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System and method for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipmentRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring, Distributed Data ProcessingSystem and method for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060167967, System and method for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/923,046 filed Aug. 6, 2001 and entitled "System and Method for Monitoring and Control of Beverage Dispensing Equipment, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/224,097 filed Aug. 9, 2000 and entitled "System and Method for Monitoring and Control of Beverage Dispensing Equipment"; and [0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/267,254 filed Mar. 12, 1999 entitled "Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System" which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/078,645, filed Mar. 19, 1998, and entitled "Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System for the Monitoring and Control of Vending Machines" and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/099,434, filed Sep. 8, 1998, and entitled "Remote Data Acquisition and Transmission System." TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention relates generally to the field of remote data acquisition. More particularly, the present invention relates to a remote data acquisition and transmission system and method for the monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] Over the past decade, beverage dispensing equipment manufacturers have developed new and innovative beverage dispensing equipment in response to market needs and beverage equipment operator demands. These innovations have been, for the most part, adopted by the beverage dispensing industry. This trend has generally been influenced by the accelerating rate of technological innovation in the electronic and electro-mechanical component industry. The availability of new technologies has given beverage dispensing equipment manufacturers the tools to address many of the requirements of beverage dispensing operators. Advances in electronics are now enabling the use of computer controlled mixing of fountain drinks in some beverage dispensing equipment. Some of the latest liquor dispensing devices now make it possible for operators to download sales, inventory, and machine health information on-site onto portable computers. Although these computerized systems make it easier for operators to gather and analyze data, they generally do not provide real time capabilities that are needed to make a major impact on the overall business of using, maintaining and monitoring beverage dispensing equipment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] In accordance with the present invention, a remote data acquisition and transmission system is disclosed that provides advantages over previously developed remote data acquisition systems. In one embodiment, the remote data acquisition and transmission system may be used for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment. The remote data acquisition and transmission system preferably allows beverage dispensing equipment operators to gather data from the field without having to manually retrieve the data from the beverage dispensing equipment and to transmit data to the field such as price changes without having to visit each beverage dispensing device. This ability generally leads directly to improved sales, lower operational costs and better equipment performance by enhancing a manager's ability to direct operations and react quickly in order to correct problems. [0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, the system preferably includes one or more application controllers and an application host. The application controller or controllers are preferably interfaced with remote beverage dispensing equipment from which operation data may be acquired and information transmitted thereto by each application controller. Each application controller may communicate with an application host via a local area network, and the application host may communicate with a network operations center preferably using a wide area network interface. The system may include a local area network (LAN) with one unit and its associated application host or multiple units and associated application hosts. [0007] According to another aspect of the present invention, a remote data acquisition and transmission system is provided for beverage dispensing equipment. This system preferably includes a plurality of application controllers. Each application controller preferably interfaces, via a serial interface to a beverage dispensing controller, with a beverage dispensing device from which operation data may be acquired by the application controller. The system may also include an application host that communicates with the application controllers via a local area network. The application host preferably includes a wide area network interface for communicating with a network operations center. The network operations center preferably communicates with the application host via a wide area network to receive the operation data acquired by the application controllers and to manage outgoing messages and/or data. Further, the application controllers and the application host may operate to autoconfigure the local area network upon initialization, and the application controllers may operate as relays when necessary to establish communication between the application host and other application controllers. In addition, the network operation center may maintain a database storing the operation data and providing secure third party access to the database. [0008] According to a further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for remote data acquisition and transmission. The method preferably includes interfacing a plurality of application controllers with remote beverage dispensing equipment from which operation data may be acquired by the application controllers. The method preferably further includes communicating between an application host and the application controllers via a local area network, and communicating between the application host and a network operations center using a wide area network interface. [0009] In another aspect of the present invention, remote data acquisition and transmission system for beverage dispensing equipment is provided. The system preferably includes an application controller and an application host operably coupled to the application controller. In addition, the application controller is preferably coupled to and preferably interfaces with remote beverage dispensing equipment from which operating data may be acquired by the application controller. A wide area network interface for communicating with a network operations center is preferably included on the application host in such an aspect. [0010] Technical advantages of the present invention may include the use of local wire-line and/or local-area wireless transmissions to implement a local area network (LAN) between multiple beverage dispensing devices. This provides a remote data acquisition system for beverage dispensing equipment that overcomes the limitations of current beverage dispensing systems by establishing a low-cost LAN that can then communicate externally using a long-range wireless or wire-line communication system. For example, a narrowband PCS wireless link (e.g., wireless two-way paging network) can be used between a remote beverage dispensing equipment LAN and a network operations center to establish an efficient and low-cost wide area network (WAN) which connects remote LANs together to form a larger network. The present invention provides systems and methods to manage devices that collect data from distributed corporate assets such as beverage dispensing equipment. The systems and methods preferably further collect desired data from such devices, store and/or archives such data and allows generation of selected reports to optimize performance of the corporate assets. [0011] Additional technical advantages should be readily apparent from the drawings and description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012] A more complete understanding of the present invention and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein: [0013] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of a remote data acquisition system for beverage dispensing equipment according to the present invention; [0014] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of an application controller and its interface with dispensing hardware according to the present invention; [0015] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of an application host according to the present invention; [0016] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an additional embodiment of a remote data acquisition system for beverage dispensing equipment according to the present invention; [0017] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an additional embodiment of an application controller and its interface with dispensing hardware according to the present invention; [0018] FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of an additional embodiment of an application host according to the present invention; [0019] FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of a network operations center according to the present invention; Continue reading about System and method for monitoring and control of beverage dispensing equipment... 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