Patent ID: 8608026

Claim:
A device for generating data regarding material dispensed from a container to which the device is attached, the device comprising: an accelerometer circuit configured to: conduct a measurement of an angle by which the container is tilted; determine whether the angle exceeds a threshold angle based on the measurement; in response to determining that the angle does not exceed the threshold angle, conduct at least one periodic measurement of the angle by which the container is tilted, wherein the at least one periodic measurement is conducted according to a first measurement frequency; in response to determining that the angle exceeds the threshold angle: conduct at least one periodic measurement of the angle by which the container is tilted, wherein the at least one periodic measurement is conducted according to a second measurement frequency; and generate a measured angle for each of the at least one periodic measurement, the measured angle comprising an angular value of the measurement and a time indication of when the measurement was taken; a memory storing a plurality of dispensing rates, wherein each dispensing rate of the plurality of dispensing rates associated with a particular tilt angle; and a processor is configured to: calculate a total dispensed amount of material from the container as a function of: at least one measured angle; and the dispensing rate corresponding to the at least one measured angle; and cause the total dispensed amount to be stored in the memory.