Method for evaluating a pump actuation, and fluid dispenser and evaluation unit which use this method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12377428-B2
Application number	US-202117907581-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 8, 2021
Priority date	Apr 14, 2020
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

A method for evaluating the pump actuation for a pump dispenser that includes two sub-units which can be moved manually towards one another and a pump which has a pump chamber that can be made smaller by moving the sub-units from a first end position into an actuated second end position. The force with which the sub-units are moved towards one another is detected by a force sensor during movement of the sub-units. The curve over time of the detected force is evaluated such that an increase in force is identified which is characteristic for reaching the actuated second end position. Depending on whether the increase in force was detected, a signal which is characteristic for the result is haptically, acoustically and/or visually output and/or transmitted via a wireless interface to an external display apparatus, by means of an output device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for evaluating a pump actuation on a pump dispenser for discharging a fluid comprising:
providing the pump dispenser with two sub-units, which can be moved manually relative to one another, and a pump having a pump chamber that can be made smaller by moving the sub-units from an unactuated first end position into an actuated second end position;
detecting the actuated second end position, wherein a force with which the sub-units are manually moved towards one another is detected by a force sensor during movement of the sub-units towards one another;
wherein a course of the detected force over time is evaluated in such a way that a force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position is identified; and
depending on whether the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position has been detected, at least one of the following:
outputting a signal characteristic of a result haptically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result acoustically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result visually; and
sending the signal characteristic of the result via a wireless interface to an external display device by an output device; and

storing data detected by the force sensor in a memory in such a way that the course of the detected force over time is determined;
wherein an evaluation used to determine whether the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position has occurred is performed taking the course of the detected force over time into account.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
the evaluation is performed using a processor which has an operating mode as well as a power-saving sleep mode;
the force sensor is connected to the processor in such a way that the processor in the sleep mode switches into the operating mode once a predetermined limit value is exceeded; and
subsequently, in the operating mode, values detected by the force sensor are stored in the memory and repeatedly analyzed by the processor to identify the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position.

3. A method for evaluating a pump actuation on a pump dispenser for discharging a fluid comprising:
providing the pump dispenser with two sub-units, which can be moved manually relative to one another, and a pump having a pump chamber that can be made smaller by moving the sub-units from an unactuated first end position into an actuated second end position;
detecting the actuated second end position, wherein a force with which the sub-units are manually moved towards one another is detected by a force sensor during movement of the sub-units towards one another;
wherein a course of the detected force over time is evaluated in such a way that a force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position is identified; and
depending on whether the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position has been detected, at least one of the following:
outputting a signal characteristic of a result haptically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result acoustically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result visually; and
sending the signal characteristic of the result via a wireless interface to an external display device by an output device;

the method further including at least one of the following:
the evaluation of the force over time is performed using a smoothed graph of the force over time;
the evaluation of the force over time is performed in such a way that a slope of the force over time is evaluated, wherein an increase in the slope is interpreted as an indicator for reaching the actuated second end position; and
the evaluation of the force over time is performed in such a way that the force detected by the force sensor is used to categorize the actuation into one of at least two categories that are assigned to actuations of at least one of different strengths and different speeds, wherein the reaching of the actuated second end position, the time of reaching the actuated second end position, or both the reaching of the actuated second end position and the time of reaching the actuated second end position are identified in different ways for the at least two categories.

4. A method for evaluating a pump actuation on a pump dispenser for discharging a fluid comprising:
providing the pump dispenser with two sub-units, which can be moved manually relative to one another, and a pump having a pump chamber that can be made smaller by moving the sub-units from an unactuated first end position into an actuated second end position;
detecting the actuated second end position, wherein a force with which the sub-units are manually moved towards one another is detected by a force sensor during movement of the sub-units towards one another;
wherein a course of the detected force over time is evaluated in such a way that a force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position is identified; and
depending on whether the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position has been detected, at least one of the following:
outputting a signal characteristic of a result haptically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result acoustically;
outputting the signal characteristic of the result visually; and
sending the signal characteristic of the result via a wireless interface to an external display device by an output device;

the method including at least one of the following:
the outputting or sending of the signal characteristic is performed in such a way that after a start of the actuation a first signal is output, which ends as soon as the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position is detected, as soon as a course of the force over time or a force value characteristic of an end of the actuation has been measured, or both as soon as the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position is detected and as soon as the course of the force over time or the force value characteristic of the end of the actuation has been measured;
the outputting or sending of the signal characteristic is performed in such a way that a second signal is output when the force increase characteristic of reaching the actuated second end position has been detected; and
the outputting or sending of the signal characteristic is performed in such a way that a third signal is output as soon as a course of the force over time or the force value characteristic of the end of actuation has been measured.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of measurement data and data for detecting the force increase, detected by the force sensor, are sent to an external display device via a wireless interface.

6. A pump dispenser for discharging a fluid comprising:
a fluid reservoir for receiving the fluid prior to discharge and at least one discharge opening through which the fluid can be discharged into an environment;
an actuating pusher which is displaceable relative to the fluid reservoir;
a pump having a pump chamber, wherein walls of the pump chamber are movable relative to one another between an unactuated first end position and an actuated second end position for reducing a size of the pump chamber, and wherein a first wall of the walls of the pump chamber is provided stationary relative to the fluid reservoir and a second wall of the walls of the pump chamber is displaceable relative to the first wall by manual actuation of the actuating pusher; and
an evaluation unit for identifying when the actuated second end position has been reached;
the evaluation unit having a force sensor which measures a force

Assignees

• Aptar Radolfzell Gmbh

Inventors

• Karge Marius
• Schmid Kevin

Classifications

• B05B11/1052

  Actuation means (locking means therefor B05B11/1059; the dispensing stroke being affected by the stored energy of a spring B05B11/109) · CPC title

• B05B11/1029

  actuated by a lever · CPC title

• B05B11/0038

  Inner container disposed in an outer shell or outer casing · CPC title

• B05B11/108

  Means for counting the number of dispensing strokes · CPC title

• G16H40/63

  for local operation · CPC title