Beverage dispensing system with bottle identification mechanism

A dispensing system for a facility having a plurality of bottles from which liquid is dispensed, said dispensing system comprising:

• a plurality of spouts, each spout having a portion for attachment to one of the plurality of bottles, and having a flow passage controlled by a magnetically operable valve and a radio frequency transponder which upon receiving an activation signal transmits an identification code that is unique among said plurality of spouts;
• an actuator assembly which is placed adjacent to a given spout while pouring liquid from the bottle attached to the given spout, and having an interrogator coil and valve operating coil that produces a magnetic field which opens the valve in the given spout;
• an interrogator coupled to the interrogator coil to send the activation signal to the transponder and read the identification code;
• and
• a controller having an input connected to the interrogator, a driver connected to the valve operating coil to open a valve in a selected spout response to said interrogator reading the identification code from the selected spout, and a memory with a group of storage locations for each of the plurality of spouts, a group of storage locations for a given spout containing the identification code for the given spout and data regarding a total volume dispensed from a particular bottle to which the given spout is attached, a quantity present in the particular bottle when full, and a price per volume unit, and wherein upon the driver opening the valve of the selected spout, data regarding a total volume in a group of storage locations which contain the identification code read from the selected spout is updated.

A method for dispensing liquid from a bottle having a spout with a magnetically operated valve and a transponder, said method comprising steps of:

• placing an actuator in proximity to the spout;
• interrogating the transponder to obtain an identification code that is unique to the spout;
• energizing the actuator for a predetermined period of time to produce a magnetic field that causes the valve to open;
• storing in a memory information which indicates a quantity of liquid that was dispensed from the bottle while the valve was opened;
• and
• calculating from the information a monetary value for the quantity of liquid that was dispensed from the bottle.

A beverage dispensing system comprising a plurality of dispensing stations connected by at least one communication link to a computer that monitors beverages dispensed at the dispensing stations from a plurality of liquid containers, wherein each dispensing station comprises:

• a plurality of spouts, each spout having a portion for attachment to one of the plurality of bottles, a flow passage controlled by a magnetically operable valve and a transponder which upon receiving an activation signal transmits an identification code that is unique among said plurality of spouts;
• an actuator assembly which is placed adjacent to a given spout while pouring liquid from the bottle attached to the given spout, and having an interrogator coil and valve operating coil that produces a magnetic field which opens the valve in the given spout;
• an interrogator coupled to the interrogator coil to send the activation signal to the transponder in the given spout and read the identification code;
• a controller having an input connected to said interrogator, a driver connected to the operating coil to open the valve of a selected spout in response to said interrogator reading the identification code from the selected spout, and a memory with a group of storage locations for each of the plurality of spouts, a group of storage locations for a given spout containing the identification code for a given spout and data regarding a total volume dispensed from a particular bottle to which the given spout is attached, a quantity present in the particular bottle when full, and a price per volume unit, wherein upon the driver opening the valve of the selected spout, data regarding a total volume in group of storage locations which contain the identification code read from the selected spout is updated;
• and
• an interface for communicating data, about liquid dispensed from each liquid container, over the communication link to the computer.