Hygiene device service notification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9830565-B2
Application number	US-201514970731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2015
Priority date	Dec 19, 2014
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for service notification. A notification component may be associated with a hygiene device, such as a material dispenser. The notification component may receive a service notification request (e.g., an infrared signal or other wireless signal) from a maintenance management device (e.g., a computing device associated with a maintenance cart or mobile device of a housekeeper) based upon the maintenance management device being within a communication threshold distance of the hygiene device. The notification component may evaluate a current operational status of the hygiene device to determine a service notification to provide (e.g., a low battery alert, a refill container level indicator, etc.). The service notification may be provided through the hygiene device or through the maintenance management device to the housekeeper (e.g., a blinking light, an audible notification, a textual notification, etc.).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for service notification, comprising:
a notification component, associated with a hygiene device, configured to:
receive a signal, of a service notification request, emitted from a maintenance management device, wherein the signal is received based upon the maintenance management device being within a communication threshold distance of the hygiene device;
responsive to the signal indicating that the maintenance management device is within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device, transition the notification component into a first power state;
evaluate a current operational status of the hygiene device to generate a service notification;
provide the service notification responsive to the service notification request; and
responsive to determining that the maintenance management device is not within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device based upon not receiving the signal, transition the notification component into a second power state having a lower power consumption than the first power state.

2. The system of claim 1 , the providing the service notification comprising issuing an alert based upon the service notification, the alert comprising at least one of a visual alert, a textual instruction, or an audible alert provided through at least one of a light, a speaker, or a display of the hygiene device.

3. The system of claim 1 , the providing the service notification comprising communicating the service notification to the maintenance management device.

4. The system of claim 1 , the service notification comprising at least one of a battery status, usage statistics, or a supply status of the hygiene device.

5. The system of claim 1 , the hygiene device comprising at least one of a material dispenser, a paper towel dispenser, a bathroom device, a flush valve, an air freshener, a bathroom monitor, a supply container, or a medicine cabinet.

6. The system of claim 1 , the notification component configured to:
receive the signal as a powered beacon that energizes the notification component into the first power state.

7. The system of claim 6 , the notification component configured to:
utilize the powered beacon to energize a passive radio frequency identification device (RFID) component of the notification component.

8. The system of claim 1 , the notification component comprising:
a passive radio frequency identification device (RFID) component for communicating with the maintenance management device.

9. The system of claim 1 , the notification component configured to:
provide an identifier of a refill container to the maintenance management device; and
receive an instruction regarding the refill container from the maintenance management device responsive to providing the identifier.

10. The system of claim 9 , the instruction specifying a trigger for the notification component to create a refill container service notification, the trigger corresponding to a threshold number of material dispense events.

11. The system of claim 9 , the instruction specifying at least one of a refill container type, a refill container expiration date, or a total number of material dispense events permitted for the refill container.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions, which when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:
receive a signal, of a service notification request, emitted from a maintenance management device, wherein the signal is received based upon the maintenance management device being within a communication threshold distance of a hygiene device;
responsive to the signal indicating that the maintenance management device is within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device, transition into a first power state;
evaluate a current operational status of the hygiene device to generate a service notification;
provide the service notification responsive to the service notification request; and
responsive to determining that the maintenance management device is not within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device based upon not receiving the signal, transition into a second power state having a lower power consumption than the first power state.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , the service notification comprising a battery status.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , the service notification comprising a usage statistic.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , the service notification comprising a supply status.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
receive the signal as a powered beacon that energizes a notification component into the first power state for evaluating the current operational status of the hygiene device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
provide an identifier of a refill container to the maintenance management device; and
receive an instruction regarding the refill container from the maintenance management device responsive to providing the identifier.

18. A method for service notification, comprising:
receiving a signal, of a service notification request, emitted from a maintenance management device, wherein the signal is received based upon the maintenance management device being within a communication threshold distance of a hygiene device;
responsive to the signal indicating that the maintenance management device is within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device, transitioning into a first power state;
evaluating a current operational status of the hygiene device to generate a service notification;
providing the service notification responsive to the service notification request; and
responsive to determining that the maintenance management device is not within the communication threshold distance of the hygiene device based upon not receiving the signal, transitioning into a second power state having a lower power consumption than the first power state.

19. The method of claim 18 , comprising:
providing an identifier of a refill container to the maintenance management device; and
receiving an instruction regarding the refill container from the maintenance management device responsive to providing the identifier.

20. The method of claim 18 , comprising:
receiving a firmware update from the maintenance management device; and
implementing the firmware update upon the hygiene device.

Assignees

• Gojo Ind Inc

Inventors

• O'Toole Martin

Classifications

• G06Q10/06 Primary

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