Contactless autofill dispensing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11117793-B1
Application number	US-202016931245-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 16, 2020
Priority date	Jul 16, 2020
Publication date	Sep 14, 2021
Grant date	Sep 14, 2021

Abstract

A contactless autofill dispenser includes a housing and a dispense area for receiving a cup. The dispenser includes a supply of consumable product disposed within the housing. The dispenser includes an outlet connected to the supply and extending from the housing into the dispense area for dispensing the consumable product into the cup. The dispenser includes a controller disposed within the housing and connected to the supply, wherein the controller is configured to control dispensing of the consumable product from the outlet. The dispenser includes a time of flight sensor attached to or with a direct line of sight into the dispense area and connected to the controller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A contactless autofill beverage dispenser comprising:
a housing;
a dispense area for receiving a cup;
a supply of consumable product disposed within the housing;
an outlet connected to the supply and extending from the housing into the dispense area for dispensing the consumable product into the cup;
a controller disposed within the housing and connected to the supply, wherein the controller is configured to control dispensing of the consumable product from the outlet; and
a time of flight sensor with a direct line of sight into the dispense area and connected to the controller,
wherein the time of flight sensor without any physical contact with the dispenser from a user is configured to:
sense a presence of the cup;
determine a characteristic of the cup; and
initiate dispensing of the consumable product based upon the presence of the cup and the characteristic of the cup.

2. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the time of flight sensor without any physical contact from a user is configured to:
automatically instruct the controller to initiate dispensing of the consumable product based upon the presence of the cup and the characteristic of the cup;
continuously monitor a fill level of the consumable product in the cup; and
automatically instruct the controller to terminate dispensing of the consumable product based upon the characteristic of the cup and the fill level of the consumable product in the cup.

3. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 2 , wherein the time of flight sensor comprises:
an emitter configured to emit a signal towards the cup;
a receiver configured to receive the signal reflected off of the cup;
a computer including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to automatically:
control the emitter to emit the signal;
control the receiver to receive the signal reflected off of the cup; and
automatically instruct the controller to control dispensing based upon the signal reflected off the cup.

4. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the instructions when executed by the computer cause the computer to automatically sense the presence of the cup within the dispense area and to automatically instruct the controller to initiate the dispensing based upon the signal reflected off the cup.

5. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the instructions when executed by the computer cause the computer to automatically calculate a distance between the time of flight sensor and the cup based upon a time between emission of the signal by the emitter and receipt of the signal reflected off the cup.

6. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 5 , wherein the instructions when executed by the computer cause the computer to automatically determine the characteristic of the cup based upon the distance between the time of flight sensor and the cup.

7. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 6 , wherein the characteristic is a volume and the computer automatically instructs the controller to control dispensing based upon the volume.

8. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the signal is infrared laser light.

9. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 3 , wherein automatically instruct the controller to control dispensing based upon the signal reflected off the cup includes continuously monitoring a fill level of consumable product within the cup and instructing the controller to terminate dispensing upon determining that the fill level has reached a predetermined threshold.

10. The contactless autofill beverage dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the time of flight sensor comprises:
a first time of flight sensor mounted to the dispenser adjacent to the outlet with a direct line of sight into a bottom of the dispense area for holding the cup; and
a second time of flight sensor mounted to the dispenser between the outlet and the bottom of the dispense by with a direct line of sight across the dispense area for viewing a side of the cup.

11. A contactless dispenser comprising:
a housing;
a dispense area for receiving a cup;
a supply of consumable product disposed within the housing;
an outlet connected to the supply and extending from the housing into the dispense area for dispensing the consumable product into the cup;
a controller disposed within the housing and connected to the supply, wherein the controller is configured to control dispensing of the consumable product from the outlet; and
a time of flight sensor for enabling contactless dispensing without any physical contact from a user, the time of flight sensor comprising:
an emitter configured to emit an infrared laser light towards the cup;
a receiver configured to receive the infrared signal reflected off of the cup;
a computer including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to automatically and without any physical contact from a user:
control the emitter to emit the infrared laser light;
control the receiver to receive the infrared signal reflected off of the cup; and
instruct the controller to control dispensing based upon the infrared signal reflected off the cup.

12. The time of flight sensor of claim 11 , wherein automatically instruct the controller to control dispensing is further based upon a distance between the cup and the time of flight sensor calculated by the time of flight sensor based upon a time for the infrared laser light to travel from the emitter to the cup and back to the receiver.

13. A method of contactless dispensing from a dispenser, the method comprising:
automatically sensing, with a time of flight sensor of the dispenser, a presence of a cup;
automatically determining, with the time of flight sensor, a characteristic of the cup in response to the sensed presence of the cup;
dispensing a consumable product from the dispenser based upon the presence of the cup and the characteristic of the cup;
continuously monitoring, with the time of flight sensor, a fill level of dispensed consumable product within the cup;
determining that the fill level has reached a predetermined threshold based upon the continuously monitored fill level; and
terminating dispensing of the consumable product based upon the determination that the fill level has reached the predetermined threshold,
wherein the entirety of the method is performed without direct user contact with the dispenser.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the time of flight sensor comprises a first time of flight sensor and a second time of flight sensor,
wherein automatically sensing the presence of the cup and automatically determining the characteristic of the cup is performed by the first time of flight sensor, and
wherein continuously monitoring the fill level is performed by the second time of flight sensor.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein automatically determining the characteristic of the cup includes calculating a distance between the cup and the time of flight sensor based upon a time for infrared laser light to travel from the time of flight sensor to the cup and back to the time of flight sensor.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the characteristic of the cup is a volume of the cup.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein continuously monitoring the fill level of dispensed consumable product within the cup includes calculating a distance between the c

Assignees

• Pepsico Inc

Inventors

• Khan Kazim A
• Chung Terry Tae-Il

Classifications

• B67D1/1238

  comprising means for detecting the liquid level in vessels to be filled, e.g. using ultrasonic waves, optical reflexion, probes · CPC title

• B67D1/1236 Primary

  comprising means for detecting the size of vessels to be filled · CPC title

• B67D1/0888

  Means comprising electronic circuitry (e.g. control panels, switching or controlling means) · CPC title

• B67D1/0081

  Dispensing valves · CPC title

• B67D2001/009

  operated by cup detection · CPC title