Systems and methods for accurately tracking water consumption from a liquid dispenser
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsKatherine Caverno, Santhosh William, Kelsey King
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of tracking liquid consumption includes receiving an input from a user to dispense liquid from a liquid dispenser, determining an identity of the user, determining a volume of liquid dispensed from the dispenser, and confirming that the correct user is consuming the dispensed liquid.
Claims17
A method of tracking liquid consumption from a refrigerator appliance, the refrigerator appliance comprising a dispenser and a camera provided on an exterior surface of the refrigerator appliance, the method comprising:
- receiving an input from a user to initiate a liquid dispensing operation from the dispenser;
- determining an identity of the user providing the input, the user being a first user among a group of users, wherein determining the identity of the user comprises:
- capturing, via the camera, an image of the user initiating the liquid dispensing operation;
- comparing the captured image to a database of stored images;
- and
- determining that the captured image matches a stored image from the database of stored images registered to the first user;
- performing the liquid dispensing operation to dispense a volume of liquid;
- determining a volume of liquid dispensed by the dispenser in response to performing the liquid dispensing operation;
- and
- displaying a first prompt to the first user in response to performing the liquid dispensing operation, the first prompt comprising a request to confirm that the volume of dispensed liquid is intended for the first user.
A computing system for tracking liquid consumption, the computing system comprising:
- a liquid dispenser configured to selectively dispense a liquid therefrom, the liquid dispenser comprising a camera provided on an exterior surface of the liquid dispenser;
- a flow meter provided at the liquid dispenser, the flow meter detecting an amount of liquid dispensed from the liquid dispenser;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the liquid dispenser and the flow meter, wherein the controller is configured to perform a series of operations, the series of operations comprising:
- receiving an input from a user to initiate a liquid dispensing operation from the dispenser;
- determining an identity of the user providing the input, the user being a first user among a group of users, wherein determining the identity of the user comprises:
- capturing, via the camera, an image of the user initiating the liquid dispensing operation;
- comparing the captured image to a database of stored images;
- and
- determining that the captured image matches a stored image from the database of stored images registered to the first user;
- performing the liquid dispensing operation to dispense a volume of liquid;
- determining a volume of liquid dispensed by the dispenser;
- and
- displaying a first prompt to the first user in response to determining the volume of liquid dispensed, the first prompt comprising a request to confirm that the volume of liquid dispensed is intended for the first user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.