A smart cup including a main body having an opening; a cover configured to cover at least one portion of the opening; a driving unit configured to move the cover to open and close the at least one portion of the opening; a motion sensor configured to sense a motion of the main body; a proximity sensor configured to sense an object contacted with or adjacent to the opening; and a controller configured to control the driving unit to move the cover to open the at least one portion of the opening in response to the motion sensor sensing the motion of the main body and the proximity sensor sensing the object contacted with or adjacent to the opening, and control the driving unit to move the cover to close the at least one portion of the opening in response to the motion sensor sensing the motion of the main body and the proximity sensor not sensing the object contacted with or adjacent to the opening.

An actively heated or cooled portable container has a body with a chamber that receives and holds a liquid, and one or more heating or cooling elements in thermal communication with at least a portion of the chamber. An outer surface of the body has one or more electrical contacts. A module is removably coupled to a portion of the body. The module has one or more electrical contacts on an outer surface of the module that contact the one or more electrical contacts on the outer surface of the body, control circuitry, and one or more power storage elements that provide power to the control circuitry and/or the one or more heating or cooling elements. The control circuitry wirelessly communicates with a mobile electronic device to wirelessly transmit information to the mobile electronic device associated with the operation of the module and/or wirelessly receive instructions from a user via the mobile electronic device.

Heating unit is constructed according to the embodiments of invention to provide heating or warming features to maintain specific food temperature.

In addition, safety control unit is provided to either adjust or shut down the system should the value deviate from the range value.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for updating directions to a container. In one embodiment an apparatus for updating directions to a container comprises a container housing, a movement sensor attached to the container housing, a wireless transceiver; and a control circuit coupled to the movement sensor and the wireless transceiver. The control circuit being configured to: detect a relocation of the container housing via the movement sensor, determine an estimated new location of the container, and send, via the wireless transceiver, the estimated new location to a computing device to initiate an update of a direction to the container.

Systems are disclosed for producing audio that is audible outside a collection box for delivery items, the collection box including a user-operated door. The system can include a trigger device, a sensor, an audio transducer that generates the produced audio from an audio signal, an audio chip and one or more processors. The sensor can detect the trigger device when the trigger device is in close proximity, and the one or more processors can be operably connected to the sensor and to the audio chip, where the one or more processors signal the audio chip to send the audio signal to the audio transducer. The one or more processors can further receive and record a status signal indicating that the door is in an opened state. Systems can further include an environmental sensor that measures environmental information.

An eating utensil (100) is provided which comprises a handle (120) and a food area (110). The eating utensil (100) comprises an accelerometer sensor a gyroscope sensor (150). With the accelerometer sensor the gyroscope sensor (150), the movement of the eating utensil (100) as well as its orientation is detected. The orientation as well as a movement of the eating utensil (100) can be compared with a predetermined ideal traversal path and orientation of an eating utensil (100) and the user may receive corresponding feedback if the detected path or orientation of the eating utensil (100) differs from the ideal utensil traversal path or orientation.

A blanket having a vibrating element, heating element, sound generator, sound speaker and programmable wake-up alarm. A circuit electrically connects the programmable wake-up element with one or more of the vibrating element, heating element, sound generating element and sound speaker element to wake a sleeping person at a pre-set time by vibrations. A remote control can be used control the circuitry and the one or more elements of the blanket.

Drinking bottles (10) are known from the prior art comprising a bottle body (12) for holding liquid and a closure unit (20) with a movable or removable lid (40), said drinking bottles (10) having electronic evaluation unit (30) which are adapted to evaluate at least one sensor signal, wherein the closure unit (20) of such a drinking bottle comprises an optical distance sensor (50) directed into the bottle body (12) to detect the amount of liquid remaining in the bottle body (12) It is proposed to enhance such drinking bottles with a closure unit (20) having an insulation wall (60) which, in the closed state, isolates an electronic space (42) from an interior of the bottle body (12), wherein the distance sensor (50) is arranged in this electronic space (42) and wherein the insulation wall (60) is penetrated by at least one aperture (62, 64) in which a transparent light conducting element (72, 74) is arranged. Additionally or alternatively it is proposed to provide such a drinking bottle (10) with a temperature sensor (56), wherein the electronic evaluation unit (30) is adapted to activate and deactivate the distance sensor (50) as a function of a temperature measured by this temperature sensor (56).

The invention relates to an apparatus for thawing a frozen drink in a glass drinking bottle having a housing; a bottle receiving space that is arranged in the housing and is designed to accommodate a glass drinking bottle with a frozen drink for thawing; a heating device that is arranged in the housing and has radiative heat sources that are arranged around the bottle receiving space in order, during the thawing operation, to radiate heat energy onto the glass drinking bottle, and a thermal insulation and cooling device which is arranged in the housing, the thermal insulation and cooling device having: a thermally insulating space which is formed in the housing between the radiative heat sources and an outer housing wall and so as to encompass, in a circumferential manner, the outer housing wall; and an air cooling system in which an air delivery device draws cooling air from the surroundings into the housing via an air intake and conveys this, in the housing, via an air guide to an air outlet, the air guide being formed so as to encompass at least the thermally insulating space. Also provided is a method for thawing a frozen drink in a glass drinking bottle.

Beverage container heating apparatuses and associated methods for using such apparatuses are disclosed. In one embodiment, for example, a flexible band or sleeve is configured to wrap around an exterior surface of a beverage container. The flexible band can include a first layer configured to be positioned in contact with the exterior surface of the beverage container. The first layer comprises a reflective surface facing the beverage container and a heating element configured to provide heat to the exterior surface of the beverage container. The flexible band may also include a second layer adjacent to and covering at least a portion of the first layer. The second layer can include a removable insulation assembly. The flexible band further includes a third layer adjacent to and covering at least a portion of the second layer. The third layer can include various electronic components, such as a control circuitry and a battery.