Patent Publication Number: US-11383903-B1

Title: Beverage cover alarm

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
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     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of personal safety, more specifically, a beverage cover alarm. 
     Summary of Invention 
     The beverage cover alarm is a lid for a beverage container that protects the beverage in the container from being tampered with. When the user must leave the beverage unattended, they place the lid onto the container and the lid uses one or more pressure sensors that are in contact with the rim of the container to detect removal. The lid comprises one or more LEDs that visually report that the beverage cover alarm is protecting the beverage or that the lid has been removed. Once the lid is removed a tampering warning is presented visually and the tampering warning cannot be reset without pressing a designated finger of the user against a fingerprint scanner located on the top of the lid. 
     An object of the invention is to provide a lid for a beverage container that detects and reports tampering in the form of removal of the lid. 
     Another object of the invention is to detect removal of the lid using one or more pressure sensor in contact with the rim of the container. 
     A further object of the invention is to report that the lid is protecting the beverage or has detected tampering by visually changing the state of one or more LEDs. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to allow the tampering warning to be reset only upon presentation of the user&#39;s fingerprint at a fingerprint scanner on the top of the lid. 
     These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the beverage cover alarm will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the beverage cover alarm in detail, it is to be understood that the beverage cover alarm is not limited in its applications to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the beverage cover alarm. 
     It is therefore important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the beverage cover alarm. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. They are meant to be exemplary illustrations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure across  4 - 4  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments of the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. As used herein, the word “or” is intended to be inclusive. 
     Detailed reference will now be made to a first potential embodiment of the disclosure, which is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 4 . 
     The beverage cover alarm  100  (hereinafter invention) comprises a lid  200 , one or more grooves  205 , one or more pressure sensors  240 , a fingerprint scanner  250 , one or more LED lights  260 , a processor  300 , and a battery  305 . The lid  200  is placed on the top of a beverage container  900  which is going to be left unattended. The invention  100  may be adapted to provide a warning if the lid  200  is removed by an unauthorized person. As a non-limiting example, if a user is in a bar and must use a restroom, the user may place the lid  200  on their the beverage container  900 , which will activate the invention  100 . When the user returns, they will be able to visually detect if the lid  200  has been removed. If the invention  100  indicates that the lid  200  has been removed while the user was away, the user should suspect that a beverage  910  in the beverage container  900  has been tampered with, the beverage container  900  should be discarded, and a new beverage should be ordered. 
     The lid  200  may be a disk-shaped covering for the beverage container  900 . The fingerprint scanner  250  may be located on a top surface  290  of the lid  200 . The one or more grooves  205  may be located on a bottom surface  295  of the lid  200 . 
     The one or more grooves  205  may be circular. The one or more grooves  205  may be concentric if there are at least two of the one or more grooves  205 . Providing more than one groove may allow the lid  200  to be used on containers of different sizes. 
     An individual groove selected from the one or more grooves  205  may comprise a pair of O-rings  230  located on an inside wall  220  and on an outside wall  225  of the individual groove. The pair of O-rings  230  may compress against a rim  905  of the beverage container  900  that is inserted into the individual groove. The compression of the pair of O-rings  230  against the rim  905  of the beverage container  900  may prevent any liquid, powder, gas, or other material from entering or exiting from the beverage container  900 . The compression of the pair of O-rings against the rim  905  of the beverage container  900  may assist in retaining the lid  200  on the rim  905  of the beverage container  900 . 
     The individual groove may comprise the one or more pressure sensors  240 . An individual pressure sensor  245  selected from the one or more pressure sensors  240  may be a pressure sensitive switch that makes or break an electrical circuit based upon whether the rim  905  of the beverage container  900  is inserted into the individual groove where the individual pressure sensor  245  is located. The individual pressure sensor  245  may be located on the inside wall  220  of the individual groove, on the outside wall  225  of the individual groove, or both. 
     The fingerprint scanner  250  may be a biometric fingerprint scanner or reader. The fingerprint scanner  250  may be adapted to determine a fingerprint associated with a designated finger that is placed onto the fingerprint scanner  250 . In some embodiments, the fingerprint scanner  250  may compare the fingerprint with a stored fingerprint located within the fingerprint scanner  250  and report a match/no match status to the processor  300 . The stored fingerprint may be acquired by the fingerprint scanner  250  during a training procedure. 
     The one or more LED lights  260  may be located on the top surface  290  of the lid  200 , on the bottom surface  295  of the lid  200 , or both. The illumination state and color of the one or more LED lights  260  may indicate an operational state of the invention  100 . 
     The one or more LED lights  260  may be extinguished to indicate that the operational state of the invention  100  is QUIESCENT. As a non-limiting example, the lid  200  that is not installed on the top of the beverage container  900  and is not protecting the beverage  910  may be in the operational state of QUIESCENT. 
     The one or more LED lights  260  may illuminate and present a first color to indicate that the operational state is PROTECTING. As a non-limiting example, the invention  100  may enter the operational state of PROTECTING when the one or more pressure sensors  240  signals the processor  300  that the lid  200  has been placed onto the rim  905  of the beverage container  900  and therefore the invention  100  is protecting the beverage  910  located within the beverage container  900 . 
     The operational state of the invention  100  may be adapted to transition from PROTECTING to QUIESCENT when the user places the designated finger onto the fingerprint scanner  250  to indicate that they have returned to their seat and that they are in control of the integrity of the beverage  910  located within the beverage container  900 . 
     The one or more LED lights  260  may illuminate and present a second color to indicate that the operational state is WARNING. As a non-limiting example, the invention  100  may enter the operational state of WARNING when the one or more pressure sensors  240  indicate that the lid  200  has been removed from the beverage container  900  without first using the fingerprint scanner  250  to transition to the operational state of QUIESCENT. 
     When the invention  100  is in the operational state of WARNING, it may be adapted to remain in that state until the designated finger is placed onto the fingerprint scanner  250 . This assures that the lid  200  will not be placed back onto the beverage container  900  after being removed. 
     The first color may be blue, green, or a combination thereof. The second color may be red. Some or all of the one or more LED lights  260  may blink when in the operational state of PROTECTING or when in the operational state of WARNING. 
     The processor  300  may be adapted to establish the stored fingerprint for the designated finger to use in later comparisons by completing the training procedure. As a non-limiting example, the training procedure may be adapted to require pressing the designated finger against the fingerprint scanner  250  for a predetermined amount of time when the lid  200  has no previously learned fingerprint recorded. In some embodiments, the stored fingerprint may be erased so that the fingerprint may be re-learned by following an erase procedure. As a non-limiting example, the erase procedure may require execution of a specific sequence of placing and removing the lid  200  on the beverage container  900  for predetermined periods of time where the specific sequence and timing is unique to each of the lids  200 . This sequence and timing would therefore be a secret and would be unknown by the unauthorized person. 
     The invention  100  may comprise the processor  300  and a memory wherein the memory contains instructions for causing the processor  300  to control the sequence and timing of changes in the operational state of the invention  100 . The memory and input/output ports may be integral to the processor  300  such that the processor  300  may execute a program and access the one or more LED lights  260 , the fingerprint scanner  250 , and the one or more pressure sensors  240  without requiring additional components. 
     The battery  305  may comprise one or more energy-storage devices. The battery  305  may be a source of electrical energy to operate the processor  300 , the one or more LED lights  260 , and the one or more pressure sensors  240 . The battery  305  may be replaceable or rechargeable. 
     In use, the users completes the training procedure so that the invention  100  recognizes the fingerprint of the designated finger. If the user is in a public place and must leave the beverage container  900  unattended to visit the restroom, they may first place the invention  100  on the beverage container  900 . Initially, the operational state of the invention  100  will be QUIESCENT and the operational state will transition to PROTECTING when the processor  300  senses, using the one or more pressure sensors  240 , that the lid  200  has been placed on the rim  905  of the beverage container  900 . 
     While the operational state of the invention  100  is PROTECTING, the one or more LED lights  260  will be illuminated in the first color. When the user returns to the beverage  910 , if the one or more LED lights  260  are still illuminated in the first color then the lid  200  has not been removed and the beverage  910  should be safe. In that case, the user may press the designated finger against the fingerprint scanner  250  to change the operational state to QUIESCENT and then remove the lid  200  from the beverage container  900 . 
     If the unauthorized person attempts to tamper with the beverage  910  by, as a non-limiting example, adding a drug to the beverage  910 , the invention  100  will detect, using the one or more pressure sensors  240 , the moment that the unauthorized person removes the lid  200  and the invention  100  will transition to WARNING. The operational state of the invention  100  will remain WARNING even if the unauthorized person attempts to replace the lid  200  or press their finger against the fingerprint scanner  250 . The user will find the one or more LED lights  260  illuminated in the second color when they return and the user should suspect that the lid  200  has been removed and replaced. In that case, the beverage  910  should be considered tampered with and should be discarded. When the operational state of the invention  100  is WARNING, the user may reset the operational state to QUIESCENT so that the invention  100  may be used again by pressing the designated finger against the fingerprint scanner  250 . 
     Unless otherwise stated, the words “up”, “down”, “top”, “bottom”, “upper”, and “lower” should be interpreted within a gravitational framework. “Down” is the direction that gravity would pull an object. “Up” is the opposite of “down”. “Bottom” is the part of an object that is down farther than any other part of the object. “Top” is the part of an object that is up farther than any other part of the object. “Upper” refers to top and “lower” refers to the bottom. As a non-limiting example, the upper end of a vertical shaft is the top end of the vertical shaft. 
     Throughout this document the terms “battery”, “battery pack”, and “batteries” may be used interchangeably to refer to one or more wet or dry cells or batteries of cells in which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of DC power. References to recharging or replacing batteries may refer to recharging or replacing individual cells, individual batteries of cells, or a package of multiple battery cells as is appropriate for any given battery technology that may be used. The battery may require electrical contacts, which may not be illustrated in the figures. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “beverage” is a liquid that is intended for consumption by a person. 
     In this disclosure, “compress” refers to forcing into a smaller space. 
     As used herein, the words “control” or “controls” are intended to include any device which can cause the completion or interruption of an electrical circuit; non-limiting examples of controls include toggle switches, rocker switches, push button switches, rotary switches, electromechanical relays, solid state relays, touch sensitive interfaces and combinations thereof whether they are normally open, normally closed, momentary contact, latching contact, single pole, multi-pole, single throw, or multi-throw. 
     As used herein, the term “designated finger” refers to a finger that a user intends to use for the purpose of locking and/or unlocking a device using a fingerprint reader or fingerprint scanner. Use of a designated finger may require a training mode where the designated finger is presented and scanned and the biometric signature of the designated finger is saved for later comparison. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “disk” is a cylindrically shaped object that is flat in appearance. A disk generally has a thickness (as measured from flat side to flat side) that is less than the radius of the cylinder. 
     As used herein, a “fingerprint scanner” or “fingerprint reader” is a biometric device that obtains a fingerprint from a finger placed on the device and encodes the fingerprint into a dataset representing the fingerprint. The device may transmit the dataset representing the fingerprint to another device, may compare the dataset representing the fingerprint with one or more stored datasets representing fingerprints and report any match, or both. 
     As used in this disclosure, an “LED” is an acronym for a light emitting diode. An LED allows current to flow in one direction and when current is flowing the LED emits photons. The wavelength of the light that is emitted may be in the visible range of the spectrum or may extend into either the infrared (IR) spectral range or the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range. The brightness of the LED can be increased and decreased by controlling the amount of current flowing through the LED. Multiple LEDs having different emission spectrums may be packaged into a single device to produce a multi-color LED. A broad range of colors may be produced by multi-color LEDs by selecting which of the multiple LEDs are energized and by controlling the brightness of each of the multiple LEDs. Organic LEDs (OLEDs) are included in this definition. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “lid” is a movable or removable cover that is placed on a hollow structure to contain and/or protect the contents within the hollow structure. 
     As used herein, the terms “processor”, “central processor”, “central processing unit”, “CPU”, or “microprocessor” refer to a digital device that carries out the instructions comprising a computer program by performing basic arithmetic, logical, control, and input/out operations. The term “microprocessor” may additionally imply a level of miniaturization and power reduction that makes the device suitable for portable or battery operated systems. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “rim” is an outer edge or border that follows along the perimeter of an object. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “sensor” is a device that quantitatively measures a physical stimulus. 
     As used in this disclosure, a “switch” is an electrical device that starts and stops the flow of electricity through an electric circuit by completing or interrupting an electric circuit. The act of completing or interrupting the electrical circuit may be called actuation. Completing or interrupting an electric circuit with a switch is often referred to as closing or opening a switch, respectively. Completing or interrupting an electric circuit is also referred to as making or breaking the circuit, respectively. 
     With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the various components of the invention described above and in  FIGS. 1 through 4 , include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function, and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the invention. 
     It shall be noted that those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the various embodiments of the present invention which will result in an improved invention, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.