CN121512331A

CN121512331A - Beverage supply system and beverage supply method

Info

Publication number: CN121512331A
Application number: CN202511961391.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 神基; 中岛将太; 山中匠; 柏原启三
Original assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Current assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2021-03-29
Publication date: 2026-02-13
Also published as: CN113455898B; CN113455898A

Abstract

This invention relates to a beverage dispensing system and a beverage dispensing method. The beverage dispensing system includes: a beverage dispensing device that dispenses beverage to a container equipped with a recording medium capable of communication; and a server that sends information about the beverage dispensed to the container to the beverage dispensing device. The beverage dispensing device includes: a transmission and reception unit that transmits and receives information with the recording medium of the container; and a communication unit that transmits information received by the transmission and reception unit from the recording medium of the container and information about the beverage dispensing device to the server, and receives beverage information from the server. The server includes: a storage unit that stores beverage information about the beverage dispensed to the container; and a control unit that detects the beverage information about the beverage dispensed to the container and transmits the beverage information to the beverage dispensing device, wherein the container is a container corresponding to information received from the recording medium of the container by the beverage dispensing device.

Description

Beverage supply system and beverage supply method

The present application is a divisional application of patent application with the application number 202110332634.7, the application number 2021, 3, 29, and the name "beverage supply system, beverage supply apparatus, and beverage supply method".

Technical Field

The invention relates to a beverage supply system, a beverage supply apparatus and a beverage supply method.

Background

A beverage supply apparatus for supplying a beverage is known in the art, which includes a transmitting/receiving unit that reads information recorded in an electronic tag as a recording medium. In this beverage supply apparatus, the transmitting/receiving unit reads information recorded in an electronic tag provided in the container, and supplies the beverage to the container based on the information.

In such a beverage supply apparatus, it is known that a transmitting/receiving unit is provided below a placement portion where a container is placed when a beverage is supplied, and the transmitting/receiving unit reads information recorded in an electronic tag provided at a bottom portion of the container (for example, refer to patent document 1).

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1 Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2010-67185

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the beverage supply apparatus of the related art, in order to read information recorded in an electronic tag provided at a lower portion of a container, it is necessary to dispose a transmitting/receiving portion immediately below a beverage discharge portion, and in this case, there is a case where a beverage remaining in the beverage discharge portion, piping, or the like is dropped or the like when the container is not placed, and the liquid of the discharged beverage or the like is retained to cover the transmitting/receiving portion.

In a state where the liquid is retained and the transmitting/receiving unit is covered, even if the container is placed thereon, there is a possibility that the electric wave or electromagnetic wave for communication is attenuated due to the presence of the liquid between the electronic tag and the transmitting/receiving unit, and information recorded in the electronic tag is read by placing the electronic tag in the transmitting/receiving unit.

The present invention aims to provide a beverage supply system, a beverage supply device and a beverage supply method, which can inhibit the condition that reading of a recording medium by a transmitting and receiving part is blocked when reading information recorded in the recording medium arranged in a container.

Means for solving the problems

The invention provides a beverage supply device for supplying beverage to a container provided with a recording medium for recording prescribed information, which is characterized by comprising a holding part for holding the container when the beverage is supplied, a tray arranged below the holding part and used for receiving the beverage flowing out of the container, and a transmitting and receiving part arranged below the tray and used for reading the information recorded in the recording medium, wherein a covering part for covering the transmitting and receiving part is arranged at the bottom of the tray, and the covering part protrudes upwards along the depth direction of the tray and is provided with an inclined surface.

Thus, the beverage dropped onto the upper surface of the cover portion flows along the inclined surface to the bottom of the tray. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a situation in which beverage is retained between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving unit and reading of the recording medium by the transmitting/receiving unit is obstructed.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress a situation in which reading of the recording medium by the transmitting/receiving section is obstructed.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the transmitting/receiving unit from reading the recording medium of the container disposed at a position different from the position at which the beverage can be supplied, and to supply the beverage determined in advance to the container by providing the container.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view showing the structure of a beverage supply apparatus according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the beverage supplying apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the structure of the drip tray, wherein (a) is a plan view, (B) is a B-B sectional view of (a), and (C) is a C-C sectional view of (a).

Fig. 4 is a section IV-IV of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the beverage supply system.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a modification of the drip tray.

Fig. 7 is a front view showing the structure of a beverage supply apparatus according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the beverage dispenser according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a reader of the beverage dispenser.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view IV-IV of fig. 1.

Fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a tray unit of the beverage dispenser according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the first beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing a modification of the shielding member of the beverage dispenser according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing a flow of registration of a flat bottom glass of the beverage supply system.

Fig. 16 is a view showing a display screen in the process of registering the flat bottom glass.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing a menu selection flow of the first beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 18 is a diagram showing a display screen in the menu selection process.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing another display screen in the menu selection process.

Fig. 20 is a diagram showing a part of the beverage supply flow of the first beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing another part of the beverage supply flow.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing another part of the beverage supply flow.

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing a part of a display screen in the beverage supply process.

Fig. 24 is a view showing another part of the display screen at the time of the beverage supply flow.

Fig. 25 is a view showing another part of the display screen in the beverage supply process.

Fig. 26 is a diagram showing a beverage supply sequence of the first beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 27 is a view showing another display screen in the case of the first beverage supply system according to the present embodiment.

Description of the reference numerals

1. 300 Beverage supply device

2. Main unit of the device (Main unit)

20. 120, 220 Drip tray (tray)

21. 25 Side wall

23. An opening part

24. Bottom part

26. 126, 226 Cover

27. 127, 227 Top

28. 128, 129, 228 Inclined plane

30. Mounting plate (holding part)

40. Reading device (transmitting and receiving part)

70. Beverage container (Container)

72. Information label (recording medium)

V1 storage space

V2 storage space (space).

Detailed Description

The invention 1 relates to a beverage supply device for supplying a beverage to a container provided with a recording medium on which predetermined information is recorded, the beverage supply device comprising a main body having a mechanism for supplying the beverage, a holding portion for holding the container when the beverage is supplied, a tray provided below the holding portion for receiving the beverage flowing out of the container, and a transmitting/receiving portion provided below the tray for reading the information recorded on the recording medium, wherein the tray is provided with a covering portion having a bottom portion protruding upward and covering the transmitting/receiving portion, and an inclined surface is provided on an upper surface of the covering portion.

Thus, the liquid such as beverage dropped onto the upper surface of the cover portion flows along the inclined surface to the bottom of the tray. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a situation in which liquid such as beverage is retained between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving unit, and reading of the recording medium by the transmitting/receiving unit is prevented.

In the invention 2, the tray is detachably provided from the main body.

This allows the tray to be detached from the main body, and the liquid such as beverage stored in the tray to be discarded, and the tray to be cleaned. Therefore, maintenance of the tray becomes easy.

In the invention according to claim 3, the cover portion communicates with an opening provided in a side wall of the tray and communicating a space below the cover portion with the outside.

Thus, the tray can be separated by moving the transmitting/receiving unit away from the opening. Therefore, by moving the tray along the reading device, the tray can be attached to or detached from the device main body.

In the 4 th aspect of the present invention, the transmitting/receiving unit reads information recorded in the recording medium, and the recording medium is disposed at the bottom of the container.

Thus, the container can be held in the beverage supply device without specifying the position of the container in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the user of the beverage supply apparatus can easily hold the beverage container in the beverage supply apparatus.

In the invention of claim 5, the cover portion is provided with a top portion at a position located below the bottom portion of the container held by the holding portion, and the inclined surface is inclined from the top portion toward the bottom portion of the tray.

Thus, a portion immediately below the recording medium is the highest position in the depth direction of the tray. Therefore, even when a predetermined amount of liquid such as beverage is stored in the tray, the liquid such as beverage is located above the stored liquid such as beverage at a position immediately below the recording medium, and thus, it is possible to suppress a situation in which the liquid such as beverage is present between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving unit and electric waves or electromagnetic waves used in near-field communication are attenuated.

The invention of claim 6 is a beverage supply system comprising a beverage supply device for supplying a beverage to a container provided with a communication-capable recording medium, and a server for transmitting information of the beverage supplied to the container to the beverage supply device, wherein the beverage supply device comprises a transmitting/receiving unit for transmitting/receiving information to/from the recording medium of the container, and a communication unit for transmitting the information from the recording medium of the container received by the transmitting/receiving unit and the information related to the beverage supply device to the server and receiving the beverage information from the server, and the server comprises a storage unit for storing the beverage information supplied to the container, and a control unit for detecting the beverage information supplied to the container and transmitting the beverage information to the beverage supply device, wherein the container corresponds to the information from the recording medium of the container received from the beverage supply device.

According to this beverage supply system, it is possible to receive the supply of the commodity of the menu registered in advance from the beverage supply device in which the container is placed.

Therefore, the supply of the commodity can be easily accepted without requiring a commodity ordering process in the store having the beverage supply apparatus.

In other words, by installing the container at a specific position of the beverage supply device and using the information read from the recording medium of the container, the beverage that has been previously associated can be supplied to the container.

The invention 7 relates to a beverage supply system comprising a beverage supply apparatus having an apparatus ID for supplying a beverage to a container, and a server connected to the beverage supply apparatus via a network, wherein the beverage supply apparatus has a means for reading the container ID from a communicable storage medium provided in the container and transmitting the container ID and the apparatus ID to the server, the server has a means for detecting order information corresponding to the container ID and transmitting the detected order information to the beverage supply apparatus corresponding to the apparatus ID, and the beverage supply apparatus has a means for providing a commodity corresponding to the received order information to the container.

The 8 th aspect of the present invention is the beverage supply device for supplying a beverage to a container provided with a communication-enabled recording medium used in the 1 st aspect or the 2 nd aspect of the present invention, comprising a mounting portion for mounting the container, a transmitting/receiving portion provided below the mounting portion for transmitting/receiving the recording medium and information, and a shielding portion for shielding communication between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving portion, the recording medium being disposed at a position deviated from the mounting portion. Thus, when the container is disposed at a position deviated from the position where the beverage is supplied, the shielding member can block the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reader, and shield the container from the radio wave or electromagnetic wave.

Thus, when the container is disposed at a position deviated from the mounting portion, the shielding member can block the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the transmitting/receiving portion and shield the container side from the radio wave or electromagnetic wave.

Therefore, the beverage supply device can restrain information of the recording medium from being read when the container is arranged at a position deviated from a predetermined position.

The 9 th aspect of the present invention is a beverage supply method for supplying a beverage to a container provided with a communicable recording medium, comprising a step in which a beverage supply device reads a container ID from a communicable storage medium provided in the container, a step in which the beverage supply device transmits the container ID and a device ID to a server, a step in which the server detects order information corresponding to the container ID, a step in which the server transmits the detected order information to the beverage supply device corresponding to the device ID, and a step in which the beverage supply device supplies a commodity corresponding to the received order information to the container.

According to this method, the container is mounted in the beverage supply apparatus, and the beverage supply apparatus can supply the commodity of the menu registered in advance to the container.

(Embodiment 1)

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front view showing the structure of a beverage supply apparatus 1 according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

The beverage supply apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is a so-called beverage vending machine (DISPENSER) installed in a convenience store, a restaurant, a store such as a beverage bar, or the like, and specifically, is an apparatus for extracting a coffee beverage or the like and injecting the coffee beverage or the like into a predetermined container such as a cup.

The beverage supply apparatus 1, as shown in fig. 1, includes an apparatus body 2 and a tray assembly 10.

The apparatus main body 2 is a box-shaped case that houses therein various mechanisms for supplying beverages. Various extraction means for extracting coffee beverage and the like such as a drive motor, a grinder, a filter, a cylinder, a hot water tank and the like, various supply means for supplying the extracted coffee beverage and the like such as a pump, a supply pipe and the like, a control device 11 (fig. 5) for controlling these extraction means and supply means and communicating with an external server and the like, and the like are housed in the device main body 2 of the present embodiment.

These extraction means and supply means are substantially the same as those known as beverage vending machines.

At the substantially center of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, a beverage supply nozzle 3 is provided. The beverage supply nozzle 3 is a nozzle for discharging the beverage extracted in the device main body 2, and a supply pipe of a supply mechanism housed in the device main body 2 is connected to the beverage supply nozzle 3. A discharge port 4 is formed at the lower end of the beverage supply nozzle 3. In the beverage supply apparatus 1, the extracted beverage is discharged downward through the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3 in the up-down direction of the apparatus main body 2.

A discharge button 5 is provided above the beverage supply nozzle 3 on the front surface of the apparatus main body 2. When the discharge button 5 is pressed, the beverage extracted by the extraction mechanism is discharged downward through the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3.

In the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, a display panel 6 is provided above the discharge button 5. The display panel 6 functions as a display unit that can display information on the state of the beverage supply apparatus 1, menus that the beverage supply apparatus 1 can provide, information read from a predetermined container, and the like.

Further, the display panel 6 may be a touch panel. In this case, the display panel 6 may be configured to be capable of performing a touch operation for discharging the extracted beverage from the beverage supply nozzle 3. In this case, the discharge button 5 does not necessarily have to be a physical button.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the beverage dispenser 1.

As shown in fig. 2, a reader housing 7 is provided below the beverage supply nozzle 3 on the front surface of the device body 2. The reader housing portion 7 is formed in a box shape with an upper surface opened, and is provided so as to extend forward from the front surface of the device main body 2 in the longitudinal direction along the front-rear direction of the device main body 2. The reader housing 7 is disposed substantially at the center in the width direction of the front surface of the device body 2.

The reader housing 7 of the present embodiment is provided at the lower end of the front surface of the device main body 2, and the bottom surface is formed continuously with the bottom surface of the device main body 2. That is, the bottom surface of the reader housing portion 7 contacts the mounting surface of the mounting device body 2. The reader housing 7 is located directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3.

The reader 40 is accommodated in the reader accommodation unit 7.

The reader 40 is a device having a contactless reader mechanism capable of reading information recorded on a recording medium, which records predetermined information, from an electronic tag such as an NFC tag or an RFID tag, or a recording medium called an IC tag. The reading device 40 performs short-range wireless communication with a recording medium in accordance with a predetermined standard, and reads information from the recording medium. The reading device 40 transmits the read information to the control device 11 housed in the device main body 2. That is, the reader 40 of the present embodiment corresponds to an example of the transmitting/receiving section.

The reader 40 of the present embodiment has an antenna or coil formed in a planar shape, and radiates radio waves or electromagnetic waves for communication (for reading information) in the up-down direction of the device main body 2 from the planar antenna or coil.

The reading device 40 may have a function of writing information to the recording medium. A drip-proof cover made of resin may be provided on the upper part of the reading device 40.

The tray assembly 10 is mounted on the front surface of the apparatus main body 2 and is disposed so as to be positioned below the beverage supply nozzle 3. The tray assembly 10 includes a drip tray 20 formed in a substantially groove shape, and a flat plate-like mounting plate 30 covering an upper surface of the drip tray 20, and is formed as a box as a whole.

In the present embodiment, the drip tray 20 and the mounting plate 30 are both formed of resin.

The mounting plate 30 is formed so that its longitudinal dimension is substantially the same as the width dimension of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, and is a flat plate-like member that covers the entire upper surface of the drip tray 20. A drain hole 32 is provided in the substantially center of the mounting plate 30, and a mesh-like drain 34 is provided around the drain hole 32.

The tray assembly 10 is mounted on the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, and the drain hole 32 and the drain portion 34 are disposed immediately below the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3.

In the present embodiment, a predetermined container into which beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 1 is placed on the upper surface of the drain portion 34. That is, the mounting plate 30 functions as a holding portion for holding a predetermined container into which beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the drip tray 20, fig. 3 (a) is a plan view, fig. 3 (B) is a B-B sectional view of (a), and fig. 3 (C) is a C-C sectional view of (a).

The drip tray 20 is a member for receiving and storing beverage flowing out from a predetermined container or splashed beverage when the beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 1 into the container. As described above, the drip tray 20 is provided with the storage space V1 therein, and is formed in a groove shape with an open upper surface.

The drip tray 20 is formed so that the longitudinal dimension thereof is substantially the same as the width dimension of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, as in the case of the mounting plate 30. The drip tray 20 is attached to the apparatus main body 2 such that one side wall 21 formed along the longitudinal direction of the drip tray 20 contacts the lower end of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2.

As shown in fig. 3 (a) and 3 (B), the drip tray 20 is provided with a cover portion 26 formed by projecting the bottom portion 24 to protrude toward the storage space V1 by a predetermined height dimension at substantially the center in the longitudinal direction.

The cover 26 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in a plan view, and one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the cover 26 is connected to the side wall 21, and the other end portion is disposed at a position close to the side wall 25 disposed opposite to the side wall 21.

A pair of inclined surfaces 28 are provided on the upper surface of the cover 26, and inclined from a top 27 located at the substantially center in the longitudinal direction of the drip tray 20 and provided on the entire longitudinal direction toward the bottom 24 along both sides in the longitudinal direction of the drip tray 20. The inclined surface 28 is inclined downward from the top 27 along the up-down direction (depth direction of the storage space V1) of the drip tray 20. These inclined surfaces 28 are formed integrally in the longitudinal direction of the cover 26.

That is, the upper surface of the cover 26 is formed in a so-called herringbone roof shape in which a pair of inclined surfaces 28 are connected to the top 27.

The upper surface of the cover portion 26 constituted by these top portions 27 and the pair of inclined surfaces 28 is preferably subjected to a hydrophobic coating or a hydrophobic treatment.

The cover 26 is formed so as to have a height dimension within the storage space V1, to the extent that the top 27 does not contact the mounting plate 30.

As shown in fig. 3 (B) and 3 (C), the bottom 24 protrudes upward to form a cover 26, and a storage space V2 is formed below the cover 26. The storage space V2 is covered by the cover 26 at the upper side and is opened at the lower side.

The side wall 21 is provided with an opening 23 having substantially the same shape as the cross section of the storage space V2. As described above, one end of the cover portion 26 in the longitudinal direction is connected to the side wall 21, and thus one end of the storage space V2 in the longitudinal direction communicates with the opening 23. Therefore, the storage space V2 communicates with the outside of the apparatus main body 2 side through the opening 23.

Fig. 4 is a section IV-IV of fig. 1.

As described above, the tray assembly 10 is detachably attached to the apparatus main body 2 such that one side wall 21 formed along the longitudinal direction of the drip tray 20 contacts the lower end of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2. The bottom surface of the drip tray 20 attached to the apparatus main body 2 is provided so as to be in contact with a mounting surface on which the apparatus main body 2 is mounted.

At this time, as shown in fig. 4, both the reader housing portion 7 and the reader 40 are housed in the housing space V2 in a state where the upper surface is covered with the covering portion 26. In this case, the planar antenna or coil of the reader 40 is disposed parallel to the mounting board 30.

The reader housing section 7 and the reader 40 are housed in the housing space V2 through the insertion opening section 23. The reading device housing portion 7 and the reading device 40 can be separated from the housing space V2 by passing through the opening 23.

As described above, since the reading device housing section 7 and the reading device 40 can be moved in and out of the housing space V2 via the opening section 23, the tray assembly 10 can be detached from the device main body 2 by being pulled out in the front-rear direction of the device main body 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the beverage supply system 100.

Next, as an example of a system used in the beverage supply apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the beverage supply system 100 will be described.

The beverage supply system 100 according to the present embodiment is a system capable of appropriately supplying a beverage to the user U. As shown in fig. 5, the beverage supply system 100 includes the beverage supply apparatus 1, a server 60, a beverage container 70, and an information terminal 80. In the present embodiment, the case where 1 beverage supply apparatus 1, server 60, and the like are provided, respectively, has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and a plurality of devices may be provided in each beverage supply system 100.

The beverage supply device 1 has a control device 11 as described above. The control device 11 includes a computer having a processor such as a CPU or MPU, and a storage device such as a ROM or RAM. The control device 11 includes a device control unit 8 and an overall control unit 9.

The device control unit 8 is a member that controls driving of various device mechanisms, such as the extraction mechanism and the supply mechanism, housed in the device main body 2.

The overall control unit 9 is a component that performs acquisition of information read by the reader 40, transmission and reception of various information with the server 60 via the communication network 90, display control of the display panel 6, control of the device control unit 8, and the like.

The server 60 is a unit that stores a database for identifying the beverage containers 70, and transmits and receives information on the database to and from the beverage supply apparatus 1 and the information terminal 80 via the communication network 90.

The server 60 may be integrally provided to the beverage supply apparatus 1.

The beverage container 70 is a predetermined container into which beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 1, and the beverage container 70 is, for example, a flat glass, a portable cup, a water bottle, a disposable cup, a pot, or the like. In the present embodiment, the beverage container 70 is configured as a so-called flat-bottom glass as shown in fig. 1,2, and 5.

As shown in fig. 1, 2, and 5, an information tag 72 is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70. The information tag 72 is an electronic tag such as an NFC tag or an RFID tag, or a recording medium called an IC tag that records predetermined information.

The communication planar antenna or coil of the information tag 72 is disposed parallel to the bottom surface of the beverage container 70.

As described above, the planar antenna or coil included in the reader 40 is disposed parallel to the mounting board 30, and is configured to radiate communication radio waves or electromagnetic waves in the vertical direction.

Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is mounted on the mounting board 30, the planar antenna or coil for communication provided in the information tag 72 is disposed substantially parallel to the planar antenna or coil provided in the reader 40.

In the beverage container 70 of the present embodiment, for example, a serial number corresponding to the information tag 72 is recorded on the peripheral surface or the like. The present invention is not limited to the serial number, and may be, for example, a two-dimensional code.

The beverage container 70 of the present embodiment is formed as a flat glass made of resin. The beverage container 70 is not limited to this, and may be formed of various materials such as paper, ceramics, glass, and metal. When the beverage container 70 is made of metal, the information tag 72 is preferably made of rubber or the like, and is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70 so as to be spaced apart from the metal surface of the beverage container 70 by several mm.

The information terminal 80 is a portable terminal held by the user U and capable of communicating with the server 60 to transmit and receive predetermined information, and the information terminal 80 is, for example, a portable phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, or the like. The information terminal 80 can execute a predetermined application program related to the beverage supply system 100.

The communication network 90 connects the respective devices included in the beverage supply system 100 such as the beverage supply apparatus 1, the server 60, and the information terminal 80 so as to be capable of data communication with each other. The communication network 90 is a communication line including a private line, a public line network, a mobile radio communication network, a LAN (Local Area Network: local area network) line, and the like, and may include a router, a radio communication access point, and the like. The connection of the various devices included in the beverage delivery system 100 to the communication network 90 may be wireless or wired.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the beverage supply system 100 of the present embodiment, first, the user U prepares the beverage container 70, operates a predetermined application program executed by the information terminal 80, and accesses the server 60. The user U registers the information of the user U together with the serial number recorded in the beverage container 70. The user U then operates the application to order the desired beverage from the menu. The subscription content is sent to the server 60 and stored in the server 60.

After that, the user U places the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 1 at the place where the beverage supply apparatus 1 is provided. Specifically, the beverage container 70 is placed on the upper surface of the drain portion 34 of the placement plate 30. Thereby, the beverage container 70 is arranged below the discharge opening 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3. In this case, the user U can place the beverage container 70 on the mounting plate 30 without specifying the position of the beverage container 70 in the circumferential direction. That is, the user U can place the beverage container 70 on the mounting plate 30 without paying attention to the orientation of the side surface of the beverage container 70 and without performing any additional operation.

As described above, when the beverage container 70 is placed on the upper surface of the placement plate 30, the reader 40 located substantially directly below the beverage container 70 communicates with the information tag 72, and reads the information recorded in the information tag 72. The read information is acquired by the overall control unit 9, and the overall control unit 9 transmits the information to the server 60.

The server 60 associates this information with the serial number according to the database and sends the order content to the beverage supply apparatus 1.

The integral control unit 9 that has received the order content causes the display panel 6 to display the order content. The user U confirms the ordered content in the display panel 6 and presses the eject button 5 if the ordered content is the same as the content ordered from the information terminal 80. When the discharge button 5 is pressed, the device control section 8 drives the extraction mechanism and the supply mechanism, thereby discharging the beverage from the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3 and injecting the beverage into the beverage container 70.

However, in this control flow, the step of the user U pressing the discharge button 5 may be omitted. That is, the entire control unit 9 may control to discharge the beverage at the time when the order content from the server 60 is received.

In this case, since the communication between the reader 40 and the information tag 72 is already established, the beverage container 70 is reliably placed under the beverage supply nozzle 3. Therefore, even if the user U discharges the beverage without waiting for the pressing operation of the discharge button 5, the beverage can be reliably injected into the beverage container 70 without contaminating the tray assembly 10 or the periphery thereof.

As described above, in the beverage supply system 100, the user U can easily receive the beverage supply by performing the operation of placing the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 1 without performing various operations concerning ordering and charging in the store.

Here, when the beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 1 into the beverage container 70, the beverage discharged from the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3 may sometimes flow out to the outside of the beverage container 70. The discharged beverage flows into the storage space V1 of the drip tray 20 through the drain hole 32 and the drain portion 34.

As described above, the reading device 40 is housed in the housing space V2 below the drip tray 20. The reading device 40 reads information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication. Therefore, if a liquid such as a beverage exists between the information tag 72 and the reader 40, there is a possibility that the reader 40 cannot acquire predetermined information due to attenuation of radio waves or electromagnetic waves of the short-range wireless communication between the reader 40 and the information tag 72.

In the present embodiment, the cover 26 that covers the reader 40 has an upper surface formed in a so-called herringbone roof shape in which a pair of inclined surfaces 28 are connected to the top 27.

Thereby, the liquid such as the beverage flowing into the upper surface of the cover portion 26 flows along the inclined surface 28 to the bottom 24 of the drip tray 20. Therefore, the liquid retention state of the beverage or the like between the information tag 72 and the reading device 40 can be suppressed. Further, the information tag 72 can be prevented from being read by the reader 40.

Further, since the upper surface of the cover portion 26 formed by the top portion 27 and the pair of inclined surfaces 28 is coated with a water repellent layer, or is processed by water repellent, or is made of a proper material, it is possible to more reliably flow the liquid such as the beverage to the bottom portion 24.

The top 27 is located at the center of the drip tray 20 in the longitudinal direction, and is closest to the information tag 72 of the beverage container 70 mounted on the mounting plate 30 in the storage space V1. Therefore, even when a predetermined amount of liquid such as beverage is stored in the storage space V1, the liquid protrudes above the water surface of the liquid such as beverage, and the information reading of the information tag 72 by the reading device 40 can be suppressed from being obstructed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the beverage supply apparatus 1 includes the apparatus main body 2, the mounting plate 30 for mounting the beverage container 70 when supplying the beverage, the drip tray 20 provided below the mounting plate 30 for receiving the beverage flowing out of the beverage container 70, and the reading apparatus 40 provided below the drip tray 20 for reading the information recorded in the information tag 72. The drip tray 20 is provided with a cover portion 26 formed so that the bottom portion 24 protrudes upward and covers the reading device 40, and an inclined surface 28 is provided on the upper surface of the cover portion 26.

Thereby, the liquid such as the beverage dropped onto the upper surface of the cover portion 26 flows toward the bottom 24 of the drip tray 20 along the inclination of the inclined surface 28. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the liquid retention of the beverage or the like between the information tag 72 and the reader 40, and the reading of the information tag 72 by the reader 40 is prevented.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the drip tray 20 is detachably provided from the main body.

This makes it easier to discard the liquid such as beverage stored in the drip tray 20 and to clean the drip tray 20. Therefore, maintenance of the drip tray 20 becomes easy.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the cover portion 26 is configured to communicate with the opening 23 provided in the side wall 21 of the drip tray 20 and communicating the storage space V2 below the cover portion 26 with the outside.

Thus, the drip tray 20 is provided so as to be detachable by moving the reading device 40 away from the opening 23.

Therefore, by moving the drip tray 20 along the reading device 40, the drip tray 20 can be attached to or detached from the device body 2.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the reader 40 reads information recorded in the information tag 72 stored in the bottom of the beverage container 70.

Accordingly, the beverage container 70 can be placed on the placement plate 30 of the beverage supply apparatus 1 without defining the position of the beverage container 70 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, the user U can place the beverage container 70 on the beverage supply apparatus 1 without confirming the arrangement (the orientation of the side surface of the beverage container 70) of the beverage container 70 in the circumferential direction.

In the present embodiment, the cover 26 is provided with the top 27 at a position below the bottom of the beverage container 70 held by the holding portion, and the inclined surface 28 is inclined from the top 27 to the bottom.

Thus, the top 27 is located immediately below the information tag 72 of the beverage container 70 mounted on the mounting plate 30, and the top 27 is at the highest position in the depth direction of the drip tray 20. Therefore, even when a predetermined amount of liquid such as beverage is stored in the drip tray 20, the top 27 is positioned above the stored liquid such as beverage, and it is possible to suppress a situation in which reading of information from the information tag 72 by the reading device 40 is hindered by the stored liquid such as beverage.

In the present embodiment, the liquid such as the beverage that can be present between the information tag 72 and the reader 40 includes, in addition to the beverage itself, liquid (mainly rinse liquid) used for cleaning each part of the beverage supply device 1, particularly the beverage supply nozzle 3 and the like, and rinse water or the like remaining after the drip tray 20 is removed for cleaning.

The above-described embodiment is an example illustrating an embodiment of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified and applied within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the beverage supply apparatus 1 is configured as the drip tray 20 having the upper surface of the cover portion 26 formed in a herringbone roof shape. However, the beverage supply apparatus 1 is not limited thereto, and as shown in fig. 6 (a), the beverage supply apparatus may be provided with a drip tray 120, and the drip tray 120 may be provided with a pair of inclined surfaces 128 inclined toward the bottom 24 on both sides of the top 127 and an inclined surface 129 inclined toward the bottom 24 along the longitudinal direction of the top 127 on the upper surface of the cover portion 126.

As shown in fig. 6 (B), for example, the beverage supply apparatus 1 may have a drip tray 220 in which the upper surface of a cover portion 226 of the drip tray 220 is formed in a rectangular pyramid shape having 4 inclined surfaces 228 inclined from the center in four directions toward the bottom 24. In this case, the top 227 becomes the vertex of a rectangular pyramid.

The upper surface of the cover 226 is not limited to a rectangular pyramid, and may be formed in another cone shape such as a cone.

In addition, for example, the upper surface of the cover portion 26 may be formed in a dome-roof shape or a semicircular shape (semi-cylindrical).

In the above embodiment, for example, the upper surface of the cover portion 26 is subjected to a hydrophobic coating or a hydrophobic treatment, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a hydrophilic coating or a water immersion treatment may be performed.

However, even if the hydrophobic coating or the hydrophobic processing, or the hydrophilic coating or the hydrophilic processing is not performed, a material such as a beverage, which is difficult to retain or which retains a very small amount of liquid, can be used, and thus the same effect as that of the structure in which the coating or the processing is performed can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, for example, the drain holes 32 and the drain portions 34 are provided in the mounting plate 30, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and any shape may be formed as long as the liquid such as beverage flowing out to the upper surface of the mounting plate 30 can move to the drip tray 120.

In the above-described embodiment, for example, the beverage supply apparatus 1 is an apparatus for supplying a coffee beverage, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be an apparatus for supplying a beverage such as juice, ice cream, shaved ice, fruit juice, hand-shake beverage, mineral water, or the like, or a food product similar thereto. In this case, the mechanism stored in the apparatus main body 2 may be a mechanism corresponding to a beverage or food to be supplied.

(Embodiment 2)

In this embodiment, a description will be given of a beverage supply apparatus, a beverage supply system, and a beverage supply method that can prevent a transmitting/receiving unit from reading a recording medium of a container disposed at a position different from a position at which a beverage can be supplied, and can supply a beverage determined in advance by providing a container.

Specifically, a beverage supply apparatus for supplying a beverage is known in the related art, which has a reading device for reading information recorded in an electronic tag as a recording medium (for example, refer to japanese patent application laid-open No. 2016-529976). In this beverage supply apparatus, the reading means reads information recorded in an electronic tag provided to the container, and based on the information, supplies the beverage to the container when the selected beverage and the pouring amount are available according to a bill amount and a container size specified by the information recorded in the recording medium.

In such a beverage supply apparatus, the container is disposed at a predetermined position where the beverage discharged from the beverage discharge unit can be injected, and the beverage is supplied. The transmitting/receiving unit is provided at a position where the recording medium of the container disposed at the predetermined position can be read.

However, in the beverage supply apparatus of the related art, since electromagnetic waves, electric waves, and the like used by the transmitting/receiving unit for reading information of the recording medium are transmitted while being diffused, even when the container is disposed at a position different from a predetermined position, the transmitting/receiving unit may read the recording medium of the container.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the description will be made of the beverage supply system 100 and the beverage supply method capable of suppressing the transmitting/receiving unit from reading the status of the recording medium of the container disposed at a position different from the position at which the beverage can be supplied, and capable of supplying the corresponding beverage to the container by using the information recorded in the electronic tag read by the transmitting/receiving unit.

Fig. 7 is a front view showing the structure of a beverage supply apparatus 300 according to embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment is a so-called beverage vending machine installed in a store such as a convenience store, a restaurant, or a beverage bar, and more specifically, is an apparatus that extracts a coffee beverage or the like and injects the coffee beverage into a predetermined container such as a cup. In the beverage supply apparatus 300 of the present embodiment, the beverage container 70 is used as a dedicated container for injecting beverage.

The beverage supply apparatus 300, as shown in fig. 7, includes an apparatus body 2 and a tray assembly 10.

The apparatus main body 2 is a box-shaped case in which various mechanisms for supplying beverages and communication devices for communicating with an external network are housed. Various extraction means for extracting coffee beverage and the like such as a drive motor, a grinder, a filter, a cylinder, a hot water tank and the like, various supply means for supplying the extracted coffee beverage and the like such as a pump, a supply pipe and the like, a control device 11 (fig. 12) for controlling these extraction means and supply means and communicating with an external server and the like, and the like are housed in the device main body 2 of the present embodiment.

A beverage supply nozzle 3 is provided at substantially the center of the front surface (front surface) of the apparatus main body 2. The beverage supply nozzle 3 functions as a beverage discharge unit for discharging the beverage extracted in the device main body 2, and a supply pipe of a supply mechanism housed in the device main body 2 is connected to the beverage supply nozzle 3. A discharge port 4 is formed at the lower end of the beverage supply nozzle 3. In the beverage supply apparatus 300, the extracted beverage is discharged downward through the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3 in the up-down direction of the apparatus main body 2.

In the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, a display panel 6 is provided above the discharge button 5. The display panel 6 functions as a display unit that can display information on the state of the beverage supply apparatus 300, menus that the beverage supply apparatus 300 can provide, information read from the beverage container 70, and the like.

For example, a communication terminal capable of communicating with the beverage supply apparatus 300 may be used instead of the display panel 6. In this case, the physical buttons such as the discharge button 5 and the display panel 6 are omitted, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 is operated via the communication terminal.

The display panel 6 functions as a display unit for displaying images transmitted from a server connected via an external network, and an operation unit for transmitting control signals to the server.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the beverage dispenser 300.

As shown in fig. 8, a reader housing 7 is provided below the beverage supply nozzle 3 on the front surface of the device body 2. The reader housing portion 7 is formed in a box shape with an upper surface opened, and is provided so as to extend forward from the front surface of the device main body 2 in the longitudinal direction along the front-rear direction of the device main body 2. The reader housing 7 is disposed substantially at the center in the width direction of the front surface of the device body 2.

Fig. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the reader 40.

The reader 40 is accommodated in the reader accommodation unit 7.

The reader 40 is a device having a contactless reader mechanism capable of reading information recorded on a recording medium, which records predetermined information, from an electronic tag such as an NFC tag or an RFID tag, or a recording medium called an IC tag. The reading device 40 performs short-range wireless communication with a recording medium in accordance with a predetermined standard, and reads information from the recording medium. The reading device 40 transmits the read information to the control device 11 housed in the device main body 2. That is, the reader 40 functions as a transmitting/receiving unit.

As shown in fig. 9, the reader 40 of the present embodiment includes a reader body 41 formed in a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape and a cover member 49 for covering the reader body 41.

A processor 44 including a CPU, an MPU, and the like is housed in the reader main body 41. The processor 44 functions as a control unit that performs various controls of the reading device 40.

Each of the reading devices 40 is provided with a device antenna 42 which is a planar antenna formed along one upper surface. The device antenna 42 radiates radio waves or electromagnetic waves for communication (for reading information). The device antenna 42 is not limited to a planar antenna, and may be a coil.

A lead wire 46 extends from an end of the reader body 41, and the lead wire 46 is connected to the controller 11.

The reader 40 may not have the cover member 49. In this case, the reader main body 41 is directly stored in the reader storage section 7.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view IV-IV of fig. 7, and fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the tray assembly 10.

As shown in fig. 10, the tray assembly 10 is mounted on the front surface of the apparatus main body 2 and is disposed so as to be positioned below the beverage supply nozzle 3. As shown in fig. 11, the tray assembly 10 includes a drip tray 20 formed in a substantially groove shape, a flat plate-like mounting plate 30 covering the upper surface of the drip tray 20, and a shield member 50 covering the upper surface of the mounting plate 30 and the front surface of the drip tray 20, and is formed as a box as a whole.

In the present embodiment, the drip tray 20 and the mounting plate 30 are both formed of resin, and the shielding member 50 is formed of a metal material.

The mounting plate 30 is formed so that its longitudinal dimension is substantially the same as the width dimension of the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, and is a flat plate-like member that covers the entire upper surface of the drip tray 20. A drain hole 32 is provided in the substantially center of the mounting plate 30, and a mesh-like drain 34 is provided around the drain hole 32. The drain 34 is located directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3. In the present embodiment, the drain hole 32 is located immediately below the discharge port 4.

In the present embodiment, when the beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 300, the beverage container 70 is placed on the upper surface of the drain portion 34.

The drip tray 20 is a member for receiving and storing beverage flowing out from the beverage container 70 or splashed beverage when the beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 300 into the beverage container 70. As described above, the drip tray 20 is provided with the storage space V1 therein, and is formed in a groove shape with an open upper surface.

The drip tray 20 is provided with a cover portion 26 formed by projecting the bottom portion 24 to protrude toward the storage space V1 by a predetermined height dimension at substantially the center in the longitudinal direction.

A cover 26 is formed by the bottom 24 protruding upward, and a storage space V2 is formed below the cover 26. The storage space V2 is covered by the cover 26 at the upper side and is opened at the lower side.

At this time, the reader housing section 7 and the reader 40 are both housed in the housing space V2 in a state where the upper surface is covered with the covering section 26. In this case, the planar antenna 42 of the reader 40 is disposed parallel to the mounting board 30.

As shown in fig. 11, the shielding member 50 is formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially L-shape when viewed from the side, and functions as a shielding portion.

As described above, the shielding member 50 includes the flat plate-shaped upper plate portion 52 covering the upper surface of the mounting plate 30, and the flat plate-shaped front plate portion 54 covering the entire side wall 25 constituting the front surface of the drip tray 20.

Therefore, the shielding member 50 constitutes the upper surface and the front surface of the tray assembly 10 in a state of being mounted to the apparatus main body 2.

An opening 56 is provided in the substantially center of the upper plate portion 52.

The opening 56 is located directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3. In the present embodiment, the center of the opening 56 is located immediately below the discharge port 4. Therefore, when the shielding member 50 covers the mounting plate 30, a predetermined portion of the upper surface of the drain 34 is exposed from the opening 56, as shown in fig. 7 and 9. Hereinafter, a predetermined portion of the upper surface of the drain portion 34 exposed from the opening 56 is referred to as a mounting portion 36. The mounting portion 36 is located directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3.

The opening 56 of the present embodiment is formed in a substantially circular shape having a predetermined inner diameter in a plan view. The opening 56 has an inner diameter that is formed such that the opening 56 is larger than or substantially the same size as the bottom surface 74 of the beverage container 70. Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is filled with beverage from the beverage supply apparatus 300, the bottom of the beverage container 70 is inserted into the opening 56 and placed on the mounting portion 36 of the mounting plate 30.

The beverage container 70 is a predetermined container into which beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 300, and the beverage container 70 is, for example, a flat glass, a portable cup, a water bottle, a disposable cup, a pot, or the like. In the present embodiment, the beverage container 70 is configured as a so-called flat-bottom glass as shown in fig. 7, 8, and 10.

As shown in fig. 7, 8, and 10, an information tag 72 is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70. The information tag 72 is an electronic tag such as an NFC tag or an RFID tag, or a recording medium called an IC tag that records predetermined information. In the present embodiment, the information tag 72 forms a bottom surface 74 of the beverage container 70. The bottom surface 74 of the present embodiment is formed to be substantially circular in plan view, and the diameter of the bottom surface 74 is formed to be smaller than the inner diameter of the opening 56.

The information tag 72 has a planar antenna 76. The planar antenna 76 is formed in a flat plate shape and functions as a communication unit for receiving or radiating radio waves, electromagnetic waves, or the like. The planar antenna 76 is disposed parallel to the bottom surface of the beverage container 70.

As described above, the device antenna 42 included in the reader 40 is disposed parallel to the mounting board 30.

Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is mounted on the mounting portion 36, the planar antenna 76 of the information tag 72 is disposed substantially parallel to the device antenna 42 of the reader 40.

The upper surface of the planar antenna 76 is formed to be smaller than the bottom surface 74. The information tag 72 is not limited to the planar antenna 76, and may have a coil or the like, for example, as a communication unit.

The beverage container 70 of the present embodiment is formed as a flat glass made of resin. The beverage container 70 is not limited to this, and may be formed of various materials such as paper, ceramics, glass, and metal.

When the beverage container 70 is made of metal, the information tag 72 is preferably made of rubber or the like, and is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70 so as to be spaced apart from the metal surface of the beverage container 70 by several millimeters (mm). Or a metal counterpart tag may be used for the information tag 72.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the beverage supply system 100 of which the beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment is a part.

Next, as an example of a system using the beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment, the beverage supply system 100 will be described.

The beverage supply system 100 according to the present embodiment is a system capable of appropriately supplying a beverage to the user U. As shown in fig. 12, the beverage supply system 100 includes a beverage supply apparatus 300, a server 60, a beverage container 70, and an information terminal 80. In the present embodiment, the case where 1 beverage supply apparatus 300, server 60, and the like are provided, respectively, is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the number of components of the beverage supply system 100 may be any number. For example, fig. 13 shows another example of a beverage supply system, in which beverage supply apparatuses 300, 1A, and 1B according to the present embodiment are connected to the same network, and a beverage supply system 200 is described.

The beverage supply apparatus 300 has the control device 11 as described above. The control device 11 includes a computer having a processor such as a CPU or MPU, and a storage device such as a ROM or RAM. The control device 11 includes a device control unit 8 and an overall control unit 9.

The overall control unit 9 is a component that performs acquisition of information read by the reading device 40, display control of the display panel 6, control of the device control unit 8, and the like. The overall control unit 9 transmits and receives various information to and from the server 60 via the communication network 90. That is, the overall control unit 9 functions as a transmitting means for transmitting various information to the server 60 and a receiving means for receiving various information from the server 60.

The server 60 is a unit that stores a database for identifying the beverage containers 70, and transmits and receives information on the database to and from the beverage supply apparatus 300 and the information terminal 80 via the communication network 90.

The server 60 may be integrally provided with the beverage supply apparatus 300.

The communication network 90 connects the respective devices included in the beverage supply system 100 such as the beverage supply apparatus 300, the server 60, and the information terminal 80 so as to be capable of data communication with each other. The communication network 90 is a communication line including a private line, a public line network, a mobile radio communication network, a LAN (Local Area Network: local area network) line, and the like, and may include a router, a radio communication access point, and the like. The connection of the various devices included in the beverage delivery system 100 to the communication network 90 may be wireless or wired.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

Thereafter, the user U places the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 300 at the place where the beverage supply apparatus 300 is provided. Specifically, the beverage container 70 is placed on the mounting portion 36 of the placement plate 30. At this time, the bottom of the beverage container 70 is inserted inside the opening 56.

Thereby, the beverage container 70 is arranged below the discharge opening 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3.

As described above, when the beverage container 70 is mounted on the mounting portion 36, the planar antenna 76 of the information tag 72 is disposed substantially parallel to the device antenna 42 of the reader 40. Therefore, the user U can place the beverage container 70 on the mounting portion 36 without specifying the position of the beverage container 70 in the circumferential direction. That is, the user U can place the beverage container 70 on the mounting portion 36 without paying attention to the orientation of the side surface of the beverage container 70 and without performing any additional operation.

The opening 56 functions as a mark for facilitating the user U to dispose the beverage container 70 directly below the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3.

As described above, when the beverage container 70 is mounted on the mounting portion 36, the reader 40 located substantially directly below the beverage container 70 communicates with the information tag 72, and reads information recorded in the information tag 72. The read information is acquired by the overall control unit 9, and the overall control unit 9 transmits the information to the server 60.

The server 60 associates this information with the serial number according to the database and transmits the order content to the beverage supply apparatus 300.

However, in this control flow, the step of the user U pressing the discharge button 5 may be omitted. That is, the entire control unit 9 may control to discharge the beverage at the time when the order content from the server 60 is received. In addition, in this control flow, automatic settlement of beverage sales may also be implemented.

As described above, in the beverage supply system 100, the user U can easily receive the beverage supply by performing the operation of placing the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 300 without performing various operations concerning ordering and charging in the store.

As described above, in the beverage supply system 100, the step of pressing the discharge button 5 can be omitted. In this case, the user U performs only the operation of placing the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 300, and can receive the beverage supply without touching the beverage supply apparatus 300 with his or her hand. That is, in the beverage supply system 100, the user U can instruct the beverage supply apparatus 300 to supply the beverage by a noncontact method.

When the beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 300 to the beverage container 70, the beverage discharged from the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3 may sometimes flow out to the outside of the beverage container 70. The discharged beverage flows into the storage space V1 of the drip tray 20 through the drain hole 32 and the drain portion 34.

In the present embodiment, the liquid such as the beverage that can be present between the information tag 72 and the reader 40 includes, in addition to the beverage itself, liquid (mainly rinse liquid) used for cleaning each part of the beverage supply device 300, particularly the beverage supply nozzle 3 and the like, and rinse water or the like remaining after the drip tray 20 is removed for cleaning.

As described above, the reading device 40 is stored in the storage space V2 below the drip tray 20, and reads the information of the information tag 72 by the short-range wireless communication.

The reader 40 radiates radio waves or electromagnetic waves for communication (for reading information) upward from the device antenna 42. The radio wave or electromagnetic wave propagates upward while being diffused from the device antenna 42 as a radiation point. Therefore, even when the beverage container 70 is disposed at a position deviated from the lower side of the discharge port 4 of the beverage supply nozzle 3, it may be read.

In the present embodiment, the upper plate portion 52 of the shielding member 50 is covered on the upper surface of the mounting plate 30, and the shielding member 50 can block radio waves or electromagnetic waves emitted from the reader 40. That is, the shielding member 50 can shield the upper surface side of the mounting plate 30 from the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reading device 40.

As described above, the upper plate portion 52 is provided with the opening 56. The opening 56 is preferably formed such that the size of the opening 56 is equal to or smaller than the size of the bottom surface 74 of the beverage container 70. That is, the opening 56 is preferably formed to be equal to or larger than the planar antenna 76 of the information tag 72. Thus, the opening 56 can more reliably transmit the radio wave or electromagnetic wave having the intensity at which the information tag 72 can be read by the reader 40, from the reader 40 side to the upper surface side of the upper plate portion 52.

In this way, the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reader 40 propagates from the reader 40 side to the upper surface side of the upper plate 52 through the opening 56. The reader 40 can read information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication through the opening 56. That is, the reader 40 can read information of the information tag 72 when the bottom surface 74 of the beverage container 70, more specifically, the planar antenna 76 of the information tag 72 is disposed inside the opening 56.

Thus, the reader 40 can read the information of the information tag 72 only when the beverage container 70 is disposed directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3.

Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is disposed at a position deviated from the position immediately below the beverage supply nozzle 3, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can be suppressed from supplying the beverage. That is, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can more reliably inject the beverage into the beverage container 70.

In addition, the front surface of the drip tray 20 is covered by the front plate portion 54 of the shielding member 50. This can block the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reader 40 toward the front surface side of the drip tray 20. Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is positioned in front of the drip tray 20 and the tray assembly 10, the condition that the information of the information tag 72 is read by the reading device 40 can be suppressed.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects of embodiment 1.

According to the present embodiment, the beverage supply apparatus 300 includes an apparatus main body 2, and a reading apparatus 40 provided below a position where the beverage container 70 is disposed when the beverage is supplied, for reading information recorded in the information tag 72. The beverage supply apparatus 300 is configured to be provided with an opening 56 that communicates the beverage container 70 side with the reader 40 side and is disposed between the position where the beverage container 70 is disposed and the reader 40 when the beverage is supplied, and to have a shielding member 50 that shields communication between the information tag 72 and the reader 40.

Thus, the electromagnetic wave or the radio wave radiated from the reader 40 is blocked by the shielding member 50, and the electromagnetic wave or the radio wave can be shielded from the upper surface side of the mounting board 30. The opening 56 of the shielding member 50 allows the reader 40 to transmit an electric wave or electromagnetic wave having the intensity of information of the information tag 72 from the reader 40 side to the upper surface side of the upper plate portion 52.

Accordingly, when the beverage container 70 is placed at a predetermined position, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can read the information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the apparatus main body 2 is configured to have the beverage supply nozzle 3 that discharges the beverage to the beverage container 70, and the opening 56 is provided at a position immediately below the beverage supply nozzle 3 of the shielding member 50.

Thus, when the beverage container 70 is disposed directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can read the information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication. In addition, when the discharge button 5 is not pressed, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can discharge the beverage by reading the information of the information tag 72 through short-range wireless communication without touching the user U with his or her hand. The beverage supply apparatus 300 can inject the beverage into the beverage container 70 without touching with the user's hand.

Accordingly, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can more reliably and in a non-contact manner supply the beverage to the user U.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the information tag 72 has a planar antenna 76 for transmitting and receiving information to and from the reader 40 of the information tag 72, and the planar antenna 76 is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70.

Thus, when the beverage container 70 is placed on the water drain 34, the planar antenna 76 of the information tag 72 is disposed inside the opening 56. Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is disposed at a predetermined position, the reader 40 can read the information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication without blocking the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reader 40.

In the present embodiment, the size of the opening 56 is formed so as to be at least equal to or larger than the size of the planar antenna 76.

Thus, the reader 40 can more reliably transmit the radio wave or electromagnetic wave having the intensity capable of reading the information of the information tag 72 from the reader 40 side to the upper surface side of the upper plate portion 52 through the opening 56.

Therefore, when the beverage container 70 is disposed at a predetermined position, the reader 40 reads the information of the information tag 72 by the short-range wireless communication more reliably without interruption of the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reader 40.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the shielding member 50 is formed of a metal material.

Thereby, the shielding member 50 can more reliably shield the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reading device 40.

Therefore, the shielding member 50 can shield the upper surface side of the mounting plate 30 from the radio wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reading device 40.

In the present embodiment, the drip tray 20 is provided with a cover portion 26 formed by projecting upward the bottom 24 and covering the reading device 40, and the upper surface of the cover portion 26 is provided with an inclined surface 28.

Next, a modified example of the beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment will be described.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a shielding member 150 according to a modification of the present embodiment.

The beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment may have the shielding member 150 shown in fig. 14 instead of the shielding member 50. The shielding member 150 has substantially the same shape as the shielding member 50 described above. The shield member 150 has a flat upper plate portion 152 covering the entire upper surface of the mounting plate 30, and a flat front plate portion 154 covering the entire side wall 25 constituting the front surface of the drip tray 20, and is a plate-like member made of a metal material, similarly to the shield member 50.

A drain portion 159 is provided substantially in the center of the upper plate portion 52 of the shield member 150. The drain portion 159 is formed by providing a net member 158 made of a plurality of wires in a through hole 155 formed to have substantially the same size and substantially the same shape as the opening 56. A plurality of openings 156 are provided in the drain portion 159.

The drain 159 is located directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3. In the present embodiment, the center of the opening 56 is located immediately below the discharge port 4.

The drain portion 159 has strength enough to support the beverage container 70 placed on the upper surface.

When beverage is injected from the beverage supply apparatus 300 into the beverage container 70, the beverage container 70 is placed on the upper surface of the drain portion 159 of the shield member 50.

The electric wave or electromagnetic wave radiated from the reading device 40 propagates from the reading device 40 side to the upper surface side of the upper plate portion 52 through the plurality of openings 156. The reading device 40 is capable of reading information of the information tag 72 by short-range wireless communication via the plurality of openings 156.

That is, in the present modification, the drain portion 159 functions as a mounting portion, and a portion of the shielding member 150 that is offset from the drain portion 159 functions as a shielding portion.

Thereby, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can supply the beverage to the beverage container 70.

As described above, the reading device 40 can read the information of the information tag 72 when the beverage container 70 is disposed directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3, and can suppress the beverage supply device 300 from supplying the beverage when the beverage container 70 is disposed at a position deviated from directly below the beverage supply nozzle 3. That is, the beverage supply apparatus 300 can more reliably inject the beverage into the beverage container 70.

In the case where the shielding member 150 is provided, the beverage supply apparatus 300 may not include the mounting plate 30.

The drain portion 159 is formed by providing a metal net or a wire net like the net member 158, but is not limited thereto, and may be formed by densely providing a plurality of openings formed by punching, for example. In this case, the plurality of openings are preferably formed in a slit shape so as to allow radio waves or electromagnetic waves, which are plane waves, to pass through easily.

For example, in the above embodiment, the shielding member 50 has the upper plate portion 52 and the front plate portion 54, but is not limited thereto, and may be constituted only by the upper plate portion 52. In this case, the shielding member 50 may be attached to the lower surface side of the mounting plate 30.

In this case, the shielding member 50 may be provided by being housed inside the mounting plate 30. That is, the mounting plate 30 may be formed by insert molding in which the shielding member 50 is inserted.

The shielding member 50 may be, for example, a resin material or the like, the surface of which is coated with a metal coating.

For example, the shielding member 50 may be provided not only with the front plate portion 54 covering the front surface of the drip tray 20 but also with plate portions covering other side surfaces of the drip tray 20.

For example, the inner diameter of the opening 56 may be slightly smaller than the beverage container 70, and the upper surface of the shielding member 50 around the opening 56 may be configured to support the beverage container 70. In this case, the region immediately below the beverage supply nozzle 3 of the shielding member 50 functions as a mounting portion. Further, in this case, the mounting plate 30 may be omitted.

For example, the opening 56 may be formed to have a slightly larger inner diameter than the beverage container 70, and the opening 56 may be fitted to a side surface of the beverage container 70. In this case, the opening 56 functions as a mounting portion.

In the above embodiment, for example, the shielding member 50 is formed of a metal material, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be formed of a plate-like member in which a gel-like liquid is enclosed.

In the above embodiment, for example, the information tag 72 is provided at the bottom of the beverage container 70, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be provided on a side surface.

In the above embodiment, for example, the drain holes 32 and the drain portions 34 are provided in the mounting plate 30, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and any shape may be used as long as the liquid such as beverage flowing out to the upper surface of the mounting plate 30 can move to the drip tray 20.

In the above-described embodiment, for example, the beverage supply apparatus 300 is an apparatus for supplying a coffee beverage, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be an apparatus for supplying a beverage such as juice, ice cream, shaved ice, fruit juice, hand-shake beverage, mineral water, or the like, or a food product similar thereto. In this case, the mechanism stored in the apparatus main body 2 may be a mechanism corresponding to a beverage or food to be supplied.

Next, an operation example of a beverage supply system using the beverage supply apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 15. Here, in the beverage supply system 100 described in fig. 12 in which 1 beverage supply apparatus is connected to a network, the operation will be described with respect to the selection of a commodity, the payment of a commodity, and the supply of a commodity.

First, the user U registers the personal-use beverage container 70 in the server 60 using an application program for controlling the beverage supply apparatus 300. The user U installs the application program in the personal information terminal 80 in advance. Fig. 16 (a) is a startup screen of an application program displayed on the display unit of the information terminal 80.

The user U logs in the application (step S001). Next, the user U moves to the "beverage container registration page" of the application (step S002), and inputs a code attached to the recording medium of the beverage container 70 in accordance with the displayed screen, the instructions of fig. 16 (b) and 16 (c). Or the user U reads the code (container ID) of the recording medium of the beverage container 70 using the reader function of the information terminal 80 (step S003). The inputted code is transmitted from the information terminal 80 to the server 60 (step S004).

The server 60 confirms whether the received code is valid or invalid (step S005). For example, it is confirmed whether the code has been settled or whether it is a code that has been registered by a person, or the like. Here, if the server 60 determines that the code is invalid, a reminder screen of "code invalid" or "already registered" or the like is displayed in the information terminal 80, and the user is made to select whether to input another code.

When the server 60 determines that the code is valid, the server 60 sets the beverage container 70 as a "my beverage container", stores the code (container ID) in a storage unit (not shown) in association with the ID of the user U (step S006), and transmits the result to the information terminal 80 (step S007).

The information terminal 80 displays the beverage container 70 on a display unit (not shown) to register in the server 60 and notifies the user U (step S008).

In the "beverage container registration page", a "photograph of a beverage container and a registration name" may be registered in association with each code (container ID).

If the user U does not have any other beverage container 70 to be registered (step S009), the "beverage container registration page" is closed, ending the operation.

If the user U continues to register another beverage container 70, the user U returns to the "beverage container registration page" of the application (step S002) and performs the operation of registering the beverage container information again.

After registering the container ID of the beverage container 70 in the server 60, the user U can select a commodity to purchase. Since the selection of the commodity is performed by the application program from the information terminal 80 of the user U, the commodity purchase procedure can be performed in advance at any place and at any time without going to the store where the beverage supply apparatus 300 is installed.

Next, a flow of the purchase procedure of the commodity will be described. The user U starts an application in the information terminal 80 and logs in, displaying a "menu registration page". Fig. 18 (a) is a top page screen of the "menu registration page" of the application program. In the home screen, there are displayed an area of "HOT" and "ICE" of the screen for opening the selection menu, an area for notifying the presence or absence of the currently registered menu (order), and an area for displaying the name of the registered beverage container.

Here, when there are a plurality of beverage containers registered in the server 60, the user U performs a procedure of selecting a beverage container. When the user U selects the area of the home screen displaying the name of the beverage container, the server 60 calls out the code (container ID) of the beverage container registered in association with the ID of the user U, and transmits the code to the information terminal 80. When the information terminal 80 receives the code (container ID) of the beverage container, a photograph or a registered name of the beverage container corresponding to the code (container ID) is displayed on the screen of the information terminal 80. The user U selects a photograph or a registered name of the beverage container displayed on the screen, and decides a beverage container to be used for a commodity to be purchased later.

The beverage container 70 to be used is displayed in the "menu registration page" of the application program, and in addition thereto, various services can be displayed. For example, by displaying a promotion of an activity such as "give 1 cup for 5 cups |", or a coupon for purchasing a product in combination and discounted, the purchasing desire of the user U can be improved. These activities can be achieved by recording commodity purchase records of the user U in the server 60 using an application.

The user U selects an area of "HOT" or "ICE" from the home screen of the "menu registration page" displayed in the information terminal 80, and selects a commodity to be purchased from the redisplayed menu screen. The menu screen is displayed for each of the hot drink product and the cold drink product. Fig. 18 (b) is a screen for selecting a hot drink menu, and fig. 18 (c) is a screen for selecting a cold drink menu. Each screen has a button that can be simply switched to another screen. The "trade name". Price "is displayed on each menu screen, and when the area of" order "of the commodity to be selected is selected, the" commodity screen "of each commodity is displayed.

In each of the "commodity screens" of fig. 19 (a) and 19 (b), the size (amount) of the commodity to be purchased is selected. In the present embodiment, the size divided into 6 steps can be selected in the automatic picker for a screen, and a desired size can be selected by selecting each screen and displayed at a price corresponding to each size. After confirming the selected menu, size, and price on the "commodity screen", the user U, when selecting the "order determination" area, the application program transmits the input information of the selected commodity, size, and the like from the information terminal 80 to the server 60.

When the server 60 performs the settlement process before selling the commodity, that is, before supplying the commodity from the commodity supply device to the beverage container 70, the information terminal 80 displays a screen of the settlement process. The user U performs a settlement procedure using the information terminal 80, and if the server 60 successfully completes the settlement procedure, registers (records) the user ID or the code (container ID) of the beverage container 70 in association with the input information (order information) ordered.

After registering the order information, the server 60 transmits a signal notifying completion of the order to the information terminal 80, and displays an image notifying completion of the order in the screen of the information terminal 80 (fig. 19 (c)).

In fig. 18 and 19, the procedure of selecting a menu is described, and when a fixed menu is selected in the home screen in fig. 18 (a), a beverage which is always fixed is provided to the beverage container by simply placing the beverage container in the beverage supply mechanism without requiring a subsequent menu selection operation by an application program.

Next, a flow of supplying a beverage as a commodity from the beverage supply apparatus 300 to the beverage container 70 will be described with reference to fig. 20 to 26. Fig. 20, 21 and 22 show flowcharts for providing beverages, and fig. 23, 24 and 25 show screens displayed on the display unit 6 of the beverage supply apparatus 300 for providing beverages.

The user U visits the store where the beverage supply apparatus 300 is installed, and sets the self-contained beverage container 70 at a specific position of the beverage supply apparatus 300, which displays the screen of fig. 23 (a), on the display unit 6. In the present embodiment shown in fig. 12, the number of beverage supply apparatuses 300 constituting the beverage supply system 100 is 1, and with respect to the beverage supply system 200 shown in fig. 13, which is constituted by a plurality of beverage supply apparatuses 300, the user U visits any one of the stores provided with the beverage supply apparatuses 300, 300A, and 300B, respectively, and can receive the beverage from the beverage container 70.

The user U can purchase the beverage container in the store, perform a registration procedure of the purchased beverage container, and can use the beverage container in the beverage supply apparatus 300 (beverage supply apparatus).

The beverage supply apparatus 300 reads the container information including the code (container ID) from the storage medium of the beverage container 70, for example, RFID (step S022), and transmits the container information to the server 60 together with the device information (device ID, etc.) that is the device information of the beverage supply apparatus 300. The container information includes information about the beverage container 70 of the user U, such as a container ID, a material, a size (volume), a shape, and manufacturing information of the container. The device information includes information of the beverage supply apparatus 300 in which the container is provided, such as an apparatus ID, an installation place of the apparatus (GPS information, etc.), an installed store name, a manufacturing year, month, and day of the apparatus, and information of a commodity sold by the apparatus.

The server 60 collates the container ID of the received container information with the information stored in the storage unit (step S024). When it is determined that the container ID is the container ID registered in the storage unit (yes in step S025), the flow of fig. 21 (a) is entered. On the other hand, when the container ID does not match the content registered in the storage unit of the server 60, the server 60 transmits a signal (image) notifying that the container ID is not registered to the beverage supply apparatus 300 (step S026). The beverage supply apparatus 300 receives the information (image) notifying that it is not registered, displays the information (image) on the display unit 6, and notifies the user U as shown in fig. 23 b (step S027).

Next, the server 60 retrieves order information associated with the user ID or the container ID from the storage unit (step S028). If no order information associated with the user ID or the container ID is found, the server 60 transmits information (image) notifying that the order information is not registered to the beverage supply apparatus 300, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 displays the information (image) on the display unit, and notifies the user U of the information (image) as shown in fig. 23 (c) (step S030). The beverage supply apparatus 300 displays the display screen of fig. 23 (a) on the display unit 6 according to the flow (c).

On the other hand, when the server 60 finds the order information associated with the user ID or the container ID, the order information is transmitted to the beverage supply apparatus 300 having the apparatus ID (step S031).

The beverage supply apparatus 300 displays the order information received from the server 60 on the display unit 6 and notifies the user U (step S032). Fig. 24 is a display example of a display screen of order information, and for example, as shown in fig. 24 (a), bean products produced by extracting coffee beans are composed such that the types, trade names, sizes, prices, and the like of the products can be easily recognized at a glance as to the design of each item, as shown in fig. 24 (b), for powder products produced from powder.

Then, the beverage supply apparatus 300 blinks the lower part of each display screen of fig. 24 for a predetermined period of time to urge the user U to press the discharge button 5 (step S033).

If the user U confirms the display screen of the order information of fig. 24, the user U presses the discharge button 5 of the beverage supply apparatus 300 (step S034).

The beverage supply apparatus 300 starts the operation of supplying the commodity after the discharge button 5 is pressed, and the phase server 60 transmits information of starting the operation of supplying the commodity (the flow (b) of fig. 22 is continued).

On the other hand, when the discharge button 5 is not pressed for a certain period of time from the blinking of the lower part of the screen of fig. 24, the beverage supply apparatus 300 stops the blinking of the screen of fig. 24 and enters a state of waiting for the operation of the user U (step S034).

Fig. 22 is a flow of the beverage supply apparatus 300 supplying the beverage container 70 with the commodity of the order information. When the discharge button 5 is pressed and the information of the operation of starting the supply of the commodity is received, the beverage supply apparatus 300 produces a beverage and starts the operation of supplying the beverage (step S041).

The server 60 transmits an image suitable for the commodity supply operation to 1, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 appropriately displays the received image on the display unit 6 together with the commodity supply operation. Fig. 25 shows an example of an image received and displayed by the beverage supply apparatus 300, and shows an image of a bean grinding step (fig. 25 (a)) and an extraction step (fig. 25 (b)) when bean products are supplied, and shows a pouring step (fig. 25 (c)) when powder products are supplied. The user U can know the commodity supply process of the beverage supply apparatus 300 by viewing the display screen indicating the state of fig. 25 on the display unit 6.

The screen of fig. 25 is also designed so that the user U can immediately grasp the commodity supply process at a glance.

After the end of the supply of the beverage to the beverage container 70, the beverage supply apparatus 300 transmits the supply end information to the server 60 (step S042). Upon receiving the supply end information, the server 60 transmits an image notifying the end of supply described in fig. 25 (d) to the beverage supply apparatus 300, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 displays the image on the display unit 6 (step S043). When fig. 25 (d) is displayed on the display unit 6, the user U removes the beverage container 70 from the beverage supply apparatus 300.

The supply end information includes supply end time information, the size of the supply (supply amount), the container ID, and the device ID, and the server 60 records the container ID and the device ID as sales information of the commodity (step S044).

By recording the supply end information in the server 60, the correlation between the sales history of the commodity, the container ID, and the device ID can be collected, and the obtained product can be used as data of the commodity sales strategy in the future.

The server 60 can flexibly apply the recorded supply end information to suppression of improper use of the beverage container 70. For example, in order to restrict the use of the same beverage container 70 by a plurality of users, the use of the beverage container 70 is prohibited for a certain period of time from the time of use. The server 60 detects the latest supply end time information of the same container ID in the flow of registering menu information, and can prohibit the use of the same beverage container 70 in a short period of time since the registration of menu information for which a certain period has not elapsed has not been accepted from the supply end time information.

In the present embodiment, the use of the discharge button 5 of the beverage supply apparatus 300 is shown, but it is not necessarily required. For example, the beverage supply apparatus 300 may display order information of fig. 24, and start beverage supply after a certain period of time has elapsed.

In the present embodiment, in the flow of supplying the beverage as the commodity from the beverage supply apparatus 300 to the beverage container 70, as shown in step S034, if the discharge button 5 is not pressed for a certain period of time from the blinking of the lower part of the screen of fig. 24, the beverage supply apparatus 300 stops blinking of the screen of fig. 24 and enters a state of waiting for the operation of the user U.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 may perform step S041 of producing a beverage and starting the supply operation when the discharge button 5 is not pressed for a predetermined period of time since the lower part of the screen in fig. 24 blinks.

In the present embodiment, the example of the settlement procedure when the selection menu information has been selected has been described (step S019 in fig. 17), but may be performed immediately before the beverage supply operation by the beverage supply apparatus 300 or may be performed after the beverage supply. In any case, the server 60 receives a signal from the beverage supply apparatus 300 and performs settlement processing. The service power may be calculated by adding the number of cups consumed, or may be consumed for a predetermined period at a fixed cost.

The user U can stop the use of the registered beverage container by using the information terminal 80. The selection of the "my flat bottom glass" area of the home page of fig. 18 (a) from the "menu registration page" of the application enables the selection of beverage containers and the deletion of the registration. In addition, from the "flat bottom glass stop page" of the application program, the registered beverage container is stopped by inputting the container ID to be stopped or by selecting the beverage container.

In the present embodiment, the procedure of registering 1 registered beverage container from the menu to the beverage supply is described as "menu registration page", but the selection of the beverage container is not limited to one, and a plurality of beverage containers may be selected. In this way, the user U can associate order information with each container ID, and can select a beverage container to be used corresponding to the time of beverage supply.

Fig. 26 is a sequence diagram of the beverage supply system 100. The operation relationships of the information terminal 80, the server 60, and the beverage supply apparatus 300 are expressed in time series.

First, the information terminal 80 starts an application program and logs in, and transmits information of the recording medium of the beverage container 70 to the server 60. The server 60 registers information of the recording medium. Here, information on the recording medium of the beverage container 70, that is, the container ID of the beverage container 70 is registered in the server 60.

After the beverage container 70 is registered, the information terminal 80 selects a commodity to be purchased from the menu and transmits the commodity to the server 60. The server 60 performs a settlement procedure on the selected menu, and when confirming that settlement is possible, registers the selected menu as order information.

The server 60 transmits information in which the subscription information has been registered to the information terminal, where the user U confirms that the subscription information has been registered.

Next, after the user U sets the beverage container 70 in the beverage supply apparatus 300, the beverage supply apparatus 300 reads information such as the container ID from the recording medium of the beverage container 70 and transmits the information to the server 60 together with the information (such as the apparatus ID) of the beverage supply apparatus 300. The server 60 checks the information of the container ID to determine whether it is already recorded information. If the beverage container is not already registered in advance, an image indicating that the beverage container is not registered is transmitted to the beverage supply apparatus 300 and displayed on the display unit 6. If the beverage container is already registered in advance, the order information associated with the container ID, that is, the registration menu is retrieved.

The server 60 transmits the found registration menu to the beverage supply apparatus 300 of the apparatus ID. The beverage supply apparatus 300 displays a registration menu on the display unit 6. The user U confirms the displayed registration menu, and when the discharge button 5 of the beverage supply apparatus 300 is pressed, the beverage supply apparatus 300 supplies (sells) the commodity of the registration menu to the beverage container 70.

After the beverage supply apparatus 300 supplies the beverage container 70 with the registration menu, it transmits the sales completion information to the server 60. The server 60 registers the sales completion information in association with the container ID. As described above, in the beverage supply system according to the present embodiment, the container ID of the specific beverage container is registered in the server, and the menu of the purchased commodity is registered in advance as the order information in association with the container ID, so that the beverage can be supplied by simply providing the beverage container in the beverage supply apparatus constituting the beverage supply system. Further, since the beverage supply device constituting the beverage supply system transmits the container ID to the server together with the device ID of the device ID itself, even if a plurality of beverage supply devices are connected to the beverage supply system, it is possible to provide a registration menu without making a wrong beverage supply device for the beverage container.

The server 60 manages the user U in association with the beverage container, and can provide various services to the user U. Fig. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of this service. The server 60 records in advance the number of beverages supplied to the beverage containers, and when the number reaches a specific number, can notify the information terminal of the user U associated with the beverage container of the activity information. Fig. 27 (a) is a display screen of the activity information transmitted from the server 60 when the user U purchases the 100 th cup of the specific product. When the user U who has seen the display selects the display, the coupon information as shown in fig. 27 (b) can be received.

Industrial applicability

As described above, the beverage supply apparatus according to the present invention is applicable to a beverage supply apparatus having a transmitting/receiving unit for reading information recorded on a recording medium and supplying a beverage to a container provided with a recording medium on which predetermined information is recorded.

The beverage supply system according to the present invention is not limited to beverages, and may be food or goods. The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus having a function of holding articles such as boxes, baskets, bags, and the like, which has a recording medium, instead of the beverage container.

Claims

1. A beverage dispensing system comprising: a beverage dispensing device for dispensing beverage to a container provided with a communication-enabled recording medium; and a server for transmitting beverage information to the beverage dispensing device regarding the beverage dispensed to the container, characterized in that:

The beverage dispensing device includes:

A transmission and reception unit that transmits and receives information with the recording medium of the container; and

The communication unit transmits the information received by the transmitting and receiving unit from the recording medium of the container and the information about the beverage dispensing device to the server, and receives the beverage information from the server.

The server includes:

A storage unit for storing beverage information supplied to the container; and

A control unit detects beverage information supplied to the container and sends the beverage information to the beverage dispensing device, wherein the container is a container corresponding to information received from the beverage dispensing device from a recording medium containing the beverage.

2. The beverage dispensing system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: the beverage dispensing device is a beverage dispensing device that supplies beverages to a container equipped with a recording medium capable of communication, and includes:

The mounting section for installing the container; and

A shielding section is provided to shield the communication between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving section at a position offset from the mounting section.

3. A beverage dispensing system comprising a beverage dispensing device with a device ID that dispenses beverages to containers, and a server connected to the beverage dispensing device via a network, characterized in that:

The beverage dispensing device includes a unit that reads the container ID from a communicative storage medium of the container and sends the container ID and the device ID to the server.

The server has a unit that detects the order information corresponding to the container ID and sends the detected order information to the beverage dispensing device corresponding to the device ID.

The beverage dispensing device has a unit that provides the container with the goods corresponding to the received order information.

4. The beverage dispensing system as described in claim 3, characterized in that: the beverage dispensing device is a beverage dispensing device that supplies beverages to a container equipped with a recording medium capable of communication, comprising:

The mounting section for installing the container;

A transmission and reception unit disposed below the mounting section for transmitting and receiving information with the recording medium; and

A shielding section is provided to block communication between the recording medium and the transmitting/receiving section at a position offset from the mounting section.

5. A beverage dispensing method, comprising dispensing a beverage to a container equipped with a communication-enabled recording medium, characterized in that it includes:

The step of the beverage dispensing device reading the container ID from a communicable storage medium of the container;

The step of the beverage dispensing device sending the container ID and device ID to the server;

The step of the server detecting the order information corresponding to the container ID;

The step of the server sending the detected order information to the beverage dispensing device corresponding to the device ID; and

The step of the beverage dispensing device providing the product corresponding to the received order information to the container.