250d is a self-absorbing, self-purging volume transfer fluid delivery system.

  Referring to FIGS. 47E and 47F, the back pressure regulator 1366 may be any back pressure regulator, but an exemplary embodiment of a back pressure regulator 1366 for dispensing a small amount is shown. The back pressure regulator 1366 includes a diaphragm 1367 including a “Volcano” functional member and a molded O-ring around the outer diameter. The O-ring creates a seal. A piston is connected to diaphragm 1367. A spring around the piston biases the piston and diaphragm to the closed position. In this embodiment, the spring sits on the outer sleeve. When the fluid pressure matches or exceeds the cracking pressure of the piston / spring assembly, the fluid passes through the back pressure regulator 1366 toward the fluid outlet 1368. In this exemplary embodiment, the cracking pressure is about 7-9 psi. The cracking pressure is adjusted according to the pump 1364. Thus, in various embodiments, the pump may be different from those described above, and in some of these embodiments other embodiments of back pressure regulators may be used.

  Still referring to FIG. 48, the outlet piping assembly 1300 includes, for example, pump assemblies 270a, 270b, 270c, 270d for supplying raw materials from a respective product module assembly (eg, product module assembly 250d) to the piping / control system 20. It may be configured to be releasably engaged. Outlet piping assembly 1300 includes, for example, respective pump assemblies 270a, 270b to fluidly connect pump assemblies 270a, 270b, 270c, 270d to piping / control subsystem 20 via fluid lines 1310, 1312, 1314, 1316. 270c, 270d may include a plurality of piping fitments (eg, fitments 1302, 1304, 1306, 1308) configured to be fluidly coupled to 270c, 270d.

  The releasable engagement between the outlet piping assembly 1300 and the product module assembly 250d may be performed, for example, via a cumming assembly that facilitates the engagement and release of the outlet piping assembly 1300 and the product module assembly 250d. For example, the cumming assembly may include a handle 1318 rotatably coupled to the fitment support means 1320 and cam function members 1322 and 1324. Cam functional members 1322, 1324 may be engageable with cooperating functional members (not shown) of product module assembly 250d. Referring to FIG. 47C, rotational movement of the handle 1318 in the direction of the arrow releases the outlet piping assembly 1300 from the product module assembly 250d, for example, lifting the outlet piping assembly 1300 from the module assembly 250d and out of it. it can.

  With particular reference to FIGS. 47D and 47E, product module assembly 250d may also be releasably engageable with micro ingredient shelf 1200, for example, thereby removing / attaching product module assembly 250 from microphone component shelf 1200. It becomes easy. For example, as shown, product module assembly 250d may include a release handle 1350, for example, which may be pivotally connected to product module assembly 250d. Release handle 1350 may include, for example, locking ears 1352, 1354 (eg, most clearly depicted in FIGS. 47A and 47D). The locking ears 1352, 1354 may engage a functional member of the micro ingredient shelf 1200 that cooperates therewith, for example, thereby holding the product module assembly 250d in engagement with the micro ingredient shelf 1200. As shown in FIG. 47E, the release handle 1350 can be lifted pivotally in the direction of the arrow to disengage the locking ears 1352, 1354 from the functional members of the microstock shelf 1200 that cooperate with it. Once removed from it, the product module assembly 250d can be lifted from the micro raw material shelf 1200.

  One or more sensors may be associated with handle 1318 and / or release handle 1350. One or more sensors may provide an output indicative of the locked position of the handle 1318 and / or the release hand 1350. For example, one or more sensors may indicate whether the handle 1318 and / or the release handle 1350 are in an engaged or disengaged position. As at least one, the product module assembly 250d may be electrically and / or fluidly isolated from the piping / control subsystem 20 based on the output of one or more sensors. Exemplary sensors may include, for example, cooperating RFID tags and readers, contact switches, magnetic position sensors, or the like.

  As previously mentioned, referring again to FIG. 47E, the flow sensor 308 may be used to detect the flow of the micro-raw material described above (in this example) through the pump assembly 272 (see FIGS. 5A-5H). As described above, the flow sensor 308 may be configured as a capacitive flow sensor (see FIGS. 5A-5F) and is shown as the flow sensor 1356 in FIG. 47E. In addition, as described above, the flow sensor 308 may be configured as a flow sensor using a transducer and without a piston (see FIG. 5G), and is shown as a flow sensor 1358 in FIG. 47E. Further, as described above, the flow sensor 308 may be configured as a piston-enhanced flow sensor using a transducer (see FIG. 5H) and is shown as a flow sensor 1359 in FIG. 47E.

  As described above, transducer assembly 328 (see FIGS. 5G-5H) includes linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), needle / magnetic cartridge assembly, magnetic coil assembly, Hall effect sensor assembly, piezoelectric buzzer element, piezoelectric sheet element. An audio speaker assembly, an accelerometer assembly, a microphone assembly, and a light displacement assembly.

  Further, the above example of the flow sensor 308 is for illustrative purposes, but other configurations are possible and are considered to be within the scope of the present application and are not intended to be all. For example, the transducer assembly 328 is shown positioned outside the diaphragm assembly 314 (see FIGS. 5G-5H), but may be positioned in the cavity 318 (see FIGS. 5G-5H).

  Referring also to FIGS. 49A, 49B, 49C, an exemplary configuration of a non-nutritive sweetener supply 1206. FIG. The non-nutritive sweetener supply 1206 may generally include a housing 1400 configured to receive the non-nutritive sweetener container 1402. Non-nutritive sweetener container 1402 may include, for example, a bag-in-box configuration (eg, a flexible bag containing non-nutritive sweetener is disposed within a generally rigid protective housing). . The supply 1206 may include a fitting 1404 (eg, they may be associated with a pivoting wall 1406) that is fluidly coupled to a fitment associated with the non-nutritive sweetener container 1402. Also good. The configuration and nature of the fitting 1404 may vary depending on the fitment associated with and associated with the non-nutritive sweetener container 1402.

  Referring also to FIG. 49C, the supply 1206 may include one or more pump assemblies (eg, pump assemblies 270e, 270f, 270g, 270h). One or more pump assemblies 270e, 270f, 270g, 270g may be configured similarly to the product module assembly described above (eg, product module assembly 250). The fitting 1404 may be fluidly coupled to the fitting 1404 via the piping assembly 1408. The plumbing assembly 1408 may generally include an inlet 1410 that may be configured to be fluidly coupled to the fitting 1404. The manifold 1412 may distribute non-nutritive sweeteners received at the inlet 1410 into one or more distribution tubes (eg, distribution tubes 1414, 1416, 1418, 1420). The dispensing tubes 1414, 1416, 1418, 1420 may include respective connectors 1422, 1424, 1426, 1428 configured to be fluidly coupled to the respective pump assemblies 270e, 270f, 270g, 270g.

  Referring now to FIG. 50, the piping assembly 1408 may include an air sensor 1450 in this exemplary embodiment. Piping assembly 1408 may therefore include a mechanism for detecting the presence or absence of air. In some embodiments, if the fluid entering from the fluid inlet 1410 contains air, the air sensor 1450 detects the air and, in some embodiments, a signal to stop dispensing from the bulk microstock. May be sent. This feature is desirable in many dispensing systems, particularly in systems where the quantity of the dispensed product is compromised and / or dangerous if the amount of bulk micro raw material is incorrect. Therefore, the piping assembly 1408 including the air sensor prevents air from being reliably discharged, and is a functional member for safety in an embodiment in which a medical product is discharged, for example. In other products, this embodiment of the piping assembly 1408 is part of a functional member for quality assurance.

  Although various electrical components, mechanical components, electromechanical components, and software processes have been described above as being utilized within a processing system for dispensing beverages, this is for illustrative purposes only. However, other configurations are possible and are not intended to be a limitation of the present application. For example, the processing system described above may be utilized for processing / dispensing other consumable products (eg, ice cream or alcoholic beverages). In addition, the above-described system may be used in fields other than the food industry. For example, the systems described above can be used for vitamins, pharmaceuticals, medical products, cleaning products, lubricants, paint / dye products, and other non-consumable liquid / semi-fluid / particulate solids or any fluid.

  As previously described, the various electrical components, mechanical components, electromechanical components, software processes (and specifically the FSM process 122, virtual machine process 124, virtual manifold process 126 of the processing system 10 are generally described. ) May be used on any machine where it is desired to make a product on demand from one or more substrates (also referred to as “raw materials”).

  In various embodiments, the product may be made according to a recipe programmed into the processor. As mentioned above, recipes can be updated, imported or modified with permission. The recipe may be requested by the user or pre-programmed to be prepared according to a schedule. The recipe may contain any number of substrates, i.e. ingredients, and the product produced may contain any number of substrates or ingredients in any desired concentration.

  The substrate used can be any fluid of any concentration, or any powder or solid that can be reduced either while the machine is making the product or before the machine is making the product. (I.e. reduced powder or solid "batch" may be prepared at a particular point during preparation to be metered to make additional products or to dispense "batch" solutions as products. Good). In various embodiments, two or more substrates themselves may be mixed in one manifold and then metered into another manifold and mixed with other substrates.

  Thus, in various embodiments, as required or at the desired time before being actually required, the first manifold of the solution may contain the first substrate and at least one additional substance according to the recipe. May be made by weighing and feeding to the manifold. In some embodiments, one of the substrates may be reduced, i.e., the substrate may be a powder / solid, and that particular amount is added to the mixing manifold. A liquid substrate may also be added to the same mixing manifold and the powder substrate may be reduced in the liquid to the desired concentration. The contents in this manifold may then be fed or dispensed, for example, to other manifolds.

  In some embodiments, the methods described herein may be used in conjunction with mixing dialysate for use in peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis as required, according to a recipe / formulation. . As is known in the art, dialysate compositions include the following: bicarbonate, sodium, calcium, potassium, chloride, glucose, lactate, acetic acid, acetate, magnesium, glucose, hydrochloric acid. One or more may be included, but is not limited to these.

  The dialysate may be used to draw waste molecules from blood (eg urea, creatinine, potassium ions, phosphates, etc.) and water into the dialysate through osmotic action. Solutions are well known to those skilled in the art.

  For example, dialysate generally contains various ions such as potassium and calcium to the same extent as the natural concentration in healthy blood. In some cases, the dialysate may contain sodium bicarbonate, which is usually at a slightly higher concentration than that found in normal blood. In general, dialysate uses water from a source of water (eg, reverse osmosis, or “RO” water), one or more ingredients, such as “acids” (including acetic acid, glucose, NaCl, CaCl, KCl, Prepared by mixing with various types such as MgCl), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and / or sodium chloride (NaCl). The preparation of dialysate is well known to those skilled in the art, including using appropriate salinity, osmolality, pH, and the like. As will be described in detail later, the dialysate need not be prepared on demand in real time. For example, the dialysate can be made at the same time as or before dialysis and stored in a dialysate storage container or otherwise.

  In some embodiments, one or more substrates, such as bicarbonate, may be stored in powder form. For purposes of illustration and illustration only, the powdered substrate may be referred to as “bicarbonate” in this example, but in other embodiments, any substrate / raw material is in powder form in addition to or instead of bicarbonate. Or other solids may be stored in the machine and the process described herein for substrate reduction may be used. Bicarbonate may be stored in a “disposable” container, which may be dispensed entirely, for example, into a manifold. In some embodiments, a large amount of bicarbonate may be stored in a container from which a certain amount of bicarbonate may be metered and supplied to the manifold. In some embodiments, the entire amount of bicarbonate may be loaded into the manifold, i.e., a large amount of dialysate may be mixed.

  The solution in the first manifold may be mixed with one or more additional substrates / raw materials in the second manifold. In addition, in some embodiments, one or more sensors (eg, one or more conductive sensors) are tested on a mixed solution in the first manifold to It may be arranged to confirm that the concentration of the period has been reached. In some embodiments, data from one or more sensors may be used in a feedback control loop to correct errors in the solution. For example, if the sensor data indicates that the concentration of the bicarbonate solution is higher or lower than the desired concentration, additional bicarbonate or RO may be added to the manifold.

  In some recipes in some embodiments, one or more ingredients may be reduced in the manifold and then mixed with one or more ingredients in other manifolds. It does not matter whether it is a reduced powder / solid or a liquid.

  Therefore, the systems and methods described herein provide a means for accurately generating or composing other solutions, including dialysate or other solutions used in medical treatment, as required. May be provided. In some embodiments, the system may be incorporated into a dialysis machine, which is filed, for example, on Feb. 27, 2008 and now US Pat. No. 8 issued Aug. 21, 2012. No. 12,246,826 (Attorney Docket No. F65), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In other embodiments, the system can be incorporated into any machine where it may be desirable to mix the product on demand.

  Since water can occupy the maximum amount of dialysate, it causes high cost, large space, and long time for transportation of bagged dialysate. The processing system 10 described above can prepare dialysis fluid in a dialysis machine or in a stand-alone dispenser (eg, installed in a patient's home), thus shipping and storing a large amount of dialysis fluid in a bag. There is no need to do it. Such a processing system 10 as described above may allow a user or provider to enter a desired prescription, and the system described above can be used on demand using the systems and methods described herein. Thus, the desired prescription drug can be made in the field (eg, including but not limited to a medical center, pharmacy or patient home). Thus, transportation costs can be reduced because only the substrates / raw materials need to be shipped / delivered by the systems and methods described herein.

  In addition to the various embodiments of flow control described and described above, and with reference to FIGS. 56-64, a variable line impedance for a flow control module, a flow measurement device (or sometimes referred to as a “flow meter”), binary Various other embodiments of the valve are shown.

  Referring collectively to FIGS. 56-59, an exemplary embodiment of the flow control module 3000 of this embodiment includes a fluid inlet 3001, a piston case 3012, a first opening 3002, a piston 3004, and a piston spring 3006. And a cylinder 3005 around the piston and a second opening 3022. The piston spring 3006 biases the piston 3004 to the closed position as shown in FIG. The flow control module 3000 also includes a solenoid 3008, which includes a solenoid case 3010 and an armature 3014. The downstream binary valve 3016 is actuated by a plunger 3018, which is biased to the open position by a plunger spring 3020.

  The piston 3004, cylinder 3005, piston spring 3006, and piston case 3012 may be made of any material, which in some embodiments is selected based on the fluid intended to flow through the flow control module. May be. In the exemplary embodiment, piston 3004 and cylinder 3005 are made of alumina ceramic, but in other embodiments, these components may be made of other ceramics or stainless steel. In various embodiments, these components may be made of any desired material and may be selected depending on the fluid. In this exemplary embodiment, piston spring 3006 is made of stainless steel, but in various embodiments, piston spring 3006 may be made of ceramic or other material. In this exemplary embodiment, the piston case 3012 is made of plastic. However, in other embodiments, the various components may be made of stainless steel or other dimensionally stable corrosion resistant material. As shown in FIGS. 56-59, this exemplary embodiment includes a binary valve, but in other embodiments, the flow control module 3000 may not include a binary valve. In such an embodiment, the cylinder 3005 and piston 3004 made of alumina ceramic in this exemplary embodiment as described above may be match ground to provide a clearance fit, and 2 The gap between the two components may be very tight and manufactured to provide a close gap fit.

  The solenoid 3008 in this embodiment is a constant force solenoid 3008. In this exemplary embodiment, a constant force solenoid 3008 shown in FIGS. 56-59 may be used. Solenoid 3008 includes a solenoid case 3010, which in this exemplary embodiment is made of 416 stainless steel. In this exemplary embodiment, constant force solenoid 3008 includes a spike. In this embodiment, as the armature 3014 approaches the spike, the force changes substantially or only slightly with respect to position. Constant force solenoid 3008 applies a magnetic force to armature 3014, which in this exemplary embodiment is made of 416 stainless steel. In some embodiments, the armature 3014 and / or solenoid case 3012 may be made of ferritic stainless steel or other magnetic stainless steel or other material having the desired magnetic properties. Armature 3014 is connected to piston 3004. Therefore, the constant force solenoid 3008 moves the piston 3004 linearly from the closed position (shown in FIGS. 56 and 57) to the open position (shown in FIGS. 58 and 59) with respect to the second opening 3022. Supply the power of. Therefore, the solenoid 3008 activates the piston 3004 and the current applied to control the constant force solenoid 3008 is proportional to the force applied to the armature 3014.

  The size of the first opening 3002 may be selected such that the maximum pressure drop of the system is not exceeded and the pressure in the first opening 3002 is sufficient to move the piston 3004. In this exemplary embodiment, the first opening 3002 is about 0.180 inches. However, in various embodiments, the diameter may be larger or smaller depending on the desired flow rate and pressure drop. In addition, by obtaining a maximum pressure drop at a particular flow rate, the overall amount that the piston 3004 moves to maintain the desired flow rate is minimized.

  The constant force solenoid 3008 and the piston spring 3006 generate a substantially constant force throughout the movement of the piston 3004. The piston spring 3006 acts on the piston 3004 in the same direction as the fluid flows. The pressure drop occurs when fluid enters the first opening 3002. A constant force solenoid 3008 (also referred to as a “solenoid”) counteracts the fluid pressure by applying a force to the armature 3014.

  Referring now to FIG. 56, the flow control module 3000 is shown in the closed position and no fluid is flowing. In the closed position, the solenoid 3008 is in a non-energized state. Piston spring 3006 biases piston 3004 to the closed position, ie, the second opening (shown as 3022 in FIGS. 58-59) is completely closed. This is advantageous for a number of reasons including, but not limited to, fail-safe flow switches when power to the flow control module is interrupted. Therefore, when power for energizing the solenoid 3008 is not available, the piston 3004 is in a “normally closed” state.

  Referring also to FIGS. 57-59, the energy or current applied to solenoid 3008 controls the movement of armature 3014 and piston 3004. As the piston 3004 moves further toward the fluid inlet 3001, it opens the second opening 3022. Therefore, the current applied to the solenoid 3008 may be proportional to the force applied to the armature 3014, or the current applied to the solenoid 3008 may be varied to obtain a desired flow rate. In the exemplary embodiment of this embodiment of the flow control module, the flow rate corresponds to the current applied to the solenoid 3008, and the force applied to the piston 3004 increases when current is applied.

  In order to maintain a constant force profile of the solenoid 3008, it may be desirable to keep the distance traveled by the armature 3014 within a substantially predetermined range. As described above, the spike of the solenoid 3008 contributes to maintaining a substantially constant force while the armature 3014 is moving. This is desirable in some embodiments when the second opening 3022 is opened, and the flow rate is kept substantially constant by maintaining a substantially constant force.

  As the force from the solenoid 3008 increases, in this exemplary embodiment, the force from the solenoid 3008 moves the piston 3004 linearly to the fluid inlet 3001 causing a flow through the second opening 3022. This reduces the fluid pressure in the flow control module. Thus, the first opening 3002 (coupled to the piston 3004), together with the second opening 3022, functions as a flow meter and variable line impedance, and the pressure at the first opening 3002 (indicating the flow rate). The decrease remains constant even if the cross-sectional area of the second opening 3022 changes. The flow rate, that is, the pressure difference at the first opening 3002, determines the amount of movement of the piston 3004, that is, the variable line impedance of the flow path.

  Referring now to FIGS. 58-59, in this exemplary embodiment, the variable line impedance includes at least one second opening 3022. In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 58-59, the second opening 3022 includes a plurality of holes. Embodiments that include multiple holes can maintain structural integrity thereby allowing the overall size of the second opening to achieve the desired flow rate with maximum pressure drop while minimizing piston travel. It may be desirable to be sufficient.

  Referring to FIGS. 56-59, in this exemplary embodiment, the piston 3004 includes at least one radial groove 3024 to equalize the pressure that may be introduced by the blow through during operation. In this exemplary embodiment, piston 3004 includes two radial grooves 3024. In other embodiments, the piston 3004 may include three or more radial grooves. The at least one radial groove 3024 provides a means for both pressure equalization by blow-through and therefore centering in the cylinder 3005 of the piston 3004 that can reduce blow-through. The centering of the piston 3004 also provides a fluid bearing effect between the cylinder 3005 and the piston 3004, thus reducing friction. In some embodiments, other means for reducing friction may be used, including coating the piston 3004 to reduce friction and / or incorporating the use of ball bearings. Including, but not limited to. Available coatings may include, but are not limited to, diamond-like coating (DLC) and titanium nitride. The reduction in friction is advantageous for lowering the hysteresis of the system and hence reducing the flow control error in the system.

  In this exemplary embodiment, for a variable line impedance device, the current and current application method for obtaining a certain flow rate may be determined. Various current application modes include, but are not limited to, current dithering, sinusoidal dithering, current dithering schemes, or the use of various pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. Current control may be utilized to generate various flow rates and various flow types, such as triangular or pulsed flow rates or smooth flow rates. For example, sinusoidal dithering may be utilized to reduce hysteresis and friction between cylinder 3005 and piston 3004. Therefore, a predetermined plan for a desired flow rate may be made and used.

  Referring now to FIG. 64, there is shown an example of a solenoid control method that can be applied to the variable line impedance device shown in FIGS. This control method shows a dithering function that applies smaller amplitude dithering at low flow rates and applies larger amplitude dithering as the flow rate increases. Dithering can be specified by either a step function that can increase the dithering by a predetermined threshold or a ramp function that can remain constant beyond the predetermined threshold. FIG. 64 shows an example of a dithering ramp function. Both the dithering frequency and the dithering amplitude can change with the current command. In these embodiments, instead of a dithering function, a look-up table that specifies the optimal dithering feature or other dithering plan for any desired flow rate may be used.

  The upstream fluid pressure may increase or decrease. However, the variable line impedance compensates for pressure changes and maintains a constant desired flow rate by using a constant force solenoid and spring and plunger. Therefore, the variable line impedance maintains a constant flow rate even when the pressure changes. For example, when the inlet pressure increases, the system includes a first opening 3002 of a certain size, so that the pressure drop at the first opening 3002 moves the piston 3004 toward the fluid outlet 3036; The opening degree of the second opening 3022 “turns down”. This is achieved through the piston 3004 moving linearly toward the fluid outlet 3036.

  Conversely, when the inlet pressure is reduced, the size of the first opening 3002 of the system is constant, so the pressure drop at the first opening 3002 causes the piston 3004 to increase the opening degree of the second opening 3022. "Turn up" and therefore keep the flow rate constant. This is achieved through the piston 3004 moving linearly toward the fluid inlet 3001.

  This exemplary embodiment also includes a binary valve. Although shown in this exemplary embodiment, in some embodiments, a binary valve may not be used, in which case, for example, the tolerance between the piston and the second opening is such that the piston is That is, it functions as a binary valve for the second opening. Referring now to FIGS. 56-59, the binary valve in this exemplary embodiment is downstream of the second opening 3022. In this exemplary embodiment, the binary valve is a pilot diaphragm 3016 that is actuated by a plunger 3018. In this exemplary embodiment, the diaphragm 3016 is a heterogeneous integrally formed metal disk, but in other embodiments the diaphragm 3016 may be made of any material suitable for the fluid flowing through the valve. May include, but is not limited to, metal, elastomer and / or urethane, or any type of plastic or other material suitable for the desired function. It should be noted that although the drawing shows the membrane seated in the open position, in practice, the membrane is out of seating. Plunger 3018 is actuated directly by piston 3004, and in its rest position, plunger spring 3020 biases plunger 3018 to the open position. When the piston 3004 returns to the closed position, the force generated by the piston spring 3006 increases, thereby causing the plunger spring 3020 to urge and actuate the plunger 3018 to the binary valve closed position. Thus, in this exemplary embodiment, the solenoid provides energy for both the piston 3004 and the plunger 3018 and therefore controls both the fluid flow through the second opening 3022 and the binary valve.

  Referring to FIGS. 56-59, the incremental movement of the piston 3004 with increasing force from the solenoid 3008 can be seen. Referring to FIG. 56, both the binary valve and the second opening (not shown) are closed. Referring to FIG. 57, a current is applied to the solenoid and the piston 3004 moves slightly, while the binary valve is opened by the bias of the plunger spring 3020. In FIG. 58, current is further applied to the solenoid 3008, the piston 3004 further moves toward the first opening 3002, and the second opening 3022 is slightly opened. Referring now to FIG. 59, the current from the solenoid 3008 increases to move the piston 3004 further toward the fluid inlet 3001 (or further back in the solenoid 3008 in this embodiment) and the second Opening 3022 is fully open.

  The embodiments described above with respect to FIGS. 56-59 may additionally include one or more sensors, which include one or more of the following: a piston position sensor and / or a flow sensor. Although it may contain, it is not limited to these. One or more sensors may be used to confirm that the fluid flows reliably when the solenoid 3008 is energized. For example, the piston position sensor may detect whether the piston is moving. The flow sensor may detect whether the piston is moving or not moving.

  60-61, in various embodiments, the flow control module 3000 may include one or more sensors. Referring to FIG. 60, the flow control module 3000 is shown as having an anemometer 3026. In one embodiment, one or more thermistors are positioned near a thin wall that contacts the fluid flow path. The thermistor may dissipate a known amount of force, for example 1 watt, and therefore a predictable temperature rise is expected for either stationary or flowing fluid. An anemometer may be used as a fluid flow sensor because the temperature rise is small when fluid is flowing. In some embodiments, the anemometer can also be used to measure the temperature of the fluid, regardless of whether the sensor detects the presence of another fluid flow.

  Referring now to FIG. 61, the flow control module 3000 is shown having a paddle wheel 3028. A partially cutaway view of paddle wheel sensor 3030 is shown in FIG. Paddle wheel sensor 3030 includes a paddle wheel 3028 in the fluid flow path, an infrared (IR) emitter 3032, and an IR receiver 3034. The paddle wheel sensor 3030 is a metering device and may be used for flow rate calculation and / or verification. Paddle wheel sensor 3030 may be used in some embodiments to simply detect whether fluid is flowing. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 62, when IR diode 3032 emits light and fluid flows, paddle wheel 3028 rotates to block the beam from IR diode 3032, which is detected by IR receiver 3034. The flow rate may be calculated using the blocking rate of the IR beam.

  As shown in FIGS. 56-59, in some embodiments, multiple sensors may be used within the flow control module 3000. In these embodiments, both an anemometer sensor and a paddle wheel sensor are shown. In other embodiments, either a paddle wheel (FIG. 61) or an anemometer (FIG. 60) sensor is used. However, in various other embodiments, one or more sensors may be used to sense, calculate, or detect various states of the flow control module 3000. For example, but not limited to, in some embodiments, Hall effect sensors may be added to the magnetic circuit of solenoid 3010 to detect magnetic flux.

  In some embodiments, the inductance of the coil of solenoid 3008 may be calculated to determine the position of piston 3004. In the solenoid 3008 of this exemplary embodiment, the reluctance changes as the armature 3014 moves. Inductance may be measured or calculated from reluctance, and therefore the position of piston 3004 may be calculated based on the calculated value of inductance. In some embodiments, the inductance may be used to control the movement of the piston 3004 through the armature 3014.

  Referring now to FIG. 63, one embodiment of the flow control module 3000 is shown. This embodiment of the flow control module 3000 can be used in any of the various embodiments of the dispensing system described herein. Further, a variable flow impedance mechanism may be used in place of the various variable flow impedance embodiments described above. Further, in various embodiments, the flow control module 3000 may be used with downstream or upstream flow meters.

  Referring to FIG. 65, the fluid flow path in one embodiment of the flow control module 3000 is shown. In this embodiment, the flow control module 3000 includes both a paddle wheel 3028 sensor and an anemometer 3026. However, as described above, some embodiments of the flow control module 3000 may include more or fewer sensors than those shown in FIG.

  In some embodiments, one or more of the pump assemblies 270, 272, 274, 276 shown in FIG. 4 may be a solenoid piston pump assembly that includes an electrical circuit capable of monitoring the flow rate. Driven by logic. An example of one embodiment of a solenoid pump 270 and drive circuit is shown in FIG. 66, where the pump 270 is energized by passing a current through the coil 3214. The resulting magnetic flux may drive the solenoid slug or piston 3216 to the left and compress the expansion spring 3210. The discharged fluid can flow through piston 3216 and check valve 3218 as piston 3218 moves to the left. When the coil 3214 does not apply enough magnetic flux to keep the spring compressed, the spring 3210 can return the piston 3216 to the right. When piston 3216 returns to the right, check valve 3218 closes and fluid can be pushed out of the pump. In some embodiments, the ULKA Costruccini Eletromeccaniche S. of Pavia, Italy. p. A pump available from A may be used.

  The solenoid piston pump may move an amount of fluid from left to right each time the piston compresses the spring to the left in FIG. 66 and returns to its original position on the right. The solenoid piston pump can be energized by a number of drive circuits known in the art. Various current application modes include, but are not limited to, current dithering, sinusoidal dithering, current dithering schemes, and / or the use of various pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques.

  Some embodiments include the case where the drive circuit is connected to a power source by a circuit that can generate a variable current in coil 3214 and measure the current flow through the solenoid. The circuit may measure other parameters to indirectly measure the amount of current, including one of the following: the solenoid coil voltage and / or the duty cycle of the periodic current flow or Although plural may be included, it is not limited to these. In some embodiments, a plurality of solenoid pumps may be connected to the power supply via the PWM controller 3203 and current sensor 3207, as shown in FIG. However, in some embodiments, one solenoid pump may be connected to the power source via the PWM controller 3203 and the current sensor 3207. The PWM controller 3203 may operate at a higher frequency to control the applied voltage to the coil, superimposed on a lower frequency to control the cycle operation of the pump. In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 may energize the pump at a frequency optimized for pump operation, referred to herein as the “optimal pump frequency”. The optimal pump frequency may be determined by one or more variable values in some embodiments, including but not limited to the stiffness of the spring 3210, the mass of the piston 3216 and / or the viscosity of the fluid. In some embodiments, the pump frequency may be about 20 Hz. However, in other embodiments, the pump frequency may be higher or lower than 20 Hz. The PWM controller 3203 may control the voltage while energizing the pump by cycling at a high frequency in a certain duty cycle range. In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 may cycle at 10 kHz while the pump coil is energized. In some embodiments, a method for generating the drive signal is described in US Pat. No. 7,905,373, filed Sep. 6, 2007 and now issued on Mar. 15, 2011. (Attorney Docket No. F45), which is disclosed in US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 851,344 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD THE GENERATION A DRIVE SIGNAL”, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety This is incorporated into the present application.

  In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 may change the voltage while the pump is energized. In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 may keep the voltage constant while the pump is energized. In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 may initially raise the voltage to a desired level, keep the voltage constant while the pump is energized, and then reduce the voltage to zero at the desired rate. In some embodiments, reducing the voltage to zero may minimize noise to the drive circuits of other pumps that share a common power supply.

  In some embodiments, the duty cycle may be fixed to provide a constant voltage, or in some embodiments, the duty cycle may be varied to provide a time variable voltage while the pump is energized. May be. In some embodiments, the PWM controller 3203 and the current sensor 3207 may be coupled to the control logic subsystem 14. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may control the flow rate of fluid through the pump by commanding the pump duty cycle. The control logic subsystem 14 may change the voltage applied to the pump by changing the high frequency duty cycle. The control logic subsystem 14 may monitor and record the current through the pump. Control logic subsystem 14 may change the high frequency duty cycle of PWM controller 3203 to control the current measured by current sensor 3207. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may monitor current sensor signals to identify abnormal flow conditions.

  One embodiment of a PWM controller and current sensor is schematically illustrated in FIG. This embodiment is one embodiment, and in various other embodiments, the arrangement of the PWM controller and the current sensor may be different. Q5 is a transistor for performing PWM on the current to the solenoid. R54 is a high-side current detection resistor used by the U11 current detection / differential amplifier, and outputs a signal CURRENT1. Connectors J12 and J13 are electrical interfaces with the solenoid. F3 is a fuse for destructive failure isolation. D10 is for buffering the energy stored in the solenoid inductance. The power supply supplies DC power of 28.5V. However, in some embodiments, the figures may be different.

  In some embodiments, the flow rate through the solenoid pump 270 may be monitored by measuring the current flow through the solenoid coil 3214. The coil is an inductor-resistor element, which can increase the current flow after voltage application. The position of the piston 3216 with respect to the coil 3214 affects the inductance of the coil and therefore the current rise waveform.

  “Functional pump stroke” is defined herein as a pump stroke that, for a given pump, moves an amount of fluid that corresponds to the majority of the rated discharge per stroke from the pump. A functional pump stroke may also be defined as not exceeding a design temperature or current limit for coil 3214. An example of a functional pump stroke is shown in FIG. 68A. The current through the solenoid coil is plotted as line 3310, starting from zero and rising to a steady state value. Line 3325 is a plot of the second derivative of the current through the solenoid. The timing and magnitude of the second derivative peak 3325 can indicate the timing and speed of the piston. The current measurement can indicate a number of abnormalities, including one of the following: for example, air or vacuum conditions in the pump, line clogging or blockage, coil overheating, and / or abnormal coil current Or, a plurality is included, but not limited thereto.

  In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 has one or more micro ingredient product containers, such as the product containers 254, 256, 258 shown in FIG. 4, empty or unable to supply more ingredients. This may be determined by monitoring a signal from the current sensor 3207. Product containers 254, 256, 258 are used herein as an example of one embodiment, but in various other embodiments, the number of product containers may be different. A state in which the product containers 254, 256, 258 are emptied or a line upstream of the valve 270 is blocked is referred to as a “sold out state” in this specification.

  The micro-raw product containers 254, 256, 258 may include RFID tags in which values representing the amount of liquid remaining in the product containers 254, 256, 258 are stored. This value is called “remaining capacity display” in this specification, and the unit is milliliter (mL). The remaining amount display is set to a full value when the product containers 254, 256, 258 are full. When used, the value of the remaining amount display may be periodically updated by the control logic subsystem 14.

  In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may determine, based in part on the output of the current sensor 3207, that a sold-out condition (of the product container) exists. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may determine that a micro-raw product container 254, 256, 258 is sold out, based in part on the value of the remaining container display. Good. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 inputs a sold-out state, including, but not limited to, one or more of the following: current sensor output, remaining capacity value, and / or injection state. You may determine based on. The output of current sensor 3207 during each pump stroke may be processed by control logic subsystem 14 to determine whether the stroke was a functional stroke, a sold-out stroke, or a non-functional stroke. Functional strokes are defined above, and sold out strokes and non-functional strokes are described in more detail below.

  In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 determines that a sold out condition exists when a certain number / threshold of consecutive sold out strokes occur. The threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes varies depending on the remaining amount display value and the injection state. For example, in some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may indicate that the remaining capacity indication exceeds a threshold volume, e.g., 60 mL, and the pump is continuously sold out a threshold number of strokes, e.g., 60 consecutive sold-out strokes. May be declared sold out, but these values are only given as examples, and in various other embodiments these values may be different. The sensitivity of the sold-out algorithm is reduced in some embodiments because the remaining capacity indicator indicates a substantial amount of fluid remaining in the container. If the remaining capacity indication is below a threshold volume, which in some embodiments may be 60 mL, for example, the control logic subsystem 14 has had a threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes, eg, 3 consecutive sold-out strokes. Or, if the system has determined that the threshold number of consecutive sold-out strokes has been reached and the stroke made toward the container 30 during the current infusion has reached, for example, 12 times, the sold-out state may be declared. Good. In some embodiments, if the remaining capacity indication is less than a threshold volume, e.g. 60 mL, and the stroke made during the current infusion is less than e.g. 12 times, the control logic subsystem 14 may e.g. A sold-out state may be declared after a sold-out stroke. In some embodiments, the number of sold out strokes may be saved for each infusion. The sold out stroke counter may be reset to zero whenever the functional stroke is restored. Non-functional stroke criteria are described below and include criteria for occlusion stroke, temperature error, and current error.

  In various embodiments, multiple pumps may eject fluid from a common source to achieve a desired flow rate. Common sources may include any fluid, including but not limited to non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS). The control logic subsystem 14 may declare a sold out condition, for example when there is a certain number of consecutive sold out strokes on any one pump. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 declares a sold out condition when there are 20 consecutive sold out strokes on any one of the pumps. However, in various other embodiments, the number of consecutive sold-out strokes indicating a sold-out state may be different.

  In some embodiments, the sold-out stroke may be detected by an algorithm that measures the peak amplitude of the second derivative of the current and the timing of the peak amplitude by the control logic subsystem 14. Referring to FIG. 68B, an exemplary graph of current 3350 and its second derivative 3360 for a sold-out stroke is shown. The peak of the second derivative 3360 of the current over time 3365 is higher and faster than the peak 3325 of the normal pumping waveform shown in FIG. 68A.

と定義され、ｄ^２Ｉ／ｄｔ^２ _ｍａｘは電流の二次微分値の最大値であり、ｔ_ｍａｘは電流フローの開始からｄ^２Ｉ／ｄｔ^２ _ｍａｘまでの時間であり、ｆｔは定数である。売切れストロークのＳＯ閾値は経験的に決定されてもよい。定数ｆｔは、各ソレノイドポンプについて校正されてもよい。定数ｆｔは９．５ミリ秒と等しくてもよい。 The sold-out stroke may be defined as a value of SO higher than a threshold value.

D ² I / dt ² _max is the maximum value of the second derivative of the current, t _max is the time from the start of the current flow to d ² I / dt ² _max , and ft is a constant . The sold-out stroke SO threshold may be determined empirically. The constant ft may be calibrated for each solenoid pump. The constant ft may be equal to 9.5 milliseconds.

式中、

は電流の二次微分値のピーク値であり、ｔ_ｍａｘは電圧がソレノイドポンプに印加された後の時間ステップの数である。ｆｔの数値は、各ソレノイドポンプについて校正されても、または９５に設定されてもよい。ＳＯ閾値はこの計算では３２７６８０である。 In some embodiments, the SO value may be calculated from the raw AD measurement and the number of time steps.

Where

Is the peak value of the second derivative of the current, and t _max is the number of time steps after the voltage is applied to the solenoid pump. The numerical value of ft may be calibrated for each solenoid pump or set to 95. The SO threshold is 327680 in this calculation.

二次微分値は、アルファベータフィルタでフィルタ処理されてもよく、α＝０．８５、β＝０．１５である。

電流の二次微分値の決定は一例として説明されており、当業界で知られている多数の代替的な方法で計算されてもよい。 In some embodiments, the second derivative of the current may be calculated by first filtering the current signal with an alpha beta filter.
I _i = αI _i-1 + βC _i
α = 0.9 [Formula 3]
β = 0.1
Where I _i−1 is the current calculated in the previous step, C _i is the current read from AD (in AD count), and 1 count is 1.22 mA. The first and second derivative values of the current with respect to time may be calculated as follows:

The second derivative may be filtered with an alpha beta filter, with α = 0.85 and β = 0.15.

The determination of the second derivative of the current is described as an example and may be calculated in a number of alternative ways known in the art.

  In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may determine that the line supplying fluid to the container 30 of FIG. 1 is clogged or occluded based on the signal from the current sensor 3207. Referring to FIG. 68C, an exemplary graph of current 3370 and its second derivative 3380 with respect to the occlusion stroke is shown. The value of the second derivative 3382 at 5 ms, ie 50 time steps, may be significantly higher than the second derivative of the current of the functional pump stroke 3322 of FIG. 68A. Referring to FIG. 68D, an exemplary graph of second derivative of current for pump stroke 3320 and occlusion stroke 3380 is shown. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may determine that an occlusion condition exists if, at a certain time, the second derivative of the current is higher than the occlusion threshold. The specified time and threshold may be determined empirically. The specified time and threshold may be determined for each pump.

式中、

は電圧がソレノイドポンプに印加されてから５ｍｓ後の電流の二次微分値であり、Ｒはコイルの抵抗であり、ＡとＢは実験定数である。いくつかの実施形態において、抵抗Ｒは、ピストンのストロークの終了ときに最大電流が流れている間に測定されてもよく、これは電圧がポンプに最初に印加されてから、たとえば１４．０ｍｓ後に発生する。抵抗は、印加された電圧と測定された電流から計算されてもよい。印加された電圧は、電源３２０９の電圧にＰＷＭデューティサイクルを乗じることによって計算されてもよい。電源電圧は、仮定の値であってもよく、または測定されてもよい。電流は、電流センサ３２０７によって測定されてもよい。 In some embodiments, the occlusion value OCC may be calculated by:

Where

Is the second derivative of the current 5 ms after the voltage is applied to the solenoid pump, R is the resistance of the coil, and A and B are experimental constants. In some embodiments, the resistance R may be measured while maximum current is flowing at the end of the piston stroke, which is, for example, 14.0 ms after the voltage is first applied to the pump. Occur. The resistance may be calculated from the applied voltage and the measured current. The applied voltage may be calculated by multiplying the voltage of the power supply 3209 by the PWM duty cycle. The power supply voltage may be an assumed value or may be measured. The current may be measured by a current sensor 3207.

この式の閉塞閾値は−２３０４であってもよい。あるいは、閉塞閾値は機能的ポンプストロークに関するＯＣＣ値より２０４８高い数値に設定されてもよい。正常時のポンプストロークのＯＣＣ値は、製造試験ときに決定され、その数値は各ポンプについて記録されてもよい。したがって、ＯＣＣ値は各種の実施形態において異なっていてもよい。 In some embodiments, the OCC value may be calculated from the raw AD measurement and the number of time steps as follows:

The occlusion threshold for this equation may be -2304. Alternatively, the occlusion threshold may be set to a value 2048 higher than the OCC value for functional pump stroke. The OCC value of the pump stroke at normal time is determined during the manufacturing test, and the value may be recorded for each pump. Thus, the OCC value may be different in various embodiments.

式中、ＰＷＭ＿Ｖａｌｕｅは２００〜２０００（２７．３６ボルト〜１７．１ボルト）の間で変化してもよい。Ｉ_ｍａｘはバルブが通電中である時の最高電流である。 The resistance is calculated as follows:

Where PWM_Value may vary between 200 and 2000 (27.36 volts to 17.1 volts). I _max is the maximum current when the valve is energized.

いくつかの実施形態において、温度係数０．４％／℃のコイルには銅線が使用されてもよく、コイルの抵抗は２０℃で７オームである。

式中、温度はコイルの温度であり、単位は度Ｃであり、抵抗は上述のように計算され、単位はオームである。制御論理サブシステム１４は、上述のようにコイルの抵抗から計算される温度測定値が最大許容値を超えたときに、温度エラーを宣言してもよい。いくつかの実施形態において、コイル温度の最大許容温度は１２０度Ｃであってもよい。しかしながら、他の各種の実施形態において、コイル温度の最大許容温度は１２０度Ｃより低くても、または高くてもよい。 The coil temperature may be measured from the output of the current sensor. The coil temperature may be calculated from the known temperature coefficient of the coil wire material and the resistance at a known temperature.

In some embodiments, copper wire may be used for a coil with a temperature coefficient of 0.4% / ° C. and the resistance of the coil is 7 ohms at 20 ° C.

Where temperature is the coil temperature, the unit is degrees C, resistance is calculated as described above, and the unit is ohms. The control logic subsystem 14 may declare a temperature error when the temperature measurement calculated from the coil resistance as described above exceeds a maximum allowable value. In some embodiments, the maximum allowable temperature of the coil temperature may be 120 degrees C. However, in various other embodiments, the maximum allowable coil temperature may be lower or higher than 120 degrees C.

いくつかの実施形態において、制御論理サブシステム１４は、測定された最大電流Ｉ_Ｍａｘを各ストロークに関する標的電流Ｉ_{Ｔａｒｇｅｔ}と比較してもよい。いくつかの実施形態において、制御論理サブシステム１４は、電流差の絶対値［（Ｉ_Ｍａｘ−Ｉ_{Ｔａｒｇｅｔ}）の絶対値］がある電流エラー閾値を超えたときに、電流エラーを宣言してもよい。いくつかの実施形態において、電流エラー閾値は１．２２Ａであってもよいが、他の各種の実施形態において、最大電流エラー閾値は１．２２Ａより低くても、または高くてもよい。 In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may control the current by adjusting a PWM command sent to the PWM controller 3203 based on the output of the current sensor 3207. In some embodiments, the PWM command value is limited to between 200 and 2000 (27.36 to 17.1 volts, respectively). However, in various other embodiments, the value of the PWM command may not be limited, and in some embodiments where the value of the PWM command is limited, the value is larger than the range given herein as an example. Or less. The current may be controlled to a maximum value I _Max through the following equation:

In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may compare the measured maximum current I _Max to the target current I _Target for each stroke. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may declare a current error when the absolute value of the current difference [absolute value of (I _Max −I _Target )] exceeds a current error threshold. . In some embodiments, the current error threshold may be 1.22A, but in various other embodiments, the maximum current error threshold may be lower or higher than 1.22A.

  In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may determine that the pump 270 cannot deliver fluid. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may monitor the number of consecutive occlusion strokes based on the occlusion threshold described above. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may monitor the number of times a coil temperature error has occurred. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may monitor the number of occurrences of current errors. The logic subsystem 14 may determine that the pump 270 cannot deliver fluid when a sufficient number of consecutive non-functional strokes have occurred. Non-functional strokes may include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: occlusion stroke, overheating, and / or current error. In some embodiments, the control logic subsystem 14 may declare that the pump cannot deliver fluid, for example when three non-functional strokes occur in succession. The non-functional stroke count may return to zero immediately after the occurrence of the functional stroke in some embodiments. However, in various other embodiments, the number of non-functional strokes required to declare that the pump cannot deliver fluid may be less than or greater than three.

Noise Detection In addition to the sold-out calculations and methods described above, in some embodiments, sold-out may also be determined by analyzing the standard deviation of sold-out values to detect noise. This may be desirable for a number of reasons, including but not limited to being able to detect a sold out condition at an earlier stage. In this way, the sold out condition may be determined by measuring the variation of the current signal / sold out value. In some embodiments, a sold out condition may be determined by detecting noise.

  Referring to FIG. 74, this data shows the result representing the sold out value. In this example, the product was not found to be sold out until the end of the data set. However, during this time and before the product was found to be sold out, the product was under-delivered causing noise in the sold out value.

In some embodiments, the sold-out state determination method may include analyzing sold-out value noise. In some embodiments, standard deviation may be used to detect noise. The standard deviation is shown as follows.

The standard deviation formula may be simplified by removing constants and eliminating the square root and multiplication to improve usage efficiency. In some embodiments, a reduction formula may be used. The resulting formula is an approximate value of the standard deviation at least in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio of the sold-out data and depends only on addition, division, and shift operations.

  Referring now to FIG. 75, an estimate of the standard deviation is shown relative to the sold out value. As shown, the above calculation measures the difference between normal pump operation and noise conditions. In various embodiments, a predetermined, preprogrammed threshold may be set to indicate a noise condition. In various embodiments, the standard deviation / estimated standard deviation threshold may be pre-set / pre-programmed to 10. However, in other embodiments, the threshold may be greater or less than 10.

  In some embodiments, the standard deviation scheme for determining sold out may be pre-programmed to not operate when the remaining capacity indication exceeds a threshold amount, which threshold is in some embodiments. May be 60 mL, but in other embodiments, this threshold may be greater or less than 60 mL.

In some embodiments, Equation 15 shown below may be used, where x is the sold out value from the above calculation.

  In some embodiments, the system may, for a pulse, when the sold out value is greater than a predetermined / preset threshold, or when the standard deviation or approximate standard deviation is greater than the predetermined / preset threshold, The product can be determined to be sold out (and in some embodiments, when the system determines that the product is sold out for a pulse, the system advances the counter as described above). For each of these states, in some embodiments, a counter is advanced. In some embodiments, when the counter reaches a predetermined / preset threshold, the product container is sold out.

  In some embodiments, a remaining capacity display scheme is used. In some embodiments, the RFID tag assembly indicates the volume of the product within the product container. In some embodiments, each time a product is dispensed from the product container, the RFID tag assembly is updated with the updated volume by subtracting the dispensed volume from the remaining volume. In some embodiments, when the remaining amount indication reaches a preset / predetermined threshold (eg, in some embodiments, this preset / predetermined threshold may be -15 ml) The system may determine that the product container is sold out even if it is not determined that the product container is sold out in the above-mentioned sold-out method. In some embodiments, when the remaining capacity indication reaches a preset / predetermined threshold, the system may reduce sold-out and / or standard deviation formula sensitivity. In some embodiments, this threshold may be 60.

  In some embodiments, each of the product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f may include a respective plurality of pump assemblies. For example, referring also to FIGS. 69A, 69B, 69D, 69E, 69F, the product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f of FIG. 4 may generally include pump assemblies 4270a, 4270b, 4270d, 4270e. Each one of the pump assemblies 4270a, 4270b, 4270c, 4270d is one of the slot assemblies 260, 262, 264, 266, for example, for discharging the raw material contained in the respective product container (eg, product container 256). May be associated with each other. For example, each of the pump assemblies 4270a, 4270b, 4270c, 4270d may include a respective fluid connection stem (eg, fluid connection stems 1250, 1252, 1254, 1256), for example, these are cooperating fitments. (Eg, fitment functional members 1158a, 1158b shown in FIGS. 43B and 44) may be fluidly coupled to a product container (eg, product container 256).

  Referring to FIG. 69E, a cross-sectional view of the pump module assembly 250d is shown. Assembly 250d includes a fluid inlet 4360, which is shown in a cross-sectional view of the fitment. The fitment engages a female part (shown as 1158a in FIG. 43B) of a product container (not shown and shown as 256 in FIG. 43B in other figures). Fluid from the product container enters pump assembly 250d at fluid inlet 4360. The fluid flows through pump 4364, through back pressure regulator 4366, and to fluid outlet 4368. As shown herein, the fluid flow path in pump module assembly 250d may flow through assembly 250d without air being trapped within the assembly. The fluid inlet 4360 is on a lower plane than the fluid outlet 4368. In addition, fluid travels longitudinally from the plane of the inlet and pump 4368 through the back pressure regulator 4366 to the plane of the outlet 4368. Therefore, this configuration allows fluid to flow continuously upward, thereby allowing air to flow through the system without being trapped. Therefore, the design of the pump module assembly 250d is a self-absorbing, self-purging positive displacement fluid delivery system.

  Referring to FIGS. 69E and 69F, the back pressure regulator 4366 can be any back pressure regulator, but one embodiment of a back pressure regulator 4366 for dispensing a small amount is shown. The back pressure regulator 4366 includes a diaphragm 4367 including a “Volcano” functional member and a molded O-ring around the outer diameter. The O-ring creates a seal. Piston 4365 is connected to diaphragm 4367. A spring 4366 around the piston 4365 biases the piston and diaphragm to the closed position. In this embodiment, the spring sits on the outer sleeve 4369. When the fluid pressure matches or exceeds the cracking pressure of the piston / spring assembly, the fluid passes through the back pressure regulator 4366 toward the fluid outlet 4368. In some embodiments, the cracking pressure is about 7-9 psi. The cracking pressure may be adjusted for the pump 4364. In some embodiments, the cracking pressure may be adjusted by changing the position of the outer sleeve 4369. The outer sleeve 4369 may be screwed into the outer wall 4370. By rotating the outer sleeve 4329 with respect to the outer wall 4370, the preload on the spring 4368 and thus the cracking pressure can be changed. Adjustable regulators can be manufactured cheaper than regulators with precisely fixed back pressure. The adjustable regulator may then be adjusted and adjusted for each pump during manufacturing and check testing. In various embodiments, the pump may differ from those described above, and in some of these embodiments other embodiments of back pressure regulators may be used.

  The releasable engagement between the outlet piping assembly 4300 and the product module assembly 250d may be performed, for example, via a cumming assembly that facilitates the engagement and release of the outlet piping assembly 4300 and the product module assembly 250d. For example, the cumming assembly may include a handle 4318 rotatably coupled to the fitment support means 4320 and cam function members 4322, 4324. The cam functional members 4322, 4324 may be engageable with a functional member cooperating therewith (not shown) of the product module assembly 250d. Referring to FIG. 69C, rotational movement of handle 4318 in the direction of the arrow disengages outlet piping assembly 4300 from product module assembly 250d, for example outlet piping assembly 4300 can be lifted away from product module assembly 250d.

  Referring specifically to FIGS. 69D and 69E, the product module assembly 250d may also be releasably engaged with the micro ingredient shelf 1200, for example, thereby removing / attaching the product module assembly 250d from the micro ingredient shelf 1200. Becomes easy. For example, as shown, product module assembly 250d may include a release handle 4350, for example, which may be pivotally connected to product module assembly 250d. Release handle 4350 may include, for example, locking ears 4352, 4354 (eg, most clearly depicted in FIGS. 69A and 69D). The locking ears 4352 and 4354 may engage with the functional members of the micro raw material shelf 1200 that cooperate therewith, for example, whereby the product module assembly 250d is held in engagement with the micro raw material shelf 1200. The As shown in FIG. 69E, the release handle 4350 may be pivoted in the direction of the arrow to remove the locking ears 4352, 4354 from the functional members of the microstock shelf 1200 that cooperate with it. When disengaged, the product module assembly 250d can be lifted from the microstock shelf 1200.

  One or more sensors may be associated with one or more handles 4318 and / or release handle 4350. One or more sensors may provide an output indicating the locked position of handle 4318 and / or release handle 4350. For example, the output of one or more sensors may indicate whether the handle 4318 and / or the release handle 4350 is in an engaged or disengaged position. At least in one, the product module assembly 250d may be electrically and / or fluidly isolated from the piping / control subsystem 20 based on the output of one or more sensors. Exemplary sensors may include, for example, cooperating RFID tags and readers, contact switches, magnetic position sensors, or the like.

  The flow rate may be monitored by measuring the current flow through the solenoid piston pump 4364 as described above. The one or more constants used to interpret the current flow measurements may be calibrated for individual pumps in product module assembly 250d. These calibration constants may be determined during a check test that is part of the manufacturing process. The calibration constant may be stored in an e-prom connected to the electronic board via a removal plug. Referring to FIGS. 69C, 69D, 69E, the e-prom may be attached to a plug 4380 that is connected to the pump electronics board 4386 after assembly. The e-prom plug 4380 is connected to the USB mount 4387 on the electronic board 4386 and is reliably mechanically attached. The e-prom plug 4380 may prevent the liquid from touching the electronic component by sealing the inside of the port 4282 of the electronic component case. The e-prom 4380 may be attached to the mount 4384 on the case of the product module assembly 250d via a lanyard. The e-prom plug 4380 may remain attached to the pump assembly 4390 when the electronic board 4386 is replaced. By using a separate e-prom, the electronic components can advantageously be separated from a plug 4380 that fits a particular pump assembly 4390 and an electronic board that can be used in any pump assembly. Electronic board 4386 and pump assembly 4390 may include functional members to facilitate quick disassembly and reassembly, including electrical contact clips 4392, slots 4393, and screw retaining means 4394, It is not limited to these.

  In some embodiments, the processing system 10 may include an external communication module 4500, one embodiment of which is shown in FIG. 70A so that maintenance personnel and / or consumers can, for example, Without limitation, one or more of the following may be used to communicate with the processing system 10: RFID tags and / or barcodes and / or other formats. In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may incorporate the RFID access antenna assembly 900 described above. The external communication module 4500 may include a number of devices capable of transmitting and receiving communications, including: wireless antenna 4530, optical bar code reader 4510, Bluetooth antenna, camera and / or other short range communication hardware. One or more of the wears are included, but are not limited to these. The processing system 10 can use the information obtained by the external communication module 4500 to facilitate inspection and repair and maintenance, for example, by a number of actions, including the following: locking the maintenance inspection door. One or more of: clearing, notifying maintenance personnel of errors, necessary maintenance work, failed equipment, necessary parts, and / or identifying containers that may need replacement Including, but not limited to. The external communication module 4500 may provide the consumer / user with one or more options for operation of the processing system 10, including the following: redemption of coupons and / or individual services. Including, but not limited to, one or more of the following offerings: Services include: personalization of beverages and / or payment receipt and / or use tracking and / or awarding One or more of, but not limited to. In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may communicate with the control logic subsystem 14 and receive power via a wire connection at the connector 4552. The external communication module 4500 may communicate with the control logic subsystem 14 via wireless communication.

  In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may be mounted near the front surface of the housing assembly 850. In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may be mounted in the structure of the processing system 10 such that there are no obstructions when a barcode reader or other optical instrument looks outside. In some embodiments, the RFID antenna may also be mounted within 1 inch of the front surface of the processing system 10.

  In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may include a barcode reader / decoder 4510. Bar code reader / decoder 4510 may read any optical code presented within its line of sight. In some embodiments, the optical code may be presented in a number of formats, including: as a printed material and / or on an electronic device and / or on a smartphone and / or on a portable information terminal and / or Or, as an image on a screen of a computer or other device capable of displaying an optical code, includes but is not limited to one or more of them.

  In some embodiments, the RFID antenna reader may receive signals from various devices presented to the processing system 10 by, for example, maintenance personnel and / or users / consumers. Examples of available RFID devices include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: key fob and / or plastic card and / or paper card.

  One embodiment of the external communication module 4500 is shown in FIGS. 70A and 70B. In some embodiments, this module may be stored in case 4502. In some embodiments, case 4502 may be plastic, but in various other embodiments, the case may be made of a different material. In some embodiments, the case 4502 may be open on one side to accept an RFID sensor near the outside of the housing assembly 850. In some embodiments, the case 4502 may include one or more, ie, multiple flanges 4504. Flange 4504 may be used to secure the module to the structure of processing system 10 or the skin of housing assembly 850.

  Many of the individual components of one embodiment can be seen in the exploded view of the external communication module 4500 shown in FIG. 70B. In this embodiment, RFID antenna assembly 4530 (FIG. 70) may include antenna 4548, resonator 4540, resonator spacers 4546, 4544, and outlet joint 4552. Bar code reader / decoder 4510 may be held by foam mount 4520. The foam mount 4520 may hold the barcode reader / decoder 4510 in the case 4502 while the external communication module 4500 is mounted in the processing system 10. The foam mount 4520 may be secured in the external communication module 4500 by a spacer 4522 that passes through a matching hole in the foam mount 4520. RFID antenna assembly 4530 and foam mount 4520 pass through the PCB of RFID antenna assembly 4530 and include one or more screws (and / or bolts and / or other attachments) that are threaded into bosses molded into case 4502. It may be fixed to the case 4502 by a mechanism).

  In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may be mounted in the structure of the upper door 4600, as shown in FIG. 71A. In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may be secured to the upper door 4600 with a mechanical fixture, including the following: snaps that enter screws and / or rivets and / or flanges 4504, or other This includes, but is not limited to, one or more of mechanical fastening means or the like. In some embodiments, upper door 4600 may be part of the internal structure of housing assembly 850. In some embodiments, the upper door skin 4610 may be attached to the upper door 4600.

  In some embodiments, an alignment bracket 4630 may be attached to the upper door skin 4610. In some embodiments, alignment bracket 4630 may align bar code reader / decoder 4510 with window 4620 of upper door skin 4610, as shown in FIGS. 71B and 71C. In some embodiments, the alignment bracket is aligned with the window 4620, for example, the following, ie, adhesive and / or double-sided tape and / or other that fits the plastic skin inside the upper door skin 4610 It may be attached with one or more of the following non-mechanical attachment methods. However, in some embodiments, mechanical securing means may be used. In some embodiments, the alignment bracket may be attached to the upper door skin 4610 with mechanical securing means, including one or more of screws and / or rivets and / or snaps. However, it is not limited to these. In some embodiments, alignment bracket 4630 may be attached to or displayed on window 4620 and upper door skin 4610 to provide proper alignment between alignment bracket 4630 and window 4620. It may be aligned using a sticker (not shown) or other display means that provides a visual landmark to assist. In some embodiments, the visual landmarks may include embossing and / or marking and / or gluing of characters and / or symbols, and / or any other that may assist in coloring and / or proper alignment. Although a display means may be included, it is not limited to these.

  In some embodiments, the alignment bracket 4630 may be aligned with the barcode reader / decoder 4510 separately from alignment with the external communication module 4500. In some embodiments, the bracket, one embodiment of which is shown in detail in FIG. 72, provides two side tabs 4632, an upper tab 4636, and a lower tab 4634 to provide a barcode reader. / Constrain decoder 4510 in two directions (X and Y) and align with window 4620. However, in various other embodiments, the number and location of tabs may be different. The flexible foam mount 4520 allows the barcode reader / decoder 4510 to move in two directions when the alignment bracket 4630 guides the barcode reader / decoder 4510 while the external communication module 4500 is inserted into the upper door 4600. X and Y) help to rotate around the Z axis. In some embodiments, the foam mount 4520 may constrain the barcode reader / decoder so that the external communication module 4500 can be attached to the upper door. In some embodiments, the foam mount 4520 may further constrain the code reader / decoder 4510 such that the leading corner of the bar code reader / decoder contacts the tapered portion of the tabs 4631, 4634, 4636. Good. In some embodiments, the barcode reader / decoder 4510 may be constrained in the Z-axis by aligning the alignment bracket 4630 and the RFID antenna PCB 4550. In some embodiments, the upper door skin 4610 and the PCB 4550 provide a limited amount of elastic compliance so that the Z between the upper door skin 4610, the external communication module 4500, and the barcode reader / decoder 4510 It may be possible to accommodate cumulative tolerances in direction.

  In some embodiments, the barcode reader / decoder 4510 may be held in the external communication module 4500 by a flexible bracket. The flexible bracket may provide sufficient flexibility that the barcode reader / decoder 4510 can perform the linear motion and rotation necessary for alignment with the alignment bracket. The flexible bracket may constrain the barcode reader / decoder to a limited extent so that the module can be inserted into the upper door 4600. The flexible bracket 4520 may further restrain the barcode reader / decoder 4510 so that the leading corner of the barcode reader / decoder contacts the tapered portion of the tabs 4631, 4634, 4636 during the insertion process. .

  In some embodiments, the tabs 4632, 4634, 4636 of the alignment bracket 4630 may include angled portions 4633 so that the barcode reader / decoder 4510 is aligned with the window 46220. To guide. In some embodiments, each tab includes a straight portion near the bottom 4631 that is perpendicular to the bottom and constrains movement of the barcode reader / decoder 4510 in the X and Y directions. In some embodiments, the distance between the straight portions of opposing tabs may be slightly larger than the barcode reader / decoder, which can be advantageous for a number of reasons, including ease of assembly and alignment. But not limited to. In some embodiments, the tab may have a larger or smaller taper so that it can be installed in the opening of the upper door 4600.

  In some embodiments, thanks to the external communication module 4500, a communication interface attached to the external communication module 4500 with a tether, a communication interface storably attached to the external communication module 4500, and / or The consumer / user uses the processing system 10 using a variety of methods including, but not limited to, a wireless communication interface (eg, Bluetooth technology and / or a wireless network or any wireless communication interface in various embodiments). May be possible to operate. In some embodiments, the communication interface may be implemented by an application on one or more consumer (/ user) devices. In some embodiments, the wireless communication interface may be implemented by one or more applications on one or more consumer (/ user) devices. In some embodiments, the one or more consumer (/ user) devices include, but are not limited to, smartphones, computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, MP3 players, and / or tablet computers. There may be no wireless communicable device. In some embodiments, the external communication module 4500 may be part of or capable of communicating with the automation network.

  As noted above, in some embodiments, the product dispensing system can include a processing system 10. Referring also to FIG. 79, in some embodiments, the processing system 10 can include a power module 7900. In some embodiments, the power module 7900 may include a control / distribution unit 7902, an AC power switch 7904, a power supply 7906, and an AC motor controller 7908. In some embodiments, the power module 7900 may include a communication interface (eg, controller area network (CAN) bus, Ethernet, etc.) to allow communication between subsystems within the processing system 10. . In some embodiments, the communication interface may extend from the control / distribution unit 7902. In some embodiments, the communication interface may allow communication between the control / distribution unit 7902 and the user interface subsystem 22.

  Referring also to FIGS. 80-81, in some embodiments, the processing system 10 can include a power module 8000. The power module 8000 can include a power distribution control device 8002 and a power supply unit 8008. In some embodiments, the power module 8000 may include a connection line 8014 to connect the power supply unit 8008 to the AC power switch 8010. In some embodiments, AC power is sent through an AC power switch 8010 before AC power is sent to power supply unit 8008 via connection line 8014. In some embodiments, the power supply unit 8008 may include an AC motor controller. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 can include a machine control processor 8004. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may include power distribution module 8006. In some embodiments, the connection line 8012 may connect between the power supply unit 8008 and the power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, the connection line 8012 is one of sending DC power from the power supply unit 8008 to the power distribution controller 8002 and / or sending control data between the machine control processor 8004 and the power supply unit 8008. Or it can be used for various purposes including but not limited to a plurality. In some embodiments, the power supply unit 8008 may supply power to the power distribution controller 8002 via a connection line to the power distribution module 8006. In some embodiments, power distribution module 8006 may send power to machine control processor 8004. In some embodiments, the machine control processor 8004 may control the processing system 10 via a communication interface (eg, CAN bus, Ethernet, etc.) via a microprocessor and power distribution module 8006. In some embodiments, the communication interface may allow communication between the machine control processor 8004 and the user interface module 8032 via connection line 8048. In some embodiments, the machine control processor 8004 may communicate remotely with the user interface module 8032 (ie, the user interface module 8032 may be physically separated from the power module 8000 and the connection line 8048 may be wireless). May be a connection). For example, in some embodiments, the machine control processor 8004 may communicate with the user interface module 8032 using Bluetooth technology or a wireless network. In various embodiments, the user interface module 8032 can be attached to the housing assembly 850 with one or more attachment mechanisms, the attachment mechanism being a tether, retractable tether, VELCRO, one or more. Clip and / or one or more of one or more brackets may be included. In some embodiments, the user interface module 8032 can be physically separated from the housing assembly 850 and can interact remotely with the product dispensing system. In some embodiments, the consumer / user may use the user interface module 8032 to operate the product dispensing system in various ways. These various methods include, but are not limited to, one or more of using coupons and / or providing individual services. These include, but are not limited to, one or more of beverages and / or payment methods tailored to individual preferences and / or usage tracking and / or awards.

  In some embodiments, the power module 8000 may have several advantages over the power module 7900. In some embodiments, power module 8000 may have three components (power supply unit 8008, power distribution controller 8002, and AC power switch 8010) instead of the single component configuration of power module 7900. This may be referred to herein as a “three-component configuration”. In some embodiments, the three component configuration can be smaller in size and thus can be more easily accommodated by the housing assembly 850 than a single component configuration. In various embodiments, this three component configuration may be beneficial and desirable for a number of reasons. These reasons include the ability to easily replace a single component that may need to be replaced without having to replace the other two components in the field. Not limited to. For example, in some embodiments, the processing system 10 can be updated and / or replaced with a processing system that uses greater or lesser power. In the previous example, the power supply unit 8008 can be replaced without replacing the power distribution controller 8002 or the AC power switch 8010. Also, in some embodiments, the machine control processor 8004 and the power distribution module 8006 can be separate components of the power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, it may be beneficial and desirable for a number of reasons that the machine control processor 8004 and the power distribution module 8006 are separate components. These reasons include, but are not limited to, the ability to update the processing system 10 by replacing one without necessarily replacing one or more other components. For example, in some embodiments, it may be desirable to apply additional machining power to the machining system 10. Thus, in some embodiments, the machine control processor 8004 can be replaced without replacing the power distribution module 8006.

  In some embodiments, for example, the product dispensing system can be updated to include additional nozzles. Thus, in these embodiments, power distribution module 8006 can be replaced without replacing machine control processor 8004 as well.

  In some embodiments, the three component configuration may contribute to reducing the total cost of the processing system 10 due to its increased design flexibility. For example, in some embodiments, by separating the power supply unit 8008 from the product sales controller 8002, an “easy-available” power supply (ie, a commercial power supply sold in large quantities) is used in a three component configuration. It becomes possible to do. In some embodiments, a power supply unit that is optimal for a power grid in a particular country can be used in a three-component configuration, so only the power supply unit is changed and the processing system 10 is configured to be used in various power grids. Contributes to modularity that can be useful for many reasons, including but not limited to:

  In some embodiments, a three component configuration may allow the power supply unit 8008 to be located in the housing assembly 850 at a location that releases an optimal amount of generated heat. Thus, in some embodiments, the power supply unit 8008 can be located at the rear of the housing assembly 850.

  In some embodiments, a three component configuration allows the use of a first communication interface in the processing system 10 and a second communication interface between the power distribution controller 8002 and the user interface module 8032. For example, in some embodiments, the processing system 10 may operate on a CAN bus interface, but the connection between the power distribution controller 8002 and the user interface module 8032 may be an Ethernet communication interface.

  In some embodiments, the connection between the power distribution controller 8002 and the user interface module 8032 may be wireless. For example, in some embodiments, the connection between the power distribution controller 8002 and the user interface module 8032 is a wireless network or a Bluetooth connection (in other embodiments, other types of connections may also be used). In some embodiments, it may be possible to completely customize the user interface module 8032 with different communication interfaces.

  In some embodiments, a three component configuration may allow the beverage selection function of the processing system 10 to be separated from the beverage delivery / sales control function. For example, in some embodiments, the beverage selection function of the processing system 10 may reside in the user interface module 8032 and the beverage delivery / sales control function of the processing system 10 may reside in the machine control processor 8004. .

  Referring also to FIG. 82, a schematic of one embodiment of the connection of the power module 8000 to various subsystems and devices in the processing system is shown. This is one embodiment and should not be construed as a limitation on the present disclosure, other configurations may be used. In some embodiments, one or more connections shown may be used, while in other embodiments all connections shown may be used. In some embodiments, this connection is modified and may not include the connection shown.

  In some embodiments, the power module 8000 is connected to various subsystems in the processing system through connection lines 8012, 8014, 8044, 8046, 8048, 8050, 8052, 8054, 8056, 8058, 8060, 8062, 8064. And can be connected to device connections. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 (“PDC”) communicates with flow control module 8020, RFID device 8022, and quad product module 8024 via connection lines 8056, 8054, and 8052, respectively. obtain. In some embodiments, the power distribution controller 8002 can send power to the flow control module 8020, the RFID device 8022, and the quad product module 8024, via the communication interface, the flow control module 8020, the RFID device. Commands can be sent to and received from the 8022 and quadruple product modules 8024.

  In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with carbonate tank 8030 via connection line 8050. In some embodiments, the carbonate tank 8030 may communicate information regarding the water level in the carbonate tank 8030 with the power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with user interface module 8032 via connection line 8048. In some embodiments, the power distribution controller 8002 may send power to the user interface module 8032, receive commands from the user interface module 8032 through the communication interface, and send information to the user interface module 8032. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with lower door sensor 8038 through connection line 8044. In some embodiments, the lower door sensor 8038 may communicate with the power distribution controller 8002 information about whether the lower door 854 of the housing assembly 850 is open or closed. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with nozzle lamp 8040 via connection line 8046. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may send power to nozzle light 8040 when upper door 852 of housing assembly 850 is opened. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may send power to nozzle light 8040 when the product dispensing system dispenses a beverage.

  In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with product agitation motor 8026 through connection line 8058. In some embodiments, the product agitation motor 8026 can be a DC motor. In some embodiments, product agitation motor 8026 may be an AC motor. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may send power to product agitation motor 8026 when the agitation mechanism needs to be activated. In some embodiments, the product agitation motor 8026 includes one or more product module assemblies (eg, one or more micro ingredient towers (eg, micro ingredient towers 1050, 1052, 1054) that are being agitated by the agitation mechanism. For example, information regarding the position of the product module assemblies 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d) may be communicated to the power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, the power distribution controller 8002 determines when to stop agitation of one or more product module assemblies (eg, product module assemblies 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d) being agitated and / or Information about where to stop a plurality of product module assemblies (eg, product module assemblies 250a, 250b, 250c, 250d) may be communicated to product agitation motor 8026. In some embodiments, the product agitation motor 8026 may include one or more product module assemblies (eg, one or more micro ingredient shelves (eg, micro ingredient shelves 1200, 1202, 1204) that are being agitated by the agitation mechanism (eg, , Information on the position of the product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f) can be transmitted to the power distribution control device 8002. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 determines when to stop agitation of one or more product module assemblies (eg, product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f) being agitated and one or more Information about where to stop the product module assembly (eg, product module assemblies 250d, 250e, 250f) may be communicated to the product agitation motor 8026.

In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may communicate with ice chute actuator 8028 via connection line 8060. In some embodiments, power distribution controller 8002 may send power to ice chute actuator 8028 when ice discharge chute 1010 opens. In some embodiments, power supply unit 8008 (“PSU”) may communicate with carbonate pump motor 8034 via connection line 8062. In some embodiments, the carbonic acid pump motor 8034 can be an AC motor. In some embodiments, the carbonic acid pump motor 8034 can be a DC motor. In some embodiments, when the carbonic acid pump motor 8034 needs to pump CO ₂ and water into the carbonic acid tank 8030, the power distribution controller 8002 provides power to the power supply unit 8008 to send power to the carbonic acid pump motor 8034. A signal can be sent. In some embodiments, power supply unit 8008 may communicate with ice agitation motor 8036 via connection line 8064. In some embodiments, ice agitation motor 8036 can be an AC motor. In some embodiments, ice agitation motor 8036 may be a DC motor.

  In some embodiments, the power distribution controller 8002 may send a signal to the power supply unit 8008 to power the ice agitation motor 8036 to stir the ice in the ice hopper 1008. In some embodiments, the ice hopper 1008 may stir the ice to discharge the ice via the ice discharge chute 1010. In some embodiments, the ice hopper 1008 may stir ice to prevent an ice bridge from forming on the top of the cold plate 163. For example, in some embodiments, the ice hopper 1008 may stir ice when a preset amount of fluid passes through the cold plate 163. In some embodiments, the amount of fluid can be measured by the flow control module 8020. In other examples, in some embodiments, the ice hopper 1008 may stir the ice when a preset time has elapsed since the ice hopper 1008 last stirred the ice.

  Referring also to FIGS. 82-83, there is shown a schematic embodiment of the configuration of connection lines 8012, 8014, 8044, 8046, 8048, 8050, 8052, 8054, 8056, 8058, 8060, 8062, 8064 of power module 8000. . This is one embodiment and should not be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure, other configurations may be used. In some embodiments, one or more connection lines shown may be used, while in other embodiments, all of the connection lines may be used. In some embodiments, the connection lines may be changed and may not include the connection lines shown.

  In some embodiments, the connection line 8012 can be a DC power line 8012a and a CAN bus line 8012b. In some embodiments, the connection line 8014 can be an AC power line. In some embodiments, connection line 8044 can be an input line to power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, the connection line 8046 may be a power drive line (a power line that sends power only when needed). In some embodiments, the connection line 8048 can be a DC power line 8048 and an Ethernet line 8048b. In some embodiments, connection line 8050 can be an input line to power distribution controller 8002. In some embodiments, the connection lines 8052, 8054, 8056 can be a DC power line 8052a and a CAN bus line 8052b, a DC power line 8054a and a CAN bus line 8054b, and a DC power line 8056a and a CAN bus line 8056b, respectively. In some embodiments, connection 8058 may be an input to power distribution controller line 8058a and power drive line 8058b. In some embodiments, the connection lines 8060, 8062, 8064 may be power drive lines.

  As mentioned above, other examples of products that can be produced by the processing system 10 include milk-based products (eg, milk shakes, floats, malts, frappes), coffee-based products (eg, coffee, cappuccino, espresso). , Soda-based products (eg float, fruit juice soda split), tea leaf-based products (eg ice tea, sweet tea, hot tea), water-based products (eg natural water, flavored natural water, vitamins) Natural water, high electrolyte content beverages, high carbohydrate content beverages, etc.), solid based products (eg trail mixes, granola based products, mixed nuts, cereal products, millet products), medical products (eg Meltable drugs, injectable drugs, ingestible drugs, Analysis liquid), alcohol-based products (eg, mixed drinks, wine spritzers, soda-based alcoholic beverages, water-based alcoholic beverages), industrial products (eg, solvents, paints, lubricants, dyes, etc.), health / Beauty aids (eg, shampoos, cosmetics, soaps, hair conditioners, skin conditioners, topical ointments) may be included, but are not limited to these.

  A number of implementations have been described. However, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

While the principles of the invention have been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the description is merely illustrative and not limiting with respect to the scope of the invention. In addition to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings and described in the text herein, other embodiments are also contemplated within the scope of the present invention. Modifications and substitutions by those skilled in the art are also considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
The first aspect of the present invention is:
A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
The system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product comprises a flow control device, the flow control device comprising:
A flow rate measuring device configured to generate a flow rate feedback signal indicative of an amount of content flowing in a line of the product dispensing system;
A feedback controller system for generating a flow rate control signal by comparing the flow rate feedback signal with a desired flow rate in response to the flow rate feedback signal, wherein the feedforward controller at least partially establishes an initial value of the flow rate control signal Including a feedback controller system,
A variable line impedance located in the line of the dispensing system and responsive to the flow control signal, the content flowing in the line of the dispensing system based at least in part on the flow control signal; With variable line impedance, configured to adjust the amount,
A system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product is:
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A machine control processor in communication with the user interface;
A power distribution module connected to the machine control processor;
And a power supply unit for supplying power to the system through the power distribution module.
The second aspect of the present invention is:
The machine control processor is:
A microprocessor;
The system according to the first aspect, further comprising a communication interface.
The third aspect of the present invention is:
The machine control processor is the system according to any one or more of the first or second aspects, wherein the distribution of the product is controlled by control of the power distribution module and a control logic subsystem.
The fourth aspect of the present invention is:
4. The system according to any one or more of the first to third aspects, wherein the power distribution module provides power to the machine control processor through the power supply unit.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention,
The system according to any one or more of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wireless communication.
The sixth aspect of the present invention is:
The system according to any one or more of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wired communication.
The seventh aspect of the present invention is
The flow rate measuring device is a system according to any one or more of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the flow rate measuring device comprises a capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device.
The eighth aspect of the present invention is
The capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device is a system according to any one or more of the first to seventh aspects, which includes a gear type capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device.
The ninth aspect of the present invention provides
The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member having a first surface;
A second rigid member having a second surface;
A variable cross-sectional flow path defined at least in part by the first surface and the second surface;
The first surface according to any one or more of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the first surface is movable relative to the second surface so as to expand and contract the flow path of the variable cross-sectional area. System.
The tenth aspect of the present invention provides
1 1 to 11 further comprising a stepping motor coupled to one of the first rigid member and the second rigid member to move the first surface relative to the second surface. A system according to any one or more of the aspects.
The eleventh aspect of the present invention is
Any one of the first to tenth aspects, further comprising a binary valve located in the line of the dispensing system to selectively block the flow of content in the line of the dispensing system, or It is a system described in plural.
The twelfth aspect of the present invention provides
The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member defining a first flow path portion including a hole;
A second rigid member defining a second flow path portion,
The first flow path portion is movable with respect to the second flow path portion so as to enlarge and reduce the flow path defined by the first flow path portion and the second flow path portion. The system according to any one or more of the first to eleventh aspects.
The thirteenth aspect of the present invention provides
A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
The system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product comprises a flow control device, the flow control device comprising:
A flow rate measuring device configured to generate a flow rate feedback signal indicative of an amount of content flowing in a line of the product dispensing system;
A feedback controller system that generates a flow rate control signal by comparing the flow rate feedback signal with a desired flow rate in response to the flow rate feedback signal, the feedforward controller at least partially establishing an initial value of the flow rate control signal A feedback controller system including
A system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product is:
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A machine control processor in communication with the user interface;
A power distribution module connected to the machine control processor;
And a power supply unit for supplying power to the system through the power distribution module.
The fourteenth aspect of the present invention provides
The machine control processor is:
A microprocessor;
The system according to the thirteenth aspect, further comprising a communication interface.
The fifteenth aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth and fourteenth aspects, wherein the machine control processor controls the distribution of the product under the control of the power distribution module and control logic subsystem.
The sixteenth aspect of the present invention provides
16. The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to fifteenth aspects, wherein the power distribution module provides power to the machine control processor through the power supply unit.
The seventeenth aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to sixteenth aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wireless communication.
The eighteenth aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to seventeenth aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wired communication.
The nineteenth aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to eighteenth aspects, wherein the flow rate measuring device comprises a capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention,
The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to nineteenth aspects, wherein the capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device comprises a gear type capacity transfer type flow rate measuring device.
According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention,
The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member having a first surface;
A second rigid member having a second surface;
A variable cross-sectional flow path defined at least in part by the first surface and the second surface;
The first surface according to any one or more of the thirteenth to twentieth aspects, wherein the first surface is movable with respect to the second surface so as to enlarge and reduce the flow path of the variable cross-sectional area. System.
According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention,
13-13, further comprising a stepping motor coupled to one of the first rigid member and the second rigid member to move the first surface relative to the second surface. A system according to any one or more of the aspects.
The twenty-third aspect of the present invention provides
Any one of the thirteenth to twenty-second aspects, further comprising a binary valve located in the line of the dispensing system to selectively block the flow of contents in the line of the dispensing system or It is a system described in plural.
According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention,
The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member defining a first flow path portion including a hole;
A second rigid member defining a second flow path portion,
The first flow path portion is movable with respect to the second flow path portion so as to enlarge and reduce the flow path defined by the first flow path portion and the second flow path portion. The system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to twenty-third aspects.
According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention,
A variable line impedance positioned within the line of the dispensing system and responsive to the flow control signal, the variable line impedance being based at least in part on the flow control signal, the line of the dispensing system. 25. A system according to any one or more of the thirteenth to twenty-fourth aspects, configured to regulate the amount of content flowing therein.
According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention,
A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A machine control processor in communication with the user interface;
A power distribution module connected to the machine control processor;
And a power supply unit that supplies power to the system through the power distribution module.
According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention,
The machine control processor is:
A microprocessor;
The system according to the twenty-sixth aspect, further comprising a communication interface.
The twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention provides
28. The system of any one or more of the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh aspects, wherein the machine control processor controls the distribution of the product under the control of the power distribution module and control logic subsystem.
The twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the 26th to 28th aspects, wherein the power distribution module provides power to the machine control processor through the power supply unit.
A thirty aspect of the present invention provides
The system according to any one or more of the twenty-sixth to twenty-ninth aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is wireless communication.
A thirty-first aspect of the present invention provides
31. A system according to any one or more of the twenty-sixth to thirty aspects, wherein the communication between the machine control processor and the user interface is a wired communication.
The thirty-second aspect of the present invention provides
A method for controlling product selection and distribution from a product dispensing system, comprising:
Facilitating selection of the product on a user interface;
Communicating the selection from the user interface to a machine control processor; and dispensing the product under the control of the machine control processor and a product distribution module.
The thirty-third aspect of the present invention provides
The machine control processor is:
A microprocessor;
The method according to the thirty-second aspect, further comprising a communication interface.
A thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention provides
34. The method of any one or more of the thirty-second or thirty-third aspects, wherein the selection is communicated from a wireless device to the user interface.
A thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention provides
35. A method according to any one or more of the thirty-second to thirty-fourth aspects, wherein the wireless device selects the product from the user interface using a downloaded application.
A thirty-sixth aspect of the present invention provides
36. The method according to any one or more of the thirty-second to thirty-fifth aspects, wherein the wireless device is a device belonging to a group including a smartphone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an MP3 player, and a tablet computer.
A thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention provides
37. The method according to any one or more of the thirty-second to thirty-sixth aspects, wherein the selected communication from the user interface to the machine control processor is wireless communication.

Claims (16)

A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
The system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product comprises a flow control device, the flow control device comprising:
A flow rate measuring device configured to generate a flow rate feedback signal indicative of an amount of content flowing in a line of the product dispensing system;
A feedback controller system for generating a flow rate control signal by comparing the flow rate feedback signal with a desired flow rate in response to the flow rate feedback signal, wherein the feedforward controller at least partially establishes an initial value of the flow rate control signal Including a feedback controller system,
A variable line impedance located in the line of the dispensing system and responsive to the flow control signal, the content flowing in the line of the dispensing system based at least in part on the flow control signal; With variable line impedance, configured to adjust the amount,
A system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product is:
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A power module having a three-component configuration including an AC power switch, a power supply unit, and a power distribution control device;
The AC power switch sends AC power to the power supply unit, the power supply unit sends DC power to the power distribution control device, and the power distribution control device supplies power to a stirring mechanism motor connected to a micro raw material tower. Further, the power distribution control device can send a signal to the power supply unit to supply power to an ice agitation motor that stirs ice in the ice hopper . The system of claim 1, wherein the flow measurement device comprises a capacity transfer flow measurement device. The system of claim 2 , wherein the capacity transfer flow measurement device comprises a geared capacity transfer flow measurement device. The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member having a first surface;
A second rigid member having a second surface;
A variable cross-sectional flow path defined at least in part by the first surface and the second surface;
4. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the first surface is movable relative to the second surface so as to expand and contract the variable cross-sectional area flow path. To move said first surface to said second surface, further comprising a stepping motor for connecting with one of said second rigid member and the first rigid member, according to claim 4 System. To prevent the flow of the contents of said lines of said dispense system optionally further comprises a binary valve located in said line of said dispensing system, according to claims 1 to any one of 5 System. The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member defining a first flow path portion including a hole;
A second rigid member defining a second flow path portion,
The first flow path portion is movable with respect to the second flow path portion so as to enlarge and reduce the flow path defined by the first flow path portion and the second flow path portion. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein: A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
The system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product comprises a flow control device, the flow control device comprising:
A flow rate measuring device configured to generate a flow rate feedback signal indicative of an amount of content flowing in a line of the product dispensing system;
A feedback controller system that generates a flow rate control signal by comparing the flow rate feedback signal with a desired flow rate in response to the flow rate feedback signal, the feedforward controller at least partially establishing an initial value of the flow rate control signal A feedback controller system including
A system for controlling the selection and distribution of the product is:
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A power module having a three-component configuration including an AC power switch, a power supply unit, and a power distribution control device;
The AC power switch sends AC power to the power supply unit, the power supply unit sends DC power to the power distribution control device, and the power distribution control device supplies power to a stirring mechanism motor connected to a micro raw material tower. Further, the power distribution control device can send a signal to the power supply unit to supply power to an ice agitation motor that stirs ice in the ice hopper . The system of claim 8 , wherein the flow measuring device comprises a capacity transfer flow measuring device. The system of claim 9 , wherein the capacity transfer flow measurement device comprises a geared capacity transfer flow measurement device. A variable line impedance positioned within the line of the dispensing system and responsive to the flow control signal, the variable line impedance being based at least in part on the flow control signal, the line of the dispensing system. 11. A system according to any one of claims 8 to 10 configured to regulate the amount of content flowing therein. The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member having a first surface;
A second rigid member having a second surface;
A variable cross-sectional flow path defined at least in part by the first surface and the second surface;
The system of claim 11 , wherein the first surface is movable relative to the second surface to expand and contract the variable cross-sectional area flow path. To move said first surface to said second surface, further comprising a stepping motor for connecting with one of said second rigid member and the first rigid member, according to claim 12 System. 14. A device as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 13 further comprising a binary valve located in the line of the dispensing system to selectively block the flow of contents in the line of the dispensing system. System. The variable line impedance is
A first rigid member defining a first flow path portion including a hole;
A second rigid member defining a second flow path portion,
The first flow path portion is movable with respect to the second flow path portion so as to enlarge and reduce the flow path defined by the first flow path portion and the second flow path portion. 15. A system according to any one of claims 11 to 14 , wherein: A system for controlling product selection and distribution in a product dispensing system,
A user interface for facilitating selection and selecting the product;
A power module having a three-component configuration including an AC power switch, a power supply unit, and a power distribution control device;
The AC power switch sends AC power to the power supply unit, the power supply unit sends DC power to the power distribution control device, and the power distribution control device supplies power to a stirring mechanism motor connected to a micro raw material tower. Further, the power distribution control device can send a signal to the power supply unit to supply power to an ice agitation motor that stirs ice in the ice hopper .

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