DISPENSER FUNCTIONALITY EVALUATION

• US 20150199865A1
• Filed: 01/15/2015
• Published: 07/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GOJO Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GOJO Industries Incorporated
• Inventors: Wegelin, Jackson William, Brown, Paul Jason, Curtis, Chip
• Granted Patent: US 10,403,079 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 5/1217 Electrical control means for the dispensing mechanism
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/004 comprising sensors for monitoring the delivery, e.g. by displaying the sensed value or generating an alarm B05B12/08 takes precedence; registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus in general G07C3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/08 responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material to be discharged, of ambient medium or of target ; responsive to condition of spray devices or of supply means, e.g. pipes, pumps or their drive means
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/081 responsive to the weight of a reservoir or container for liquid or other fluent material; responsive to level or volume of liquid or other fluent material in a reservoir or container
• 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

Abstract

One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for evaluating dispenser functionality of a dispenser for dispensing a material. In an example, a non-loaded electrical characteristic and/or a loaded electrical characteristic of the dispenser may be measured and evaluated to determine whether to perform a dispense event. In another example, current measurements, such as peak current, may be measured during a dispense event. The current measurements may be evaluated to determine whether a problem exists, such as a mechanical stall, a gear train problem, an actuator problem, a pump problem (e.g., a clogged pump), a mechanical impedance, and/or other issue. Such information may be collected, stored as historical data, and/or used to determine whether to perform subsequent dispense events.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating dispenser functionality of a dispenser for dispensing a material, comprising:

measuring a non-loaded electrical characteristic of a dispenser;

responsive to the non-loaded electrical characteristic being above a first non-loaded threshold, performing a dispense event; and

responsive to the non-loaded electrical characteristic being between the first non-loaded threshold and a second non-loaded threshold;

measuring a loaded electrical characteristic of the dispenser;

responsive to the loaded electrical characteristic being above a loaded threshold, performing the dispense event; and

responsive to the loaded electrical characteristic being below the loaded threshold, refraining from performing the dispense event.

2. The method of claim 1, the measuring a loaded electrical characteristic comprising:

measuring at least one of a loaded current or a loaded voltage across a drivetrain motor load.

3. The method of claim 1, the measuring a loaded electrical characteristic comprising:

measuring at least one of a loaded current or a loaded voltage across a load separate from a drivetrain and a motor of the dispenser.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising:

identifying dispense event evaluation data for the dispenser;

evaluating the loaded electrical characteristic against the dispense event evaluation data to determine dispenser operating data for the dispenser;

responsive to the dispenser operating data not being indicative of a dispense event problem, performing the dispense event; and

responsive to the dispenser operating data being indicative of a dispense event problem, refraining from performing the dispense event.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising:

responsive to the loaded electrical characteristic being below the loaded threshold, providing an alert.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

during a first timespan of the dispense event;

measuring a first peak current; and

evaluating the first peak current to identify a mechanical problem associated with the dispenser.

7. The method of claim 6, the mechanical problem comprising at least one of a mechanical stall, a gear train problem, an actuator problem, a pump problem, or a mechanical impedance.

8. The method of claim 6, comprising at least one of:

generating prior dispense event evaluation data based upon the mechanical problem;

or

providing an alert of the mechanical problem.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

during a second timespan of the dispense event;

measuring a second peak current; and

evaluating the second peak current to identify a pump problem associated with the dispenser.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining a time since last dispense metric; and

evaluating the loaded electrical characteristic and the time since last dispense metric to determine dispenser operating data for the dispenser;

responsive to the dispenser operating data not being indicative of a dispense event problem, performing the dispense event; and

responsive to the dispenser operating data being indicative of a dispense event problem, refraining from performing the dispense event.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising:

during the dispense event;

measuring a peak current metric and a peak current timespan metric to generate current characteristic data for the dispense event;

determining a battery status for the dispense event based upon the current characteristic data; and

responsive to the battery status being below a dispense power metric, at least one of;

generating prior dispense event evaluation data based upon the battery status;

or

providing an alert of the battery status.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising:

identifying dispense event evaluation data for the dispenser; and

adjusting at least one of the first non-loaded threshold, the second non-loaded threshold, or the loaded threshold based upon the dispense event evaluation data.

13. A system for evaluating dispenser functionality of a dispenser for dispensing a material, comprising:

a pre-dispense evaluation component configured to;

measure a non-loaded electrical characteristic of a dispenser;

responsive to the non-loaded electrical characteristic being above a first non-loaded threshold, perform a dispense event; and

responsive to the non-loaded electrical characteristic being between the first non-loaded threshold and a second non-loaded threshold;

measure a loaded electrical characteristic of the dispenser;

responsive to the loaded electrical characteristic being above a loaded threshold, perform the dispense event; and

responsive to the loaded electrical characteristic being below the loaded threshold, refrain from performing the dispense event.

14. The system of claim 13, comprising:

a dispense evaluation component configured to;

during a first timespan of the dispense event;

measure a first peak current; and

evaluate the first peak current to identify a mechanical problem associated with the dispenser.

15. The system of claim 13, comprising:

a dispense evaluation component configured to;

during a second timespan of the dispense event;

measure a second peak current; and

evaluate the second peak current to identify a pump problem associated with the dispenser.

16. The system of claim 13, the pre-dispense evaluation component configured to:

identify dispense event evaluation data for the dispenser; and

adjust at least one of the first non-loaded threshold, the second non-loaded threshold, or the loaded threshold based upon the dispense event evaluation data.

17. A method for evaluating dispenser functionality of a dispenser for dispensing a material, comprising:

determining an expected current for a dispense event of a dispenser based upon a non-loaded voltage of the dispenser;

obtaining a current measurement of a current dispense event of the dispenser;

evaluating the current measurement against the expected current to determine an operational characteristic of the dispenser; and

providing the operational characteristic.

18. The method of claim 17, the operational characteristic corresponding to at least one of a type of pump utilized by the dispenser, a dry pump during the current dispense event indicative of an empty refill container, utilization of a restrictor by the dispenser, or an operational status of a transistor.

19. The method of claim 17, the providing the operational characteristic comprising at least one of:

sending a service alert of the operational characteristic over a network to a computing device;

or

sending the service alert of the operational characteristic to the computing device utilizing a wireless communication signal.

20. The method of claim 17, the providing the operational characteristic comprising:

displaying a service alert of the operational characteristic through at least one of a website, a map populated with a dispenser user interface element representing the dispenser, or an application user interface.