Abstract: An automated frothing assembly. The automated frothing assembly has a wand module that includes an elongate member having an inlet, one or more outlets, and a fluid passageway extending between and in fluid communication with the inlet and the plurality of outlets. At least one of the one or more outlets extends parallel to a vertical plane that includes the centerline of the elongate member and at an acute angle relative to a horizontal plane that is perpendicular to both the vertical plane and the centerline of the elongate member. The assembly further includes an actuator configured to be operatively coupled to the wand module and to drive the movement of at least a portion of the wand module along an axis, and an electronic controller configured to be electrically coupled to the actuator and to control the operation of the actuator to control the movement of the wand module.

Abstract: A system that generates brewed beverages may receive requests to produce specified brewed beverages. The system may include a scheduler that initiates and controls the performance of one or more chemical or mechanical processes to produce the beverages. While one chemical or mechanical process for producing a beverage is being performed, other processes may be performed for production of the beverage or another beverage. The scheduler may determine the time at which to perform each process, the time at which a beverage should be presented, the resources to be used to perform the processes, or the time at which to perform a cleaning process, dependent on an actual or expected demand for beverages, or dependent on a target time for beverage retrieval. Shared resources may be applied to the production of beverages for high priority orders, while partially completed beverages for lower priority orders are staged for subsequent advancement.

Abstract: A method of operating an automated beverage generating system. The method comprises receiving one or more electrical signals representative of an order for a specified beverage. The method further comprises translating the order into one or more steps required to generate the specified beverage. The method still further comprises entering at least one of the required steps into a dynamic sequence corresponding to a module of the system configured to perform that particular step, the dynamic sequence representing an order in which one or more steps in the dynamic sequence will be performed by the module for one or more beverages to be generated by the system.

Abstract: An automated frothing assembly. The automated frothing assembly has a wand module that includes an elongate member having an inlet, one or more outlets, and a fluid passageway extending between and in fluid communication with the inlet and the plurality of outlets. At least one of the one or more outlets extends parallel to a vertical plane that includes the centerline of the elongate member and at an acute angle relative to a horizontal plane that is perpendicular to both the vertical plane and the centerline of the elongate member. The assembly further includes an actuator configured to be operatively coupled to the wand module and to drive the movement of at least a portion of the wand module along an axis, and an electronic controller configured to be electrically coupled to the actuator and to control the operation of the actuator to control the movement of the wand module.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating the ordering and generation of a beverage. The system and method are configured to receive an electrical signal in response to the activation by a second user of an electronic link corresponding to a recipe for the beverage shared by a first user. The system and method are further configured to generate a user interface having a user-selectable or user-inputtable order field for allowing the second user to order the beverage. The system and method are still further configured to receive an order for the beverage responsive to a user input made via the order field, and The system and method are yet still further configured to command the generation of the beverage responsive to the receipt of the order, and to effect the presentation of the beverage to the second user at a specified pickup location following the generation of the beverage.

Abstract: A method of operating an automated beverage generating system. The method comprises receiving one or more electrical signals representative of an order for a specified beverage. The method further comprises translating the order into one or more steps required to generate the specified beverage. The method still further comprises entering at least one of the required steps into a dynamic sequence corresponding to a module of the system configured to perform that particular step, the dynamic sequence representing an order in which one or more steps in the dynamic sequence will be performed by the module for one or more beverages to be generated by the system.

Abstract: A system that generates brewed beverages may receive requests to produce specified brewed beverages. The system may include a scheduler that initiates and controls the performance of one or more chemical or mechanical processes to produce the beverages. While one chemical or mechanical process for producing a beverage is being performed, other processes may be performed for production of the beverage or another beverage. The scheduler may determine the time at which to perform each process, the time at which a beverage should be presented, the resources to be used to perform the processes, or the time at which to perform a cleaning process, dependent on an actual or expected demand for beverages, or dependent on a target time for beverage retrieval. Shared resources may be applied to the production of beverages for high priority orders, while partially completed beverages for lower priority orders are staged for subsequent advancement.

Abstract: A method of operating an automated beverage generating system. The method comprises receiving one or more electrical signals representative of an order for a specified beverage. The method further comprises translating the order into one or more steps required to generate the specified beverage. The method still further comprises and entering each required step into a dynamic sequence corresponding to a module of the system configured to perform that particular step, the dynamic sequence representing an order in which one or more steps in the dynamic sequence will be performed by the module for one or more beverages to be generated by the system.

Abstract: A system and method for brewing and dispensing beverages may use customer profiling to select beverages to be produced and presented to a given customer and/or messages to be displayed to the customer, based on customer-specific information stored on a loyalty card, in a local system, or remotely. A user interface mechanism may receive input identifying the given customer. A controller may select a base drink recipe dependent on the customer's identity, and may initiate production of a beverage using the selected drink recipe. Each drink recipe may specify an amount of water, coffee, flavorings, dairy, and/or other ingredients, and may be further customizable to add or remove ingredients and/or to change an amount thereof, based on received user input. The stored customer-specific information may include a customer identifier, account information, a purchase history, a message history, drink recipes, and/or an email address for each of a plurality of customers.

Abstract: An automated frothing assembly. The automated frothing assembly has a wand module that includes an elongate member having an inlet, one or more outlets, and a fluid passageway extending between and in fluid communication with the inlet and the plurality of outlets. At least one of the one or more outlets extends parallel to a vertical plane that includes the centerline of the elongate member and at an acute angle relative to a horizontal plane that is perpendicular to both the vertical plane and the centerline of the elongate member. The assembly further includes an actuator configured to be operatively coupled to the wand module and to drive the movement of at least a portion of the wand module along an axis, and an electronic controller configured to be electrically coupled to the actuator and to control the operation of the actuator to control the movement of the wand module.

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

Abstract: A system that generates brewed beverages may receive requests to produce specified brewed beverages. The system may include a scheduler that initiates and controls the performance of one or more chemical or mechanical processes to produce the beverages. While one chemical or mechanical process for producing a beverage is being performed, other processes may be performed for production of the beverage or another beverage. The scheduler may determine the time at which to perform each process, the time at which a beverage should be presented, the resources to be used to perform the processes, or the time at which to perform a cleaning process, dependent on an actual or expected demand for beverages, or dependent on a target time for beverage retrieval. Shared resources may be applied to the production of beverages for high priority orders, while partially completed beverages for lower priority orders are staged for subsequent advancement.

Abstract: A system for generating beverages is provided. The system comprises a central host comprising a database, and a kiosk configured for communication with the central host. The kiosk comprises an electronic control unit (ECU), a plurality of process modules, and a memory device that is accessible by the ECU and suitable for storing information required for the operation of the kiosk. Each process module of the kiosk is configured to be controlled by the ECU to perform one or more chemical or mechanical processes contributing to the production of one or more brewed beverages. Further, information required for the operation of the kiosk is stored in the database of the central host and also stored in the memory device of the kiosk to allow the kiosk to operate independently of the central host when communication between the kiosk and central host is compromised.