U.S. patent application number 10/873511 was filed with the patent office on 2004-11-18 for method and apparatus for vending a containerized liquid product utilizing an automatic self-service refill system.
Invention is credited to Brown, Laurie J..
Application Number | 20040226994 10/873511 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25482440 |
Filed Date | 2004-11-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040226994 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brown, Laurie J. |
November 18, 2004 |
Method and apparatus for vending a containerized liquid product
utilizing an automatic self-service refill system
Abstract
A method and apparatus for vending a containerized fluid
includes placing a machine-readable indicia on the container
identifying the base fluid. The container may be filled and then
distributed or distributed prior to filling through various
distribution channels to consumers. When a consumer wishes to fill
or re-fill the container, the consumer places the container
adjacent a reader that interprets the indicia to identify the base
fluid to be dispensed. A dispenser then fills the container through
a movable fill probe that elevates as the liquid within the
container rises. In some embodiments, and prior to filling, the
dispenser apparatus may also query the consumer about options are
provided at the time of dispensing for further dispensing various
optional ingredients, including scents, flavors, colors,
nutritional supplements or other additives together with the base
product. In further embodiments, the dispenser may also print
discount tickets or coupons that may discount the purchase of the
containerized fluid or other promotional merchandise. The
machine-readable indicia may include affiliate codes that permit
crediting or compensating various affiliates in relation to the
container filling.
Inventors: |
Brown, Laurie J.;
(Shoreview, MN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ALBERT W. WATKINS
30844 NE 1ST AVENUE
ST. JOSEPH
MN
56374
US
|
Family ID: |
25482440 |
Appl. No.: |
10/873511 |
Filed: |
June 21, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10873511 |
Jun 21, 2004 |
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09944994 |
Aug 30, 2001 |
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6772944 |
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09944994 |
Aug 30, 2001 |
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09396574 |
Sep 15, 1999 |
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6578763 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
235/381 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B67D 7/02 20130101; G07F
13/06 20130101; B67D 7/743 20130101; G07F 7/06 20130101; B67D 7/346
20130101; G06K 7/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
235/381 |
International
Class: |
G06F 007/08 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A method of vending a fluid product comprising the steps of:
labeling a container with machine-readable indicia indicative of
said fluid product; distributing an original container for said
fluid product; dispensing said fluid product into said original
container; refilling said original container; and producing a
promotional coupon responsive to said dispensing of said fluid
product into said container.
2. The method of claim 1 comprising the additional steps of:
selectively vending a plurality of containerized fluid products
respectively into a plurality of original refillable containers
from a single dispensing station, each of said plurality of fluid
products having been originally vended in an original refillable
container having machine-readable indicia thereon indicative of the
fluid product in said original refillable container and the
original sales price thereof prior to the first refilling thereof;
and dispensing a discount coupon for each refilling of ones of said
plurality of original refillable containers with the matching fluid
product which may be presented together with the matching refilled
container.
3. The method of claim 1 further characterized by utilizing
refilling apparatus comprising, in part, a vertically oriented
fluid filling pipe having an outlet, being positioned over a
filling opening in said original container, and connected to a
supply of said fluid product, said filling pipe being vertically
movable with respect to said original container and being sized to
freely enter said filling opening, said filling pipe being inserted
into said container through said opening until said outlet is
adjacent the bottom of said container and subsequently filling said
container with a preselected volume of said fluid product.
4. The method of claim 1 comprising the additional step of
providing, at the time of dispensing said discount coupon, at least
one additional coupon.
5. The method of claim 1 comprising the additional step of
providing, at the time of said dispensing of said discount coupon,
a graphic display of information.
6. The method of claim 1 further characterized by said fluid
product refilled into said container being blended from fluids
stored in at least two containers.
7. The method of claim 3 wherein said filling pipe is connected to
at least two supplies of fluid which are blended in said filling
pipe to form said fluid product.
8. The method of claim 6 comprising the further step of polling a
customer about whether to dispense optional ingredients.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein said optional ingredients are
selected from the group of aromatic additives, flavorings,
nutritional supplements and colorants.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein said optional ingredients
comprise a plurality of available scents.
11. Apparatus for vending a containerized liquid product to a
vendee utilizing an original container for said liquid product and,
after said original container has been emptied of said liquid
product, then vending multiple refillings of said liquid product in
said original container, said container having machine-readable
indicia thereon indicative of said liquid product and the original
sales price of said container as filled with said liquid product
prior to the first refilling thereof, and for each refilling of
said container, dispensing to the refill vendee a discount coupon
to be presented to the vendor's check-out, together with the
refilled container, whereby the price charged to said vendee for
said refilled container equals said original sales price less the
value of said discount coupon, said apparatus comprising: a) a
vertically-oriented liquid filling pipe having a discharge port at
the bottom thereof and positioned over and in register with a
filling opening in said original container, said container being
positioned within a chamber with said machine-readable indicia
oriented to be in register with indicia reading means; b) at least
one bulk supply of liquid, and means controlled by said indicia
reading means for initiating the transfer of fluid from said bulk
supply of fluid to said liquid filling pipe and thence to said
container; and c) means for sensing the complete filling of said
container and for terminating said transfer of fluid, and for
dispensing said discount coupon.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 further characterized by including a
door means for closing off said chamber and interlock means
actuated by said door means, and means connecting said indicia
reading means and said interlock means for controlling the transfer
of fluid from said bulk supply of fluid to said container.
13. The apparatus of claim 111 wherein said vertically-oriented
liquid filling pipe has a rack-gear attached thereto and engaged
with a reversible pinion gear, said pinion gear being selectively
operated by a motor, and said motor being controlled by said
indicia reading means.
14. A method of distributing merchandise which benefits merchants
through wider product distribution and beneficial association with
another organization and which additionally benefits said
organization, comprising the steps of: generating a unique
machine-readable code for said organization; labeling a product
container for said merchandise with said unique machine-readable
code; distributing said labeled product container to a member of
said organization; reading said machine-readable code; filling said
labeled product container; and compensating said organization
responsive to said reading step.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of distributing said
labeled product container comprises the further steps of: providing
said labeled product container to a contact within said
organization; and disbursing said labeled product container from
said contact to said organization members.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of compensating said
organization comprises crediting said organization with a residual
fee.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said organization is a
non-profit organization.
18. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of labeling comprises
bar-coding said product container with a unique merchandise
identification code and said unique machine-readable code.
19. The method of claim 14 comprising the additional step of
generating a unique merchandise identification code identifying
said merchandise within said product container.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein said filling step is responsive
to said reading step.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S.
application Ser. No. 09/944,994 filed Aug. 30, 2001 and presently
allowed, which is a continuation-in-part of then co-pending U.S.
application Ser. No. 09/396,574 filed Sep. 15, 1999 and now issued
U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,763 which was granted Jun. 17, 2003, the
contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference in
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention pertains to dispensers generally, and more
particularly to dispensers that are controlled responsive to
indicia upon a fluid receptacle to dispense a particular product
mixture.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Various commercial establishments, including supermarkets
and many other diverse outlets, sell a wide variety of fluid
products in various containers. A specific example of a fluid
product is a liquid laundry detergent sold in relatively large
plastic containers having a screw-type cap or closure. Consumers of
such liquid products frequently discard the containers after using
the contents.
[0006] The discarded empty containers then migrate into a waste
disposal area such as a landfill.
[0007] If an alternate system were used whereby a customer would
bring back the empty original container to the commercial
establishment for refilling the container, using a user friendly
method as will be described below in connection with the present
invention, then the following benefits may be attained:
[0008] 1. The commercial establishment can profitably vend or sell
the liquid product for refilling at a price significantly lower
than the original sales price. The lower price will financially
motivate the customer to return with the empty container for
refilling. The commercial establishment will use relatively
low-cost bulk quantities of the liquid product for refilling, which
helps to maintain a strong profit margin for the commercial
establishment.
[0009] 2. Refilling and reuse of containers breaks the cycle of
"use and discard", which keeps empty containers out of the
landfills with obvious benefit to society.
[0010] 3. Delivery of bulk product directly to consumer illustrated
herein requires less handling labor and shipping-type packaging
materials than traditional methods, further reducing cost and
landfill waste production.
[0011] 4. Bulk packaging reduces the retail shelf space required
for display/delivery of product to a customer. Where consumer
packaging tends to be relatively inefficient at using precious
retail shelf space, bulk dispensers illustrated herein offer
space/product ratio improvement.
[0012] 5. Appropriate dispensing options in accord with the present
invention enable dispensing a nearly unlimited combination of base
and optional ingredients into a consumer's container. The more
options presented to a consumer in the traditional prepackaged
environment, the more precious retail shelf space that is required.
Consequently, in the prior art the consumer's product choices were
extremely limited.
[0013] Thus the present invention provides financial benefits to
both commercial establishments/vendors and consumers/customers,
while also facilitating a reduction in solid waste as a benefit to
society and enabling a broader selection of product choices to meet
a particular customer's needs.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,818 to Bradbury, et al., discloses a
method and apparatus for vending a containerized product on
multiple occasions. In the Bradbury patent, a customer initially
purchases a fluid-filled container with a bar code that indicates
the price of the container. Upon emptying the container, the
customer returns to the store and refills the container at a refill
station. The refill station modifies the bar code on the container
to indicate that the container has been refilled. Thus, when the
customer checks out, he or she is only charged for the refill, and
not the container. A major disadvantage of the system disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,818 is that it does not read the bar code at
the time of filling, limiting the Bradbury et al invention to a
single product. Nevertheless, it still requires a relatively
complex apparatus for modifying the bar code on the container to
indicate that the container has been refilled. This complexity has
been avoided in the present invention, while simultaneously
enabling a much more diverse range of products to be dispensed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] In broad terms, the present invention provides a method of
vending a fluid product to a customer utilizing an original
container. Parenthetically, at the time of the original purchase of
the original container, the container has thereon a
machine-readable indicia such as a bar code or the like indicative
of the product and of the original sales price of the container as
filled with the product. After the original container has been
emptied of the product, then the invention provides for multiple
refillings of the product into the original container. The
machine-readable indicia on the container is utilized to actuate
the refilling of the container and, after each refilling of the
container, the method dispenses to the customer a discount coupon
to be presented to the vendor's check-out station, together with
the refilled container, whereby the price charged to the customer
by the vendor is the original sales price associated with the bar
code, less the value of the discount coupon.
[0016] Another important aspect of my invention is that the basic
concept can be expanded to provide for the vending of a plurality
of containerized products respectively into a plurality of original
refillable containers from a single dispensing station. For this
case, each of the original refillable containers for a plurality of
originally vended products, each of which may be of different
diameters or shapes, has a unique machine readable indicia thereon
indicative of the liquid product in the original refillable
container, and the original sales price prior to the first
refilling. For each refilling of a selected refillable container
with the matching product, a discount coupon is dispensed to the
refill customer which may be presented to the vendor's customer
checkout station, together with the matching refilled
container.
[0017] Another important aspect of my invention is that the fluid
refilling method includes a vertically oriented filling pipe or
probe having an outlet and being positioned over a filling opening
in an original container. The probe is adapted to be vertically
moveable with respect to the original container and is sized to
freely enter the filling opening. The filling probe is inserted
into the refillable container through the opening, until the outlet
is adjacent the bottom of the refillable container. Next, the
container is filled with a preselected volume of the fluid product,
and, most preferably, the dispensing tip is progressively raised as
the container is filled. This inventive feature prevents foaming as
the container is being filled, since the liquid is not exposed to
the air during entry into the container. Potential splashing and
the probability for spills are also eliminated. The present
invention thereby avoids consumer contact with messy and
potentially hazardous substances which might otherwise result from
overflow, suds, spills and splashes.
[0018] Yet another important advantage of the present invention is
the preservation of brand identity and loyalty with the container,
through multiple refills. A consumer cannot fill a container
without the original label, nor can the product be scanned at
check-out. Consequently, the product within the container is always
properly labeled with the original label, thereby ensuring brand
identity remains with the container through each refill.
Furthermore, the customer has price incentive to maintain brand
loyalty, since the refill will always be discounted relative to a
new competitor product. Finally, any special instructions, hazards
or chemical ingredient lists will also be preserved, in the event
of an accidental poisoning or the like, thereby preserving the
promotion of safe use of the product.
[0019] Another aspect of my invention is to provide an additional
marketing function in connection with either single product or
multiple product dispensers discussed herein, by dispensing to the
refill customer, at the time of dispensing a discount coupon, at
least one additional coupon or promotional message.
[0020] Another advantage of the present invention is that it can be
linked to an inventory control management system whereby data is
collected on the volume, on a product-by product basis, of sales of
fluid products to permit a supplier to automatically restock
products at the appropriate time, and/or permit the retailer to
automatically order from the supplier at the appropriate time.
[0021] Yet another advantage of the present invention is the
ability to include affiliate codes on the container label, for
crediting or compensating an affiliated entity with refills
associated in some way with that affiliate.
[0022] A further advantage of the present invention is the ability
to provide custom scents, flavors, nutritional supplements and the
like to an otherwise standard product, without detriment to the
functionality of the product and with only slightly greater
complexity and space required within the dispensing machine.
[0023] Yet a further advantage is the increased visibility obtained
by a product packaged and sold through the novel dispenser, since
the monitor is substantially more visible with display screen when
contrasted to the many bottles along a store shelf. Consequently,
precious visual attraction at a retail location is obtained by the
preferred embodiment over conventional packaging.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present
invention can be understood and appreciated by reference to the
following detailed description of the invention, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which
[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a refill station
designed in accordance with the teachings of the present
invention.
[0026] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refill station cabinet
designed in accord with the teachings of the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an inventory control system
that may be used in conjunction with the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 4 is a partial view of the refill station of FIG. 1,
with the filling pipe or probe 30 moved down and into container
AA.
[0029] FIG. 5 is a view of an expanded refill station showing a
total of six liquid storage containers for use, in one embodiment,
with the apparatus of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0030] FIGS. 1 and 2 depict an apparatus for vending at least one
fluid product, such as a liquid cleaning product. Other types of
products are contemplated herein, including but not limited to
shampoos, conditioners, hand soaps, lotions, water based beverages,
water, "smart foods" that include custom blends of nutritional
supplements within the food or beverage, and the like. In fact, any
material which is sufficiently fluent, whether solid, liquid or
gaseous, may be dispensed through an apparatus such as refill
station 130, provided each of the components described herein below
are designed to accommodate the material.
[0031] Self-service refill station 130 is designed to reduce cost
and waste by reusing a consumer's bottle or other fluid container
AA. It should be understood that the concepts of the present
invention are applicable for vending two or more different
proprietary fluid products, as will be explained herein below.
Thus, for one vending scenario, a consumer purchases one of ten
different proprietary cleaning products. When container AA is
empty, the consumer brings it to a store that has a refill station
130. Container AA is inserted in chamber 12 and refill station 130
reads a code 20 on the label to identify the type and quantity of
cleaner. Refill station 130 then blends and dispenses the same
product that is identified by code 20. For this scenario, the
products consist of one of five different concentrates dispensed
selectively in full concentration or mixed with varying quantities
of filtered water.
[0032] Container AA is preferably manufactured from a durable
translucent plastic with a removable cover, though the specific
construction, materials and geometry of container AA is not
critical to the performance of the invention. The shape of
container AA is however selected most preferably to facilitate
proper centering and orientation within fill chamber 12. Additional
considerations are that code or indicia 20 be durable, colorfast,
and positionable correctly and consistently toward code reader 22,
to enable accurate readings to be taken. The footprint and diameter
of varying capacity containers is preferably similar enough so as
to facilitate centering under a fill-spout such as fill-probe 31.
The mouth of container AA must be sufficiently wide for ease of
receiving fill-probe 31.
[0033] One implementation for the foregoing that provides simple
product handling by the consumer is to provide a turntable within
fill chamber 12 to support container AA. The turntable may then be
automatically rotated after the consumer has closed chamber 12,
allowing container AA to be scanned for bar codes irrespective of
orientation. Where container AA is round, such a turntable can be
round and have concentric circles to help center varying sizes of
bottles, while allowing a central drain. Other shapes and
configurations will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a
reading of the present disclosure.
[0034] Referring to FIG. 2, a refilling cabinet is depicted as a
floor-supported refill station 130 having a front panel 10 and a
side panel 11. Fill chamber 12 extends inwardly from a midsection
of front panel 10 and has a perforated bottom or drain shelf 13 for
receiving and supporting an empty bottle or container AA. Door 14
may preferably be provided for closing chamber 12 to prevent a
customer or operator from accidentally interfering with the
operation of refill station 130. In this case, a door latch and
interlock 14A on front panel 10 holds or retains door 14 and also
is an element of the filling control circuit. A start button 15,
discount coupon dispensing means 18 and one or more visual message
means 16 and 17 of various or appropriate size and electronic
construct, such as LED, LCD, CRT or other known display or
messaging devices are also provided on the front panel 10 of the
cabinet.
[0035] In an alternative embodiment to the use of start button 15,
and preferred for many consumer applications, door latch and
interlock 14A is used instead of start button 15. In this
embodiment, the initiation of refill station 130 occurs immediately
upon closure of door 14. In such case, appropriate logical control
is provided to ensure proper sequential checks prior to dispensing,
including but not limited to the closure of interlock 14A, the
detection of a container having appropriate label, and
determination that container AA is not already full.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 1, the chamber 12 is depicted as having a
lower surface 12' with its integral perforated section 13 and an
upper or top surface 12". Empty container AA is depicted positioned
resting on surface 13 with a neck-down portion 24 terminating in an
opening 26 at the top thereof. An overfill sensor 27 is fixed to
chamber 12 and is positioned adjacent top 26 of container AA.
[0037] Container AA has machine-readable indicia 20 thereon. For an
example as depicted, there are four separate indicia marks 20 which
are adapted to be sensed by four sensors 22 attached to the chamber
12 for the purpose of identifying the type and quantity of the
liquid product originally vended in container AA. Nevertheless, a
myriad of known machine-readable indicia and sensors are known and
contemplated herein, including but not limited to bar code readers
and other optical sensors, magnetic sensors, and so forth.
[0038] Fill-probe 30 is vertically positioned above container AA
and is adapted in preparation for a fill cycle to be moved
vertically from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown
in FIG. 4, with the spout of discharge end 31 of probe 30 as shown
in FIG. 4 adjacent to the bottom of container AA. Thus, fill-probe
30 has an outside diameter preselected to permit insertion through
top opening 26 of container AA and thence downwardly in. This
arrangement facilitates refilling container AA with a minimum of
foaming. In the preferred embodiment fill probe 30 will be raised
up during dispensing, through a continuous motion, series of timed
steps, or other suitable control to thereby ensure that only the
tip of fill-probe 30 is contacting the liquid as the liquid level
rises within container AA.
[0039] Fill-probe 30 is supported for the aforesaid vertical
movement with respect to container AA by a pair of guide-bushings
33 and 34 shown in FIG. 1. The top (as shown in FIG. 1) portion of
fill-probe 30 is identified by reference numeral 30' and has a
longitudinally extending rack-gear 30" which is adapted to be
engaged by a pinion gear 36 driven by a motor-slip-clutch means 35.
Thus, when motor-slip-clutch 35 is energized in one sense it will
cause the rotation of pinion gear 36 so as to drive the rack-gear
30" and thus fill-probe 30 downwardly as shown in FIG. 1 to the
position shown in FIG. 4. A reverse energization of
motor-slip-clutch 35 will retract fill-probe 30 to the position
shown in FIG. 1.
[0040] Rigidly attached to fill-probe 30 are brackets 40, 45, and
50, on which are mounted suitable valve and flow control means 41,
46 and 51 respectively. Each of the units 41, 46 and 51 have a
discharge conduit extending inside of the fill-probe 30. Thus,
valve and flow control 41 has a conduit 42 extending into
fill-probe and extending down to a discharge opening 42' adjacent
the nozzle 31 of fill-probe 30. In the same manner, units 46 and 51
have conduits 47 and 52, terminating respectively in discharge
ports 47' and 52' within fill-probe 30.
[0041] Flexible fluid lines 64, 74 and 84 are connected
respectively to inlet means of the valve and flow control units 41,
51 and 46. In an alternative embodiment, valve and flow control
units 41, 51 and 46 may be eliminated, and timing and level
detection by overfill sensor 27 used to control the flow from
particular bulk liquid containers such as containers 60, 70, 80.
Additional safety may be provided through timing to ensure the
machine does not run beyond reasonable limits.
[0042] Suitable pressure switches 43, 53 and 48 are connected to
the flexible fluid lines 64, 74 and 84 respectively. The flexible
fluid lines 64, 74 and 84 are connected to the output of suitable
pumps 62, 72 and 82 respectively, which are associated with bulk
liquid containers 60, 70 and 80 respectively.
[0043] The arrangement depicted in FIG. 1 is for a typical scenario
where container 61 contains a dish-detergent having a high
viscosity, container 71 contains filtered water, and container 81
contains a low-viscosity concentrate. Pump 62 has an inlet conduit
63 extending to the lower portion of container 61. The bottom of
conduit 63 is identified by reference numeral 63'. Likewise, pump
72 has a conduit 73 with a lower end 73', and pump 82 has a conduit
83 with a lower end 83' extending to near the bottom of containers
71 and 81 respectively.
[0044] Within chamber 12 is a collector 12A concentrically
positioned about the lower end 31 of fill-probe 30 that functions
to collect any errant fluid that might be on the outer surface of
fill-probe 30. Errant fluid is collected, and then removed via a
suitable tube 12B, adapted to discharge into a drain pan 12C.
[0045] When container AA is filled to the proper level as sensed by
overfill sensor 27 or other flow measuring techniques, then a
control system functions to stop pumps 62, 72, 82; to retract
fill-probe 30; and to dispense at least one discount coupon at 18
for the customer. In some cases, for marketing reasons as an
example, the machine may dispense, in addition to the discount
coupon, another coupon relating to another product or promotion, or
other marketing-related papers such as cleaning tips or the like to
help promote affiliated products. At the time of retraction of fill
probe 30, and depending upon the particular configuration of
contents that are being dispensed into container AA, it may be
desirable to release a very small amount of water to rinse fill
probe 30, thus preparing fill probe 30 to dispense other
compositions with a minimum of cross-contamination. While this will
most preferably be done at the completion of the fill cycle while
container AA is still under probe 30, there may also be instances
where the customer will first remove container AA and then probe 30
self-cleans.
[0046] As indicated, the scenario depicted in FIG. 1 may be for a
single fluid product, such as for exemplary purposes only and
without limitation to the scope of the invention, a
proprietary-cleaning product. FIG. 5 depicts an expansion of the
arrangement shown in FIG. 1 where not only the bulk storage
containers 60, 70 and 80 have been depicted but, in addition three
additional bulk storage containers 90, 100 and 110, containing,
respectively, products X, Y and Z. Containers 90, 100 and 110
comprise in part, respectively, pump means 92, 102 and 112. It will
be understood that pumps 92, 102 and 112 each would be connected to
fill-probe 30 through flexible fluid lines, valve and flow control
units, and discharge conduits within fill-probe 30 similar to those
associated with pumps 62, 72 and 82.
[0047] Thus, in operation, sensors 22 will respond to indicia 20 on
container AA to uniquely identify the type and quantity of cleaner
for that specific container. Then a control means, such as but not
limited to a micro-controller, microprocessor or the like together
with necessary relays or interface, will selectively actuate the
appropriate pumps and any valve and flow control means. For the
scenario depicted in FIG. 1 pumps 62, 72 and 82 are actuated, as
are their respective valve and flow controls 41, 51 and 46. The
valve and flow control means are controlled so as to provide the
proper blending of the three liquids being pumped through the
flexible fluid lines 64, 74 and 84 into fill-probe 30 and thence
into container AA.
[0048] For a different proprietary product, e.g., X, the system
control would cease utilizing liquid from tank 61, and commence
using product from tank 90. While a particular number of tanks are
illustrated herein, the invention is not so limited. Further
features are contemplated herein, including the dispensing of a
wide variety of fluent materials, and not solely limited to
liquids. Further, the tanks are not limited to base materials such
as detergents, but tanks may be provided containing a variety of
scents, colorants, flavorings and nutritional supplements for
edible compositions and the like. When optional ingredients are
provided, one considered embodiment of the present invention is to
use displays such as 16, 17 to poll a customer regarding the
inclusion of these options. This may take the form of questions or
option lists that determine whether, for exemplary purposes only, a
particular cleaner should be unscented, pine, lemon, or the like.
Based upon the customer's feedback, through switches, keypads or
other known input devices, the particular ingredients may then be
calculated and dispensed from each of the appropriate tanks.
[0049] It will also be understood that the invention, shown in FIG.
2 as floor supported, may be configured for a support located above
a floor such as a counter top, shelf or the like. The specific
dimension, geometry or support of refill station 130 is not
critical to the performance of the invention, though a preferred
embodiment has been illustrated herein as required.
[0050] Another aspect of the invention is schematically shown in
FIG. 3 wherein information generated at refill station 130
concerning the quantity of bulk liquids utilized is made available
both to retailer 140 and to bulk supplier 150. This information can
be very useful and cost effective for purposes of inventory
control. In one mode, supplier 150 of bulk liquid products may
receive the information from refill station 130 and, pursuant to
prior agreement, automatically maintain adequate fluid supplies at
refill station 130. Alternately, retailer 140 may maintain control
over the ordering of supplies by receiving the information from
refill station 130 and then, as appropriate, order from the
supplier 150 additional stock for the system.
[0051] Yet another aspect of the invention derives from that
illustrated in FIG. 3. Not only can information be exchanged
between retailer 140 and bulk supplier 150, but similar information
may also be exchanged between affiliated entities. These affiliates
may include individuals, businesses and non-profit entities, for
example, that may assist in one way or another with the production,
promotion or actual sale of bulk products from refill station 130
or containers such as container AA. For example, a school or
charitable organization may use either full or empty containers AA
in a fund-raising activity. The particular organization is assigned
a unique code or indicia 20, such as a combined bar code that
identifies not only the desired contents for container AA, but also
an affiliate code. Credits, financial or otherwise, are in this
embodiment assigned to the affiliate at the time of each filling of
container AA. In the case of a fund raising activity, the credits
would most likely be financial payments made based upon the numbers
and types of fills. Clearly, the application of this technique
extends to many inter-organizational activities and affiliations.
Sales associates, service bureaus, brand licensors, and others may
all be accounted to through the present method.
[0052] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been
illustrated, it will be understood that variations may be made by
those skilled in the art without departing from the inventive
concept. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the
scope of the following claims.
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