Portable foodstuff container

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10480503-B2
Application number	US-201715721104-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A portable foodstuff container and method of dispensing foodstuff from the portable container are disclosed herein. Such a portable foodstuff may include a portable body with a reservoir configured to contain a foodstuff and a dispenser configured to dispense the foodstuff contained in the reservoir, a pump disposed within the body and configured to convey the foodstuff from the reservoir to the dispenser when activated to dispense the foodstuff through the dispenser, and a controller disposed in the body and coupled to the pump. The controller may be configured to activate the pump to dispense a user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable foodstuff container, comprising:
a portable body including a reservoir configured to contain a foodstuff and a dispenser configured to dispense the foodstuff contained in the reservoir;
a gyroscope coupled to body and configured to sense an orientation of the body;
a pump disposed within the body and configured to convey the foodstuff from the reservoir to the dispenser when activated to dispense the foodstuff through the dispenser; and
a controller disposed in the body and coupled to the gyroscope and the pump, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the body is in a dispensing orientation using the gyroscope and activate the pump while the body is determined to be in the dispensing orientation to dispense a user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser, and wherein the controller is further configured to deactivate the pump prior to dispensing all of the user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser in response to determining that the body is no longer in the dispensing orientation.

2. The container of claim 1 , wherein the container further comprises a flow meter disposed in the body and configured to measure an amount of foodstuff conveyed by the pump, and wherein the controller is configured to deactivate the pump upon sensing with the flow meter that the user-selected amount has been dispensed.

3. The container of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of foodstuff present in the reservoir based on one or more readings from the flow meter.

4. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface disposed on the body and coupled to the controller to receive user input selecting the user-selected amount, and wherein the user interface includes a control that a user selects to dispense the user-selected amount of foodstuff.

5. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a dial disposed on the body and coupled to the controller to receive user input selecting the user-selected amount by rotation.

6. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a control disposed on the body and coupled to the controller to change a unit of measure of the user-selected amount.

7. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a level sensor in the body and coupled to the controller to sense an amount of the foodstuff remaining in the reservoir.

8. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a battery in the body configured to provide power to the pump and the controller.

9. The container of claim 8 , wherein the battery is rechargeable.

10. The container of claim 1 , wherein the pump is disposed in a channel between the reservoir and the dispenser.

11. The container of claim 1 , wherein the dispenser is located proximate a bottom portion of the body.

12. The container of claim 1 , wherein the dispenser is located proximate a top portion of the body.

13. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to communicate with a mobile computing device to receive the user-selected amount.

14. The container of claim 13 , wherein the mobile computing device further comprises an application configured to accept user input of the user-selected amount and communicate the user-selected amount to the controller.

15. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to activate the pump to free flow based on user input.

16. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to activate the pump to automatically start dispensing the user-selected amount in response to tilting of the body from a non-dispensing orientation to the dispensing orientation.

17. The container of claim 1 , wherein the container is configured for storage in a refrigerator and includes a battery charging circuit configured to charge a battery of the container when the container is stored in the refrigerator.

18. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to activate the pump to dispense the user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser additionally in response to selection of a user control while the body is determined to be in a dispensing orientation.

19. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to, after deactivating the pump prior to dispensing all of the user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser, reactivate the pump to complete dispensing of the user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser in response to determining that the body is again in the dispensing orientation.

20. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to an absence of user input, disable activation of the pump when the body is in the dispensing orientation.

21. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to the user-selected amount not being received, disable activation of the pump when the body is in the dispensing orientation.

22. The container of claim 1 , further comprising a level sensor coupled to the body, wherein the controller is further configured to:
sense tilting of the portable container with the gyroscope;
sense a level change of the material in the portable container using the level sensor during tilting of the portable container;
determine a value representative of a viscosity of the material based upon the sensed tilting and sensed level change; and
control the amount of material dispensed from the portable container using the determined value.

23. The container of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine that the body is in a dispensing orientation in response to determining that an orientation of the body surpasses 90 degrees.

24. A portable foodstuff container, comprising:
a portable body including a reservoir configured to contain a foodstuff and a dispenser configured to selectively dispense the foodstuff contained in the reservoir;
a gyroscope coupled to the body and configured to sense an orientation of the body;
a flow meter disposed in the body and configured to measure an amount of foodstuff dispensed by the dispenser; and
a controller coupled to the gyroscope, the flow meter and the dispenser, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the body is in a dispensing orientation using the gyroscope and control the dispenser while the body is determined to be in the dispensing orientation to dispense a user-selected amount of foodstuff in response to the amount of foodstuff sensed by the flow meter, and wherein the controller is further configured to control the dispenser to discontinue dispensing prior to dispensing all of the user-selected amount of foodstuff from the dispenser in response to determining that the body is no longer in the dispensing orientation.

25. The container of claim 24 , wherein the controller is further configured to control the dispenser to automatically start dispensing the user-selected amount in response to tilting of the body from a non-dispensing orientation to the dispensing orientation.

26. The container of claim 24 , wherein the controller is configured to control the dispenser to dispense the user-selected amount of foodstuff additionally in response to selection of a user control while the body is determined to be in a dispensing orientation.

27. The container of claim 24 , wherein the controller is further configured to, after discontinuing

Assignees

• Midea Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Scalf Eric
• Digman Robert M
• Staun Paul

Classifications

• F04B17/03

  driven by electric motors · CPC title

• G01F23/20

  by measurement of weight, e.g. to determine the level of stored liquefied gas · CPC title

• G01C19/00

  Gyroscopes; Turn-sensitive devices using vibrating masses; Turn-sensitive devices without moving masses; Measuring angular rate using gyroscopic effects · CPC title

• A47J47/01

  with dispensing devices · CPC title

• A47J47/02

  Closed containers for foodstuffs · CPC title