Systems for providing condition-based data from a user interactive device

• US 10,057,709 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2016
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GOJO Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GOJO Industries Incorporated
• Inventors: Wegelin, Jackson William, Cross, Tamara Mae, Slater, Jason Michael, Bullock, Mark Adam, Hall, Jeffrey William, Smith, Derek Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIEH, PING Y
• Application Number:
  US15/346,833
• Publication Number:
  US 20170134887A1
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 455500, 4555561, 455557, 4554561, 4554562, 4554563
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 13/00 Coin-freed apparatus for controlling dispensing or fluids, semiliquids or granular material from reservoirs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 : Access point devices

Abstract

A user interactive device includes a housing, a user interactive mechanism carried by the housing, a wireless transmitter storing application identifying data identifying an application associated with the user interactive device, and a controller in circuit communication with the wireless transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to communicate device condition data to the wireless transmitter. The wireless transmitter is configured to wirelessly transmit a broadcast data packet including the application identifying data and the device condition data.

Claims

1. A dispenser including:

a housing;

a container carried by the housing for holding a fluid;

an outlet in fluid communication with the container;

a dispensing mechanism disposed in the housing and operable to supply the fluid from the container to the outlet;

a wireless transmitter storing application identifying data identifying an application associated with a user interactive device;

a controller in circuit communication with the wireless transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to communicate dispenser condition data to the wireless transmitter; and

wherein the wireless transmitter is a beacon transmitter that is configured to periodically wirelessly transmit a broadcast data packet including the application identifying data and the dispenser condition data without establishing a connection with a user interactive device receiving the data packet; and

wherein when a user interactive device includes an application software that is identified by the application identifying data, and

wherein the application software causes the user interactive device to recognize the data packet, process the data and transmit at least a portion of the data to a remote computing device.

2. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitter comprises one of a Bluetooth®

beacon and an iBeacon®

protocol beacon device.

3. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the application identifying data comprises a universally unique identifier (UUID).

4. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the dispenser condition data comprises data corresponding to at least one of a battery charge level, motor performance information, a fluid fill level, usage of the dispenser, cumulative usage of the dispenser, time of use of the dispenser, fluid identification data, and user identification data.

5. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the broadcast data packet further includes dispenser location data.

6. The dispenser of claim 1, further comprising a fluid fill level sensor in communication with the controller to provide fluid fill level data to the controller, wherein the dispenser condition data includes the fluid fill level data.

7. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the broadcast data packet further includes mobile device location data.

8. The dispenser of claim 1, wherein the controller generates the dispenser condition data in response to user actuation of dispensing mechanism.

9. A system comprising:

a dispenser including;

a housing;

a container carried by the housing for holding a fluid;

an outlet in fluid communication with the container;

a dispensing mechanism disposed in the housing and operable to supply the fluid from the container to the outlet;

a wireless transmitter storing application identifying data identifying an application associated with the user interactive device; and

a controller in circuit communication with the wireless transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to communicate dispenser condition data to the wireless transmitter;

wherein the wireless transmitter is a beacon that is configured to periodically wirelessly transmit a broadcast data packet including the application identifying data and the dispenser condition data without establishing a connection with a mobile device;

wherein when a mobile device is in proximity with the dispenser, and the mobile device has application software that is identified by the application identifying data, the application software causes the mobile device to recognize the data packet, process the data and transmit at least a portion of the data; and

a remote computing device for receiving the data transmitted from the mobile device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the broadcast data packet further including the dispenser location data.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the dispenser condition data comprises data corresponding to at least one of a battery charge level, a fluid fill level, frequency of usage of the dispenser, cumulative usage of the dispenser, time of use of the dispenser, fluid identification data, and user identification data.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller generates the dispenser condition data in response to user actuation of dispensing mechanism.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the dispenser condition data comprises usage data corresponding to time of use of the dispenser.

14. A system comprising:

a soap or sanitizing dispenser including;

a housing;

a container carried by the housing for holding a soap or sanitizer;

a dispensing mechanism for causing soap or sanitizer to be dispensed from the container;

a wireless transmitter that is a beacon that periodically transmits a signal without establishing a connection with a mobile device; and

memory;

application identifying data identifying an application configured to wirelessly receive data from the soap or sanitizer dispenser; and

a controller in circuit communication with the wireless transmitter;

wherein the controller causes the wireless transmitter to continuously wirelessly transmit a broadcast data packet including the application identifying data and a dispenser condition data to a mobile device that contains application software that is identified by the application identifying data and causes the mobile device to receive the data packet when the mobile device is in proximity with the dispenser, process that data pack and transmitting at least a portion of the data to a remote computing device.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising an application for a mobile device, wherein the application is configured to receive application identifying data and the dispenser condition.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising a mobile device.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising a server for receiving the dispenser condition data from the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the dispenser condition is indicative of a usage rate.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the dispenser condition is indicative of a volume of soap or sanitizer.