Electronic care and content clothing label

• US 10,255,629 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cacotec Corporation
• Original Assignee: Filip Bajovic
• Inventors: Bajovic, Filip
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Claude J
• Application Number:
  US15/730,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20180165486A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 235375
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 33/32 Control of operational steps, e.g. optimisation or improvement of operational steps depending on the condition of the laundry
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/05 for wireless communication between components, e.g. for remote monitoring or control
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/18 Condition of the laundry, e.g. nature or weight
• CPC Class Codes: D06F 34/32 characterised by graphical features, e.g. touchscreens
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1413 1D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1417 2D bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations

Abstract

The technology disclosed here encodes a clothing item ID as an alphanumeric code within the clothing item, such as within a radio-frequency identification tag. A clothing item cleaning appliance, such as a cell phone, or a washing machine reads the clothing item ID from the clothing item, and retrieves the care and content information from a database maintained on a cloud. For example, the care and content information can include operating settings of the washing machine. The washing machine can adjust its settings and wash the clothing item in accordance with the care and content information of the clothing item. The care and content information stored in the database can be organized in optimized data structures enabling efficient responses to received queries, and efficient updates to the information stored in the data structures.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

retrieving, by a processor, from a central database a plurality of care information associated with a plurality of clothing item identifications (IDs), a plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs and the plurality of clothing item IDs associated with a plurality of clothing items;

creating, by the processor, based on information contained in the central database, an update comprising an update to a care information of a clothing item in the plurality of clothing items, the care information comprising washing instructions associated with the clothing item, or an update to a content information of the clothing item in the plurality of clothing items;

sending, by the processor, from the central database the update to a clothing item cleaning appliance thereby reducing consumption of non-sustainable materials contained in a clothing label by avoiding re-creation of the clothing label; and

operating, by the processor, the clothing item cleaning appliance in accordance with the care information associated with the clothing item.

2. The method of claim 1, said creating the update comprising:

creating, by the processor, the update increasing longevity of the clothing item in the plurality of clothing items by analyzing the plurality of care information and the plurality of content information.

3. The method of claim 1, said creating the update comprising:

determining, by the processor, the care information of a clothing item based on the content information of the clothing item, the content information of the clothing item comprising material contained in the clothing item and a percentage of the material contained in the clothing item.

4. The method of claim 3, said creating the update comprising:

retrieving, by the processor, the plurality of content information and the plurality of care information associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs; and

using, by the processor, machine learning to determine the care information for the clothing item based on the plurality of content information and the plurality of care information associated with the plurality of clothing items.

5. The method of claim 3, said creating the update comprising:

retrieving, by the processor, the plurality of care information and the plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing items;

finding, by the processor, a first clothing item in the plurality of clothing items having the content information closest to the content information of the clothing item than any other clothing item in the plurality of clothing items; and

assigning, by the processor, the care information of the clothing item to correspond to a care information of the first clothing item.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

tracking, by the processor, the plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing items when the plurality of clothing items have been sold;

determining, by the processor, the content information in the plurality of content information with a highest number of sales; and

sending, by the processor, a notification to a user that the determined content information has the highest number of sales.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising storing, by the processor, a history of the clothing item in the central database, the history comprising a washing history of the clothing item, or a purchasing history of the clothing item.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the processor, a type of clothing frequently purchased by a user; and

offering, by the processor, a discount to the user for clothing items having properties substantially similar to the type of clothing frequently purchased by the user.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

tracking, by the processor, a number of times the clothing item has been subjected to the clothing item cleaning appliance; and

offering, by the processor, to a user to purchase a new clothing item based on the number of times the clothing item has been subjected to the clothing item cleaning appliance.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising:

grouping, by the processor, the plurality of clothing item IDs associated with a user into a plurality of bins, wherein each bin in the plurality of bins comprises clothing items that have the same care information; and

sending, by the processor, information contained in the plurality of bins to the user.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the processor, a user preferred language based on geolocation of a user, or a user'"'"'s language preference; and

translating, by the processor, information sent to the user into the user preferred language.

12. A method comprising:

retrieving, by a processor, from a central database a plurality of care information and a plurality of content information associated with a plurality of clothing item identifications (IDs) coupled to a plurality of clothing items, a content information in the plurality of content information comprising a percentage of a material contained in a clothing item in the plurality of clothing items, and a care information in the plurality of care information comprising a clothing item cleaning appliance instructions;

creating, by the processor, based on information contained in the central database, a suggestion comprising an increase in a longevity of the clothing item by analyzing the plurality of care information comprising a plurality of washing instructions associated with the plurality of clothing items and the plurality of content information; and

sending, by the processor, from the central database the suggestion to a user, thereby reducing consumption of non-sustainable materials contained in a clothing label by avoiding re-creation of the clothing label.

13. The method of claim 12, said creating the suggestion comprising:

determining, by the processor, the increase in the longevity of the clothing item when the clothing item is subjected to a treatment different from the care information; and

creating, by the processor, an update to the care information comprising the treatment different from the care information.

14. The method of claim 12, said creating the suggestion comprising:

determining, by the processor, a popular clothing item based on an amount of sales associated with the plurality of clothing items; and

creating, by the processor, the suggestion comprising a notification to the user comprising the popular clothing item.

15. The method of claim 12, said creating the suggestion comprising:

determining, by the processor, a popular material associated with the clothing item based on an amount of sales associated with the plurality of clothing items; and

creating, by the processor, a notification to the user comprising the popular material.

16. The method of claim 12, said creating the suggestion comprising:

tracking, by the processor, a number of times the clothing item has been subjected to a clothing item cleaning appliance; and

when the number of times exceeds a predefined threshold, creating, by the processor, an offer to purchase an identical clothing item.

17. The method of claim 12, said creating the suggestion comprising:

tracking, by the processor, an operating setting of a clothing item cleaning appliance applied to the clothing item; and

when the operating setting of the clothing item cleaning appliance are harsher than the care information of the clothing item cleaning appliance, creating, by the processor, the suggestion comprising an offer to purchase an identical clothing item.

18. A system comprising:

a central database storing a plurality of care information associated with a plurality of clothing items, a plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing items and a plurality of clothing item identifications (ID) associated with the plurality of clothing items;

a clothing item analyzer organizing the plurality of clothing item IDs into a plurality of categories based on the plurality of care information and the plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs;

a profile processor organizing user information comprising a user identification and clothing item IDs associated with a user;

a suggestion engine, based on information contained in the central database, creating an update comprising an update to a care information of a clothing item in the plurality of clothing items, the care information comprising washing instructions associated with the clothing item or an update to a content information of the clothing item in the plurality of clothing items; and

a communication layer sending the update to a clothing item cleaning appliance thereby reducing consumption of non-sustainable materials contained in a clothing label by avoiding re-creation of the clothing label, and causing the clothing item cleaning appliance to operate in accordance with the update.

19. The system of claim 18, the suggestion engine:

determining the care information of the clothing item based on the content information of the clothing item, the content information of the clothing item comprising material contained in the clothing item and a percentage of the material contained in the clothing item.

20. The system of claim 18, the suggestion engine:

creating, using a machine learning system, the update to the care information, the update to the care information increasing a longevity of a clothing item in the plurality of clothing items by analyzing the plurality of care information and the plurality of content information.

21. The system of claim 18, comprising a digital component, attached to a clothing item, comprising an ID of the clothing item, the digital component coated in a waterproof and heatproof material.

22. The system of claim 18, the clothing item analyzer organizing the plurality of clothing item IDs into the plurality of categories based on a clothing item brand, the content information, the care information, or a clothing item type.

23. The system of claim 18, the profile processor:

receiving user information comprising the user identification, the plurality of clothing item IDs associated with the user; and

organizing the plurality of clothing item IDs into the plurality of categories based on the care information.

24. The system of claim 18, the profile processor:

receiving user information comprising the user identification, the plurality of clothing item IDs associated with the user; and

recommending to the user a clothing item to purchase based on a clothing item brand associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs, a clothing item type associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs, and the content information associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs.

25. The system of claim 18, the suggestion engine:

receiving a second content information not contained in the plurality of content information of the plurality of clothing item IDs, the second content information associated with a second clothing item ID; and

recommending a care information of the second clothing item ID based on the plurality of care information and the plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing item IDs.

26. The system of claim 18, the suggestion engine:

tracking the plurality of content information associated with the plurality of clothing items when the plurality of clothing items have been sold;

determining the content information in the plurality of content information with a highest number of sales; and

sending a notification to the user that the determined content information has the highest number of sales.

27. The system of claim 18, the central database storing a history of the clothing item in the central database, the history comprising a washing history of the clothing item, or a purchasing history of the clothing item.

28. The system of claim 18, the profile processor:

determining a type of clothing frequently purchased by the user; and

offering a discount to the user for clothing items having properties substantially similar to the type of clothing frequently purchased by the user.

29. The system of claim 18, comprising a translation module:

receiving a language indication based on a geolocation of a user device, or a user'"'"'s language preference;

translating a user message to a language associated with the language indication; and

sending the translated user message to the user.

30. The system of claim 18, a routing engine distributing a message between the communication layer and at least one of the clothing item analyzer, the profile processor, or the suggestion engine.