Dispenser servicing in a multiple washroom facility

• US 10,496,961 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2017
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OP hygiene IP Gmbh
• Original Assignee: OP hygiene IP Gmbh
• Inventors: Ophardt, Heiner, Gugliotta, Rudolpho Gian-Franco
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett, Scott L
• Application Number:
  US15/604,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20170344957A1
• Time in Patent Office: 922 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4011 Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4061 Steering means; Means for avoiding obstacles; Details related to the place where the driver is accommodated
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/02 Docking stations; Docking operations
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 2201/04 Automatic control of the travelling movement; Automatic obstacle detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/18 for washing or drying persons
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

A method of managing a plurality of washrooms in a facility for servicing by service personnel and, more particularly, for establishing servicing operations which provide for service of at least selected of the dispensers before their consumable product supply falls below a pre-selected refill value.

Claims

1. A system for managing a plurality of washrooms in a facility for servicing by service personnel comprising:

a server; and

a plurality of smart dispensers, each for dispensing a consumable product at different locations fixed within the facility, and with each smart dispenser having a maximum capacity for the consumable product,

wherein each smart dispenser has a system for monitoring a supply of the consumable product available in the smart dispenser and communicating data regarding the consumable product available in the smart dispenser to the server;

wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a predictive consumption profile representing the consumable product estimated to be available in each smart dispenser with time into the future,

wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a refill value for the consumable product available in each smart dispenser,

wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a refill time when the consumable product available in each smart dispenser is expected to reach the refill value as a function of the predictive consumption profile for that smart dispenser,

wherein the server establishes at least one or more servicing operations,

each servicing operation having one of the service personnel, a start time and a selected group of the smart dispensers;

wherein the server selects the service personnel, the start time and the selected group of the smart dispensers for each servicing operation as a service function which provides for service of each of the smart dispensers to replenish the consumable product in the smart dispensers before their respective refill time, and provides for servicing of predetermined one or more key smart dispensers of the smart dispensers to extend the refill time for each key smart dispenser;

wherein each key smart dispenser is a selected one of the smart dispensers selected for servicing in the servicing operation even if the key smart dispenser would not be selected for refilling based on the refill time of the key smart dispenser.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the server establishes a series of successive of the servicing operations,

wherein the server selects the service personnel, the start time and the selected group of the smart dispensers for each servicing operation with the service function providing for service of each of the smart dispensers before their respective refill time and providing for servicing of each key smart dispenser which would not be selected for refilling in a given servicing operation based on the refill time of each key smart dispenser, but are selected so as to extend the refill time for each key smart dispenser by which each key smart dispenser needs to be refilled in a subsequent servicing operation.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the servicing of each key smart dispenser to extend the refill time for each key smart dispenser extends the refill time for that key smart dispenser to a time after a predetermined time.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the server selects the predetermined time having regard to factors selected from the group of:

(a) ensuring the consumable product is available in each key smart dispenser until after a period of time in which usage of each key smart dispenser is predicted to be high,

(b) ensuring the consumable product is available in each key smart dispenser until after a period of time in which availability of the consumable product in each key smart dispenser is determined to be of high importance,

(c) ensuring the consumable product is available in each key smart dispenser until after a period of time in which servicing of each key smart dispenser is not possible,

(d) ensuring the consumable product is available in each key smart dispenser until after a period of time in which the service personnel are not available for servicing of each key smart dispenser, and

(e) ensuring the consumable product is available in each key smart dispenser until after a period of time in which consumable product is not available for servicing of each key smart dispenser.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a service time required for the service personnel to refill the consumable product in that smart dispenser, and

wherein the server determines one or more pathways for service personnel to travel and a travel time for each pathway, the pathways including pathways between locations within the facility,

the locations including a location of each smart dispenser within the facility.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5,

wherein there are one or more product storage capabilities within the facility,

the locations including a location of each product storage capability.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

one or more mobile storage carts; and

a location system for monitoring in real time the location of each mobile storage cart within the facility,

wherein the locations include the location of each mobile storage cart within the facility as monitored in real time.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

an inventory system for monitoring the consumable product stored at each product storage capability,

wherein for each servicing operation, the server establishes a listing of consumable product required to perform the servicing operation with time, and

wherein the server selects the product storage capability from which the consumable product for each servicing operation is to be supplied to fulfill the listing with time.

9. The system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a location system for monitoring in real time the location of each service personnel within the facility,

wherein the locations include the location of each service personnel within the facility as monitored in real time.

10. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein for each servicing operation, the server establishes a route for each selected service personnel for that servicing operation by selecting successive of the pathways for each service personnel to travel along to service the selected group of the smart dispensers as a function which (a) minimizes the sum of the travel times of the pathways of the route and the service times for each smart dispenser serviced and (b) provides for service of each of the selected group of smart dispensers before the consumable product available in any smart dispenser is expected to reach the refill value.

11. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the server, from time to time, establishes for each dispenser the predictive consumption profile based on a function of (a) any monitoring in real time of the consumable product available in each smart dispenser, and (b) predicted usage of the consumable product in each smart dispenser.

12. The system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the server selects the number of service personnel,

wherein the server selects a work shift schedule which establishes a start time and stop time of a work shift for each service personnel when each service personnel will be available for servicing, and

wherein the server periodically:

establishes a cost per shift of each service personnel,

performs an optimizing calculation which over a selected period of time for the servicing of all smart dispensers determines the routes required to service all smart dispensers and a sum of the costs of the shifts of all service personnel, having regard to a selected input matrix of values for the capacity of each smart dispenser, the refill value for each smart dispenser, the number of service personnel, the shifts, and the start and stop times for the shifts,

repeatedly varies the selected input matrix of values and repeats the optimizing calculation,

compares the sum of the costs of the shifts of all service personnel for each optimizing calculation and identifies one of the selected input matrix of values as an optimum input matrix of values that minimizes the sum of the costs of the shifts of all service personnel.

13. The system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein when due to a lack of one or more of consumable product, service personnel, access of service personnel to any smart dispenser, or operability of any smart dispenser such that the servicing operations cannot be established to select successive pathways for each selected service personnel to travel along to service the smart dispensers of the selected group of smart dispensers as a service function which provides for service of each of the smart dispensers before the refill time for each of the smart dispensers, then the server adopts an emergency mode of selecting of the service personnel, the start time and the selected group of the smart dispensers for each servicing operation in which the selecting of the service personnel, the start time and the selected group of the smart dispensers for each servicing operation is with the service function providing for the selection of one or more critical smart dispensers of the smart dispensers and refilling of each critical smart dispenser before their respective refill time.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13 wherein the server establishes a series of successive of the servicing operations,

wherein the server selects the service personnel, the start time and the selected group of the smart dispensers for each servicing operation with the service function providing for service of each critical smart dispenser before their respective refill time and providing for servicing of each critical smart dispenser which would not be selected for refilling in a given servicing operation based on the refill time of each critical smart dispenser but are selected so as to extend the refill time for each critical smart dispenser by which each critical smart dispenser needs to be refilled in a subsequent servicing operation.

15. The system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a service time required for the service personnel to refill the consumable product in that smart dispenser,

wherein the server determines one or more pathways for service personnel to travel between each washroom within the facility and a travel time for each pathway,

wherein the server establishes a route for each service personnel by selecting successive pathways for each service personnel to travel along to service smart dispensers as a function which (a) minimizes the sum of the travel times of the pathways of the route and the service times for each smart dispenser serviced, (b) provides for service of each of the smart dispensers before the consumable product available in any smart dispenser is expected to reach the refill value.

16. The system as claimed in claim 15,

wherein there are one or more offices within the facility where one or more service personnel are located when not servicing the smart dispensers,

wherein the server determines one or more pathways for service personnel to travel between each office and the washrooms within the facility and a travel time for each pathway,

wherein the server establishes the route for each service personnel including both the pathways for service personnel to travel between each washroom within the facility and the pathways for service personnel to travel between each office and the washrooms within the facility by selecting successive of the pathways for each service personnel to travel along to service smart dispensers as a function which (a) minimizes the sum of the travel times of the pathways of the route and the service times for each smart dispenser serviced, (b) provides for service of each of the smart dispensers before the consumable product available in any smart dispenser is expected to reach the refill value.

17. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the server establishes for each smart dispenser a service time required for the service personnel to refill the consumable product in that smart dispenser,

wherein the server determines one or more pathways for service personnel to travel between each washroom within the facility and a travel time for each pathway,

wherein the server establishes a series of successive of the servicing operations,

each servicing operation having a selected one of the service personnel not occupied concurrently in another of the servicing operations, a start time, a start location, a selected group of the smart dispensers and a route for servicing the selected group of the smart dispensers;

the start time, route, and selected group of the dispensers of the servicing operations established by the server selecting successive pathways for each selected service personnel to travel along to service the smart dispensers of the selected group of smart dispensers as a service function which (a) minimizes the sum of the travel times of the pathways of the route and the service times for each smart dispenser serviced, (b) provides for service of each of the smart dispensers before the refill time for each of the smart dispensers, and (c) provides for servicing of any smart dispenser to extend the refill time for that smart dispenser after the servicing operation to extend the time of the next servicing operation for servicing of that smart dispenser.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17 wherein item (c) provides for servicing of any key smart dispenser to extend the refill time for that key smart dispenser after the servicing operation to extend the time of the next servicing operation for servicing of that key smart dispenser beyond a predetermined time.