US 10,377,624 B2Granted

Refill container labeling

AssigneeGOJO Industries, Inc.

InventorsJackson William Wegelin, Chip W. Curtis

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Among other things, one or more systems and/or techniques for labeling a refill contain and/or for enabling operation of the refill container by a dispensing system based upon one or more indicia of the label satisfying a dispensing key are provided. In an example, a label may be applied to a refill container. The label may comprise a first region having a first indicia that may correspond to a shape, color, and/or texture (e.g., a yellow star indicia). A dispensing system may enable operation of the refill container (e.g., installation and/or dispensing of material from the refill container) based upon the first indicia satisfying a dispensing key (e.g., a yellow key component and/or a star shape component). Otherwise, the dispensing system does not enable operation of the refill container (e.g., the refill container is not genuine or is not an appropriate refill container type).

Claims20

Dependent claims

A dispensing system for dispensing a hygiene product, comprising:

a housing into which a refill container comprising the hygiene product is seated, the refill container comprising a label having a first color code;
an illuminator configured to illuminate the label;
and
a validator configured to:
validate the refill container based upon a reflection by the label upon the label being illuminated by the illuminator, the validator associated with a dispensing key having a color tolerance range comprising a first analog color tolerance range and a second analog color tolerance range;
at least one of enable the housing to accept the refill container or enable a dispenser of the dispensing system to dispense the hygiene product from the refill container responsive to the reflection being within the color tolerance range;
refine the color tolerance range to create a refined dispensing key stored by the dispensing system for subsequent validations of different refill containers responsive to the reflection being within the color tolerance range;
and
confirm the first analog color tolerance range as an acceptable color code for activation of the dispensing system responsive to the first color code corresponding to the first analog color tolerance range and not the second analog color tolerance range.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/904,704Filed 26 Feb 2018 · continuation
Priority: 19 Feb 2013
Published: US 2018/0179045 A128 Jun 2018
Granted: 13 Aug 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

B67D 7/346
By checking a correct coupling or coded information: by reading a code
B65B 61/26
Auxiliary devices, not otherwise provided for, for operating on sheets, blanks, webs, binding material, containers or packages: for marking or…
B65C 3/08
Affixing labels to short rigid containers: to container bodies
G09F 3/00
Labels, tag tickets, or similar identification or indication means

Family

Application13/770,504Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 19 Feb 2013
Application14/041,631Parent of this continuation · filed 30 Sep 2013
Application14/588,822Parent of this continuation · filed 2 Jan 2015
US 9,120,106 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 1 Sep 2015
US 2018/0179045 A1Pre-grant publication · published 28 Jun 2018
US 9,902,606 B2Parent of this continuation
Application14/041,631Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2014/0231448 A1Published application
US 2014/0231449 A1Published application
US 2015/0191342 A1Published application
US 10,377,624 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.