US 12,462,227 B2
Dispensing system
Reilly Howell, Atlanta, GA (US); and Stephen Becker, Cumming, GA (US)
Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI (US)
Appl. No. 17/800,814
Filed by Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI (US)
PCT Filed Feb. 21, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/019310
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 18, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/167623, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 26, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0085321 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/20 (2023.01); A47K 10/32 (2006.01)
CPC G06Q 10/20 (2013.01) [A47K 10/32 (2013.01); A47K 2010/3226 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A dispensing system comprising:
a plurality of dispensers, each configured to dispense one of soap, sanitizer paper towels or air freshener and each is configured to report product usage information and battery status, wherein the battery status of a dispenser represents battery energy available to the dispenser to complete a dispenser task; and
a data processing system configured to:
receive the product usage information and battery status for each of the plurality of dispensers,
determine expected product depletion dates for each of the plurality of dispensers based on the respective product usage information, and
determine expected battery depletion dates for each of the plurality of dispensers based on the respective battery status, determine a respective dispenser task for one or more of the plurality of dispensers that specify a task a dispenser is responsible to perform over a given time period to cause, for each of one or more of the plurality of dispensers, the respective expected product depletion date and expected battery depletion date to be within a threshold range of one another, wherein the determination comprises identifying which of the one or more of the plurality of dispensers that is outside of the threshold range, and
communicate the respective dispenser task to the one or more of the plurality of dispensers that are outside of the threshold range of the expected battery depletion date, wherein the respective dispenser task comprises collecting the product usage information and the battery status from each of the plurality of dispensers and transmitting the product usage information and the battery status thereby increasing usage of the battery energy of the one or more of the plurality of dispensers to which the respective dispenser task is communicated to bring the one or more plurality of dispensers within the threshold range of the expected battery depletion date.