CA2533000A1 - Method and apparatus for controlling a dispenser and detecting a user - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for controlling a dispenser and detecting a user Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2533000A1
CA2533000A1 CA002533000A CA2533000A CA2533000A1 CA 2533000 A1 CA2533000 A1 CA 2533000A1 CA 002533000 A CA002533000 A CA 002533000A CA 2533000 A CA2533000 A CA 2533000A CA 2533000 A1 CA2533000 A1 CA 2533000A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
cndot
dispenser
digital signal
threshold
digital
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
CA002533000A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2533000C (en
Inventor
James A. Rodrian
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Alwin Manufacturing Co Inc
Original Assignee
Alwin Manufacturing Co Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alwin Manufacturing Co Inc filed Critical Alwin Manufacturing Co Inc
Publication of CA2533000A1 publication Critical patent/CA2533000A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2533000C publication Critical patent/CA2533000C/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
    • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
    • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
    • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
    • A47K10/34—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means
    • A47K10/36—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices
    • A47K10/3687—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices with one or more reserve rolls
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
    • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
    • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
    • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
    • A47K10/34—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means
    • A47K10/36—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices
    • A47K10/3606—The cutting devices being motor driven
    • A47K10/3612—The cutting devices being motor driven with drive and pinch rollers
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
    • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
    • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
    • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
    • A47K10/34—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means
    • A47K10/36—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices
    • A47K10/3606—The cutting devices being motor driven
    • A47K10/3625—The cutting devices being motor driven with electronic control means
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47K—SANITARY EQUIPMENT NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TOILET ACCESSORIES
    • A47K10/00—Body-drying implements; Toilet paper; Holders therefor
    • A47K10/24—Towel dispensers, e.g. for piled-up or folded textile towels; Toilet-paper dispensers; Dispensers for piled-up or folded textile towels provided or not with devices for taking-up soiled towels as far as not mechanically driven
    • A47K10/32—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper
    • A47K10/34—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means
    • A47K10/36—Dispensers for paper towels or toilet-paper dispensing from a web, e.g. with mechanical dispensing means with mechanical dispensing, roll switching or cutting devices
    • A47K2010/3668—Detection of the presence of a user

Abstract

Automatic dispensers, proximity detectors and user-detection methods. A
proximity detector can be used to trigger operation of the dispenser to dispense products such as towel, tissue, wipes, sheet-form materials, soap, shaving cream, fragrances and personal care products.

Claims (33)

1. An automatic product dispenser comprising:
.cndot. a housing adapted to receive a dispensable product;
.cndot. an electrically-powered dispensing mechanism adapted to dispense the product from the dispenser; and .cndot. a proximity detector operable to:
.cndot. generate a first digital signal which changes at a first rate responsive to a user proximate the dispenser;
.cndot. convert the first digital signal to a second digital signal which changes at a second rate responsive to the user;
.cndot. difference the signals; and .cndot. trigger operation of the dispensing mechanism when the difference attains a threshold.
2. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the proximity detector further comprises:
.cndot. a sensor;
.cndot. an oscillator operatively connected to the sensor having an oscillator signal which changes responsive to the user;
.cndot. an analog-to-digital converter adapted to convert the oscillator signal into the first digital signal, said first digital signal representing a first numerical value stream;
.cndot. a low-pass filter adapted to convert the first numerical value stream into the second digital signal, said second digital signal representing a second numerical value stream; and .cndot. a controller operable to difference the first and second numerical value streams and to trigger dispensing mechanism operation when the difference attains the threshold.
3. The dispenser of claim 2 wherein the oscillator has a current and the oscillator signal is an average of the current.
4. The dispenser of claim 2 wherein the controller includes a processor, a memory and a set of instructions, the controller being adapted to perform the analog-to-digital conversion, low-pass filtering, differencing and triggering functions.
5. The dispenser of claim 4 wherein the instructions are adapted to:
.cndot. sum the first digital signal numerical values such that the first digital signal is converted to a summed numerical value stream;
.cndot. low-pass filter the summed numerical value stream such that the second digital signal is a summed numerical value stream;
.cndot. difference the first and second digital signal summed numerical value streams; and .cndot. trigger operation of the dispensing mechanism when the difference attains the threshold;
whereby, differences between the first and second digital signals are amplified thereby increasing proximity detector sensitivity.
6. The dispenser of claim 5 wherein the instructions are further adapted to operate the dispensing mechanism when a plurality of consecutive differences attain the threshold.
7. The dispenser of claim 6 wherein the instructions are further adapted to operate the dispensing mechanism when three consecutive differences attain the threshold.
8. The dispenser of claim 4 further comprising a battery power source, and wherein the instructions are further adapted to periodically turn the oscillator on and off thereby saving battery power.
9. The dispenser of claim 8 wherein the instructions are further adapted to periodically place the processor in a low-power mode and to come out of the low-power mode thereby saving battery power.
10. The dispenser of claim 4 further comprising:
.cndot. a motor powering the dispensing mechanism; and .cndot. a digital fuse operatively connected to the motor and protecting the dispenser.
11. The dispenser of claim 10 wherein the digital fuse resides in the instructions, and the instructions are further adapted to:
.cndot. obtain numerical values of motor current;
.cndot. compare the motor current values with a first threshold;
.cndot. when the motor current values exceed the first threshold, sum the motor current values;
.cndot. compare the summed motor current values with a second threshold; and .cndot. prevent motor operation when the second threshold is exceeded.
12. The dispenser of claim 4 wherein the dispenser is a towel dispenser and the dispensing mechanism comprises:
.cndot. a drive roller;
.cndot. a motor in power-transmission relationship with the drive roller;
.cndot. a tension roller positioned against the drive roller to form a nip therebetween such that a towel may be drawn through the nip and out of the dispenser by powering of the drive roller; and .cndot. the controller triggers current supply to the motor responsive to detection of the user.
13. The dispenser of claim 4 wherein the dispenser is a liquid product dispenser including a liquid product reservoir and the dispensing mechanism comprises:
.cndot. an actuator adapted to dispense the liquid product from the reservoir;
and .cndot. the controller triggers current supply to the actuator responsive to detection of the user.
14. A proximity detector comprising:
.cndot. an oscillator which generates an oscillator signal which changes responsive to a user proximate the detector;
.cndot. an analog-to-digital converter adapted to receive the oscillator signal and to generate a first digital signal comprising a first stream of digital numerical values; and .cndot. a processing device programmed with instructions that, when executed, perform a method for detecting the user, the method comprising:
.cndot. filtering the first digital signal with a low-pass filter to generate a second digital signal comprising a second stream of digital numerical values;
.cndot. differencing the numerical values comprising the first and second digital signals; and .cndot. generating a signal representing detection of the user when the difference attains a threshold.
15. The proximity detector of claim 14 further comprising a sensor operatively connected to the oscillator.
16. The proximity detector of claim 15 wherein the oscillator has a current and the oscillator signal is an average of the current.
17. The proximity detector of claim 14 wherein the analog-to-digital converter and the processing device are formed on the same integrated circuit.
18. The proximity detector of claim 14 wherein the method performed by the processing device further comprises:
.cndot. summing a plurality of consecutive first digital signal numerical values to produce a stream of summed numerical values;
.cndot. inputting the summed numerical value stream to the low-pass filter to produce a second digital signal comprising a stream of summed numerical values; and .cndot. differencing the summed numerical value streams;
whereby, differences between the first and second digital signals are amplified thereby increasing proximity detector sensitivity.
19. The proximity detector of claim 18 wherein the method performed by the processing device further comprises operating the dispensing mechanism when a plurality of consecutive differences attain the threshold.
20. The proximity detector of claim 19 wherein the method performed by the processing device further comprises operating the dispensing mechanism when three consecutive differences attain the threshold.
21. The proximity detector of claim 14 further comprising a battery power source, and wherein the method performed by the processing device further comprises periodically turning the oscillator on and off thereby saving battery power.
22. The proximity detector of claim 21 wherein the wherein the method performed by the processing device further comprises:
.cndot. periodically placing the processor in a low-power mode; and .cndot. periodically taking the processor out of the low-power mode;
thereby saving battery power.
23. A method for controlling operation of an automatic product dispenser comprising:
.cndot. generating a first digital signal which changes at a first rate responsive to a user proximate the dispenser;
.cndot. low-pass filtering the first digital signal to produce a second digital signal which changes at a second rate responsive to the user;
.cndot. differencing the signals; and .cndot. triggering dispenser operation when the difference attains a threshold.
24. The method of claim 23 further comprising generating an average oscillator current signal which changes responsive to the user being proximate the dispenser, and wherein generating the first digital signal further comprises converting the average oscillator current signal to the first digital signal.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the first and second digital signals each represent a stream of numerical values and differencing the signals further comprises differencing the numerical value streams.
26. The method of claim 25 further comprising summing the first digital signal numerical value stream such that the first digital signal is converted to a stream of summed numerical values, and wherein low-pass filtering further comprises low-pass filtering the summed numerical value stream such that the second digital signal is a stream of summed numerical values, and wherein differencing the signals further comprises differencing the summed numerical value streams, whereby, differences between the first and second digital signals are amplified thereby increasing proximity detector sensitivity.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein triggering dispenser operation further comprises activating the product dispenser when a plurality of consecutive differences attain the threshold.
28. The dispenser of claim 27 wherein triggering dispenser operation further comprises activating the product dispenser when three consecutive differences attain the threshold.
29. The method of claim 23 further comprising periodically turning the oscillator signal on and off thereby saving battery power.
30. The method of claim 23 wherein the automatic product dispenser includes a motor-powered dispensing mechanism and the method further comprises protecting the dispenser from over-current conditions with a digital fuse.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein protecting the dispenser further comprises:
.cndot. obtaining numerical values of motor current;
.cndot. comparing the motor current values with a first threshold;
.cndot. when the motor current values exceed the first threshold, summing the motor current values;
.cndot. comparing the summed motor current values with a second threshold; and .cndot. preventing motor operation when the second threshold is exceeded.
32. The method of claim 23 further comprising dispensing a towel from the dispenser.
33. The method of claim 32 further comprising deactivating the dispenser after completion of a dispense cycle.
CA2533000A 2005-12-08 2006-01-16 Method and apparatus for controlling a dispenser and detecting a user Active CA2533000C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US74913905P 2005-12-08 2005-12-08
US60/749,139 2005-12-08

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2533000A1 true CA2533000A1 (en) 2007-06-08
CA2533000C CA2533000C (en) 2011-07-05

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Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2533000A Active CA2533000C (en) 2005-12-08 2006-01-16 Method and apparatus for controlling a dispenser and detecting a user

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US (1) US7963475B2 (en)
CA (1) CA2533000C (en)

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