AU2010100405A4

AU2010100405A4 - Method and system of providing a beverage

Info

Publication number: AU2010100405A4
Application number: AU2010100405A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Simon Lee Wescombe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-04-30
Filing date: 2010-04-30
Publication date: 2010-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2018-04-30

Description

P/00/012 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: "METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PROVIDING A BEVERAGE" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 1 TITLE Method and System of Providing a Beverage FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The invention relates to method and system of providing a service. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a method and system of providing beverage to a consumer, minimizing the inconvenience of queues for ordering and receiving the beverage. 10 BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The provision of beverages, particularly coffee, on a take-away basis to consumers is a large industry. Unfortunately, the quality of the take-away coffee provided is often low and produced by machines such as filter coffee machines or the like which hold pre-prepared coffee. Many consumers are becoming more 15 discerning about the quality of the coffee they drink and wish to purchase a high quality take-away coffee whilst they are away from home pursuing their daily activities. A qualified barista operating a coffee machine can produce a high quality coffee, however this takes a certain amount of time once the order is received 20 such that the consumer is kept waiting. If the consumer is at a cafe or restaurant, this waiting period is usually acceptable, as the primary purpose of being at the cafe or restaurant is to take some time out to sit and relax. A consumer at a service center that is unrelated to the provision of food or beverages, however, wants to quickly complete both the tasks of that center and 25 buying a coffee, so they can continue with their general activities.

2 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to overcome or at least alleviate one or more of the above problems and/or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice. 5 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In one form, although it need not be the only or indeed the broadest form, the invention resides in a method of providing a beverage including the steps of: providing at least one beverage ordering console, operable by a 10 consumer to produce an order for the beverage, located at a first location within a service center, wherein the service center provides a primary service that is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages; providing a beverage supply unit at a second location within the service center, wherein the beverage supply unit is operated upon receipt of the order to 15 create the beverage; providing communication means to communicate the order from the beverage ordering console to the second location; wherein a consumer orders the beverage at the beverage ordering console and collects the beverage from the second location. 20 Preferably the beverage ordering console is a keypad. In another form, the invention resides in a system of providing a beverage including: a beverage ordering console, operable by a consumer, which is placed at a first location within a service center, wherein the service center provides a 25 primary service which is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages; 3 a beverage supply unit which is placed at a second location within the service center, wherein the beverage supply unit is operable to create the beverage; communication means to transfer information from the beverage ordering 5 console to the second location. Preferably, the service center is a fuel filling station, a supermarket or an airport terminal. In a particularly preferred embodiment the beverage is a drink containing coffee. 10 Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To assist in understanding the invention and to enable a person skilled in 15 the art to put the invention into practical effect preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG 1 shows an embodiment of the invention in diagrammatic form; FIG 2 shows a flow chart of a method according to the invention. 20 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to provide a beverage to a consumer at a service center 100, as shown in diagrammatic form in FIG 1, a beverage ordering console 200 is provided, together with a beverage supply unit 300 and communication means 25 400.

4 The service center 100 provides a primary service which is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages. Service centers 100 which provide a primary service which is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages include a fuel filling station or fuel service station, a supermarket, a department store, a 5 hardware store or an airport terminal. The beverage ordering console 200 is located at a first location 110 in the service center 100. If the service center 100 is a fuel filling station, the first location 110 is preferably adjacent to one or more of the pumping stations on the forecourt of the fuel filling station. If the service center 100 is a supermarket, 10 department store, a hardware store, an airport terminal or the like, the first location 110 is preferably located at one or more places throughout the store or terminal. The beverage ordering console 200 is designed to be operable by a consumer to produce an order 210 for a beverage 220. The beverage ordering 15 console 200 is in the form of a keypad, with an associated display screen. Alternatively, a touch screen console, or a combination of some or all of the elements of a keypad, a screen and a printer may be used. The order 210 includes one or more descriptors 211 which describe the beverage 220 which the consumer wishes to purchase. The order 210 may also 20 include information regarding the price 212 of the beverage 220 and an identifier 213 to identify the consumer. The identifier 213 may be a number, name, initial or any combination thereof. The order 210 may also include a date/time stamp 214. The beverage 220 may be described by descriptors 211 in terms of size, 25 e.g. small, regular, large, tall, and contents e.g. cappuccino, cafe latte, 5 espresso, flat white, long black, Americano, macchiato. Other descriptors 211 may be information such as double shot, half shot, skim milk, soy milk, and the like. The beverage supply unit 300 is a machine for the preparation of the 5 beverage 220. In a preferred embodiment the beverage supply unit 300 is a coffee machine, operable by a barista to produce a variety of coffee drinks. The beverage supply unit 300 is not operated by the consumer. The beverage supply unit 300 is located at a second location 120 within the service center 100. The second location 120 is not adjacent to the first 10 location 110. In one embodiment, where the service center 100 is a fuel filling station, the second location 120 can be within a building which houses a payment station. Communication means 400 communicate the order 210 from the beverage ordering console 200 to the second location 120. The communication 15 means 400 includes an order display 410 and a transmission system 420. The order display 410 may be a display screen or a printer which creates a printout to communicate the information provided in the order 210 to a person operating the beverage supply unit 300. The transmission system 420 is a wired or wireless system to transmit the 20 order 210 from the beverage ordering console 200 to the order display 410. Such wired or wireless systems are known in the field of data transmission. In operation, the method of providing a beverage includes a series of steps, as shown in the flow chart of FIG 2. Initially, step 510, a consumer arrives at the first location 110 of the 25 service center 100 and uses the beverage ordering console 200 to create an 6 order 210. Then, step 520, the consumer enters an identifier 213, or alternatively the beverage ordering console 200 automatically assigns an identifier 213. In step 530, the consumer enters or selects one or more descriptors 211 to describe the desired beverage 220. In step 540, the beverage 5 ordering console 200 produces a price 212 to correspond with the descriptors 211 selected by the consumer. A date/time stamp 214 can also be added to the order 210 in step 540 as further identification means of the order 210. The finished order 210 is displayed to the consumer in step 550, who uses the beverage ordering console 200 to accept the order 210. As shown in 10 step 560, the consumer may then undertake actions with respect to the primary service of the service center 100, such as placing petrol in a car, selecting groceries or other products, or checking into an airline counter. Meanwhile in step 550, the order 210 is sent via the communication means 400 to the second location 120 of the service center 100. The 15 transmission system 420 of the communication means 400 transmits the order 210 to the order display 410. The order display 410 provides the information of the order 210 to the second location 120. In step 580, a person at the second location 210 receives the order 210 and utilizes the beverage supply unit 300 to produce the beverage 220 according 20 to the order 210. Once the beverage 220 has been produced, the identifier 213 associated with the order 210 is either displayed or announced, as in step 590, to inform the consumer that the beverage 220 is ready. Finally in step 610, the consumer collects the beverage 220 from the 25 second location 120. As shown in step 600, payment for the beverage 220 can 7 be made either before or after collection of the beverage 220. Alternatively, payment for the beverage 220 can be made via the beverage ordering console 200 whilst the consumer is placing the order 210. This payment may be made by credit card, or coin/note entry at the beverage ordering console 200. 5 In a preferred embodiment, payment for the beverage 220 is made concurrently with payment for the primary service provided by the service center 100. The method and system of the invention therefore provides the consumer with a quality beverage whilst minimizing waiting time. The consumer can 10 conveniently order the beverage and then undertake other tasks before collecting the beverage. Once the order is received, a barista can take the time to prepare a quality coffee whilst the consumer is occupied with other tasks. Additionally, as the tasks of preparing the beverage and the primary service of the service center are undertaken concurrently, a faster throughput of 15 consumers through the service center can be achieved. Throughout the specification the aim has been to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. Persons skilled in the relevant art may realize variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention. 20 For example, a copy of the order may additionally be sent to a payment station related to the primary service of the service center so that the consumer can pay for the beverage and the primary service in one transaction. It will be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope 25 of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of providing a beverage including the steps of: providing at least one beverage ordering console, operable by a consumer to produce an order for the beverage, located at a first location within a service center, wherein the service center provides a primary service that is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages; providing a beverage supply unit at a second location within the service center, wherein the beverage supply unit is operated upon receipt of the order to create the beverage; providing communication means to communicate the order from the beverage ordering console to the second location; wherein a consumer orders the beverage at the beverage ordering console and collects the beverage from the second location.

2. A system of providing a beverage including: a beverage ordering console, operable by a consumer, which is placed at a first location within a service center, wherein the service center provides a primary service which is unrelated to the provision of food and beverages; a beverage supply unit which is placed at a second location within the service center, wherein the beverage supply unit is operable to create the beverage; communication means to transfer information from the beverage ordering console to the second location.

3. The method of claim 1 or the system of claim 2, wherein the beverage ordering console is a keypad.

4. The method of claim 1 or the system of claim 2, wherein the service center is a fuel filling station, a supermarket or an airport terminal.

5. The method of claim 1 or the system of claim 2, wherein the beverage is a beverage containing coffee.