Wirelessly controlled inflator

• US 9,860,361 B1
• Filed: 01/24/2017
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2017
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hall Labs, LLC
• Original Assignee: Hall Labs, LLC
• Inventors: Hall, David R., Miles, Jerome, Hyer, Davido, Knight, Jedediah
• Primary Examiner(s): Heiber, Shantell L
• Application Number:
  US15/413,905
• Time in Patent Office: 343 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 35/04 the means being electric
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 39/00 Component parts, details, or accessories, of pumps or pumping systems specially adapted for elastic fluids, not otherwise provided for in, or of interest apart from, groups F04B25/00 - F04B37/00
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 49/065 and making use of computers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• 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

Abstract

A wirelessly controlled inflator is described herein that includes a pump, a hose, a programmable switch, and a wireless transceiver. The hose is fluidically coupled to the pump. The programmable switch is electrically coupled to the pump and stores instructions that, when executed, activate the pump until a desired pressure setting is reached. The wireless transceiver is electrically coupled to the programmable switch and relays pump operation information to the programmable switch. The inflator may be remotely controlled by one or more networked devices, such as directly or via a cloud-based network.

Claims

1. A wirelessly controlled inflator, comprising:

an air pump;

a hose comprising a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the pump, and the second end comprising a connection mechanism that connects the hose to an inflatable object;

a programmable switch electrically coupled to the pump, the programmable switch storing instructions that, when executed, activate the pump until a desired pressure is reached in the inflatable object;

a transceiver electrically coupled to the programmable switch, wherein the transceiver relays pump control information to the programmable switch, wherein the control information comprises a desired pumping rate; and

a control device comprising a camera, at least one image of at least one inflatable object, a pressure setting for the inflatable object, and instructions, executable by one or more of the control device, the air pump, and the programmable switch, to inflate the inflatable object to the pressure setting upon receiving, via the camera, a picture and determining the picture matches the image of the inflatable object.

2. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control information comprises one or more of the desired pressure, an activation signal, a deactivation signal, a desired pumping rate, a request for a current pressure level of an object coupled to the hose, or a request for a current pumping rate.

3. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the switch stores instructions that, when executed, transmit information via the wireless transceiver, the information comprising one or more of real-time pressure information, pumping rate, or pump operational status.

4. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is wireless, and wherein the control device communicates wirelessly with the transceiver.

5. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the connection mechanism comprises a valve.

6. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device comprises a touch screen, and wherein the touch screen displays one or more icons corresponding to one or more pre-set pressure settings, the icons conveying to a user one or more of object types or tasks corresponding to the pre-set pressure settings.

7. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device stores one or more default pressure settings corresponding to one or more of object types or tasks.

8. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 7, wherein the control device stores instructions that, when executed, allow a user to adjust the default pressure settings to pre-set pressure settings.

9. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device comprises a touch screen, and wherein the control device is coupled to the second end of the hose adjacent to the universal coupling mechanism.

10. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 9, wherein the control device comprises a battery that powers the control device.

11. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 10, wherein the hose is retractable, and wherein the inflator and the control device each further comprise one or more electrical contacts, wherein, as the hose retracts from an extended position to a wound position, the control device electrical contact engages the inflator electrical contact.

12. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 11, wherein the inflator provides one or more of power or data to the control device via the electrical contacts.

13. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device comprises one or more of a smartphone, a tablet, a personal computer, or a cloud-based server.

14. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, further comprising a housing surrounding the inflator, a touch screen disposed on the housing and electrically coupled to the programmable switch.

15. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device comprises means for visually receiving the pump control information.

16. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 15, wherein the control device communicates with the transceiver via a cloud-based network device, wherein the cloud-based network device stores instruction that, when executed,

receive one or more pictographic profiles from the control device;

determine whether the one or more pictographic profiles matches one or more known pictographs associated with machine-readable instructions; and

transmit the machine-readable instructions corresponding to the one or more known pictographs matching the one or more pictographic profiles.

17. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 15, wherein the programmable switch stores instructions that, when executed, compare a received pictographic profile to one or more stored known pictographs corresponding to one or more pump operation settings.

18. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the control device communicates with the transceiver via a cloud-based network device, wherein the cloud-based network device stores instructions that, when executed,

receive one or more audio profiles from the control device;

translate the audio into machine-readable instructions; and

transmit the machine-readable instructions to the programmable switch.

19. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, wherein the programmable switch stores instructions that, when executed, compare a received audio profile to one or more stored audio profiles corresponding to one or more pump operation settings.

20. The wirelessly controlled inflator of claim 1, further comprising one or more speakers in communication with the programmable switch, and wherein the programmable switch stores instructions that, when executed, provide audible information to a user via the one or more speakers.