DESC:
FIELD OF DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to food processing. In particular it relates to a system and method for preparing and dispensing a beverage.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
[0003] Beverages are a very popular and convenient nutrition and refreshment option the world over, particularly for those with a fast lifestyle, for example the modern urban consumer.
[0004] At the same time, consumers are becoming more and more aware of how beverages may affect their health and indeed, even careers. Consequently, consumers are looking for beverage options to meet nutrition and taste to support their day to day activities at offices, gyms, campuses, and homes. Besides, consumers have a multiplicity of choices and preferences of various beverage ingredients that can meet their targeted nutrition and taste preferences. Such preferences change dynamically for various reasons that can be broadly termed as ‘context’ of consumption. For instance, post a workout at a gym, a user the user may prefer a citric drink such as lemon juice with added electrolytes and potassium. On the other hand, in office the same user may prefer a caffeinated drink to stay mentally alert. Yet another example of context could be when the user consumes food stuff and looks for a complimentary beverage.
[0005] Meeting such varied beverage preferences is a challenge for traditional retail setups. Conventionally, a retail setup is limited in choice to beverages it has in ready stock, and cannot keep a large variety therein because of storage, inventory carrying cost and demand uncertainty limitations. However, as elaborated above, users want to be in control of ingredients and/or nutritional content of their beverages so that their consumption is in accordance with the context and their preferences.
[0006] Hence there is a need in the art for a system that delivers to a user a beverage in accordance with the context of consumption, in an easy and very intuitive manner. The system should support the user’s preference and indeed co-create with the user to provide the user with beverages having ingredients and nutritional composition completely aligned to his/her expectation, each time the user wishes to consume a beverage.
[0007] All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
[0008] In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities or dimensions of items, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the invention are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about.” Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable. The numerical values presented in some embodiments of the invention may contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.
[0009] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[00010] The recitation of ranges of values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g. “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
[00011] Groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member can be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein. One or more members of a group can be included in, or deleted from, a group for reasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion or deletion occurs, the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all groups used in the appended claims.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[00012] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies are as listed herein below.
[00013] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide for a beverage dispensing system that can co-create with a user to provide the user beverage compositions as per context of usage and the user’s preferences.
[00014] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide for a beverage dispensing system that aids decision making of a user to arrive at appropriate beverage compositions.

SUMMARY
[00015] The present disclosure relates generally to beverage dispensers. In particular it relates to a system and method of enabling a beverage dispenser (BD) to provide context based beverage recommendations and prepare customized beverages accordingly.
[00016] In an aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a method of preparing a context based beverage for a user. The method includes: receiving, through one or more processors of a central computing device, any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs; providing, using the one or more processors, beverage recommendations to the user based upon the any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs; enabling the user to select , using the one or more processors, a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify, using the one or more processors, the selected beverage; and generating, at the one or more processors, processing instructions for a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00017] In another aspect, the context inputs can pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of the BD, location of the BD, time at the BD, the user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with the beverage recommendations; and the user inputs can pertain to any or a combination of the user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of the user, and parameters directly concerned with the beverage recommendations.
[00018] In yet another aspect, the beverage recommendations can be generated based on a set of rules pre-programmed or machine learnt, and can be received at a user interface that also enables receipt of the user inputs, the selection and the modification. The user interface can include any or a combination of a first user interface configured at the BD and a second user interface configured at a computing device operatively connected to the BD.
[00019] In an aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a system to prepare a context based beverage for a user. The system includes: one or more processors; a context inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive context inputs; a user inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive user inputs; a recommendations unit to control the one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to the user based upon any or a combination of the context inputs and the user inputs; a customizer unit to control the one or more processors to enable the user to select a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify the selected beverage; a process instructions generator to control the one or more processors to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage; and a preparation and dispenser unit to control the one or more processors to operate a beverage dispenser(BD) per the processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00020] In another aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare a context based beverage for a user. The BD includes a system including: one or more processors; a context inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive context inputs; a user inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive user inputs; a recommendations unit to control the one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to the user based upon any or a combination of the context inputs and the user inputs; a user customization unit to control the one or more processors to enable the user to select a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify the selected beverage; a process instructions generator to control the one or more processors .to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage; and a preparation and dispenser unit to operate the BD per the processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00021] In yet another aspect of the BD, the context inputs can pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of the BD, location of the BD, time at the BD, the user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with the beverage recommendations; and the user inputs can pertain to any or a combination of the user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of the user, and parameters directly concerned with the beverage recommendations.
[00022] In an aspect of the BD, the BD can prepare a plurality of beverages for simultaneous delivery at a deferred time and can dispense the plurality of beverages into corresponding carry-away containers identifiable by corresponding users.
[00023] The technical problem solved by the proposed invention is difficulty in providing to user beverage choices very close to his/her expectations and requirements. The proposed system achieves that by providing to the user beverage recommendations based upon contextual inputs as well as user inputs, and preparing a beverage accordingly. Consequently, proposed system co-creates with the user leading to higher satisfaction for the user, and higher sales with lower inventory and associated costs for the system administrators/implementers.
[00024] Within the scope of this application it is expressly envisaged that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and/or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. Features described in connection with one embodiment are applicable to all embodiments, unless such features are incompatible.
[00025] Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[00026] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. The diagrams are for illustration only, which thus is not a limitation of the present disclosure, and wherein:
[00027] FIG. 1 illustrates architecture of system proposed to illustrate its overall working in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00028] FIG. 2 illustrates functional units of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00029] FIG. 3A and FIG. 3E illustrate examples of working of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00030] FIG. 4 illustrates a method of working of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00031] FIG. 5 is an example table to elaborate upon the proposed method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00032] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method of dispensing beverage products by a dispenser configured with the proposed system wherein the beverage product complements an already purchased food item in accordance with an embodiment of the invention
[00033] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method to defer dispensing / delivery or pickup of customized beverage products by a dispenser configured with the proposed system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00034] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary apparatus to collect inventory of finished beverage products dispensed by a dispenser configured with the proposed system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[00035] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[00036] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.
[00037] Embodiments of the present invention include various steps, which will be described below. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software, and firmware and/or by human operators.
[00038] Various methods described herein may be practiced by combining one or more machine-readable storage media containing the code according to the present invention with appropriate standard computer hardware to execute the code contained therein. An apparatus for practicing various embodiments of the present invention may involve one or more computers (or one or more processors within a single computer) and storage systems containing or having network access to computer program(s) coded in accordance with various methods described herein, and the method steps of the invention could be accomplished by modules, routines, subroutines, or subparts of a computer program product.
[00039] If the specification states a component or feature “may”, “can”, “could”, or “might” be included or have a characteristic, that particular component or feature is not required to be included or have the characteristic.
[00040] As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[00041] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. These exemplary embodiments are provided only for illustrative purposes and so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. The invention disclosed may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Various modifications will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art. The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, all statements herein reciting embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure). Also, the terminology and phraseology used is for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments and should not be considered limiting. Thus, the present invention is to be accorded the widest scope encompassing numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents consistent with the principles and features disclosed. For purpose of clarity, details relating to technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
[00042] Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the diagrams, schematics, illustrations, and the like represent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems and methods embodying this invention. The functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing associated software. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the entity implementing this invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art further understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating systems described herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to any particular named element.
[00043] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.
[00044] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[00045] Embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process. The term “machine-readable storage medium” or “computer-readable storage medium” includes, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives, magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc read-only memories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memories, such as ROMs, PROMs, random access memories (RAMs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable PROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable PROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions (e.g., computer programming code, such as software or firmware).A machine-readable medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals propagating wirelessly or over wired connections. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-program product may include code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.
[00046] Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks (e.g., a computer-program product) may be stored in a machine-readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.
[00047] Systems depicted in some of the figures may be provided in various configurations. In some embodiments, the systems may be configured as a distributed system where one or more components of the system are distributed across one or more networks in a cloud computing system.
[00048] In an implementation, a computing device as used herein may be any of a variety of types of computing device, including without limitation, a desktop computer system, a data entry terminal, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a handheld personal data assistant, a smartphone, a body-worn computing device incorporated into clothing, a computing device integrated into a vehicle (e.g., a car, a bicycle, etc.), a server, a cluster of servers, a server farm, etc.
[00049] As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “communication network” is intended to include internet, LAN, WAN, intranet or cloud networks or any communication medium possible for interaction among the devices and with the server.
[00050] .Each of the appended claims defines a separate invention, which for infringement purposes is recognized as including equivalents to the various elements or limitations specified in the claims. Depending on the context, all references below to the "invention" may in some cases refer to certain specific embodiments only. In other cases it will be recognized that references to the "invention" will refer to subject matter recited in one or more, but not necessarily all, of the claims.
[00051] All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided with respect to certain embodiments herein is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element essential to the practice of the invention.
[00052] Various terms as used herein are shown below. To the extent a term used in a claim is not defined below, it should be given the broadest definition persons in the pertinent art have given that term as reflected in printed publications and issued patents at the time of filing.
[00053] As it is used in the description and elsewhere in the disclosure, the term "beverage dispenser", or simply "dispenser" refers to a device which dispenses a beverage product, either by mixing two or more ingredients to result in custom formulations or by dispensing a finished (single ingredient) beverage product. Additionally, the terms "beverage product" or “beverage” or simply “product” and their pluralized forms, are used synonymously, and embodiments of the invention should not be limited in scope using any one of these terms.
[00054] The present disclosure relates generally to beverage dispensers. In particular it relates to a system and method of enabling a beverage dispenser (BD) to provide context based beverage recommendations and prepare customized beverages accordingly.
[00055] In an aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a method of preparing a context based beverage for a user. The method includes: receiving, through one or more processors of a central computing device, any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs; providing, using the one or more processors, beverage recommendations to the user based upon the any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs; enabling the user to select , using the one or more processors, a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify, using the one or more processors, the selected beverage; and generating, at the one or more processors, processing instructions for a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00056] In another aspect, the context inputs can pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of the BD, location of the BD, time at the BD, the user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with the beverage recommendations; and the user inputs can pertain to any or a combination of the user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of the user, and parameters directly concerned with the beverage recommendations.
[00057] In yet another aspect, the beverage recommendations can be generated based on a set of rules pre-programmed or machine learnt, and can be received at a user interface that also enables receipt of the user inputs, the selection and the modification. The user interface can include any or a combination of a first user interface configured at the BD and a second user interface configured at a computing device operatively connected to the BD.
[00058] In an aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a system to prepare a context based beverage for a user. The system includes: one or more processors; a context inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive context inputs; a user inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive user inputs; a recommendations unit to control the one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to the user based upon any or a combination of the context inputs and the user inputs; a customizer unit to control the one or more processors to enable the user to select a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify the selected beverage; a process instructions generator to control the one or more processors to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage; and a preparation and dispenser unit to control the one or more processors to operate a beverage dispenser(BD) per the processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00059] In another aspect, present disclosure elaborates upon a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare a context based beverage for a user. The BD includes a system including: one or more processors; a context inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive context inputs; a user inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive user inputs; a recommendations unit to control the one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to the user based upon any or a combination of the context inputs and the user inputs; a user customization unit to control the one or more processors to enable the user to select a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify the selected beverage; a process instructions generator to control the one or more processors .to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage; and a preparation and dispenser unit to operate the BD per the processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[00060] In yet another aspect of the BD, the context inputs can pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of the BD, location of the BD, time at the BD, the user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with the beverage recommendations; and the user inputs can pertain to any or a combination of the user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of the user, and parameters directly concerned with the beverage recommendations.
[00061] In an aspect of the BD, the BD can prepare a plurality of beverages for simultaneous delivery at a deferred time and can dispense the plurality of beverages into corresponding carry-away containers identifiable by corresponding users.
[00062] In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be understood. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[00063] The disclosure is directed to beverage dispenser systems. In particular, it is directed to methods of delivering customized beverage products through a network of such beverage dispensers.
[00064] FIG. 1 illustrates architecture of system proposed to illustrate its overall working in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00065] In an aspect, proposed system can operatively connect to an appropriately configured beverage dispenser. Correspondingly, a beverage dispenser can be configured to include the proposed system within itself. The term beverage dispenser (BD) as further used describes such a BD that is configured with/operatively using the proposed system, shown as BD122 in FIG.1
[00066] As illustrated in FIG. 1, proposed system 102 can receive context inputs 104 as well as user inputs 106 as further elaborated.
[00067] Any or a combination of both these inputs can be received by proposed system 102 from one/more devices and systems configured to generate appropriate data and signals that can be received as inputs by system 102. System 102 can receive context inputs by means of sensors within itself, while user inputs may be provided directly to the system 102 by user 108 by means of an input/output interface configured on a beverage dispenser (for instance BD122) as well receive such data by means of sensors configured within itself.
[00068] Simple examples of context inputs 104 can include, for example, ambient temperature and time of day. Another context aware input may be location of the BD. It can be readily understood that all these inputs can be provided to the proposed system by using appropriate sensors and devices such as temperature sensors, clocks and GPS systems.
[00069] Context inputs can be provided by various other means as well. For instance, proposed system can access user 110’s calendar and determine that the night before user 110 attended a late night party. User 110 may be using proposed system at what is normally office time, say about 10AM. Proposed system may use this context input to recommend a hot coffee to user110. In a similar manner, calendar of user 110 may suggest he is to take an exam day after and so, proposed system may recommend to him a high-caffeine drink at 11PM tonight, based upon a determination that user 110 needs to stay awake to study.
[00070] As can be understood, various inputs that can be indirectly received from environmental parameters pertaining to /surrounding the user can broadly be classified as context inputs. Context inputs need no user intervention and can be retrieved on basis of actions that may have been done by the user several days ago (for instance, setting a lunch appointment a week before), may have only an indirect concern with beverage recommendations generated by the proposed system and may be happening anyways. For instance, context inputs may be generated by a mobile or activity tracking system (such as an exercise watch worn by the user) that can be configured to directly communicate with the proposed system. Or a planned activity (such as a gym appointment) may serve as a context input post expiry of its scheduled time.
[00071] User inputs 106 can be provided by user 110 on a user computing device 108 operatively connected to the proposed system ( for instance, using a mobile application with appropriate user interfaces) . Connection means can include any suitable technology such as Internet or other means such as a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless communication network, a wired network or a suitable combination. A user may as well directly provide such user inputs on interface of BD122 configured with the proposed system.
[00072] User inputs can include user 110 preferences regarding a beverage he/she desires to take from BD122. Such preferences can include, for instance, preferences related to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture, effects and any other like properties the user 110 desires in the beverage.
[00073] As can be appreciated, user inputs 106 can include inputs directly generated by the user at the time of placing an order of a beverage from to the proposed system, and can also include similar such inputs taken from user profile (such as historical usage pattern of the user) as further elaborated, that have a direct concern with beverage recommendations generated by the proposed system. For instance, previous usage pattern of the use may indicate he/she has never purchased a beverage above Rs.100/=. Proposed system may recommend to the user only beverages costing less than Rs.150, for example.
[00074] Based upon any or a combination of context inputs 104 and user inputs 106, proposed system 102 can recommend beverages to user 110 as indicated by beverage recommendations 112 shown as BR112. BR112 can be received on UCD108, or on interface of BD122. It can be understood that BR112 need not require context inputs 104 when they can be generated solely based upon user inputs 106. Likewise, BR112 may not require user inputs 106 when they can be generated based solely on context inputs 104. User 110 can enable system 102, by means of choices on a suitable interface, which of the two ( or both) of the inputs to select.
[00075] In another exemplary embodiment, proposed system can function without both context inputs 104 and user inputs 106 when the BD122 can offer pre-prepared beverages from a menu of various choices that can be offered to user110 either on UCD 108 or on interface of the BD122. That is, in this case, the BD122 configured with the proposed system can operate as a beverage dispensing machine with pre-determined choice of beverages.
[00076] In another aspect, proposed system can work without a user registration or, if a user so desires, he/she can register with the proposed system using registration /authentication procedures known in the art. For a registered user, proposed system can offer additional features such as development and storage of various user data (collectively termed as user profile herein) such as usage patterns, preferred beverages, user inputs provided in the past etc. A user profile can be machine learned as well based upon analysis of a user’s consumption pattern over time.
[00077] All data of registered users can be stored in database 114 that can connect to the proposed system using a suitable communication means such as Internet or other means such as a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless communication network, a wired network or a suitable combination.. In a similar manner, all BDs configured with the proposed system can connect to database 114. This can enable a registered user to have access to his/her profile etc. on a global, 24X7 basis at/through all BDs configured with the proposed system. In an alternate embodiment, a registered user’s profile can as well be stored locally on the user’s computing device 108 so as to be available to the user even when system 102 has no access to Internet. Database 114 can be in one or more servers operatively connected to each other, wherein BDs can act as client machines, or can be configured in the cloud. In an exemplary embodiment, each BD can as well keep a local copy of database 114 so that it is available to the BD/proposed system even when the remote database is not accessible for any reason.
[00078] Database 114 can as well store data regarding common contexts in which consumption of various beverages happens, happens along with suggestive ingredient compositions and processing instructions for such contexts, either preprogrammed or machine learned, inventory status of various ingredients in each of connected BDs, beverage formulation rules, detailed log of dispensed products and any such metric to streamline various downstream operations of various BDs, as further elaborated.
[00079] In an aspect, data stored in database 114 can be used by proposed system to process various inputs (such as context inputs 104 and user inputs 106) and generate BR 112 as already elaborated. Upon receipt of BR112, user 110 may chose one of the beverages recommended. Further, user110 may choose to further customize the chosen beverage to his/her preferences. Finally, user 110 may instruct proposed system 102 to proceed to prepare the chosen beverage/chosen beverage further customized by means of beverage order (BO) 118 as shown.
[00080] In another aspect, proposed system can as well communicate with other databases/systems to get context inputs. For instance, a third-party database (such as a neighboring food store) may store information regarding a recent food item purchased by user 110) from the store. User110 may have received a receipt from the store carrying a unique ID ( for instance, an Invoice number). Proposed system can scan this receipt and parse ID data therein, connect to the third-party database and retrieve, upon basis of the ID, details and characteristics of food item purchased and such details and characteristics may form part of context inputs 104.
[00081] It can readily be understood that BO118 can be generated at BD122 itself by the user, wherein a user interface ( such as a GUI) of BD122 can enable user 110 to select a beverage from BR112, modify it further and then ‘confirm’ an order as before.
[00082] Based upon BO118, proposed system can generate a set of processing instructions 120 to prepare and dispense the selected beverage further modified by user 110(and so termed as modified selected beverage). Proposed system can process these instructions using its various units and process controllers as further elaborated that can control various parts of the BD122 such as conveying system, dispensers, mixers, blenders etc and finally enable BD122 to dispense a customized beverage considering context as well as user inputs, shown as modified selected beverage (MSB) 124.
[00083] FIG. 2 illustrates functional units of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[00084] Relevant units of the proposed system can be configured to be operatively connected to a website, or be part of/connect to a mobile application that can be downloaded on a mobile device that can connect to Internet. In such fashion the proposed system can be available 24*7 to its users. Any other manner of implementation of the proposed system or a part thereof is well within the scope of the present disclosure/invention.
[00085] It would be appreciated that these are only exemplary units and any other unit or sub-unit can be included as part of the proposed system. These units too can be merged or divided into super-units or sub-units as may be configured. For instance context inputs receiver and user inputs receiver ( as further elaborated) can be configured as a single unit that receives all inputs.
[00086] In an aspect, system 102 proposed may include one or more processor(s) 202. The one or more processor(s) 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate data based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the one or more processor(s) 202 are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory 204 of the system 102. The memory 204 may store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which may be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory 204 may include any non-transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or non-volatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like. Processors 202 may receive inputs from various other units/components further elaborated to prepare a customized beverage as required by a user.
[00087] In another aspect, system 102 may also include an interface(s) 206. The interface(s) 206 may include a variety of interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input and output devices, referred to as I/O devices, storage devices, and the like. The interface(s) 206 may facilitate communication of the system 102 with various devices coupled to the system 102, or with various users of the proposed system. The interface(s) 206 may also provide a communication pathway for one or more components of the system 102 as elaborated further.
[00088] In an aspect, other components of the proposed system 102 can include a context inputs receiver 208, a user inputs receiver 210, a recommendations unit 212, a customizer 214, a process instructions generator 216, a preparation and dispenser unit 218, a data output unit 220, other units 222 and a database 224.
[00089] Components as above and further described may be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (for example, programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the processor(s) 202. In examples described herein, such combinations of hardware and programming may be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processor(s) 202 may be processor executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium and the hardware for the processor(s) 202 may include a processing resource (for example, one or more processors), to execute such instructions. The system 102 may include the machine-readable storage medium storing the instructions and the processing resource to execute the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may be separate but accessible to system 102 and the processing resource. In other examples, the processor(s) 202 may be implemented by electronic circuitry.
Context Inputs Receiver 208
[00090] In an aspect, proposed system can include a context inputs receiver 208 to control the one or more processors 202 to receive context inputs.
[00091] Context inputs receiver 208 can provide various context inputs received by it to recommendations unit 212 that can use the context inputs to provide beverage recommendations to a user, as further elaborated therein.
[00092] The context inputs may pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of a beverage dispenser(BD) using proposed system for its operation, location of the BD, time at the BD, the user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and other parameters indirectly concerned with beverage recommendations generated by the proposed system..
[00093] There can be various ways that proposed system can receive context inputs. For instance a temperature sensor in the BD can provide ambient temperature data. A receipt of a food item already purchased can carry a code that can be read by an appropriately configured reader (a bar code scanner, for example) and related information extracted. A third-part database (for instance, that of a food store nearby) can be operatively connected to the proposed system and the user’s recent purchase history extracted to get information regarding the food item. The user’s calendar can be accessed after getting appropriate permissions from the user and his/her schedule extracted. It can be appreciated that all such data does not require the user to directly input the same in the proposed system.
[00094] It is possible that context inputs receiver 208 can be situated remote from the other components of proposed system. For instance, receiver 208 can operatively connect to a mobile application downloaded on the user’s device and can collect context data surrounding the user and transmit the same to the proposed system. For instance, receiver 208 can pick up sounds from a football stadium using mike of the user’s speakerphone based upon which ( and machine learning), proposed system can determine that the user is in a football stadium proposed system and proposed system can use this as a context input. In an exemplary embodiment, context inputs receiver 208 can be any device, such as transceiver, having a transmitter or a receiver or both a transmitter and a receiver that are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing for receiving and/or transmitting data from/to a device.
User Inputs Receiver 210
[00095] In an aspect, proposed system can include a user inputs receiver 210 to control the one or more processors 202 to receive user inputs.
[00096] User inputs receiver 210 can provide various user inputs received by it to recommendations unit 212 that can use the user inputs to provide beverage recommendations to a user, as further elaborated therein.
[00097] The user inputs can pertain to any or a combination of the user’s preferences regarding taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of the user, and parameters that may be directly concerned with beverage recommendations generated by the proposed system. Such parameters may have been provided by the user for such purpose.
[00098] In other words, factors that are provided by the user at present time of selecting a beverage, or at any time past in the same context can constitute user inputs.
[00099] A user can register with the proposed system using means well-known in the art when he can be allotted a user ID and password etc. A registered user can store his preferences permanently for retrieval by the proposed system as user inputs anytime a beverage recommendation is sought. For example, a user may be diabetic and ask for no sugar beverages. Another may be lactose intolerant and ask for beverages accordingly. Still another may have clear health goals or sweetening preferences (like honey). These aspects can form part of user inputs. They can, for example, be part of a user profile that the user can create which can be editable as and when needed, such profile providing user inputs. Historical usage pattern can as well form part of user inputs.
[000100] As can be appreciated, some of above inputs (for instance historical usage pattern) can be provided to the proposed system without user making any data inputs at the time he/she wants to procure a beverage form a beverage dispenser using the proposed system.
[000101] A user (for instance an unregistered user) may as well provide ‘impromptu’ user inputs, that is, inputs just at the time of procuring a beverage. For instance, a user may provide at a user interface provided by the proposed system (that can be, for example, configured on the user’s Smartphone, or in a BD itself, the BD using the proposed system) that he wants a high energy low sugar beverage. Proposed system can consider this user input along with any context inputs as elaborated above to make beverage recommendations ( as further described).
[000102] It is possible that user inputs receiver 210 can be situated remote from the other components of proposed system. For instance, receiver 210 can operatively connect to a mobile application downloaded on the user’s device and can collect user input data there from.
[000103] In an exemplary embodiment, user inputs receiver 210 can be any device, such as transceiver, having a transmitter or a receiver or both a transmitter and a receiver that are combined and share common circuitry or a single housing for receiving and/or transmitting data from/to a device.

Recommendations Unit 212
[000104] In an aspect, proposed system can include a recommendations unit 212 to control the one or more processors 202 to provide beverage recommendations to the user based upon any or a combination of the context inputs and the user inputs.
[000105] Recommendations unit 212 can receive context inputs from context inputs receiver 208 and user inputs from user inputs receiver 210 to provide the beverage recommendations. For the purpose unit 212 can use a set of rules pre-programmed or machine learnt. Such rules can be, for instance stored in database 224 as further elaborated and updated therein as required. For instance, usage pattern analysis (based upon user inputs) of a user may suggest that the user does not procure beverages priced above Rs. 200/=. Based upon machine learning, proposed system can set a rule to offer to the user beverages priced below Rs.200/=first. Another trend based upon pattern of all users could be diminishing usage of milk based drinks and proposed system may adapt itself accordingly by offering more variety of non-milk based drinks
[000106] It can be appreciated that using machine learning as elaborated above leads to a very powerful and adaptive way of generating beverage recommendations that have a very high possibility of being quickly accepted by the users, thereby leading to several benefits such as faster sales, better inventory planning, higher customer satisfaction and increased profits. If configured at a centralized database ( such as database 224 or database 114) accessible to all BDs configured with the proposed system, the rules can be made based on analysis of a huge number of transactions thus increasing their reliability, and likewise be available instantly to all the BDs using proposed system.
[000107] In an exemplary embodiment, recommendations unit 212 can be one or more processors dedicatedly used to perform functionalities of unit 212 as elaborated above.
Customizer 214
[000108] In an aspect, proposed system can include a customizer unit 214 to control the one or more processors 202 to enable the user to select a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify the selected beverage.
[000109] After the user has received beverage recommendations as elaborated above (for instance, on mobile display of his smartphone using the mobile application of the proposed system), the user can select a beverage from the beverages recommended, using customizer 214. Further, the user can customize the selected beverage to his/her preferences by providing further user inputs (interchangeably termed as ‘follow on inputs’ herein based upon pre-determined modifications possible in the selected beverage so as to create a ‘modified selected beverage’, using customizer 214. Such modifications may include, for instance, changing the flavor of the selected beverage, asking for additional add-ons, removing an ingredient from the selected beverage etc. etc. It can be readily understood that the modified selected beverage presently exists only as a virtual representation and needs to be physically created and dispensed to the user.
[000110] For example, a selected beverage could be coffee with milk and sugar. Customizer 214 can enable the user to modify the selected beverage to coffee with no sugar.
[000111] In an aspect, customizer 214 can provide all relevant data such as ingredients and their processing requirements for the modified selected beverage to process instructions generator 216.
[000112] In an exemplary embodiment, customizer 214 can be one or more processors dedicatedly used to perform functionalities of customizer 214 as elaborated above.
Process Instructions Generator 216
[000113] In an aspect, process instructions generator 216 can control the one or more processors 202 to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[000114] Based upon data received from customizer 214, generator 216 can enable the one or more processors to generate a set of processing instructions.
[000115] In an exemplary embodiment, a basic set of rules/processing instructions for all beverage recommendations may already be stored be stored in database 224. Generator 214 can retrieve the same for a selected beverage, and modify the same as per modification inputs provided by customizer 214 to generate processing instructions as required.
[000116] In an exemplary embodiment, process instructions generator 216 can be one or more processors dedicatedly used to perform functionalities of generator 216 as elaborated above.

Preparation and Dispenser Unit 218
[000117] In an aspect, preparation and dispenser unit 218 can control the one or more processors 202 to operate a beverage dispenser (BD) as per the processing instructions to prepare and dispense the modified selected beverage.
[000118] Preparation and dispenser unit 218 can be operatively connected directly or via various controllers to various components of a BD configured to use the proposed system, or may be configured in such a BD itself.
[000119] Such components can include, for instance, a positioner to position a receptacle to receive one or more ingredients from corresponding ingredient dispensers, one or more processors such as mixers, heaters, crushers, blenders etc. to process the ingredients as required; and a dispenser to discharge the processed contents of the receptacle into a carry-away container. Further, cleaners may be provided to clean and a cleanup controller to clean any or both of the dispensers and the receptacle..
[000120] In an exemplary embodiment, preparation and dispenser unit 218 can be one or more processors dedicatedly used to perform functionalities of unit 218 as elaborated above.
Data Output Unit 220
[000121] In an aspect, data output unit 220 can control the one or more processors 202 to output various data pertaining to the operation of the proposed system and the beverage dispenser using the proposed system on appropriate interfaces.
[000122] Such data can include, for instance, indications of which process is underway at any instance, total overall time to prepare a beverage desired by a user and time remaining of the same, alarms pertaining to various components and operations thereof of the beverage dispenser, ingredient replenishment warnings and the like.
[000123] Output unit 220 can provide data as above to displays /interfaces as relevant so that the user or administrators of the proposed system may be appropriately informed. Such interfaces may include display configured on the beverage dispenser , display of the user’s smartphone being used to operate the proposed system, a remote display configured for the administrators , and any combination of these.
[000124] In an exemplary embodiment, data output unit 220 can be one or more processors dedicatedly used to perform functionalities of unit 220 as elaborated above.

Other Units 222
[000125] Other units 222 can perform various ancillary functions for proper performance of the system/BD in which the proposed system is configured. These functions can include, for example and without limitation, alarm generation on various faults, maintenance schedules monitoring and implementation, ingredient replenishment signals, units configured to enable payments using e-commerce techniques well known in the art etc.
[000126] In an exemplary embodiment, a queuing and stacking unit can enable the proposed system to handle a plurality of requests from different users. Each request can be given a unique code that can be advised to its corresponding user. Beverage per that request can be prepared in its own carry-away container that can also carry the same code. Upon completion of processing of ingredients, proposed system can stack different carry-away containers in a stacker in order of the codes. Users can identify their beverage based upon codes on the carry-away containers and can simply pick their carry-away containers from the stacker.
Database 224
[000127] In an aspect, database 224 can store all data required for operation of the proposed system and can make available such data to other units of the proposed system as required. Database 224 can be configured within a BD itself, and contain/provide data pertaining to operations of that BD only, or can be configured at a central server to which all the BDs of the proposed system can connect using communication techniques well-know to provide as well as retrieve data. In another exemplary embodiment, a ‘local’ copy of a remote database 224 can also be maintained at various BDs so as to provide for redundancy and system availability when the remote database 224 is not available for any reason.
[000128] Database 224 can store profiles of all registered users, data regarding common contexts in which consumption of various beverages happens along with suggestive ingredient compositions and processing instructions for such contexts, either preprogrammed or machine learned, inventory status of various ingredients in each of connected BDs, beverage formulation rules, detailed log of dispensed products and any such metric to streamline various downstream operations of various BDs. Database 224 can be accessed and processed by various BDs connected to it to enable various operations such as, but not limited to, initiating inventory replenishment, making suggestions for ingredient composition based on the context in which a verified user with a profile requests a beverage product, remote equipment monitoring, service alerts, and any such relevant analytics. Various BDs can send data queries to database 224 to get corresponding results
[000129] It would be appreciated that units as elaborated above are only exemplary units and any other unit or sub-unit can be included as part of the proposed system. These units too can be merged or divided into super-units or sub-units as may be configured and can be spread across one or more computing devices operatively connected to each other using appropriate communication technologies.
[000130] Further, although the proposed system has been elaborated as above to include all the main units, it is completely possible that actual implementations may include only a part of the proposed units or a combination of those or a division of those into sub-units in various combinations across multiple devices that can be operatively coupled with each other, including in the cloud. Further the units can be configured in any sequence to achieve objectives elaborated. Also, it can be appreciated that proposed system can be configured in a computing device or across a plurality of computing devices operatively connected with each other, wherein the computing devices can be any of a computer, a laptop, a smart phone, an Internet enabled mobile device and the like. Therefore, all possible modifications, implementations and embodiments of where and how the proposed system is configured are well within the scope of the present invention.
[000131] FIGs. 3A to 3E illustrate examples of working of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[000132] In an exemplary embodiment, a mobile device (such as smartphone) of a user can be operatively connected to the proposed system (using, for example, Internet). The mobile device can have a mobile application that can provide appropriate user interfaces to the user to enable the user to operate the system.
[000133] Upon user logging into the mobile application, proposed system may automatically receive various context inputs pertaining to the user, as already elaborated. For instance, proposed system may determine from such context inputs that the user had a late-night party the day before.
[000134] As shown at FIG. 3A, the user can provide his/her inputs (user’s inputs) upon touch sensitive display of his smartphone. For instance, as indicated at 302, the user may indicate he wants a lemon flavored drink which is very cold (as shown at 304). Further, the user may press ‘submit’ button 306 upon which the user’s inputs can be provided to the system.
[000135] Based upon the context inputs and user inputs as above (and including other inputs as relevant such as for example, user profile), proposed system can provide on the user’s smartphone beverage recommendations as shown in FIG. 3B. The user may select any beverage out of those recommended. For instance, the user can select sweet lemonade as shown at 322 and then press ‘submit’ button 324 to provide his selection to the proposed system.
[000136] Thereafter, proposed system can ask the user on the user’s smartphone whether the user wishes to modify his selected beverage, as shown at 342 in FIG. 3C, and the user can press ‘yes’ button (344) to indicate his such intention to the proposed system. On the other hand, if the user presses the ‘No’ button, proposed system can directly proceed to processing and dispensing ‘sweet lemonade’ as selected by the user.
[000137] Upon user selecting ‘Yes’ button at 344, the user may be shown on screen of his mobile device various modification options available for the beverage selected by him as illustrated in FIG. 3D.As shown, user may select options at 362 and 364 and thereafter press submit button 366.
[000138] Upon pressing ‘submit’ button as shown at 366, the user’s modifications may be received by the proposed system and the system may process the modified selected beverage of the use accordingly, as elaborated above, and can dispense the beverage in a pre-determined receptacle ( that can be , for example, a carry-away container). As illustrated at FIG. 3E, proposed system may display a message on the user’s smartphone telling the user when his beverage will be ready, as shown at 380.
[000139] FIG. 4 illustrates a method of working of system proposed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[000140] In an aspect, a method for preparing a context based beverage for a user can include, at step 402, receiving, through one or more processors of a central computing device, any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs ; and at step 404, providing, using the one or more processors, beverage recommendations to the user based upon the any or a combination of context inputs and the user inputs.
[000141] The method can further include, at step 406, enabling the user to select, using the one or more processors, a beverage from the beverage recommendations, and to modify, using the one or more processors, the selected beverage; and at step 408, generating, at the one or more processors, processing instructions for a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare the modified selected beverage.
[000142] In an aspect, the proposed method can be described in general context of computer executable instructions. Generally, computer executable instructions can include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, functions, etc., that perform particular functions or implement particular abstract data types. The method can also be practiced in a distributed computing environment where functions are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, computer executable instructions may be located in both local and remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices.
[000143] The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method or alternate methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. However, for ease of explanation, in the embodiments described below, the method may be considered to be implemented in the above described system.
[000144] It can readily be appreciated that the central computing device can be configured in a beverage dispenser and so the processing instructions can directly operate (via one or more microcontrollers for example) appropriate components of the BD. In another exemplary embodiment, the central computing device can be a remote server operatively connected to a client machine that can be configured in the BD and in this manner; the BD can receive processing instructions. More than one BD can be connected as client machines to a central computing device that can be configured as a remote server. All such embodiments are fully a part of the present disclosure.
[000145] FIG. 5 is an example table to elaborate upon the proposed method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[000146] In FIG. 5, a table illustrates an example context in which the request was made, the corresponding machine suggestions, an example user input followed by the machine suggestion and the corresponding beverage composition, to better explain the method.
[000147] As shown at 502 and 504, in case of a registered user the user profile and stored preferences may already be available in proposed system, (stored, for instance, in database 224). As the user logs into the proposed system, based upon the user calendar the system can determine example context inputs as shown at 506. Based upon user profile and preferences already available and the context inputs, proposed system can make a beverage recommendation to the user, as shown at machine suggestions (508). It is to be appreciated that till this time, the system has not got any direct user input such as his taste preference etc.. Only data already stored along with context data has been used to arrive at beverage recommendations. Next the user can be asked to provide his inputs if he wishes to modify the machine suggestions and the user may provide so, as shown at 510. Thereafter, the proposed system may proceed towards processing and dispensing a beverage as per machine suggestions as modified by the user, as shown at 512.
[000148] As already described, proposed system can accept any or a combination of user inputs and context inputs and function accordingly. Necessary user interfaces can be provided to the user for making choices accordingly, or the system may automatically prioritize any of the inputs and make beverage recommendations accordingly. All such embodiments and combinations are fully a part of the present disclosure.
[000149] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary method of dispensing beverage products by a dispenser configured with the proposed system wherein the beverage product complements a food item already purchased by the user in accordance with an embodiment of the invention
[000150] In an exemplary embodiment, a beverage dispenser (BD) configured with the proposed system (said BD interchangeably termed as an apparatus herein) in vicinity of a food retail point may suggest beverages to complement the already purchased food products. Pre-programmed or machine learned rules may link/associate one or more of taste and functional attributes of the food products with beverage products that the BD is capable of dispensing and thereby the BD can suggest beverages it can dispense that complement the food products. For instance, in case the purchased food products comprise meat based preparations, the BD may suggest drinks rich in fiber to facilitate digestion of the meat based food products.
[000151] The method can begin with user ordering a beverage , as shown at block 602. As already described, in an exemplary embodiment, the user may use a graphical user interface (GUI) provided on the BD. The GUI may enable the user to provide a food order ID to the BD as indicated at block 604. The food order ID can be of an existing food product that the user may have bought from the (partner) food retail point in the vicinity of the dispenser. It could as well be a simple bill code By way of representation; the food order ID could be a simple bill receipt. Or, the GUI could provide drop-down fields to enable the user provide information on food order and the food item he/she has purchased.
[000152] At block 606 proposed system can verify appropriate information from the food order using one or more techniques.. Such a verification may happen, by way of representation, through the input / output system in the BD wherein the user may be asked to provide a passcode. Alternatively, the verification may also happen by a machine-readable technology in the dispenser that may use, for example, optic based or computer vision based methods to read identification codes, present on the bill receipt of food items purchased, such as a bar code or a QR code. A person skilled in the art would acknowledge that alternate verification methods may also be employed such as a RFID tag attached on food container etc. Once the food order is verified, the food items against the order can be fetched through a third-party database using appropriate communication networks such as LAN/ WAN etc..
[000153] Thereafter, proposed system can generate beverage suggestions based on rules pre-programmed or machine learned as already described, to suggest beverage products that may be dispensed by the dispenser and that complement the already purchased food items. These suggestions can be retrieved (as shown at block 608) and then displayed to the user (as shown at block 610).
[000154] The user can then choose one of the suggestions (612) and accordingly the beverage can be dispensed (614).
[000155] The beverage chosen maybe a finished product (where no processing such as mixing of ingredients is required) when the BD can dispense the same directly, acting similar to a beverage dispensing machine.
[000156] In another exemplary embodiment, the beverage chosen may be a customized one requiring mixing and processing of various ingredients. The proposed system accordingly directs various microcontrollers to control various dispensers, pumps, blenders and other processors as required to create the customized beverage.
[000157] If however, the user does not accept any of the drink from suggested ones, proposed system may instruct the GUI to display all possible options from which he user may choose one, as shown at block 616. These options can include readymade beverages as well as beverages that can be further customized by the user.
[000158] It can be readily understood that a mobile device can be operatively connected to the proposed system. The device can have a mobile application to operate the system. Steps (602), (604), (606), (608), (610), (612) can as well be carried over the mobile device. Upon confirming the order, a QR code may be generated that maybe read by the BD and the beverage dispensed ( as shown at 614). Or the user, if properly authenticated, can directly send a command to the BD that can prepare the corresponding drink.
[000159] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary method to defer dispensing / delivery or pickup of customized beverage products by a dispenser configured with the proposed system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[000160] In an exemplary embodiment, multiple users may walk into a gym and may want beverages post their gym session. As can be readily understood, if all the users want their beverage at the same time it may not be possible because of processing time taken at the BD (beverage dispenser).
[000161] A solution to this situation could be enabling the users to place their beverage orders beforehand for a pick-up/delivery time indicated by them in the future. The users may give such an order on their computing device operatively connected to the proposed system ( for instance, by means of a mobile application on the mobile device ) , or at the BD itself.
[000162] In a similar manner, there can be many instances where it maybe desirable for a user to place an order for a customized beverage product for a future pick-up.
[000163] As illustrated in FIG. 7, at block 702 a user may make a request for deferred delivery or pick-up of a customized beverage product from a BD configured with the proposed system. For instance, at time of providing user inputs to the BD on the BD’s user interface, the user may hit a button “collect later” after he/she has confirmed the beverage product to be dispensed and thereafter schedule the pick-up. In a similar manner, many other users may place their respective orders for deferred delivery from the same BD. A local memory unit ( such as memory 204 shown in FIG. 2) in the BD may create log entry of such requests, as shown at block 704.
[000164] Accordingly, the BD can be automatically operated at various appropriate time slots to process the various orders scheduled. For instance, if a beverage is required for delivery at 6 PM and it takes about 30 minutes for its preparation, BD proposed may start preparing the beverage at 5:25 PM. Thereafter, as shown at block 706, an ‘Operator’ may be inititiated to process these y dispensing beverage products sequentially to complete all the order requests and stack the finished products in a tray or similar collection apparatus as shown in FIG. 8.
[000165] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary apparatus to collect inventory of finished beverage products dispensed by a dispenser configured with the proposed system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[000166] Once the finished beverage products are stacked in the collection apparatus in designated slots, the problem of deferred delivery / pick-up or distribution reduces to the problem of uniquely identifying the beverage product, among the inventory, that is meant for a particular user, a one-to-one relationship.
[000167] In an exemplary embodiment, at the time a user places an order for deferred deliver, proposed system can allot a slot in dispenser tray/stacker 800 to the order, and communicate to the user ( on the user’s computing device, or the BD’s user interface), the slot number. After the beverage has been prepared, proposed BD can dispense it in a carry-away container, a conveyer system can retrieve the slot number from the proposed system and convey the carry-away container to the slot. At scheduled time, the user can simply come and pick his/her beverage from the designated slot.
[000168] In another exemplary embodiment, the slot can be protected by an authentication system and the user allotted a code (for example, a One Time Password – OTP- valid till the scheduled time. The user can provide the OTP to the authentication system to access the slot and retrieve his/her beverage.
[000169] In an exemplary embodiment, the slots can be numbered and the proposed system can determine(after finishing the dispensing for the nth order and before beginning the (n+1)th order, in a total of k orders where k>n+1), by means of the input / output device (122) on the dispenser, the slot number in which the nth beverage product needs to be slotted post dispensing. The user may then carry out pick-up / delivery with this unique number/ designation as a reference, as indicated at block 708.
[000170] As used herein, and unless the context dictates otherwise, the term “coupled to” is intended to include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other or in contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements). Therefore, the terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are used synonymously. Within the context of this document terms “coupled to” and “coupled with” are also used euphemistically to mean “communicatively coupled with” over a network, where two or more devices are able to exchange data with each other over the network, possibly via one or more intermediary device.
[000171] Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced. Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C ….and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.
[000172] While the present disclosure elaborates upon a beverage dispensing system, it can be readily understood that the concepts and methods elaborated can be used in any system that incorporates a combination of context inputs and user inputs to aid its users in decisions making. For instance, a user can walk into a restaurant, its menu providing the context inputs and user’s pre-determined health goals providing the user inputs, and be presented with menu choices that best meet the user’s health goals. All such usages, modifications and enhancements are fully within scope of the present disclosure.
[000173] Hence, while some embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described, those are completely exemplary in nature. The disclosure is not limited to the embodiments as elaborated herein only and it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. All such modifications, changes, variations, substitutions, and equivalents are completely within the scope of the present disclosure. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[000174] The present disclosure provides for a beverage dispensing system that co-creates with a user to provide the user beverage compositions as per context of usage and the user’s preferences.
[000175] The present disclosure provides for a beverage dispensing system that aids decision making of a user to arrive at appropriate beverage compositions.

,CLAIMS:

1) A method of preparing a context based beverage for a user , said method comprising:
receiving, through one or more processors of a central computing device, any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs;
providing, using said one or more processors, beverage recommendations to said user based upon said any or a combination of context inputs and user inputs;
enabling said user to select , using said one or more processors, a beverage from said beverage recommendations, and to modify, using said one or more processors, said selected beverage; and
generating, at said one or more processors, processing instructions for a beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare and dispense said modified selected beverage.
2) The method of claim 1, wherein said context inputs pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of said BD, location of said BD, time at said BD, said user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with said beverage recommendations..
3) The method of claim 1, wherein said user inputs pertain to any or a combination of said user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of said user, and parameters directly concerned with said beverage recommendations.
4) The method of claim 1, wherein said beverage recommendations are generated based on a set of rules pre-programmed or machine learnt.
5) The method of claim 1, wherein said beverage recommendations are received at a user interface that also enables receipt of said user inputs, said selection and said modification.
6) The method of claim 6, wherein said user interface comprises any or a combination of a first user interface configured at said BD and a second user interface configured at a computing device operatively connected to said BD.
7) A system to prepare a context based beverage for a user, said system comprising:
one or more processors;
a context inputs receiver to control said one or more processors to receive context inputs;
a user inputs receiver to control said one or more processors to receive user inputs;
a recommendations unit to control said one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to said user based upon any or a combination of said context inputs and said user inputs;
a customizer unit to control said one or more processors to enable said user to select a beverage from said beverage recommendations, and to modify said selected beverage;
a process instructions generator to control said one or more processors to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense said modified selected beverage; and
a preparation and dispenser unit to control said one or more processors to operate a beverage dispenser per said processing instructions to prepare and dispense said modified selected beverage.
8) A beverage dispenser (BD) to prepare a context based beverage for a user, said BD comprising a system comprising:
one or more processors;
a context inputs receiver to control said one or more processors to receive context inputs;
a user inputs receiver to control the one or more processors to receive user inputs;
a recommendations unit to control the one or more processors to provide beverage recommendations to said user based upon any or a combination of said context inputs and said user inputs;
a user customization unit to control the one or more processors to enable said user to select a beverage from said beverage recommendations, and to modify said selected beverage;
a process instructions generator to control the one or more processors to generate processing instructions to prepare and dispense said modified selected beverage; and
a preparation and dispenser unit to operate said BD per said processing instructions to prepare and dispense said modified selected beverage.
9) A BD of claim 8, wherein said context inputs pertain to any or a combination of ambient temperature of said BD, location of said BD, time at said BD, said user’s schedule, a food item already purchased by the user, and parameters indirectly concerned with said beverage recommendations; and wherein said user inputs pertain to any or a combination of said user’s preferences pertaining to taste, temperature, ingredients, color, texture and effects desired from a beverage, user activity, historical beverage usage pattern of said user, and parameters directly concerned with said beverage recommendations .
10) A BD of claim 8, wherein the BD prepares a plurality of beverages for simultaneous delivery at a pre-determined deferred time and dispenses said plurality of beverages into corresponding carry-away containers identifiable by corresponding users.