US 12,329,310 B2
Beverage preparation machine with capsule recognition
Martino Ruggiero, Lonay (CH); and Szabolcs Balasi, Chavannes-pres-Renens (CH)
Assigned to Societe des Produits Nestle S.A., Vevey (CH)
Appl. No. 16/968,438
Filed by SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A., Vevey (CH)
PCT Filed Jun. 15, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/065939
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 7, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/154527, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 15, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 18156197 (EP), filed on Feb. 9, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0397184 A1, Dec. 24, 2020
Int. Cl. A47J 31/44 (2006.01); A47J 31/52 (2006.01); G06N 3/08 (2023.01)
CPC A47J 31/4492 (2013.01) [A47J 31/521 (2018.08); G06N 3/08 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A machine for preparing and dispensing a beverage, the machine comprising:
an extraction unit configured for extracting a capsule to form the beverage;
a control unit configured for controlling the extraction unit to extract the capsule;
an outlet for dispensing the beverage formed by extracting the capsule to a user-receptacle,
a capsule recognition module for recognizing the capsule inserted in the machine at a capsule recognition position, the capsule recognition module comprising a camera for capturing a digital image of at least part of the capsule in the capsule recognition position; and
the capsule recognition module comprising a light source and a neural network computing device, the neural network computing device being configured to determine a type of the capsule amongst a plurality of predefined capsule types on the basis of the digital image of at least part of the capsule captured by the camera,
wherein lighting from the light source and image capture conditions in the capsule recognition position correspond to training conditions for which the neural network computing device is configured by training to recognize the capsule,
wherein the camera has a fixed position in an enclosure, the enclosure comprising an opening for receiving the capsule, the capsule recognition position arranged in the enclosure, and the light source configured to emit light to the capsule at the capsule recognition position.