System and technique for detecting cleaning chemical usage to control cleaning efficacy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11610467-B2
Application number	US-202117494926-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 6, 2021
Priority date	Oct 8, 2020
Publication date	Mar 21, 2023
Grant date	Mar 21, 2023

Abstract

A system may monitor usage of a cleaning chemical and indicate when the chemical has expired and needs to be replaced. In some examples, the system includes a reservoir containing the chemical and a sensor associated with the reservoir that can detect user interaction with the chemical in the reservoir. The system may track an amount of time until the chemical in the reservoir is deemed to have expired and provide a user alert indicating expiration of the chemical. The system can control the amount of time remaining until the chemical is deemed to have expired based on the detected addition of the object to the reservoir.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a reservoir defining an opening through which a cleaning chemical can be added to the reservoir and through which an object can be placed in the cleaning chemical;
a sensor operatively coupled to the reservoir and configured to detect at least one of movement of the cleaning chemical and a pressure change of the cleaning chemical in response to the object being placed in the reservoir;
a user interface; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor and the user interface, wherein the controller is configured to:
detect addition of the object to the reservoir based on the at least one of the movement and pressure change of the cleaning chemical detected by the sensor;
track a time to expiration of the cleaning chemical added to the reservoir based on detected addition of the object to the reservoir; and
control the user interface to issue a user alert indicating expiration of the cleaning chemical.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the pressure sensor comprises a fluid port positioned adjacent a bottom surface of the reservoir and a conduct extending out of the reservoir for communicating a pressure signal.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a 3-axis accelerometer.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the reservoir comprises a bottom wall and an upwardly-extending sidewall,
at least a portion of the sensor, the controller, and the user interface are contained within a housing, and
the housing is attached to the upwardly-extending sidewall.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the housing defines a slot, and the slot is positioned over an edge of the upwardly-extending sidewall to attach the housing to the upwardly-extending sidewall.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reservoir is a bucket.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises at least one of a speaker and a light, and the controller is configured to control the user interface to issue the user alert by activating at least one of the speaker and the light.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to detect addition of the object to the reservoir by at least:
receiving a signal from the sensor indicating movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical; and
discriminating movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical associated with addition of the object to the reservoir from movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical not associated with addition of the object to the reservoir.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to discriminate movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical associated with addition of the object to the reservoir from movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical not associated with addition of the object to the reservoir by comparing the signal received from the sensor to at least one of a threshold indicating addition of the object to the cleaning chemical and a signature signal from the sensor corresponding to addition of the object to the reservoir.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to track the time to expiration of the cleaning chemical added to the reservoir based on detected addition of the object to the reservoir by at least one of:
starting a timer upon addition of the object to the reservoir; and
reducing an amount of time to expiration for the cleaning chemical.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cleaning chemical is at least one of a sanitizing agent and a detergent, and the object is a cleaning implement for transferring the cleaning chemical from the reservoir to a surface to be cleaned.

13. A method comprising:
receiving a signal from a sensor operatively connected to a reservoir containing a cleaning chemical indicative of at least one of movement of the cleaning chemical in the reservoir and a pressure change of the cleaning chemical in the reservoir;
determining based on analysis of the signal from the senor if the movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical is attributable to an object being placed in the reservoir or a different force acting on the reservoir;
if the determined movement or pressure change of the cleaning chemical is determined to be attributable to the object being placed in the reservoir, at least one of initiating a timer tracking a time to expiration of the cleaning chemical and adjusting an amount of time to expiration for the cleaning chemical; and
controlling issuance of a user alert when the tracked time to expiration of the cleaning chemical reaches the expiration time of the cleaning chemical.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving an indication that the cleaning chemical has introduced to the reservoir and initiating the timer tracking the time to expiration of the cleaning chemical in response to the received indication,
wherein, if the determined movement or pressure change of the cleaning chemical is determined to be attributable to the object being placed in the reservoir, reducing the expiration time of the cleaning chemical.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
determining based on analysis of the signal from the senor if the movement of the cleaning chemical or the pressure change of the cleaning chemical is attributable to an object being placed in the reservoir or a different force acting on the reservoir comprises determining that multiple of the objects have been placed in the reservoir, and
adjusting the amount of time to expiration for the cleaning chemical comprises reducing the amount of time to expiration for each of the multiple objects determined to have been placed in the reservoir.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the expiration time is within a range from 30 minutes to 4 hours, and reducing the expiration time comprises reducing the expiration time an amount within a range from 5 minutes to 30 minutes.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, prior to receiving the indication that the cleaning chemical has introduced to the reservoir and initiating the timer tracking the time to expiration of the cleaning chemical, placing multiple of the objects in the reservoir.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the object comprises at least one of a towel and a sponge.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor and the signal is indicative of a pressure change.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the pressure sensor comprises a fluid port positioned adjacent a bottom surface of the reservoir and a conduct extending out of the reservoir for communicating a pressure signal.

21. The system of claim 13 , wherein the sensor comprises a 3-axis accelerometer.

22. The system of claim 13 , wherein:
the reservoir comprises a bottom wall and an upwardly-extending sidewall,
at least a portion of the sensor, the controller, and the user interface are contained within a housing, and
the housing is attached to the upwardly-extending sidewall.

23. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user alert is one of an audible alert issued via a speaker and a visual alert issued via a light.

24. The system of claim 13 , wherein the cleaning chemical is at least one of a sanitizing

Assignees

• Ecolab Usa Inc

Inventors

• Nguyen Donna Thi
• Smith Conor Sylvester
• Wald Daniel
• Babekir Amani Eltahir
• Wood Kyle David

Classifications

• G01L19/0038

  being part of the housing (other details about the housing G01L19/14) · CPC title

• G08B21/18 Primary

  Status alarms (G08B21/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01P15/18

  in two or more dimensions · CPC title

• B08B13/00 Primary

  Accessories or details of general applicability for machines or apparatus for cleaning · CPC title

• G08B21/245

  Reminder of hygiene compliance policies, e.g. of washing hands · CPC title