CONTAINER, ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF IDENTIFYING A CONTENT OF A CONTAINER

Abstract

An assembly (100) comprises a container (10) comprising a container body (13) and at least one protrusion (102); and an identification device (120) comprising a plurality of transmitter-receiver pairs (110). Each transmitter-receiver pair is formed of one transmitter (112) to send a signal (116) and one receiver (114) configured to detect the signal (116) sent from the transmitter (112), characterized in that each of the at least one protrusion (102) is positioned to block a signal (116) between one of the transmitter-receiver pairs (110) when the container (10) is coupled to the identification device (120). A method of identifying a content of the container (10).

Claims

1. An assembly (100) comprising: a container (10) comprising a container body (13) and at least one protrusion (102); an identification device (120) comprising a plurality of transmitter-receiver pairs (110), wherein each pair is formed of one transmitter (112) to send a signal (116) and one receiver (114) configured to detect the signal (116) sent from the transmitter (112), characterized in that each of the at least one protrusion (102) is positioned to block a signal (116) between one of the transmitter-receiver pairs (110) when the container (10) is coupled to the identification device (120).

2. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the container (10) comprises a cap (50) and the at least one protrusion (102) extends from the cap (50).

3. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the number of and/or configuration of the at least one protrusion (102) defines the one or more signals (116) blocked between transmitter-receiver pairs (110).

4. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the number of and/or configuration of signals (116) blocked between transmitter-receiver pairs (110) indicates contents of the container (10).

5. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the identification device (120) further comprises an engagement means (122) for connecting the identification device (120) to a cleaning appliance (200) with an automatic dosing function.

6. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the transmitters (112) and the receivers (114) are configured to provide contactless detection.

7. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the container (10) further comprises an opening on a surface of the body (36) for dispensing a cleaning product and a valve (60) for controlling liquid flow of the cleaning product, wherein the opening (36) is configured cooperate with the identification device (120) in order to provide a liquid conduit (24) from the container (10) to the cleaning appliance (200).

8. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion (102) is formed integrally with the container (10) or a container cap (50).

9. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion (102) is made of non-conducting material and/or waterproof material.

10. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion (102) is made of an opaque material for light in an infrared, an ultraviolet, and/or visible part of the spectrum.

11. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions (102) are made of plastic material.

12. The assembly (100) according to claim 1, wherein the container (10) is a cartridge configured to be placed into an insert (204) of a cleaning product dispensing unit (202) of a cleaning appliance (200).

13. A method of identifying a content of a container (10), the method comprising steps of: providing an identification device (120) comprising a plurality of transmitter-receiver pairs (110), wherein each pair is formed of one transmitter (112) to send a signal (116) and one receiver (114) configured to detect the signal (116) sent from the transmitter (112); providing a container (10) comprising a container body (13) and at least one protrusion (102); characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of: coupling the container (10) to the identification device (120) such that the at least one protrusion (102) is positioned to block any signal (116) between one of the transmitter-receiver pairs (110); and identifying a content of the container (10) based on the number and/or configuration of transmitter signals (116) blocked.

14. The method according to claim 13, the method further comprising steps of: producing an alert signal if no cleaning product container is detected.

Description

FIGURES

[0052] FIG. 1A shows a longitudinal view of a container for a cleaning product;

[0053] FIG. 1B shows a transversal cross-sectional view of a container for a cleaning product;

[0054] FIG. 1C shows a zoomed area of FIG. 1A around a cap portion of the container for the cleaning product;

[0055] FIG. 2 illustrates a cartridge containing an amount of cleaning product connected to a cleaning appliance;

[0056] FIG. 3A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a cartridge filled and prior to use,

[0057] FIG. 3B shows the cartridge of FIG. 3A in a partially used state, and

[0058] FIG. 3C shows the cartridge of FIG. 3A in an empty or almost fully used state;

[0059] FIG. 4A shows a side view of a cartridge and identification device;

[0060] FIG. 4B shows an end view of the identification device of FIG. 4A;

[0061] FIG. 4C shows an end view of a cap with identification protrusions;

[0062] FIG. 4D shows an end view of the identification device of FIG. 4A and positions of the identification protrusions of FIG. 4C;

[0063] FIG. 5 shows a side view of a dispensing unit of a cleaning appliance with two cartridges inserted into identification devices.

EXAMPLES

[0064] The invention will now be further described with reference to the following non-limiting embodiments and with reference to the drawings. The drawings are only schematic and are not limiting. In the drawings, the size, shape and placement of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustration purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

[0065] FIGS. 1A and 1B show a longitudinal and a transversal cross-sectional view of a container for a cleaning product, respectively. The container has a form of a cartridge that is suitable to be inserted into a cleaning appliance 200 with an automatic dosing function of the cleaning product. Cleaning appliance 200 could be, for example, a washing machine, a dishwasher, a mop or other cleaning device.

[0066] The cartridge 10 comprises a rigid outer body 12, and a flexible inner body 14 inside the outer body 12. The outer body 12 shown has a shape of a prism with a rectangular base 11, four side faces 15 and an outer body opening 36. The inner body 14 has an inner body opening 34 and is configured to accommodate an amount of the cleaning product in a cleaning product space 16. As shown in FIG. 1A, the inner body opening 34 and outer body opening 36 are aligned such that the cleaning product can be easily discharged from the cleaning product space 16 through the inner body opening 34 and the outer body opening 36 to the outside (e.g, to a cleaning appliance 200). The inner body 14 and the outer body 12 are connected around their respective openings by connection means 22. The cartridge 10 has a cap 50 placed on the base 11 of the outer body 12, around the outer body opening 36. The cap 50 can include means for control of the cleaning product flow. The cap 50 is mounted onto the outer body opening 36 by fastening means 52, which are as threads in the example shown.

[0067] The inner body 14 is additionally fixed to the outer body 12 by linear connections 26. In this example, the inner body 14 is connected to the outer body 12 by a plurality of linear connections along a longitudinal direction X. The linear connections can be in a form of one long connection extending along the length of the outer body 14 or series of short connections. FIG. 1B shows an example in which the inner body 14 is connected to each side face 15 of the outer body 12. The linear connections 26 are formed by connecting an outside surface of the inner body 28 to an inside surface of the outer body 32.

[0068] FIG. 2 illustrates the cartridge 10 containing an amount of cleaning product 42 connected to the cleaning appliance 200. The connection is formed by coupling a connecting insert 18 placed on the cap 50 to a negative pressure device 44 of the cleaning appliance 200.

[0069] The cap 50 further comprises a cap opening 54 which allows liquid to flow through the cap 50. In this manner a liquid conduit 24 is formed between the cartridge 10 and the cleaning appliance 200. Under the negative pressure, the cleaning product 42 is discharged from the cleaning product space 16, through the cap opening 54 and the negative pressure device 44 into the cleaning appliance 200, as shown by the flow arrows in FIG. 2.

[0070] Three different working stages of the cartridge 10 are shown in FIGS. 3A-3C, which show cross-sectional views of cartridge 10 with outer body 12 and inner body 14 at different stages of fill of the inner body 14. FIG. 3A illustrates the cartridge filled and prior to use, FIG. 3B shows the cartridge 10 a partially used state, and FIG. 3C shows an empty or almost fully used state.

[0071] FIG. 3A illustrates the cartridge prior to use when the cleaning product space 16 is completely filled with the cleaning product 42. The inner body 14 is stretched to maximize volume of the cleaning product space 16, and the inner body 14 almost completely coincides with the outer body 12. When the cartridge 10 is in use, the cleaning product 42 is periodically discharged from the cartridge 10. This situation is shown in FIG. 3B. As the cleaning product 42 is discharged, the volume of the cleaning product space 16 decreases and the inner body 14 separates from the outer body 12 except around linear connections 26. At the same time, a volume of the unused space 17 (the space inside the (rigid) outer body 12 and outside the flexible inner body 14) increases and fills with air as the cleaning product is discharged and the inner body 14 decreases in volume. The outer body 12 has air openings 19 away from the linear connections 26. FIG. 3C illustrates the cartridge 10 when the cleaning product 42 has been mostly or completely used. The cleaning product space 16 is minimized in this case, while the volume of the unused space 17 is maximal.

[0072] By using a flexible inner body 14 inside the outer body 12, cartridge is able to hold and empty the contents almost completely without the need for complicated air valves (and leakage there through). Past cartridges typically only had a rigid outside, which required an air valve for emptying, and result in liquid sometimes leaking out the valve. By instead using a flexible inner body 14, only a simple air hole is needed in the outer body 12, and no contents leak as they are completely contained in the inner body 14. The flexibility of inner body 14 allows for more complete emptying of the contents of cartridge, resulting in less waste and a longer useable life for the cartridge. The use of one or more linear connections 26 provides a simple way of ensuring that inner body 14 empties in a way that contents will not remain stuck or trapped inside. Thus, forming cartridge 10 of an outer body 12 and a flexible inner body 14 with aligned outlets provides a simple cartridge which is easier to manufacture (due to no complicated air valves), does not leak and is able to more completely use all the contents within.

[0073] In order to control the liquid flow from the cartridge 10 and prevent the spilling of the cleaning product 42 when the cartridge 10 is not connected to the cleaning appliance 200, a valve 60 is placed on or in the cap 50, and over the cap opening 54. The valve 60 can have various forms, for example, a silicon cross piece, a duckbill valve, a deformable ball valve or other valve structure.

[0074] The cartridge 10 shown in FIGS. 1A-3C (or another embodiment of a cartridge) can be coupled with an identification device 120 configured to detect the contents of the cartridge 10 as shown in FIGS. 4A-4D. FIG. 4A shows a side view of an assembly 100 comprising a cartridge 10 with identification protrusions and identification device 120.

[0075] The identification device 120 shown has a tubular connector 124 that is arranged to fit inside the insert 18 of the cap 50. This can be a hollow connector to allow for flow out of cartridge 10 in a similar manner to that described in relation to FIGS. 1A-3C. Engagement means 122 are used to connect the identification device 120 to the cleaning appliance, and transfer data or information, and possibly supply power to the identification device 120.

[0076] FIG. 4B shows the front view of the identification device 120 with four transmitter-receiver pairs 110. Each transmitter-receiver pair 110 includes one transmitter 112 and one receiver 114. The transmitter 112 sends a signal 116 towards the receiver. The signal 116 can be any type of signal that is suitable for contactless detection, for example, infrared, visible light or ultraviolet. The transmitters 112 and the receivers 114 are configured such that only the receiver 114 of the specific transmitter-receiver pair 110 is able to detect the signal 116 of its paired transmitter 112 while the other receivers cannot.

[0077] The cap 50 of a cartridge 10 comprises at least one identification protrusion 102 to identify the contents of the cartridge 10. The one or more identification protrusions 102 extend from the cap 50, and are positioned to fit between one particular transmitter-receiver pair 110 when the cartridge 10 is connected to the identification device 120 to block signals sent from the transmitter to the receiver. In the configuration shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, the cap 50 includes three protrusions 102, which are positioned to block the transmission between three particular transmitter-receiver pairs 110.

[0078] The identification device 120 is configured to process signals 116 from the receivers 114 and convert them into digital states that can be read and/or interpreted by a processor (not shown). For example, if the receiver 114 received signal 116 from its paired transmitter 112, the identification device 120 generates digital state 1. On the other hand, if the signal 116 between the transmitter-receiver pair 110 is blocked by the identification protrusion 102, the identification device 120 generates digital state 0. This digital state information can then be sent to the processor.

[0079] The number and the configuration of signals blocked by the identification protrusions 102 creates an identification code for the contents of the cartridge 10. In the example with four transmitter-receiver pairs there are 16 different configurations which are shown below in Table 1. These can be used to identify up to 15 different cartridges or, more generally, one can differentiate between 15 different cleaning products in the cartridges 10 using the identification system of four transmitter-receiver pairs 110. The configuration where all receivers 114 receive signals 116 from its paired transmitters 112 corresponds to the case when no cartridge 10 is coupled with the identification device 120.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Receiver 1 Receiver 2 Receiver 3 Receiver 4 Identification Result State 0 State 0 State 0 State 0 Cartridge 1 State 0 State 0 State 0 State 1 Cartridge 2 State 0 State 0 State 1 State 0 Cartridge 3 State 0 State 1 State 0 State 0 Cartridge 4 State 1 State 0 State 0 State 0 Cartridge 5 State 0 State 0 State 1 State 1 Cartridge 6 State 0 State 1 State 0 State 1 Cartridge 7 State 1 State 0 State 0 State 1 Cartridge 8 State 0 State 1 State 1 State 0 Cartridge 9 State 1 State 0 State 1 State 0 Cartridge 10 State 1 State 1 State 0 State 0 Cartridge 11 State 0 State 1 State 1 State 1 Cartridge 12 State 1 State 0 State 1 State 1 Cartridge 13 State 1 State 1 State 0 State 1 Cartridge 14 State 1 State 1 State 1 State 0 Cartridge 15 State 1 State 1 State 1 State 1 No Cartridge

[0080] As an example, the cartridge 10 containing detergent for coloured clothes can have two identification protrusions 102 arranged to be identified as Cartridge 6 from Table 1 by the processor, while the cartridge 10 containing fabric softener can have three identification protrusions 102 which are arranged to be identified as Cartridge 2 from Table 1 by the processor. The cartridge 10 containing the detergent for white cloths can also have three identification protrusions but arranged to be identified as Cartridge 3 from Table 1 by the processor. Thus, the processor and system can identify and dispense the correct types and amounts of the particular cartridges 10, 10 or 10 based on the identification system. In situations where no cartridge is detected, the system could be programmed to give a notification or alert such that a user knows they need to insert a cartridge.

[0081] FIG. 4C shows the cap 50 with three identification protrusions 102a, 102b, 102c and a missing protrusion 102d at the location intended for the fourth protrusion. When the cap 50 is connected to the identification device 120 (note that the cap in that case is facing the identification device), only the receiver 114d would be able to receive the signal 116d from its paired transmitter 112d, while all other signals 116 are blocked by the identification protrusions 102a, 102b, 102c as shown in FIG. 4D. Collecting the states from all receivers 114a, 114b, 114c, 114d, the identification code reads: State 0 (receiver 114a)State 0 (receiver 114b)State 0 (receiver 114c)State 1 (receiver 114d), which corresponds to Cartridge 2 from Table 1. The system then identifies this as the cartridge 10 containing fabric softener from the example above.

[0082] Such a system is a simple, yet effective method of identifying a particular cartridge (and/or the contents of the cartridge) in a washing machine or other cleaning appliance such as a dishwasher, carpet cleaner, mop, electric soap dispenser, etc. Such cartridges can be especially useful in auto-dosing machines, where they can simply be inserted, and the identification device 120 (through the transmitter-receiver pairs 110) can detect the presence of a cartridge with cleaning product, identify the contents by detecting the coding information (number of protrusions and configuration), and auto-dose according to the contents.

[0083] Thus use of protrusions 102 and transmitter-receiver pairs 110 which are contact-less provides for a simple, yet quick and effective way of identifying a particular cartridge and the contents therein. As mentioned in the background, prior art identification systems used metallic contacts. Such materials can result in corrosion when using aqueous solutions. By using contactless detection (e.g., infrared, visible light, ultraviolet), the protrusions 102 and transmitter-receiver pairs 110 never have to come into contact, which can improve the lifespan, make the parts easier to manufacture (e.g., do not need to meet the tight tolerance levels for connecting parts), and can avoid corrosion issues related with past systems that used metallic parts with contacting electrodes. Additionally not using metallic parts can result in cost-savings in materials.

[0084] FIG. 5 shows a dispensing unit 202 of the cleaning appliance 200. The dispensing unit 202 has two cartridge inserts 204 configured to accept a cartridge. Each of the cartridge inserts 204 has the identification device 120. Cartridges containing different cleaning products are placed into the cartridge inserts 204 and coupled to the respective identification device 120. For example, one cartridge can have cleaning detergent as its contents and the other cartridge can have fabric softener for use with a washing machine. Upon inserting the cartridge 10 into the cartridge insert 204, connecting it to the identification device 120 and a negative pressure and/or dosing device 44 of the cleaning appliance 200, the liquid conduit 24 can be formed through the connected elements such that the cleaning detergent can be discharged from the cartridge 10 into the cleaning appliance 200. The identification device 102, through the transmitter-receiver pairs 110 (communicating with the processor) recognizes that the cartridge contains detergent, and will dose accordingly without requiring any manual input by the consumer telling the system what is in the cartridge.

[0085] Similarly, with the cartridge containing fabric softener, the cartridge is inserted and the identification device (communicating with the processor) identifies the cartridge as containing fabric softener. It can then use that information to dose accordingly without the user having to manually input the contents.

[0086] Thus, such a system can be especially useful when many types of cleaning products are used in a cleaning appliance or system. The user simply has to insert the cartridge containing the agent, and the identification device will identify and correctly dose the contents by recognizing the number and configuration of protrusions that relate to a specific cartridge and/or cleaning product. While two cartridges and identification devices are shown, more or fewer could be used in specific systems.

[0087] While the examples show a system with four transmitter-receiver pairs, the system could include any number from 1 transmitter-receiver pair to 10 or more. The more transmitter-receiver pairs present, the more options for identifying different cartridges/contents of cartridges. Additionally, while the protrusions 102 are shown as extending from cap 50 in the examples and drawings, they could extend directly from the outside of the cartridge itself instead of or in addition to protrusions on the cap. Additionally, the cartridge shown in FIGS. 1A-3C and identification system in FIGS. 4A-5 could be used together, or could be used with separate cartridges/systems.

[0088] While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary examples and embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.