Waste receptacle and system having visual indicator
AssigneeRubicon Global Holdings, LLC
InventorPhilip Rodoni
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system is disclosed for monitoring waste collected by a service vehicle. The system may include a receptacle having an opening configured to receive waste, and an indicator associated with the receptacle and configured to visually indicate an amount of waste inside the receptacle. The system may also include a sensor configured to capture an image of the visual indicator and to generate a signal corresponding to the image, a display, and a controller in communication with the sensor and the display. The controller may be configured to cause a representation of the amount of waste in the receptacle to be shown on the display based on the signal.
Claims21
A waste receptacle, comprising:
- a bag having an opening configured to receive waste;
- a visual indicator associated with the bag and configured to indicate a weight and volume of waste inside the bag based on deformation;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- monitor signals generated by an optical sensor at a first customer location, the signals including visual images of an exterior of a first receptacle having visual indicators on the exterior of the first receptacle, wherein the optical sensor is located on-board a service vehicle;
- determine the first receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- and
- determine the waste weight and volume associated with the first receptacle at the first customer location based on the visual images and the determination of the first receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- wherein the determination of the waste weight and volume based on the visual images is determined based on referencing a map stored in a memory, the map correlating the visual indicators to a weight and volume of waste.
A waste receptacle, comprising:
- a rigid container having an opening configured to receive waste;
- a support configured to support the rigid container;
- and
- a visual indicator disposed between the rigid container and the support, wherein the visual indicator is configured to indicate a weight and volume of waste inside the rigid container;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- monitor signals generated by an optical sensor at a first customer location, the signals including visual images of an exterior of a first receptacle having visual indicators on the exterior of the first receptacle, wherein the optical sensor is located on-board a service vehicle;
- determine the first receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- and
- determine the waste weight and volume associated with the first receptacle at the first customer location based on the visual images and the determination of the first receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- wherein the determination of the waste weight and volume based on the visual images is determined based on referencing a map stored in a memory, the map correlating the visual indicators to a weight and volume of waste.
A system for monitoring waste collected by a service vehicle, comprising:
- a receptacle having an opening configured to receive waste;
- an indicator associated with the receptacle and configured to visually indicate a weight and volume of waste inside the receptacle;
- a sensor configured to capture an image of the indicator and to generate a signal corresponding to the image;
- a display;
- and
- a controller in communication with the sensor and the display, the controller being configured to cause a representation of the weight and volume of waste in the receptacle to be shown on the display based on the signal;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- monitor signals generated by the sensor at a first customer location, the signals including images of the indicator located on an exterior of the receptacle, wherein the sensor is located on-board a service vehicle;
- determine the receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- and
- determine the weight and volume of waste in the receptacle at the first customer location based on the images and the determination of the receptacle associated with the first customer location;
- wherein the determination of the weight and volume of waste in the receptacle based on the images is determined based on referencing a map stored in a memory, the map correlating the indicator to the weight and volume of waste.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.