Patent Publication Number: US-2021188524-A1

Title: Apparatus, system, and method of providing a sheet product replenishment monitor

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a Continuation patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/972,282, filed Dec. 4, 2020, entitled: APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A SHEET PRODUCT REPLENISHMENT MONITOR; and International Patent Application PCT/US2019/035987, filed Jun. 7, 2019; entitled: APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A SHEET PRODUCT REPLENISHMENT MONITOR; which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/682,039, filed Jun. 7, 2018, entitled APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A SHEET PRODUCT REPLENISHMENT MONITOR, the entireties of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entireties. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Field of the Disclosure 
     The disclosure relates generally to sensing, and, more particularly, to an apparatus, system, and method of monitoring sheet product content levels and indicating a need for replenishment thereof. 
     Background of the Disclosure 
     It is well understood that various types of container contents, such as sheet-based products in a container, may be carried within containers designed to dispense those contents over extended time periods in discrete quantities, such as one sheet at a time. In general, such sheet product contents ultimately placed within the container are tracked only in bulk, i.e., based on the container in which the sheets, or roll of sheets, reside. 
     For example, containers of sheet product may be tracked by UPC code or the like, and/or such as by warehoused pallet, and so on. However, the only way a need for replenishment can be made is by the consumer at the point of dispensing of the product, such as by the consumer opening the container, looking inside the container, shaking the container to assess weight, lifting the container, or otherwise manipulating the container to allow for a qualified guess by the user as to how much content remains therein. 
     Further, there is historically no methodology whereby a provider of the container, i.e., a supermarket, a brand of goods, a manufacturer of goods, or the like, can assess a consumer&#39;s need for replenishment. Neither can the provider provide a manner whereby the consumer can readily assess a need for replenishment, which, needless to say, can limit re-selling of the sheet-based product. 
     SUMMARY 
     The embodiments are and include at least an apparatus, system and method for a consumable sheet-product level monitoring dispenser for association with a sheet-product filled consumable. The embodiments include at least a receiver for receiving the consumable upon insertion thereof; at least one sensor associated with at least one opening in the receiver; a sensing module for receiving sheet-product level data from the at least one sensor; and a communications module for communicating the sheet-product level to at least a mobile device display and over at least one network to at least one back end module. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements, and in which: 
         FIG. 1A  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 1B  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 1C  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 2A  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 2B  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 2C  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 3A  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 3B  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 4A  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 4B  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 4C  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 4D  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 5A  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 5B  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 5C  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 5D  illustrates aspects of the embodiments; 
         FIG. 5E  illustrates aspects of the embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The figures and descriptions provided herein may have been simplified to illustrate aspects that are relevant for a clear understanding of the herein described devices, systems, and methods, while eliminating, for the purpose of clarity, other aspects that may be found in typical similar devices, systems, and methods. Those of ordinary skill may recognize that other elements and/or operations may be desirable and/or necessary to implement the devices, systems, and methods described herein. But because such elements and operations are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present disclosure, a discussion of such elements and operations may not be provided herein. However, the present disclosure is deemed to inherently include all such elements, variations, and modifications to the described aspects that would be known to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. 
     When an element, step or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element, step or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements, steps or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     Although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, steps, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, steps, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, step, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, step, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, step, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the exemplary embodiments. 
     Processor-implemented modules, systems and methods of use are disclosed herein that may provide networked access to a plurality of types of digital content, including but not limited to video, image, text, audio, metadata, algorithms, interactive and document content, and which track, deliver, manipulate, transform and report the accessed content. Described embodiments of these modules, systems and methods are intended to be exemplary and not limiting. As such, it is contemplated that the herein described systems and methods may be adapted and may be extended to provide enhancements and/or additions to the exemplary modules, systems and methods described. The disclosure is thus intended to include all such extensions. 
     Furthermore, it will be understood that the terms “module”, “engine”, “code”, “application” and “software”, as used herein, do not limit the functionality to particular physical modules, but may include any number of tangibly-embodied software, firmware and/or hardware components having a transformative effect on at least a portion of a system. In general, a computer program product in accordance with one embodiment comprises a tangible computer usable medium (e.g., standard RAM, an optical disc, a USB drive, or the like) having computer-readable program code embodied therein, wherein the computer-readable program code is adapted to be executed by a processor (which may work in connection with an operating system) to implement one or more functions and methods as described below. In this regard, the program code may be implemented in any desired language, and may be implemented as machine code, assembly code, byte code, interpretable source code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, C#, Java, Python, Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML, etc.). 
     In modern commerce, a great many products come in the form of stacked or rolled sheets of the products, often inside a container, such as a disposable box or cylinder containing the sheets. For example, stacked or rolled sheet products sold within a box include sandwich bags, facial tissue, baby wipes, disinfecting wipes, printer paper, napkins, and the like. Rolled sheets of products that often are provided in boxes may include aluminum foil, plastic wrap, parchment, wax paper, printer paper, and so on. 
     In the foregoing circumstances, in order to assess a need for replenishment, the user must gauge her own use of the product. That is, the user must look into the box, often removing the product from the box or other container, lift the box, and/or shake the box to assess whether replenishment of the product is necessary. As such, there is presently no way for the consumer fully to automate repurchase and replenishment of the product when the product reaches a level at which the consumer, the providing brand or manufacturer, or another entity would wish to alert the consumer that replenishment is needed. 
     In prior efforts, the consumable product may typically be associated with an RFID or NFC Tag, a Q.R. code, a barcode, a UPC code, or the like, which, when read by a paired sensor, serves merely to identify the consumable. In contrast, the proposed embodiments may place sensors on, or in, a receiving durable device that pairs with the consumables such that a wealth of information beyond identification may be sensed or otherwise conveyed about the consumable, such as exclusively and only upon pairing of the consumable with the durable. That is, the disclosed durable aspects may include a plurality of conventional electronics designed to sense/read the detailed consumable information provided by the consumption sensor. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments may provide functionality beyond mere identification, and may provide significant cost advantages over RFID, NFC, or optical reading methods previously provided. 
       FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C  illustrate a hardware solution to the foregoing need to alert a consumer, brand and/or manufacturer of the need for replenishment or to automate a replenishment. In the illustrations of  FIG. 1 , the sheet based product  10  may be provided within a full container  12 . This container  12  may serve as a disposable purchased container in which the stacked or rolled product is provided, or may be a durable repeat-use full container into which the purchased disposable container, such as the disposable box of sheet product, may be placed. As such, and as illustrated in  FIG. 1B , the top/lid  14  of a durable full container  12  may open to allow placement of the purchased product box inside. Of note, the purchased sheet product  10  may be placed inside container  12 , within or without its original packaging from the point of purchase. As used herein, it will be understood that the durable aspect  14  discussed throughout may be generic or proprietary. That is, a proprietary durable may be operable only with a particular brand of consumables, and hence other brands of the same type of consumable will not operate with the proprietary durable. 
     Once placed inside the container  12 , or upon purchase of the product within the full container  12 , the topmost portion of the container  14  may be closed, either temporarily if the product is purchased and placed within a durable repeated use container, or permanently if the product is purchased within its own single use full container. In either case, the topmost portion of the container  14 , i.e., that portion through which sheets removed from the container will pass, may have a removal opening  20  that may be equipped with one or more sensors  22  to sense removal of product. By way of non-limiting example, such sensor(s)  22  may include one or more proximity sensors that may sense a sheet  10  as it is removed through the opening  20  of the container  14 . Accordingly, sensors  22  may be paired, such as in embodiments wherein the sensors “look” across the opening of the container at the point through which sheets are removed. 
     Of course, a variety of sensing methodologies may be employed as sensor(s)  22 , such as, but not limited to, time-of-flight, infrared or ultrasound proximity sensing In accordance with the disclosure, the sensor output may be active or passive, as discussed throughout. In any case, the output of the sensor(s)  22  may be provided to one or more processing systems, as discussed further herein with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
     An exemplary time of flight sensor may be accurate in a range of 5 mm to 2000 mm, by way of non-limiting example. In operation, a time of flight infrared proximity sensor may bounce infrared light off of the dispensed product, and measure the time elapsed for the infrared light to reflect back to the sensor. Of course, the sole use of a proximity sensor may lead to false readings, such as due to reflection from sunlight, user&#39;s clothing, clear sheets, or simply from the user reaching into the container and not taking out a sheet; such misreads may be remedied by the aspects discussed herein. By way of example, an additional proximity sensor may remedy the misreads that may be provided from an one proximity sensor, or two types of proximity sensors (e.g. ultrasound and infrared) may remedy the misreads provided from one type of proximity sensor. Multiple such sensors in combination may mitigate any drawbacks discussed herein. 
     Thus, as is illustrated in the example of  FIG. 1C , a disposable box  12  of the sheet product  10  may be placed inside the durable box  12 / 14 , and the product  10  may be removed from the disposable box  12  through one or more openings  20  in the durable container  14 . As shown, upon removal of the product  10 , the product  10  may pass in front of the sensor  22  discussed herein, thereby indicating via the sensor data a single usage of the sheet product  10 . 
       FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C  illustrate embodiments similar to those discussed herein with respect to  FIG. 1 , with the difference that only a durable lid  14  is provided for placement over a disposable container in accordance with the illustrations. As is evident in  FIG. 2A , the durable lid  14 , inclusive of the sensor  22  discussed herein, may be placed on a disposable or consumable box, pouch, stack, or the like  12 , such that product  10  removed through the opening  20  of the durable lid  14  and in front of the sensor  22  may be tracked as discussed throughout. 
     Of note, and as illustrated in  FIGS. 2B and 2C , the lid  14  of  FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2A  may additionally include one or more secondary seals, additional lids, or the like  100 , such as to hold in or out moisture or contaminants. That is, the secondary cover  100  may serve, at least in part, to cover the opening  20  of the topmost portion of the durable container  14  through which the sheet product  10  is removed. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate circuit level and communication aspects for the sensor  22  within the durable lid  14  discussed herein. As shown, the sensor  22  may sense removal of the sheet product  10  as discussed herein throughout, and may relay this sensor data  200 , such as upon each use or in a batched manner upon multiple uses, using a communication transceiver, such as may include one or more antennae  202 , to one or more backend replenishment assessment modules  204 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , this communication from the sensor  22  may occur via Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, or the like, and consequently may occur directly, such as via the cloud  206 , with the replenishment backend  204 , or indirectly through a secondary device  210 , such as a mobile phone. This communication may occur in order to convey the information to the secondary device  210  and/or to the replenishment backend  204 . 
     Accordingly, software and/or firmware aspects associated with backend  204  and/or device  210  may include level sensing and/or replenishment algorithms  230 . That is, further included within the algorithms  230  may be the ability to define and communicate the level from the sensing. Additionally, network communications, such as WiFi communications, may be included in, or otherwise controlled by, the firmware or software algorithms  230 . Thereby, level sensed updates may be communicated from the durable dispenser sensor  22  to the smart phone  210  and/or to the backend  204  at appropriate or requested intervals. 
     Yet further, autoreplenishment indications to be generated from the firmware or software  230  based on received sensor data  200  may comprise intelligence within the user device&#39;s app  230  or within the cloud backend modules  230 . Accordingly, network communications or placement of an order may be triggered by changes in sheet level (such as continuously or periodically), the need for auto replenishment as set by the consumer or a brand, or the like, and hence communications may occur on fixed time intervals, continuously, or at intervals of variable frequency. 
     That is, based on the ability to wirelessly communicate the sensing discussed herein, the need to replenish a product may be assessed and communicated to a local device, such as a mobile device, and/or to the backend system  204  discussed herein. As such, semi-automatic or automatic replenishment of sheet based product may be provided, and this need for replenishment may be communicated to the user, a vendor, a manufacturer, or a brand provider of a product, by way of non-limiting example. 
     In accordance with the foregoing, the user app  230  may additionally include various aspects. For example, the smart phone app  230  may be enabled to discover and pair with the firmware of the durable dispenser sensor  22 , such as when the dispenser sensor  22  is activated or “turned on”. The smart phone app  230  may display autoreplenishment requests or confirmation, such as in a user dialogue format. Further, the smart phone app  230  may display a current sheet level, and/or the frequency of updates for the sheet level. 
     The app  230  may additionally include the capability to receive discounts and targeted messaging, such as from the brand&#39;s dashboard  230  at module  204 . These may be in the form of a push notification or a user dialogue that provides an app alert in the user&#39;s app  230  to accept and/or apply the discount code, such as wherein the discount code may be saved for the next order or applied to a current order. Of course, the consumer app  230  may include the ability to change any one or more of the foregoing settings or any additional settings, such as autoreplenishment settings, such as wherein the sheet level percentage threshold may be varied for an autoreplenishment indication. The foregoing may be available in the user app or the brand dashboard at the cloud backend from a drop-down or similar menu, a pop-up window, or via any known user. Thus, the ability of sensor  22  to remotely communicate with a smart phone  210 , such as having a dedicated app  230  by brand, seller type (such as supermarket), or manufacturer may allow the user to change settings, assess the need for replenishment, be provided with a visualization of product level, confirm or request purchases, explore related products from the same manufacturer or competitive products from other manufacturers, or the like interaction, by way of example. 
     The dashboard  230  at backend  204  referenced herein may additionally include other particular aspects. For example, the dashboard may include autoreplenishment event data, particular user information, location-based information, and the like. Further, the dashboard  230  may integrate third-party data, such as weather data, to allow for data fusion between sensed data and publicly available data sources, such as in order to optimize sales. 
     The dashboard  230  may also include one or more search capabilities. That is, a dashboard user may search for particular data across one or more users, such as “frequent users”, “fading users” (i.e., a list of users whose frequency of use has fallen relative to long-term usage), certain geographic searches, usage associated with certain events (such as snowstorms), and the like. Responsive to the search, and otherwise available from within the dashboard  230 , may be a consumer data display. That is, dashboard events, such as autoreplenishment events, may include drill down capabilities to obtain more detail. The drill down may include basic information, such as approximate location, and more particular information, such as dosing events or liquid levels over time. 
     The dashboard  230  may additionally include an ability to design marketing campaigns and/or discount codes. For example, discount codes may be provided based on the meeting of certain thresholds by certain data of consumers. Thereby, the discount codes may be automatically generated upon the trigger event for one or more consumers, or may be “hard entered” by a person controlling the dashboard  230 . Moreover, the foregoing aspects may overlap, such as wherein discount codes are readily executed, such as responsive to a single click, to all consumers that have been returned responsive to an entered search within the dashboard. 
     Additional aspects may be provided by the cloud based backend  204 . The cloud based backend  204  may store data, including autoreplenishment events, by way of example, and may be suitable to serve that data back to the smart phone app  230  and/or to the dashboard  230  as needed. Further, certain of the decision-making algorithms discussed herein throughout may also reside at the cloud based backend, such as rather than residing in a smart phone app. That is, the remote communication capabilities discussed herein may allow for “piggybacking” by device  210  for the use of cloud based data storage, remote device provisioning, offloading of heavy processing, user management, creation of content targeted to demographics or user type, to backend  204 , by way of non-limiting example. 
       FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D  illustrate embodiments of sensing of removal of the sheet product  10  through the opening  20  of a durable lid  14  by the sensor  22  as discussed throughout. It will be appreciated that  FIG. 4  provide illustration by way of cross-section for removal of a stacked or rolled sheet product  10 . 
     As shown, the opening  20  of the container includes a sensor  22 , such as a time of flight proximity sensor. This sensor  22  may detect opaque and/or clear products, such as reclosable plastic bags, plastic wrap, baby wipes, and aluminum foil, which are manually removed through the opening  20  of the lid  14 . 
     Dependent upon the type of sensor  22  employed, the configuration of the lid  14  and the opening  20  therein may vary. For example, to the extent a time of flight sensor is used, one side of the lid  14  may be lower than the other to avoid the reflection of light back into the time of flight sensor  22 , which might otherwise cause improper sensing. 
     As is evident, the sheet  10  being pulled through the opening  20 , and/or the insertion of a human hand or finger into the opening  20  to grasp the product  10  for removal, may reduce the distance traveled by the light beam of a time of flight proximity sensor, which light beam is accordingly measured by the sensor. Of course, in such instances, the sensor may be subject to misreading the insertion of a hand without removal of a product as a decrement to the amount of product still in the container. This may, of course, be addressed by varying the type of sensor, reading of both the hand and the product removal, such as based on sensor timing, or via other methodologies as discussed throughout. 
     By way of non-limiting example,  FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E  provide a sensing embodiment to address the prospective misreading that may occur in the embodiment of  FIG. 4 . By way of example, two sensors  22 , such as two time of flight sensors, may be stacked atop one another, such that one is closer to the outside of the container and the other is closer to the inside of the container. Thereby, the direction of motion of a user&#39;s hand or the product  10  being removed may be established. Further, other aspects, such as the angle of the object sensed, and the timing of movement of a hand or product  10  between the two sensors  22 , may be assessed based on differences in the distance and time detected by the sensing of each of the two sensors  22 . Moreover, it will be appreciated that more than two sensors  22 , or sensors of varying types, may be included in the embodiments to address the misreading concerns discussed herein. 
     By way of example, the sensor discussed herein may be placed off-center across the opening of the disclosed lid. Accordingly, as a user is most likely to insert her hand in the approximate center of the lid, the sensor is less likely to be triggered by the presence of the user&#39;s hand or movement thereof, but is still likely to be triggered by the product which is more likely to span the majority of the opening, as sheet products are typically sized in accordance with the width of the container in which they reside. Thereby, removal of the sheet product is highly likely to trip a sensor that is off-center as to the opening of the lid, but the user&#39;s hand, which is typically inserted approximately at the center of the opening, is less likely to trip the disclosed off-center sensor. Of course, such concerns may be addressed in other ways, such as placing one sensor in the approximate center of the opening, and one off-center sensor, such that the center sensor, when triggered, is likely triggered by the user&#39;s hand, and such that both the center and off-center sensors are likely triggered by the product. Accordingly, user access to the container, and removal of the product, may be measured separately in such an embodiment. 
     Of course, the use of a durable repeated use container may provide secondary functionality in addition to tracking the removal of the product. For example, the durable container may have a warmer therein, such as to warm baby wipes; may include a cutting-edge therein, such as one placed substantially out of reach of a user&#39;s hand, such as in order to cut foil or plastic wrap; the container may have decorative aspects associated therewith and/or with the lid thereof; or the container made provide mounting aspects, such that the container may be mounted to a wall or cabinet, such as in order to save counter or drawer space necessary for the dispensed product. 
     As discussed throughout, the automatic reordering envisioned herein may reflect a need to reorder not only a consumable, but additionally a durable aspect of the disclosed system. The need to replenish the durable lid or container may, for example, be alerted by an app that tracks the total number of individual sheet uses, sensor activations, number of consumables placed therein and removed, and so on. 
     In the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the embodiments require more features than are expressly recited herein.