Beverage machine in a network

摘要

A method for preventing shortage at a customer location (5,5′) of consumable ingredient capsules for use in a machine (10,10′) for preparing a beverage by receiving a capsule in a capsule extraction unit, circulating a carrier liquid, such as water in particular heated water, through said capsule in the extraction unit and by dispensing a resulting beverage, the beverage preparation machine at the customer location being distant from a capsule supplier (40) and in data-exchange connection (20) with a server (50) of the capsule supplier to form a network (1), such method comprising: —supplying from the capsule supplier a stock of consumable ingredient capsules to the customer location; —automatically monitoring via the network consumption of the consumable ingredient capsules in the beverage preparation machine; and —whenever the automatic monitoring detects a reaching of a shortage of consumable ingredient capsules at the customer location, generating automatically by the supplier server an instruction: a) to invite the customer to make an order for a shipment of a new stock of capsules, or b) to prepare a shipment of a new stock of capsules for supply to said customer.

主权项

1. A system for preventing shortage of consumable ingredient capsules at a customer location distant from a capsule supplier, the system comprising:
a beverage preparation machine receiving a capsule in a capsule extraction unit, circulating a carrier liquid through the capsule in the extraction unit, and dispensing a resulting beverage, the beverage preparation machine comprising an automatic capsule recognition arrangement, wherein a stock of consumable ingredient capsules is supplied from the capsule supplier to the customer location, each supplied capsule stock is individualized by a dedicated identification member located in each capsule of the stock, and the automatic capsule recognition arrangement identifies the corresponding stock of each capsule that is being used; and a supplier server in data-exchange connection with the beverage preparation machine to form a network, the supplier server automatically monitoring consumption of the consumable ingredient capsules in the beverage preparation machine, the supplier server being programmed to (1) perform the automatic monitoring of the capsule consumption, and (2) whenever the supplier server detects a reaching of a shortage of consumable ingredient capsules at the customer location, generating automatically an instruction:
to invite the customer to make an order for a shipment of a new stock of capsules, orto prepare a shipment of a new stock of capsules for supply to the customer.