BEVERAGE PREPARATION SYSTEM AND METHOD, AND, COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEANS

专利摘要:
beverage preparation system and method, and, computer readable storage means a beverage preparation system (1) with a preparation unit (6) for preparing a beverage is described, with a display panel (3) defining a screen space, and having integrated into it a touch-sensitive panel (4) and with a control unit (5) to control the preparation unit with user guide taken from the touch-sensitive panel and to provide visual feedback for the display panel, the touch-sensitive panel being arranged to generate a position signal indicative of a pointed position. the control unit is operable in a tuning mode where the user is allowed to tune a drink recipe. in tuning mode, a drink support (322) is displayed with a filling (3220) corresponding to a drink recipe as well as a software button inside it. the user is allowed to control a composition of the drink to be prepared through the movement of the software button.
公开号:BR112016001933B1
申请号:R112016001933-4
申请日:2014-07-28
公开日:2021-08-03
发明作者:Koen Josef Van Niekerk；Hendrikus Christinus Maria Wessels
申请人:Koninklijke Douwe Egberts B.V.；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

Field of Invention
[001] The invention relates to a beverage preparation system.
[002] The invention further relates to a method for preparing a beverage. The invention further relates to a computer program product for controlling a beverage preparation system for preparing a beverage.
[003] The invention further relates to a recording carrier comprising the computer program product. Related technique
[004] Nowadays, automatic devices for preparing beverages provide the user with more and more options to control the composition and other parameters of the beverage to be released.
[005] Examples of such parameters are - the mixture between the main product (usually coffee) and the additives (usually milk), - the mixture between the main product and one or more flavours, the mixture of different additives (eg 50 -50 soy milk and skim milk).- The strength of the drink- The volume of the drink- Any other parameter that influences the taste of the drink (eg foam layer, pre-infusion, pressure)
[006] Recently, devices have become available that are equipped with a plurality of containers for holding different types of coffee and with a blender for blending coffee from these containers according to a certain mixing ratio. Typically, the mix ratio is set according to a predetermined setting by the manufacturer or an operator. In a 3-ingredient device, the ingredients can, for example, be mixed according to a ratio of 25%-25%-50%.
[007] Allowing a user to control the mixing ratio is considered an attractive feature, but this would make device operation more complicated.
[008] It is an additional complicated factor that once the process of releasing the beverage is started, it cannot be undone without wasting material, for example the ingredients of the beverage that has already been released. Also, if the automatic device can only release the beverage with built-in disposables, this means that the cup used to release the prepared beverage is lost for further use. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[009] It is an objective of the present invention to provide a beverage preparation system that is controllable in a more intuitive way, thereby mitigating the risk of erroneous control operations. This objective is achieved by the system as claimed in claim 1. In the claims and in the description, the qualification "mobile" of a virtual button (SOFT-BUTTOM) is used to specify that the control unit is configured to determine whether a contact point by a physical object on the touch-sensitive panel coincides with the virtual knob, to detect whether said contact point moves along the composition control direction, and to update the position of the virtual knob according to said movement. The physical object forming the contact point is, for example, a stylus, or a user's finger operating the device.
[0010] This objective is further achieved by the system as claimed in claim 12. It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a beverage preparation method that is controllable in a more intuitive way, thereby mitigating the risk of erroneous control operations. This objective is achieved by the method as claimed in claim 20.
[0011] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a computer program product for controlling a beverage preparation system which when executed by a control unit of the beverage preparation system allows the user to control the system in a more efficient way. intuitive, thereby mitigating the risk of erroneous control operations. This objective is achieved by the computer program product as claimed in claim 21.
[0012] Additionally, a recording carrier according to claim 22 is provided comprising said computer program product.
[0013] A beverage preparation system according to the invention is provided with a preparation unit, for preparing a beverage, with a display panel defining a screen space, and having integrated therein a touch-sensitive panel with a control unit to control the priming unit with user guide taken from the touch panel and to provide visual feedback to the display panel. The touch sensitive panel is arranged to generate a position signal indicative for a pointed position. The control unit typically comprises a storage facility having stored therein beverage preparation control information for controlling the preparation unit. The beverage preparation information may comprise indications for amounts of ingredients to be used, temperature and pressure settings, etc. The control unit typically also comprises a display control unit for displaying via the display panel a visually observable reaction to designations provided by the user. The display control unit can comprise a hardware accelerator for dedicated graphics operations.
[0014] The control unit is operable in one or more of the operating modes. At least one of these modes is a tuning mode in which the user is allowed to tune a drink recipe. The drink recipe can be pre-selected, for example, according to a user profile and/or according to a time of day. In tuning mode, the control unit makes the display panel display a support with a filling corresponding to a drink recipe as well as a virtual button inside. The control unit is further configured to control a feature of the beverage to be prepared in accordance with the position of the at least one virtual button in said at least one control direction and to provide additional information to the user indicative of a configuration for said feature as controlled according to the position of the at least one virtual knob in said at least one control direction.
[0015] It is not necessary that all parts of the beverage preparation system are integrated in the housing. In one embodiment, the system comprises a portable first part comprising at least a touch-sensitive screen display and a second part, not necessarily portable, comprising at least the beverage preparation unit; The first portable part can be a properly programmed portable device, such as a mobile phone, TABLET or PDA.
[0016] The tuning mode allows the user to see in more detail which recipe will be prepared. In modalities, an escape functionality may be available allowing the user to escape tuning mode to select another drink recipe. In one embodiment, the at least one virtual button comprises a virtual button of which the at least one control direction comprises a first control direction, wherein the controlled characteristic is a relative contribution of an ingredient in the beverage according to the position of the virtual button in the first control direction and in which said additional information is an appearance of the filling of said support. The padding in the holder is adapted according to a position of the virtual button in said first control direction resulting from said user control. The first control direction is preferably the direction that appears to the user as the vertical direction of the support. Hence, typically this direction is substantially orthogonal to a line representing the infill surface on the support. Positioning the virtual knob inside the stand and adapting the pad to the position of the virtual knob gives the user a good understanding of how the knob should be used to control composition.
[0017] Several options are possible for adapting the filling to the position of the virtual knob.
[0018] According to an option, backing filler has a color that is weighted on average of a plurality of colors including at least a first indicative color for a first ingredient (e.g., a coffee or a coffee blend) and a second color indicative for a second ingredient (for example, milk or milk mixture), where in the applied weighing, the contribution of each color in the plurality of colors corresponds to the fraction of ingredients indicated by each said color, where the first color corresponds to the fraction of the first ingredient and the contribution of the second color corresponds to the fraction of the second ingredient. For example, a first ingredient could be coffee indicated by black and a second ingredient could be milk, indicated by white. As the movement of the virtual knob along with the first control direction causes an increase in the relative amount of the first ingredient, this can be visually indicated by a darker appearance of the filling, whereas if the movement of the virtual knob along with the first direction of control cause a decrease in the relative amount of the first ingredient, this may be visually indicated by a darker appearance of the filling. In this way, the user can easily perceive how the filling is adapted to a change in the position of the virtual button and from this perception, estimate the effect on the composition of the drink to be prepared, thus allowing the user to intuitively control the quantities of the ingredients.
[0019] According to another option, a support filling is displayed with a plurality of parts representing a plurality of ingredients and comprising at least a first part with a first appearance, for example, a first color or hatch and a second part with a second appearance, for example with a second color or hatch different from the first color or hatch, occupying respective fractions of said filling indicative for respective amounts of the first ingredient and the second ingredient of said plurality of ingredients in the beverage to be prepared. Also, this option allows the user to intuitively control the quantities of ingredients as the filling with different colored parts on the support can be easily perceived by the user and allows the user to estimate the effect on the composition of the drink to be prepared. Likewise, the presence of a number of more than two ingredients can be represented by that number of filling parts. The appearance of the filling is adapted by adapting a position of a boundary between the first and second part in said first control direction. Preferably, the position of the boundary between the first and second part of the filling is adapted to match the position of the virtual button. This appears to the user as if the boundary between the first and second part follows the movement of the first virtual button, so that the user not only perceives the effect of moving the virtual button, but the user can also perceive the effect of a movement. This additionally facilitates user control.
[0020] In one embodiment, the at least one virtual button comprises a virtual button of which the at least one control direction comprises a second control direction, wherein the characteristic is controlled by the position of the at least one virtual button in the second direction of control is an intensity of said ingredient and where the additional information is a row of icons from which a number is highlighted according to the intensity controlled with a virtual button.
[0021] The virtual button with the second control direction can be integral with the virtual button having the first control direction, as long as these control directions do not coincide. In this case, the second control direction is preferably transverse to the first control direction. The combination of control options assigned to a virtual button extends the user's options to adjust the characteristics of the drink to be brewed. The fact that the same virtual knob is used for this purpose but that the optional additional movement is in a transverse direction can be used to clarify that it is associated with the same ingredient but another characteristic of it.
[0022] In one embodiment, the at least one virtual button comprises a virtual button that the at least one control direction comprises a third control direction. There, the position in the third control direction determines the amount of drink to be brewed. A level at which the support is filled is preferably adapted to match the position of the additional virtual button. This allows the user to predict the effect of a virtual knob movement in the third control direction. Preferably, a change in filling of a level does not change the specified composition for the beverage being prepared. Consequently, in the embodiment where the filler of the support is exhibited with mutually different appearance parts the ratio between the fractions representing the contribution of the ingredients is preferably kept constant.
[0023] In one embodiment, the at least one virtual button comprises a virtual button of which the at least one control direction comprises a fourth control direction wherein a position of the virtual button in said fourth control direction determines a composition of a ingredient and where the additional information is a graphical representation of said composition.
[0024] In one embodiment, the at least one virtual button comprises a virtual button of which the at least one control direction comprises a fifth control direction wherein a position of the virtual button in said fifth control direction determines a beverage temperature to be prepared, and where the additional information is a graphical representation of the temperature. As mentioned above, a single virtual button can be associated with more than one control direction as long as these control directions do not match. Preferably, in this case, associated control directions are mutually transversal.
[0025] For example, the virtual button having the third control direction may also have the fifth control direction. For each additional ingredient in the beverage to be prepared, an additional virtual button can be provided. Note that to control the ratio of N ingredients in the beverage, a total number of N-1 buttons is sufficient, so that one button remains to control the total amount of beverage to be prepared.
[0026] Image data corresponding to the selected recipe can be supplemented with textual data describing the recipe. If the user changes the recipe substantially through the use of additional control options in the tuning mode, this textual information can be erased. This can be the case if the user sets one or more characteristics of the drink to be prepared with a value that deviates by more than a predetermined quantity (for example, more than 10%) from the reference value.
[0027] In one embodiment, the beverage preparation system has a selection mode prior to the tuning mode. In selection mode, the user is able to select a recipe, which recipe can be tuned in tuning mode before being used to prepare the drink. In selection mode, the user can, for example, select the recipe from a menu, such as a hierarchically organized menu. Various graphical user interfaces allowing the selection of a recipe are described in WO2011/046428 and WO20114/046429 by the same applicant. Added modalities including new selection mode implementations are described below.
[0028] In an embodiment of the beverage preparation system according to the present invention, beverage preparation control information is stored as a sequence of selectable beverage recipes. In this mode, the potential operational mode configuration includes a selection mode M1 in which the control unit is configured to map image data corresponding to respective beverage recipes of said sequence into respective regions in a recipe selection zone of the panel display in a predetermined order at mapping positions along the mapping direction of said recipe selection zone, detecting whether a movement of a physical object over or near the touch-sensitive display panel along the mapping direction occurs, Upon detection of such movement, apply the corresponding change in the recipe image mapping position, to allow the user to select a beverage recipe from the beverage recipes displayed by its corresponding recipe image in the recipe selection zone.
[0029] The recipe selection zone is typically an elongated zone, so that a plurality of recipes can be represented by their recipe image. In this case, the mapping direction is typically an elongated zone length direction. The default order in which recipe images are displayed is, for example, the order in which recipes occur in the stored sequence. Images of recipes that could be mapped to regions at mapping positions outside the recipe selection zone are not displayed. When the motion detection module detects a physical object movement along with the recipe selection zone mapping direction, it causes the mapping module to apply a corresponding change in the mapping position of the recipe images. The user is allowed to select a drink recipe from the drink recipes presented by its corresponding recipe image in the recipe selection zone.
[0030] The mapping of image data for beverages is user controllable by making a swipe motion along the mapping direction, eg a length direction if the recipe selection zone is an elongated zone. Upon detection of such movement, the control unit causes a corresponding change in the mapping position of the recipe images. Along with recipe images in the sequence to which the mapping position is moved, the recipe selection zone becomes visible, while the recipe images in the sequence to which the mapping position is moved outside the selection zone of revenue are hidden. Consequently, in case a large recipe sequence is available for selection, a pre-selection of it can be shown in more detail as a subsequence in the recipe selection zone. With this, the user has a clearer impression of the drink that could be prepared after selecting what would be the case if the entire sequence were visualized. Furthermore, the ability to recognize a sliding motion and consequently adapt the mapping position allows the user to easily and intuitively control which part of the sequence is visualized. The mapping position can be adapted in several ways. In one modality, the mapping position takes place in the form of steps. This has the effect that with each sliding movement, a next subsequence of the sequence is displayed in the recipe selection zone.
[0031] Alternatively, the mapping position can be gradually updated according to user input. This has the effect that every time all recipe images change in the recipe selection zone mapping direction, at one end a recipe image changes from the recipe selection zone and at the other end a recipe image switches to the recipe selection zone. The shift movement can be visualized in a stepwise manner or by smooth movement of the recipe images in the direction in which the slip takes place. The sequence of drink recipes can be arranged as a finite sequence. In that case, the corresponding sequence of recipe images can be moved in the length direction of the elongated zone until the beginning or end of the same is reached. This has the advantage that the user can easily determine the range of possible options. Alternatively, the sequence of recipe images can be arranged as a cyclic sequence. In this case, the corresponding sequence of visual representations can be moved without limit, where the last recipe image in the sequence is followed by the first recipe image. This has the advantage that the user can always slide in the same direction to reach the desired recipe.
[0032] In one embodiment, the control unit has a transient operating mode preceding the first operating mode in which a series of recipe images slides into the elongated zone at one end of the other. Subsequently, the beverage preparation system assumes the first operational mode when the sliding movement is completed. This transient operating mode helps make the user aware that more drink recipes may be available and that the user can view them by swiping.
[0033] In one embodiment, the sliding motion is accompanied by a highlight moving along a path alongside a series of corresponding image data in a direction opposite to the sliding motion. This additional movement in a direction opposite to the sliding movement further increases the user's awareness.
[0034] In one embodiment, the beverage preparation system the control unit is further configured to determine if a region in the recipe selection zone is selected, and to after such detection assume the tuning mode. Upon detection that a region is selected in the recipe selection zone when the control unit is in selection mode, the control unit assumes tuning mode, in which the beverage recipe corresponding to said region is selected and data of image corresponding to said drink recipe are displayed. Nevertheless, modalities are possible where the tuning mode is ignored or absent and the beverage preparation system starts preparing a beverage once the recipe is therefore selected. The user can select one of the drink recipes presented in the elongated zone, for example by selecting a display region in the recipe selection zone showing the corresponding recipe image. The control unit can determine that a display region is selected if the region is displayed for longer than a predetermined time, or if the user exerts pressure within said region. Alternatively, the region can be a predetermined region, for example, in the middle of the elongated zone, or a candidate region that is accentuated, for example, by highlighting and the user can indicate the selection by otherwise providing a confirmation, for example, through of pressing a confirmation button to recognize that the recipe represented by that image in the predetermined region or candidate region is selected.
[0035] In another embodiment, the control unit is configured to map an image of a three-dimensional body, the user being allowed to indicate a position on the mapped image, in which the beverage preparation system selection mode is configured to identify a region in the three-dimensional body from an indication of the pointed position and to select one or more drink recipes associated with said region.
[0036] The three-dimensional body is, for example, a sphere, for example, a globe. The corresponding selectable drinks can be drinks that are traditional for the said region, for example coffee recipes like Lungo, Expresso and Latto Machiato, when a position is indicated within the country Italy. Alternatively, selection can be based on the availability of certain ingredients in the user's designated region of origin. For example, Robusta coffee can be selected pointing to sub-Saharan African coffee or an Arab coffee can be selected pointing to the Arabian Peninsula. Alternatively, the match can be found in the physical circumstances of the targeted region. For example, indication by the user of one of the poles can correspond to the selection of chilled water.
[0037] Preferably, the three-dimensional body has a user-controllable orientation in which the control unit is configured to determine a movement of a contact point by a physical object on the touch panel and to provide a mapping in which the three-dimensional body is rotated around a geometric axis, whose rotation causes a mapped surface of the three-dimensional body to move in a direction corresponding to the direction of motion of the contact point.
[0038] Depending on the region on the globe indicated by the user, one or more selectable beverages may be available. If the indication exactly results in a selectable drink recipe, the user can subsequently tune this recipe in the tuning mode. If more than one recipe is available for the indicated position, the user may be able to select one of the available recipes, for example, using one of the other selection procedures referred to above. Instead of a sphere, another three-dimensional body can be used, for example a polyhedron. Thus, each face of the polyhedron can be a region representing a set of one or more selectable beverages.
[0039] It is not necessary for the tuning mode to be preceded by a selection. In other embodiments, the beverage preparation system can provide a predetermined selection that can be tuned to the desired specification. Again in other modalities, a default selection can be customized by the user based on a user profile. User profile can have user profile data for different time periods. The beverage preparation system may have facilities that recognize the user, for example, through facial recognition, fingerprint recognition or by performing an iris scan. Alternatively, the user can be identified with a badge, for example by RFID technology. Again in another embodiment, the user can control the beverage preparation device using a portable device, comprising user profile data. Based on recognition and a time-of-day determination, the beverage preparation system can provide a predetermined selection, which can be tuned to the desired specification. In one embodiment, the beverage preparation system may provide an escape functionality allowing the user to bypass the predetermined selection and select another beverage recipe, for example, using one of the modalities described above, for example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] These and other aspects are described in more detail with reference to the drawing.
[0041] In which: FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of an automatic system for preparing a beverage, FIG. 2 shows a practical configuration of automatic system components, FIG. 3 schematically shows a state diagram of the control unit of an embodiment of the system of FIG. 1 and 2, FIG. 4 schematically shows a user interface available in a standby mode of the control unit, FIG. 5 schematically shows a user interface available in an additional mode of the control unit, FIG. 5A schematically shows a mapping of information for a part of the display in said additional mode, FIG. 5B schematically shows an additional mapping of information for said part of the display in the same mode after user input is received, FIG. 6A schematically shows a user interface available in a first phase of yet an additional control unit mode, FIG. 6B schematically shows a user interface available in a second phase of yet such an additional mode of the control unit, FIG. 6C and 6D schematically show states of a user interface available in one operating mode of the control unit of another mode, FIG. 7 schematically shows a user interface available in again an additional mode of the control unit, FIG. 8 schematically shows a user interface available in an operational mode of a further modality of a beverage preparation system according to the present invention, FIG. 9 shows in more detail a control unit in an automatic system mode, FIG. 10 schematically shows an embodiment of a method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MODALITIES
[0042] In the detailed description below, several specific details are defined to provide a more complete understanding of the present invention. It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that these details are not essential to the present invention. In other examples, generally known methods, procedures and components are not described in detail, thus preventing further essential aspects of the invention from being veiled.
[0043] It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that the terms "first", "second", "third" in this description may be used to distinguish parts from one another, without thereby indicating any priority. Thus, a first element, component, area, field, module, etc., could also be called a second element, component, area, field, module, etc., without departing from the scope of protection of the present application.
[0044] In drawings, parts are not normally shown to scale. In some examples, parts are shown in a magnified representation for clarity.
[0045] Unless otherwise indicated, all terms have the meaning given to them by the person skilled in the art of the present invention. Furthermore, terms such as those defined in commonly used reference works and dictionaries are understood to be interpreted according to their meaning in the context of the relevant technical field in this case, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or unduly formal sense, unless which expressly stated otherwise. In the event of a difference in interpretation of a term, the interpretation given to it by the present application must be decisive.
[0046] Corresponding parts have mutually corresponding reference numerals. FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of an automatic system 1 for preparing a drink. The system 1 is provided with a preparation unit 6 with a display panel 3 having integrated into it a touch-sensitive panel 4 and a control unit. The control unit 5 is arranged to control the brewing unit with user guide obtained by the touch panel 4. The control unit is additionally arranged to provide visual feedback to the display panel 3. With this, the brewing unit 6 is configured to prepare a beverage in accordance with a formulation specified by a user. The control unit can additionally give an audio feedback through a speaker 8. The brewing unit 6 can prepare, for example, a plurality of beverages such as tea, coffee, chocolate milk and soup. In a practical modality, drinks can be provided with additions such as sugar, milk and aromas. If desired, also the temperature of the beverage to be poured can be set. In one embodiment, the brewing unit 6 is provided with inter alia holders 61a, 61b, 61c for storing various types of coffee, and holders 61d, 61e for other ingredients such as sugar and milk and possibly one or more flavors such as caramel , hazelnut or vanilla. Note that ingredients can be present in the supports as raw material, walnut on the other hand can be processed. For example, coffee can be present in the form of beans, ground beans or as a solution.
[0047] The shown embodiment is further provided with a heating unit 62, dosing valves 63a to 83e for dosing the ingredients from the respective holders 61a to 61e and beverage outlet 84.
[0048] After touching, touch panel 4 releases a position signal xp, xy, which is indicative of the position where display panel 3 was touched. Touch panel 4 can additionally provide a pressure signal pp indicative for a pressure with which a position indicated by xp, yp is touched. Alternatively or additionally, the user may be able to designate a position on the panel in a non-contact manner, for example by pointing to that position, or giving spoken commands. For this purpose, the control unit 5 receives a position signal xp, yp from the input means, and the control unit 5 controls the display panel with an image signal Sb. Control unit 5 controls the preparation unit with control signals Sc. Furthermore, the control unit 5 can receive control signals St from the preparation unit 6 which are indicative of a condition of the preparation unit. The condition signals St can indicate, for example, the degree of filling of the supports 61a, 61b, 61c, or the height of a temperature reached by the heating unit 62.
[0049] The beverage preparation system can have all its components integrated in a single housing, but this is not necessary. In one embodiment, the system comprises a portable first part 10 comprising at least a touch-sensitive screen display and a second part, not necessarily portable, comprising at least the beverage preparation unit; The second part in this case comprises a communication module 5a to allow wireless communication with the portable part, as shown schematically in FIG. 1. The first portable part can be a properly programmed portable device, such as a mobile phone, TABLET or PDA. In case the beverage preparation device 1 is controllable by a portable device, it is not necessary for the beverage preparation device to be provided with a display and an associated touch-sensitive panel as these facilities are already available in the portable device. 10. Also, part of controller 5 functions can be controlled by handheld device. Even so, it is advantageous if the beverage preparation device includes the touch screen display panel and all controller functions, so that the beverage preparation device can also be operated alone.
[0050] FIG. 2 shows a practical configuration of automatic device components. Parts thereof corresponding to those of FIG. 1 have the same reference. In the practical embodiment shown, the device has a housing 7 for the parts shown in FIG. 1. The housing 7 furthermore has a support 71 for supporting a cup 75. The cup 75 can be placed there, for example, by the user or by a placing mechanism.
[0051] FIG. 3 schematically shows a state diagram of the control unit 5 in an embodiment of the beverage preparation device 1. There, the operating mode M0 represents a standby mode in which the control unit 5 awaits input from a user. In this operational mode, a screen, for example as in FIG. 4, can be displayed providing various input modes available to the user to control the device. In this example, display 3 shows selectable tabs 331, 332, 333 on a right edge 33. A left edge 34 of the display may include a soft button 341 allowing a user to request information. Information can be made available by "pressing" this button or more easily merely pointing to the button 341. A background 360 image is shown, in which modalities can extend over the edges 33, 34 of the screen. The 360 background image can remain in other operating modes as well. In the absence of user input (indicated by the circular arc), the control unit remains in OS standby mode. Selecting one of the tabs 331, 332, 333 corresponds to the user input uip1, uip2, uip3 respectively, which causes a transition to modes M4, M1, M5 respectively. Once M0 standby mode is left, the home icon 342 can be presented in a permanent location on the display to allow a user to return to this mode at any time. The operational mode M1 resulting from transition after user input uip2 will now be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5, 5A and 5B. For clarity, M4, M0 modes will not be described further. In operating mode M1, the recipe image data for the respective beverage recipes, here R3 to R6 of the stored recipe sequence is mapped to screen space and displayed as recipe images, here IR3 to IR6, in respective regions 313 to 316 in an elongated zone 31 of the display panel 3 (see FIG. 5) at the mapping positions along the length direction of said elongated zone. The control unit 5 may have a mapping module 53 for this purpose as shown in FIG. 10. Recipe images IR5 to IR6 are arranged in a predetermined order, for example, the order in which recipes occur in the stored sequence. The mapping is illustrated schematically in FIG. 5A. There, R1 to RN are a sequence of recipes and their image data stored in memory 51, of which current recipes R3 to R6 are displayed in a zone 31. In this case, zone 31 is an elongated zone, more particularly a zone rectangular, and its length direction extends along the geometric x axis of the display 3. Alternatively, the elongated zone can have another shape, for example a sinuous shape. In this case, the length direction is preferably extends along the heart line of the sinuous shape. In the MM operating mode, the control unit 5 changes the mapping position of the recipe images after detecting a movement from an indicated position along the length direction of the elongated zone 31. A movement detected by the control unit 5 is indicated as a uip4 user input in the state diagram of FIG. 3. For example, if the user swipes in a left-to-right direction, this can have the effect that the recipe image mapping position and the associated selection fields of the associated recipes are also moved to the direct as shown schematically in FIG. 5B. There, one or more new drink recipes can be entered on the left side, while other drink recipes can disappear on the right side. For example, upon detection of this sliding motion, the R2, R3, R4, R5 subsequence of the recipes is now displayed as images IR2 to IR5 in the respective regions 312 to 315 and becomes selectable, so it appears that the image sequence has followed. the swipe movement of the user's finger. Several options are possible to control the mapping and to view the selection. The example illustrated in FIG. 5A, 5B represents a relatively fine-grained stepwise adaptation of the mapping. There, every time a new recipe, here R2, is represented by its image, here IR2 and the image, here IR6 for a recipe, here recipe R6 disappears. According to another option, the mapping module 53 provides for a relatively stepwise course adaptation of the mapping position. For example, when recipe images IR1, IR2, IR3 for recipes R1, R2, R3 are replaced with recipe images IR4, IR5, IR6 for recipes R4, R5, R6 after swiping left, etc. In a preferred embodiment, an adaptation of the mapping is visualized as a continuous movement, in which it appears as if a series of recipe images slide along the elongated zone 31 of the display 3, as if the images were attached to a carousel. In the mode shown, the IRi recipe images of the Ri recipes in the subsequence can be assigned a position x(i) = Offs + i*W. There, W is a width of the respective recipe images and Offs is a variable that can be substantially continuously varied, at least in steps substantially smaller than the width W, eg 10 times smaller. The position indicated by x(i) is for example the lower left corner of the images or another reference position.
[0052] The regions marked 313, 314, etc. for the IRS revenue images, IR4 preferably have a fixed size, but that is not mandatory. For example, some recipe images may be flagged a larger region than others. Size can also be dependent on the position of the recipe image within the stretched zone. For example, images at the middle of the elongated zone may be larger than images at the ends of the elongated zone. An indicator 321 may be present to indicate which beverage recipe Rn is currently selected. In the event that no beverage has yet been selected, this can be indicated by positioning the series of recipe images so that indicator 321 is somewhere between two subsequent recipe images, in the example of FIG. 5 between the IR4 and IR5 recipe images.

[0053] As mentioned above, it is not necessary for the position X(i) to be a position along a straight line, for example, parallel to the horizontal or vertical geometric axis of the screen. Alternatively, position X(i) can be a position along a curved path, eg a circle. An elongated zone along a curved path, for example a winding one, would have the advantage that a large number of beverage images can be presented within the elongated zone. The speed with which the beverage images move along the length direction of the elongated zone is voffs = dOffs/dt

[0054] The mapping module 53 of FIG. 10 may have a cropping sub-module that determines which recipe images could be mapped outside the stretched zone 31. This is superfluous if the stretched zone ends at the edges of the display. A movement induced at mapping position X(i) can have substantially the same speed as the speed detected by control unit 5, so the pointed recipe image appears to follow a user's finger when the latter is moving, but this is not necessary. Alternatively, voffs velocity can be a more complex function of detected velocity. Also, a value for VOAM can be selected from fixed values, for example a speed voffe=0 if no movement is detected and a fixed speed not zero vo&if movement is detected.
[0055] A suggestion of mass and friction can be given by applying a motion model. For example, if control unit 5 does not detect additional movement, the velocity vo& may decrease according to the following differential equation:

[0056] This has the effect that the sequence of recipe images displayed in the elongated zone gradually decreases if a movement is no longer induced by the user.
[0057] Additional refinements can be added. For example, the movement of the image sequence can be automatically stopped if the end of the sequence is reached, for example to prevent beverage items from disappearing at one end of the elongated zone, while at the other end no new items are introduced. For movement it can be preceded by a vibrant movement as if the recipe image sequence jumps on a ledge.
[0058] At any time, the user may be able to select a drink recipe by user input uip5 of the recipes represented by their corresponding recipe images, for example by selecting a display region in the elongated zone 31 showing the corresponding recipe image . A region can be considered selected if the region is indicated for longer than a predetermined time, or if the user exerts pressure within that region. Alternatively, the region can be a predetermined region, for example, in the middle of the elongated zone, or a candidate region that is accentuated, for example, by highlighting and the user can indicate the selection by otherwise providing a confirmation, for example, through of pressing a confirmation button.
[0059] After selection of user input uip5, the control unit assumes a second operating mode M2. In one mode, after assuming the second operating mode M2, the preparation unit 6 of the beverage preparation device 1 can be controlled to start preparing the beverage corresponding to the selected recipe. In this case, an additional nip6 confirmation is required before the preparation is started. The user is additionally allowed to tune the recipe providing additional uip input 7. As an example, the transition to M2 mode is visualized by the screen illustrated in FIG. 6A. In mode, the recipe image, in this example IR4 for the selected subsequence drink recipe R4 is displayed in a zone 32 separate from the elongated zone 31. The user can now see in more detail which recipe will be prepared and can if required , still selecting another beverage recipe from the recipe subsequence displayed in the elongated zone 31. In one mode, the beverage recipe specifies at least a first and a second ingredient and in the second operating mode M2 a support 322 for a beverage is presented full for a first fraction 3221 with a first indicative color for the first ingredient (eg coffee blend) and a second fraction 3222 with a second indicative color for the second ingredient (eg milk). This very clearly informs the user about the drink that is to be brewed. The filling fractions can correspond to the fractions in which the respective ingredients will be present in the beverage to be prepared.
[0060] In addition to textual information, here the description "latte" is presented indicative of the selected recipe in an information box 323. In the mode shown in FIG 6B, the user is also provided with additional control options to adjust the recipe before of preparation being started. In the present embodiment, the screen illustrated in FIG. 6B automatically appears after the screen according to FIG. 6A, for example, in a time period of 0.5 to 1 sec. The transition to the screen of FIG. 6B can take place through deletion in the additional objects shown in FIG. 6B. Alternatively, the intermediate screen as shown in FIG. 6A can be skipped. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, a first virtual button 324 is provided in the second operating mode M2 which is at least movable in a direction corresponding to the vertical direction of the support (y direction) and additionally also denoted as the first control direction. There, the vertical position determines the contribution of the first ingredient in the beverage to be prepared. The motion detection module 52 is capable of detecting that a display region in which the soft button 324 is displayed on the screen is pointed and that the pointed position moves from said display region in a vertical direction. Upon detection of the vertical movement, the image of said virtual button 324 is correspondingly shifted in accordance with said vertical movement and the contribution of the first ingredient in the beverage to be prepared is correspondingly adapted. With this, the user can easily control the composition of the drink to be prepared. User control of the composition is even more intuitive if a boundary between regions in support 322 filled with the first and second color 3221, 3222 follows the vertical movement of the first virtual button 324.
[0061] In an embodiment, not shown here, the first virtual knob 324 may be alternatively or additionally movable in an x direction (also denoted as second control direction) transverse to the vertical direction of support 322 wherein the transverse position determines a characteristic of said first ingredient. A combination of control options assigned to a virtual button extends the user's options to adjust the characteristics of the drink to be brewed. The fact that the optional additional movement is transverse to the vertical movement, but that the same virtual button is used for this purpose makes it clear that it is associated with the same ingredient, but another characteristic of it. A characteristic that can be controlled in this way can be, for example, a composition of said first ingredient, for example, in a coffee blend. Thus, an extreme left position may indicate pure coffee of a first type, an extreme right position may indicate pure coffee of a second type and a position between these extremes may indicate a blend of these coffees in a ratio corresponding to the position.
[0062] Another feature that can be controllable is an intensity. The expression intensify is used to indicate the degree of roasting of a coffee, its body and its bitterness. Also, this feature can be symbolically represented by a row 325 of grains, where the number of highlighted grains indicates the intensity. In the embodiment shown, a second virtual button 326 is provided which is at least movable in a direction corresponding to the horizontal direction of the support 322. In this way, the force of the coffee can be controlled. This feature is also symbolically represented by a row 325 of grains, where the number of grains highlighted indicates the strength currently set.
[0063] In an embodiment not shown here, the second virtual button 326 may be additionally or alternatively movable in a direction corresponding to the vertical direction of the support 322 and wherein the vertical position determines the amount of beverage to be prepared. This function can be visualized by adapting the filling level of the displayed support 322 in accordance with the vertical movement of the second virtual knob 326. Preferably, there the ratio between the fractions representing the contribution of the ingredients is kept constant. In the mode shown, the possible directions of movement of the software buttons 324, 326 are indicated by arrows on them. In this case, the arrow on the first virtual button 324 indicates that this virtual button 324 is movable in a vertical direction. The arrow on the second soft button 326 indicates that the last one is movable in a vertical direction. In another embodiment, however, the first virtual button 326 may likewise be additionally movable in an x direction (fourth control direction) transverse to the vertical y direction of support 322. In this case, the transverse position may determine a characteristic of the second ingredient, for example, a ratio of soy milk and cow's milk or a mixture of coffees. Alternatively, the transverse position of the second virtual knob 326 can determine an overall characteristic of the beverage to be prepared, for example, the temperature.
[0064] For each additional ingredient in the beverage to be prepared, an additional virtual button can be provided. Note that to control the ratio of N ingredients in the beverage, a total number of N-1 buttons is sufficient, so that one button remains to control the total amount of beverage to be prepared.
[0065] As noted above, an information box 323 can provide textual data describing the selected recipe. If the user changes the recipe substantially through the use of additional control options in the second operating mode M2, this textual information can be erased. This can be the case if the user sets one or more characteristics of the drink to be prepared with a value that deviates by more than a predetermined quantity (for example, more than 10%) from the reference value.
[0066] In this embodiment, an additional information box 327 is present that indicates the degree of filling of the support 322. As an example, the information box 327 shows a first, a second and a third cup provided with the characters "S ", "M" and "L" which represent a small, medium and large glass respectively. One of these is highlighted to indicate the selection currently made. This selection can be made by the vertical position of the second virtual button 326, but alternatively, or additionally by pointing to one of the cups in the information box 327.
[0067] An additional information box 328 is presented in this mode allowing the user to select between a single cup or a double cup to be filled, pointing within the information box to the field comprising the number 1 and the single cup or to the field comprising the number 2 and the double cup.
[0068] Optionally, select buttons 343 may be present to select one from a set of predetermined mixes.
[0069] FIG. 6C and D show an alternative modality. Parts thereof corresponding to those of FIG. 6B have the same reference number. As an example, the drink selected in this case is "Capuccino". However, the example is equally applicable to other types of beverages.
[0070] In this alternative embodiment of beverage preparation device, the holder fill 3220 has a color in tuning mode M2 that is a weighted average of at least a first color indicative of a first ingredient and a second color indicative of a second ingredient. In the applied weighing, the contribution of the first color corresponds to the fraction of the first ingredient and the contribution of the second color corresponds to the fraction of the second ingredient. As an example, the beverage has coffee as a first formed ingredient (represented by the black color) and milk (represented by the white color) as a second ingredient. As in the previous modality, the relative amounts of ingredients in the beverage to be prepared correspond to the composition control position (y) of the knob 324. However, in this modality, the appearance of the filling is adapted so that in the applied weighing, the contribution of the colors is adapted to the relative amounts of the ingredients corresponding to the composition control position (y). By way of example, FIG. 6C shows a knob position control position 324 in which the first and second ingredients are present in approximately equal amounts. To indicate this, the padding 3220 of the support is a darker shade of gray. In the example shown in FIG. 6D, the user has moved virtual knob 324 to a position corresponding to a composition having a relatively low amount of the first ingredient (coffee) and a relatively large amount of the second ingredient (milk). This change in composition is indicated by the support fill 3220 display with a lighter shade of gray.
[0071] Also in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6C and "D, an additional virtual knob 326 can be provided which is movable in a y direction to control a beverage quantity and in an x direction transverse to the y quantity control direction. A position of the additional virtual knob 326 in the transverse direction determines a global characteristic of the drink to be brewed. The transverse position x of the virtual knob 326 can, for example, determine a temperature of the drink to be brewed. This can be visualized by displaying more or less steam above the support according to the beverage temperature. Alternatively, this can be visualized by displaying the filling of a holder with a color indicative of the beverage temperature, for example, by a mixture of the blue and red colors in a ratio corresponding to the beverage temperature. Depending on which virtual button 324 or 326 was last used, the fill 3220 of the holder 320 can be used to visualize the temperature or composition of the beverage.
[0072] The transverse position x of the additional virtual knob 326 can alternatively determine a property of the second ingredient. For example, if the second ingredient is milk, the transverse position x can determine a ratio of constituents in said milk, for example a ratio of soy milk to cow's milk.
[0073] The modality described with reference to FIG. 6B may likewise have a second virtual knob 326 which is further movable in the x transverse direction and which may be used to determine an overall characteristic of the beverage to be prepared or a property of the second ingredient.
[0074] In the graphical user interface shown in FIG. 6B, 6C, 6D, the user can, at any time, start the preparation of the drink according to the selected recipe, here R4, and additionally adjusted with the controls available in the M2 operating mode, by pressing the virtual OK button with the number of reference 329. After this, the user input, denoted with uip6 in FIG. 3, the control unit enters M3 mode. Alternatively or additionally the physical button can be provided to start the preparation.
[0075] In the modalities, the user can be allowed to go back to the M1 operating mode by selecting another drink recipe from the elongated region 31.
[0076] In operating mode M3, the process control unit 56 controls the beverage preparation unit 6 so that it prepares the beverage specified by the user. This M3 operating mode can be separately visualized to the user in various ways, for example by displaying a stir gauge 355 on screen 3 as illustrated in FIG. 7. Additionally or alternatively, an animation may be shown in which the holder 352 shown on the display is gradually drained, preferably over a period of time corresponding to the period of time used to prepare the drink, to suggest to the user that the contents of the support on fabric flow into the physical support being filled. Alternatively, an animation may be shown in which the holder 352 displayed on screen 3 is gradually filled, again preferably over a period of time corresponding to the period of time used to prepare the drink. In operating mode M3, display 3 can alternatively or additionally show an indicative text message for the preparation process. For example, the message "Your drink is being brewed..." in message box 354. The user can be allowed to interrupt the brewing process via the stop button 359 which replaces the OK button in the previous operating mode. Once preparation is complete, the control unit assumes standby operating mode M0.
[0077] In one mode, the control unit 5 has a time-out function for a transition to a sleep mode or MX off mode, if no user interaction has taken place for an extended period of time. As indicated above, additional operating modes M4, M5, may provide other forms of user interaction, or may support maintenance purposes, for example.
[0078] A still different embodiment of a beverage preparation device according to the present invention is now described with reference to FIG. 8. In this mode, the control unit 5 is configured to map an image of a three-dimensional body 30 and the user is able to indicate a position of the mapped image. In selection mode M1, the beverage preparation system is configured to identify a region in the three-dimensional body from the pointed position indication and to select one or more beverage recipes associated with said region. In this case, the three-dimensional body 30 is a globe. Drink recipes associated with a region can be recipes for drinks that are traditional for that region. Regions are, for example, countries. One or more associated drink recipes may be traditional recipes for that country. The country Italy can, for example, be associated with coffee recipes such as Lungo, Espresso, and Latte Maechiato. Alternatively, regions can be associated with beverages that can be prepared from the ingredient originating from these regions. For example, Robusta coffee can be selected pointing to sub-Saharan African coffee or an Arab coffee can be selected pointing to the Arabian Peninsula. Alternatively, the match is in the physical circumstances of the targeted region. For example, indication by the user of one of the poles can correspond to the selection of chilled water. As an example, in situation 91 the user points to India. Upon detection that this country is indicated, control unit 5 provides a list of the most popular drinks in this country and allows the user to select one of them. Selectable beverages provided in this way may, for example, be presented with the graphical user interface described with reference to FIG. 6, 6A and 6B. However, alternatives are possible. For example, selectable drinks can be presented in a numbered list and the user can enter a number to select the drink. In situation 92, the user points to the North Pole. This region has only one corresponding selectable drink, here ice water, so no further selection is needed, and the control unit can immediately proceed to tuning mode M2, or even brewing mode M3.
[0079] Globe 30 has a user-controllable orientation in which the control unit is configured to determine a movement of a contact point by a physical object on the touch panel 4 and to provide a mapping where the three-dimensional body is rotated about a geometric axis, the rotation of which causes a mapped surface of the three-dimensional body 30 to move in a direction corresponding to the direction of motion of the contact point. For example, if a movement in the x direction is determined, control unit 5 will apply a rotation around the geometric axis through the poles, so that the mapped surface of the globe also moves in the x direction.
[0080] In another embodiment, the globe may have a fixed orientation, or the globe may rotate continuously.
[0081] FIG. 9 shows in more detail a control unit in an embodiment of the invention. There, the control unit comprises a storage facility 51 having stored therein a sequence of selectable beverage recipes as well as corresponding image data for visually representing these beverage recipes. The recipes specify the composition required and the form of preparation for each selection. Recipes can, for example, be provided for Lungo, Espresso, Macchiato, Cappuccino, Latte, Cafe au lait and Wiener melange. Characteristic image data can be any image data allowing the user to choose between various recipes. Even a brief description can be used to present the recipes, for example the conventional names used for these drinks. In another embodiment, the storage facility stores a reference table 511. The reference table 511 specifies for each region one or more beverage recipes associated with it. Drink recipes associated with a region are, for example, recipes for traditional drinks, or drinks that can be prepared with ingredients available in the region.
[0082] The control unit 5 further comprises a mapping module 53 which is arranged to map image data to screen space. Image data is, for example, image data corresponding to respective drink recipes in a list of drink recipes. Alternatively, image data to be mapped can be a three-dimensional object. The mapping module 53 may comprise a coordinate transformation facility 531, for example, in the form of dedicated hardware for applying a coordinate transformation from model coordinates to screen coordinates. The control unit 5 may, for example, have a dedicated transformation facility 531 for mapping an image of a three-dimensional object. Furthermore, the control unit 5 comprises a display control unit 54 for controlling the display panel 3.
[0083] The control unit 5 further comprises a motion detection module 52 for detecting a movement from a position indicated, for example, by a sliding movement of the user's finger. In one embodiment, the touch-sensitive panel 4 may be required to be touched. In another modality, it may be sufficient for the user's finger to move close enough to the surface of the touch panel 4.
[0084] The control unit further comprises an identification module 55 to determine whether a region on the screen is selected and to identify an object that corresponds to this region, for example, using a reference table that associates the screen coordinates of a position pointed to with an index in an additional reference table with a list of recipes. The identification module 55 can apply an inverse coordinate transformation to account for a coordinate transformation applied to the image data.
[0085] The control unit further comprises a process control module 56 for controlling the beverage preparation process with control signals Sc and using status information received from the preparation unit 6.
[0086] An embodiment of a method according to the invention for preparing a beverage is shown schematically in FIG. 10.
[0087] According to the first step S1 shown in FIG. 10a, the beverage preparation system is provided. The beverage preparation system can be provided as a single beverage preparation device 1, but it may alternatively be provided as a beverage preparation device 1 in combination with a portable device 10. Such a portable device may comprise user profile information , such as preferred beverage preparation device settings for each hour of the day. The beverage preparation device 1 (for example as illustrated in FIG. 1, 2, and 3) to be provided has a preparation unit 6 for preparing a beverage, a display panel 3 defining a screen space and integrated with it is a touch-sensitive panel 4. The beverage preparation device 1 additionally has a control unit 5 for controlling the preparation unit with user guide obtained from the touch-sensitive panel 4 and for providing visual feedback to the display panel. display 3. Touch panel 4 is arranged to generate a position signal xp, up indicative of a pointed position and can additionally provide a pressure signal pp, indicative of a pressure exerted on position xp, yp.
[0088] The method of FIG. 10 further comprises a step S2, information about selectable beverage recipes is stored. The beverage recipe information can, for example, be stored as a sequence of selectable beverage recipes as well as corresponding image data to visually represent these beverage recipes is stored, i.e. kept in a storage space. For example, beverage recipes R1,...Rn and image data are associated in a memory 51, as shown in FIG. 3 and 6A, 6B which can be retrieved from other storage and can, for example, be provided as embedded data in a program. Alternatively or additionally, the beverage recipes R1, ... Rn and the corresponding image data can be provided by the users of the device I, In 2 in another embodiment, the beverage recipe information can be stored in a reference table 511 which associates respective regions on a surface of a three-dimensional body with one or more recipes from which a selection can be made.
[0089] In a third step S3, image data is mapped to the screen space to view the selections available to the user. In one embodiment, respective image data for each recipe is mapped to screen space and displayed as recipe images in respective display regions in a typically elongated recipe selection zone of the display panel at mapping positions arranged according to a length direction of the recipe selection zone in a predetermined order, e.g. corresponding to the order of the beverage recipes in sequence, e.g. as shown in FIG. 6, 6A and 6B. In another embodiment, the three-dimensional body is mapped to screen space as shown in FIG. 8. In it, a three-dimensional body has regions on its surface that are associated with the respective settings of one or more x1 recipes so that other modalities are possible where the image data is a list of recipe names.
[0090] In step S4, it is detected whether a drink recipe is selected, for example by pointing to a display region within the elongated zone comprising the recipe image for that recipe. If this is the case (Y), the flow of control continues with step S6, otherwise (N), the flow of control continues with step S5. The selection could alternatively be an indication of a region on a three-dimensional body, possibly in combination with a second selection process, eg selection from a menu.
[0091] In step S5, whether a movement of a physical object or close to the touch-sensitive panel is detected is detected. For example, it is detected at step S5 whether a movement occurs in the length direction of the elongated zone 31 in the graphical user interface of FIG. 5. If said motion occurs, the control flow continues with step S3 after adapting in step S6 the parameters for mapping in step S3 changing the mapping position of the recipe images according to the detected motion. An example of the same is illustrated in FIG. 6A and 6B illustrating a shift in mapping position caused by slipping to the right. As a result, the recipe image sequence also moves to the right, where the recipe images on one end, here on the right, disappear from the stretched zone, and on the other end, here on the left, appear. Alternatively, in the mode having the user interface shown in FIG. 8, detecting a physical object on or near the touch-sensitive display panel has the effect that a mapping is provided in which the three-dimensional body is rotated around a geometric axis, in which rotation causes a mapped surface of the three-dimensional body move in a direction corresponding to the direction of movement of the contact point.
[0092] If it is detected at step S4 that a beverage recipe, for example, R4, has been selected, the user may be able, at step S7, to provide additional input, for example, to twist the beverage recipe before being ready. This option is further illustrated with reference to FIG. 6A-6D. More particularly, in this step the display panel displays a support 322 with a filling 3220 corresponding to a drink recipe and with at least one virtual button 324 therein. The at least one virtual button is mobile. This allows the user to control a characteristic of a drink to be prepared according to a position of the virtual knob in a control direction of the same. The user is provided with additional information indicative of a configuration for the feature that is controlled in this way. By way of example, the following optional features may be available in step S7.
[0093] A virtual button is movable in a first control direction to control a relative contribution of an ingredient in the beverage and the additional information is an appearance of the filling of said holder.
[0094] A virtual knob is movable in a second control direction to control an intensity of an ingredient and the additional information is a row of icons from which a number is highlighted according to the intensity controlled with the virtual knob.
[0095] A virtual button is movable in a third control direction to control the amount of drink to be prepared, and in which the additional information is a level to which the support is filled.
[0096] A virtual knob is movable in a fourth control direction to determine a composition of an ingredient and the additional information is a graphical representation of the composition.
[0097] A virtual knob is movable in a fifth control direction to control a beverage temperature and the additional information is a graphical representation of the temperature.
[0098] A virtual knob can control one or more characteristics, provided that the control directions with characteristics controlled by the virtual knob are mutually different, preferably transverse to each other. Preferably, the features controlled by the same virtual button are associated with each other. For example, the same virtual button can be used to control the amount and temperature of the drink. In this case, the characteristics are associated with each other as they both relate to the drink in general. For example, the same virtual knob can be used to control a relative contribution of an ingredient in the beverage and an ingredient strength. In this case, the characteristics are associated with each other as they both relate to a particular ingredient in the beverage.
[0099] Subsequent to step S7 or directly after step S4, the beverage is prepared in step S8 according to the beverage recipe and if applicable according to said additional user input. The method of preparation can be visualized in a number of ways, as described with reference to FIG. 7.
[00100] According to an aspect of the invention, a computer program is provided that performs steps S3 to S7 of the method. The program can be stored on a recording carrier, for example a hard disk, an optical disk or a flash memory, and can be executed by the controller 5 of the device.
[00101] An alternatively dedicated hardware can be provided that controls part or all of the device.
[00102] An at least partially programmable implementation of the control unit has the advantage that the associated software can be easily replaced, for example, to improve user interaction. Replacement software can be uploaded, for example, over the internet. On the other hand, fast and efficient rendering of visual information can be achieved with dedicated hardware in the form of a graphics accelerator.
[00103] Although the present invention has been shown in detail based on the examples and described in the drawings and the foregoing description, the invention is not limited to these examples. Other variations of the described exemplary embodiments can be understood and used based on the description, drawings and claims by the person skilled in the art in carrying out the claimed invention. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps. The indefinite article "a/an" does not exclude the plurality A single processor or unit can in practice perform functions of different elements recited in the claims. The mere fact that some features are mentioned in mutually different claims does not exclude the possibility of a favorable combination of these features. Thus, for example, it is conceivable that different control unit modalities are used on the one and the same device, as desired. Reference numbers in the claims are understood to not limit the scope of protection of the claims.

权利要求:
Claims (19)
[0001]
1. Beverage preparation system (1) with a preparation unit (6) for preparing a beverage, with a display panel (3) defining a screen space, and having integrated thereto a touch-sensitive panel (4) and with a control unit (5) to control the brewing unit with a user guide taken from the touch-sensitive panel (4) and to provide visual feedback to the display panel (3), the touch-sensitive panel (4 ) being arranged to generate a position signal (xp, yp) indicative for a position pointed to, the control unit (5) being operable within a set of potential operating modes, comprising a tuning mode (M2) in that the user is able to tune a drink recipe, in which the tuning mode (M2) of the control unit causes the display panel to display a holder (322) with a filling (3220) corresponding to a drink recipe as well as with one or more virtual buttons inside, the one or more buttons Virtual es comprising at least one virtual button (324), which is movable in a first control direction (y), characterized by the fact that: the control unit is configured to control a relative contribution of an ingredient in the beverage to be prepared , and thereby control a beverage composition, according to the position of the at least one virtual button in the first control direction and to provide additional information, in the form of an appearance of the support filling, to the user, indicative of a setting for controlled composition according to the position of the at least one virtual button in the first control direction; wherein in tuning mode (M2), the pad filling is displayed with a plurality of representative parts for a plurality of ingredients and comprising at least a first part (3221) with a first appearance and a second part (3222) with a second appearance occupying respective fractions of said filling indicative for respective amounts of a first ingredient and a second ingredient of said plurality of ingredients in the beverage to be prepared and wherein the appearance of the filling is adapted by adapting a position of a threshold between the first and second part in the first control direction.
[0002]
2. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the position of the boundary between the first (3221) and second part (3222) of the filling (3220) is adapted to coincide with the position of the at least one virtual button (324).
[0003]
3. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the one of one or more virtual buttons comprises a virtual button with a second control direction, in which the characteristic is controlled by the position in the second control direction of the virtual knob (324) with the second control direction is an intensity of said ingredient and where the additional information is a row of icons from which a number is highlighted according to the intensity controlled with the virtual button with second control direction.
[0004]
4. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the one or more virtual buttons comprises a virtual button with a third control direction in which a position in the third direction of virtual button control with the third control direction determines the amount of drink to be brewed, and at which additional information is a level at which the support (322) is filled.
[0005]
5. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that a level at which the support (322) is filled is adapted to match the position in the third control direction of the virtual button (326 ) with the third control direction.
[0006]
6. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that in the tuning mode (M2) a support filling (322) is displayed with a plurality of representative parts of a plurality of ingredients and comprising at least a first part (3221) having a first appearance and a second part (3222) having a second appearance occupying respective fractions of said filling indicative of respective amounts of the first ingredient and the second ingredient in the beverage to be prepared and wherein after adjusting the level, the ratio between the fractions representing the contribution of the ingredients is kept constant.
[0007]
7. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the one or more virtual buttons comprises a virtual button (326) with a fourth control direction (x) in which a position in the fourth control direction of the virtual knob with the fourth control direction determines a composition of an ingredient and where the additional information is a graphical representation of said composition.
[0008]
8. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the one or more virtual buttons comprises a virtual button (326) with a fifth control direction (x) in which a position in the fifth control direction of the virtual knob (326) with the fifth control direction determines a temperature of the beverage to be brewed, and where the additional information is a graphical representation of the temperature.
[0009]
9. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the set of potential operating modes, at least including a selection mode (M1), in which the user is able to select a recipe for a beverage to be prepared, wherein the beverage preparation control information is stored as a sequence of selectable beverage recipes, wherein the control unit (5) is configured to:- map image data corresponding to respective beverage recipes of said sequence in respective regions in a recipe selection zone (31) of the display panel (3) in a predetermined order at mapping positions along the mapping direction (x) of said recipe selection zone ,- detect whether a movement of a physical object on or near the touch-sensitive display panel along the mapping direction occurs,- after detecting such movement, apply the corresponding change in the mapping position of recipe images,- to allow the user to select a drink recipe from the drink recipes presented by its corresponding recipe image in the recipe selection zone.
[0010]
10. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that the set of potential operating modes includes a transient operating mode (M01) preceding the first operating mode (M1) in which the subsequence of Beverage recipes is shown as a series of their corresponding image data that slides into the recipe selection zone (31), the beverage preparation system (1) assuming the first operational mode (M1) after completion of the slide movement .
[0011]
11. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the sliding movement is accompanied by a highlight moving along a path alongside a series of corresponding image data in a direction opposite to the sliding movement.
[0012]
12. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 10 or 11, characterized in that the control unit (5) is additionally configured to determine whether a region in the recipe selection zone is selected, and to after such detection assume tuning mode (M2), in which the beverage recipe corresponding to said region is selected and image data corresponding to said beverage recipe is displayed.
[0013]
13. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that the image data corresponding to the selected beverage recipe is displayed in a separate zone from the recipe selection zone.
[0014]
14. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the set of allowed operating modes additionally includes a selection mode (M1) in which the user is allowed to select a recipe for a drink to be prepared, in which the control unit (5) is configured to map an image of a three-dimensional body, the user being able to indicate a position on the mapped image, in which selection mode (M1) the system The beverage preparation tool (1) is configured to identify a region in the three-dimensional body from the indicated position indication and to select one or more beverage recipes associated with the region.
[0015]
15. Beverage preparation system (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that the three-dimensional body has a user-controllable orientation in which the control unit is configured to determine a movement of a contact point by a physical object on the touch panel and to provide a mapping in which the three-dimensional body is rotated around a geometric axis, the rotation of which causes a mapped surface of the three-dimensional body to move in a direction corresponding to the direction of movement of the point of contact.
[0016]
16. Beverage preparation system (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the tuning mode (M2), textual information indicative of the selected beverage recipe is presented in an information zone (323), and wherein textual information is cleared when the user sets one or more recipe characteristics to be tuned to a value deviating more than a predetermined amount from a reference value for the recipe.
[0017]
17. Beverage preparation method, comprising the steps of: a) providing a beverage preparation system (1) with a preparation unit (6), for preparing a beverage, with a display panel (3) defining a space of screen, and having integrated to it a touch-sensitive panel (4) and with a control unit (5) to control the preparation unit with user guide taken from the touch-sensitive panel (4) and to provide visual feedback for the display panel (3), the touch sensitive panel (4) being arranged to generate a position signal indicative of a position pointed to, the method further comprising b) providing (S2) a recipe for a drink to be prepared, c ) subsequently, in a tuning mode (M2) allow the user to tune (S7) the recipe, together with this performing the following substeps: c1) display a support with a fill corresponding to the selected recipe as well as one or more virtual buttons in inside, the one or more virtu buttons further comprising at least one virtual button, which is movable in a first control direction, c2) allowing the user to move the at least one virtual button in the first control direction, determining whether a contact point by a physical object on the touch panel when touch matches the at least one virtual button, detecting whether the contact coincidence point moves along the first composition control direction, and updating the position of the at least one virtual button according to the movement, and c3) control a relative contribution of an ingredient in the beverage to be prepared and thereby control a beverage composition, according to a position of the at least one virtual button in the first control direction, and c4) provide additional information, in the form of an appearance of the support filling, indicative to the user of a configuration for the composition as controlled according to the position of the at least one virtual button in the first control direction; characterized by the fact that: in tuning mode (M2), the pad filling is displayed with a plurality of representative parts for a plurality of ingredients and comprising at least a first part (3221) with a first appearance and a second part (3222 ) with a second appearance occupying respective fractions of said filling indicative for respective amounts of a first ingredient and a second ingredient of said plurality of ingredients in the beverage to be prepared and wherein the appearance of the filling is adapted by adapting a position of a boundary between the first and second parts in the first control direction.
[0018]
18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it contains stored instructions which, when performed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as defined in claim 17.
[0019]
19. Beverage preparation system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that it comprises a beverage preparation device and a portable device (10) for controlling the beverage preparation device, in that the beverage preparation device at least comprises the beverage preparation unit (6) and the portable device (10) comprises at least the display and the touch-sensitive panel integrated thereto, wherein the beverage preparation device and the portable device further comprise an installation for wireless communication with each other.

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同族专利:

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公开号 | 公开日

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CA2919840A1|2015-02-05|

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AU2014296944A1|2016-02-25|

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DK3027098T3|2021-07-19|

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CN105530843A|2016-04-27|

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AU2014296944B2|2019-05-02|

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RU2016106394A|2017-08-30|

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JP6461147B2|2019-01-30|

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EP3027098A1|2016-06-08|

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RU2672432C2|2018-11-14|

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EP3027098B1|2021-04-28|

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MX2016001385A|2016-05-05|

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US10398251B2|2019-09-03|

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RU2016106394A3|2018-05-31|

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NZ717163A|2021-01-29|

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CA2919840C|2021-04-06|

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ES2880113T3|2021-11-23|

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WO2015016709A1|2015-02-05|

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BR112016001933A2|2017-09-05|

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US20160143474A1|2016-05-26|

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JP2016529975A|2016-09-29|

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KR102309546B1|2021-10-07|

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ZA201600720B|2017-08-30|

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NL2011234C2|2015-02-02|

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KR20160039271A|2016-04-08|

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法律状态:
2018-11-06| B06F| Objections, documents and/or translations needed after an examination request according [chapter 6.6 patent gazette]|

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2019-12-24| B06U| Preliminary requirement: requests with searches performed by other patent offices: procedure suspended [chapter 6.21 patent gazette]|

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2021-06-08| B09A| Decision: intention to grant [chapter 9.1 patent gazette]|

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2021-07-13| B350| Update of information on the portal [chapter 15.35 patent gazette]|

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2021-08-03| B16A| Patent or certificate of addition of invention granted [chapter 16.1 patent gazette]|Free format text: PRAZO DE VALIDADE: 20 (VINTE) ANOS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE 28/07/2014, OBSERVADAS AS CONDICOES LEGAIS. |

优先权:

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申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题

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NL2011234|2013-07-29|

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NL2011234A|NL2011234C2|2013-07-29|2013-07-29|Beverage preparation system and method for preparing a beverage.|

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PCT/NL2014/050524|WO2015016709A1|2013-07-29|2014-07-28|Beverage preparation system and method for preparing a beverage|

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