IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0062935
(2009-10-22)
|
등록번호 |
US-8820213
(2014-09-02)
|
우선권정보 |
EP-08167421 (2008-10-23) |
국제출원번호 |
PCT/EP2009/063896
(2009-10-22)
|
§371/§102 date |
20110308
(20110308)
|
국제공개번호 |
WO2010/046442
(2010-04-29)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
- Lang, Markus
- Möri, Peter
- Moser, Renzo
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
0 인용 특허 :
35 |
초록
▼
A machine for preparing a liquid food or beverage, including at least one outermost machine face selected from a front face, a top face and a lateral face; a component for emitting light and a control unit connected to the light emitting component. The light emitting component has states of light em
A machine for preparing a liquid food or beverage, including at least one outermost machine face selected from a front face, a top face and a lateral face; a component for emitting light and a control unit connected to the light emitting component. The light emitting component has states of light emission or non-emission, and an illuminatable outer face on the outermost machine face. The control unit is arranged to detect at least one condition of such machine involving a non immediate readiness of such machine to prepare a liquid food or beverage, and to communicate this condition to a user via the illuminatable outer face by changing the state of the light emitting component. The illuminatable outer face extends in at least one direction across a substantial part of the outermost machine face and is arranged to be substantially entirely illuminated when in this state of light emission.
대표청구항
▼
1. A machine for preparing a liquid food or beverage, comprising: a housing that contains a brewing chamber that is configured and arranged to receive a package containing a pre-portioned beverage or food ingredient for preparing the liquid food or beverage after receiving heated water;a heater modu
1. A machine for preparing a liquid food or beverage, comprising: a housing that contains a brewing chamber that is configured and arranged to receive a package containing a pre-portioned beverage or food ingredient for preparing the liquid food or beverage after receiving heated water;a heater module for heating water and a pump module for pumping the heated water to the package for combining with the ingredient to form the liquid food or beverage, these modules also being present in the housing;at least one outermost machine face selected from a front face, a top face and a lateral face and associated with the housing in a user viewable location thereon;means for emitting light having at least one state of light emission and a state of light non-emission;a removable receptacle removably associated with and received in the housing, operatively associated with the light emitting means, and having an apparent surface that bears or forms an illuminatable outer face on one of the at least one outermost machine face, with the illuminatable outer face being arranged to be illuminated when in the state of light emission; anda control unit connected to the light emitting means, the control unit being arranged to detect at least one condition of such machine involving a non-immediate readiness of such machine to prepare a liquid food or beverage, and to communicate the condition to a user via the illuminatable outer face by changing the state of the light emitting means;wherein the at least one illuminatable outer face of the receptacle is in illumination association with the light emitting means by or through light guides, extends in at least one direction across part of one of the at least one outermost machine face and is arranged to be illuminated when in the state of light emission, with the illuminatable outer face comprising a light conducting panel, rod or wire extending upon the at least one outermost machine face to provide the apparent surface that is illuminated. 2. The machine of claim 1, which includes a printed circuit board in association with or as part of the control unit, wherein the light emitting means include LEDs that are physically and electrically connected to the printed circuit board, and wherein at least one light guide forms a wall of the receptacle, with the wall being provided at an angle that is perpendicular to the illuminatable outer face, and the receptacle is configured, arranged and positioned to receive a liquid or a beverage or food ingredient from the machine and to contain the liquid or ingredient therein. 3. The machine of claim 2, wherein the beverage or liquid food is prepared from the pre-portioned beverage or food ingredient in a capsule or pod package, wherein the receptacle is arranged for receiving and containing the beverage or liquid food; and the at least one condition relates to at least one of the state of filling of: the liquid receptacle; the storage arrangement for capsules containing the food or beverage ingredient; or a chamber for collecting used capsules. 4. The machine of claim 1, wherein the control unit is connected to at least one sensor for detecting the condition, with the at least one sensor comprising an optical sensor having a light emitter and a light receiver associated with a receptacle which is arranged to detect in the receptacle a level of content or a presence of content at a predetermined level in the reservoir by diversion of at least one light ray emitted by the light emitter and diverted by the content onto or away from the light receiver or on a special location thereon, with one or both of the emitter and receiver being rigidly connected to the printed circuit board that is part of the control unit. 5. The machine of claim 1, wherein the illuminatable outer face and the outermost machine face have a size ratio along the at least one direction of 0.2 to 0.9. 6. The machine of claim 1, which has a plurality of illuminatable outer faces in the range of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 with the control unit being optionally arranged to communicate a plurality of the conditions. 7. The machine of claim 1, wherein the light emitting means has a plurality of states of light emission, including a plurality of color states or states of continuity and intermittency of light emission including flashing or blinking, each state being associated with a condition detectable by the control unit. 8. The machine of claim 1, which has a housing that bears at least one illuminatable outer face. 9. The machine of claim 1, wherein the receptacle has either at least one upright lateral wall or a bottom wall with an apparent edge that forms at least one illuminatable outer face, the illuminatable outer face extending over the entire height or width of the receptacle. 10. The machine of claim 1, wherein the receptacle is arranged for containing a liquid or a beverage or food ingredient that is prepared by the machine, wherein the receptacle is supported by a removable drip tray assembly that is removably associated with the housing of the machine. 11. The machine of claim 1, which includes a printed circuit board in association with or as part of the control unit, wherein the light emitting means comprises one or more light sources electrically connected to the printed circuit board. 12. The machine of claim 1, further comprising at least one light guide arranged to guide emitted light from the light emitting means to the at least one illuminatable outer face, with the at least one light guide forming a wall of a housing or the receptacle for the machine, with the wall being provided at an angle to the illuminatable outer face. 13. A machine for preparing a liquid food or beverage, comprising: a housing that contains a brewing chamber that is configured and arranged to receive a package containing a pre-portioned beverage or food ingredient for preparing the liquid food or beverage after receiving heated water;a heater module for heating water and a pump module for pumping the heated water to the package for combining with the ingredient to form the liquid food or beverage, these modules also being present in the housing;at least one outermost machine face selected from a front face, a top face and a lateral face and associated with the housing in a user viewable location thereon;means for emitting light having at least one state of light emission and a state of light non-emission;a removable receptacle removably associated with and received in the housing, operatively associated with the light emitting means and having an apparent surface that bears or forms an illuminatable outer face on one of the at least one outermost machine face, with the illuminatable outer face being arranged to be illuminated when in the state of light emission; anda control unit connected to the light emitting means, the control unit being arranged to detect at least one condition of such machine involving a non-immediate readiness of such machine to prepare a liquid food or beverage, and to communicate the condition to a user via the illuminatable outer face by changing the state of the light emitting means;wherein the illuminatable outer face is in illumination association with the light emitting means by or through light guides, extends in at least one direction across part of one of the at least one outermost machine face and is arranged to be illuminated when in the state of light emission, with the illuminatable outer face comprising a light conducting panel, rod or wire extending upon the at least one outermost machine face to provide the apparent surface that is illuminated, andwherein the at least one condition relates to at least one of the state of filling of: the receptacle; a storage arrangement for a spare food or beverage ingredient; or a chamber for collecting a used food or beverage ingredient or used package. 14. The machine of claim 1, wherein the at least one condition relates to a state of pre-heating, scaling or cleaning of such machine. 15. The machine of claim 1, wherein the control unit is connected to at least one sensor for detecting the condition, with the sensor being optionally selected from a capacitive sensor, magnetic sensor, optical sensor, temperature sensor and weight sensor and being optionally rigidly connected to a printed circuit board that may be part of the control unit. 16. The machine of claim 15, wherein the at least one sensor comprises an optical sensor having a light emitter and a light receiver associated with a receptacle which is arranged to detect in the receptacle a level of content or a presence of content at a predetermined level in the reservoir by diversion of at least one light ray emitted by the light emitter and diverted by the content onto or away from the light receiver or on a special location thereon, with one or both of the emitter and receiver being optionally rigidly connected to a printed circuit board that is part of the control unit. 17. The machine of claim 1, wherein the beverage or liquid food is prepared from a pre-portioned beverage or food ingredient; the illuminatable outer face and the outermost machine face have a size ratio along the at least one direction of 0.35 to 0.8 and the light emitting means comprises light emitting diodes (LEDs), optionally in combination with a light guide arranged to guide emitted light from the LEDs to the at least one illuminatable outer face.
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