Domestic appliance communication system

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a domestic appliance communication system that provides consumers with the ability to remotely access information about their domestic appliances, and in particular domestic appliances which utilize consumable resources which may need to be periodically replaced or replenished. The domestic appliance communication system may periodically receive status information from the domestic appliances owned by a consumer or household and provide updated status information to the consumer, either on demand or via alerts triggered in response to certain events. The present disclosure also describes implementations and improvements which may be made to domestic appliances in order to provide periodic measuring and transmitting of status information to a remote system, such as the domestic appliance communication system.

The following is claimed: 
     
         1 . An electric soap dispenser comprising:
 a housing;   a power supply supported by the housing;   a reservoir configured to store liquid soap, the reservoir being supported by the housing;   at least one trigger sensor configured to detect the presence of liquid soap contained in the reservoir;   an electronic control unit connected to the trigger sensor and powered by the power supply, the electronic control unit configured to:
 activate the trigger sensor to detect the presence of liquid soap contained in the reservoir; and 
 determine, upon receiving a signal from the trigger sensor indicating whether liquid soap has been detected, an estimated amount of liquid soap remaining in the reservoir based at least in part on the predetermined level; and 
   a network communication device connected to the electronic control unit, the network communication device configured to transmit, to a computing system separate from the electric soap dispenser, the estimated amount of liquid soap remaining in the reservoir.   
     
     
         2 . The electric soap dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to activate the trigger sensor to detect the presence of liquid soap contained in the reservoir automatically on a periodic basis. 
     
     
         3 . The electric soap dispenser of  claim 1 , wherein the network communication device is configured to transmit the estimated amount of liquid soap remaining in the reservoir over a wired or wireless network connection. 
     
     
         4 . A domestic appliance comprising:
 a housing;   a power supply;   a containing body portion configured to store one or more objects, the containing body portion supported by the housing and having a predetermined available capacity;   at least one trigger sensor configured to detect the presence of or a characteristic of one or more objects in the containing body portion;   an electronic control unit connected to the trigger sensor and powered by the power supply, the electronic control unit configured to:
 activate the trigger sensor to detect the presence of or the characteristic of one or more objects in the containing body portion; and 
 determine, upon receiving a signal from the trigger sensor indicating whether one or more objects have been detected or indicating the characteristic of the one or more objects, an estimated amount of the one or more objects in the containing body portion; and 
   a network communication device connected to the electronic control unit, the network communication device configured to transmit, to a computing system separate from the domestic appliance, status information for the domestic appliance, the status information including at least the estimated remaining capacity of the containing body portion.   
     
     
         5 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the domestic appliance is an electric soap dispenser, the containing body portion is a reservoir configured to store liquid soap, and the one or more objects comprise liquid soap. 
     
     
         6 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the domestic appliance is a receptacle assembly, and wherein the containing body portion is a container configured to store waste. 
     
     
         7 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to determine an estimated amount of used capacity of the containing body portion based at least in part on a predetermined level, or based at least in part on (1) the estimated amount of remaining capacity and (2) the predetermined available capacity. 
     
     
         8 . The domestic appliance of  claim 7 , wherein the status information further comprises the estimated amount of used capacity. 
     
     
         9 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the electronic control unit is further configured to activate the trigger sensor to detect the presence of presence of one or more objects in the containing body portion automatically on a periodic basis. 
     
     
         10 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the network communication device is configured to transmit the status information over a wired or wireless network connection. 
     
     
         11 . The domestic appliance of  claim 4 , wherein the power supply is a battery configured to store an amount of energy, and wherein the domestic appliance further comprises a power detection sensor configured to measure, on a periodic basis, a remaining amount of energy in the battery, and wherein the status information further comprises the measured remaining amount of energy in the battery. 
     
     
         12 . Non-transitory computer storage which stores executable program instructions that direct a computing system comprising one or more computing devices to perform a process that comprises:
 generating, for display on a mobile computing device, a consumable resource management user interface including at least a user-selectable display element for ordering a refill for a consumable resource associated with a domestic appliance;   when a user of the mobile computing device selects the user-selectable display element for ordering the refill, generating and displaying on the mobile computing device an order refill user interface including at least a first input element for receiving a first user selection of a type of the consumable resource to order, a second input element for receiving a second user selection of an amount of the consumable resource to order, and a third input element for receiving a third user selection of a frequency of which the consumable resource is to be delivered to the user;   when the user of the mobile computing device selects, from the order refill user interface, a user-selectable display element to confirm the refill:
 receiving, from the order refill user interface, the first user selection of the type of the consumable resource to order, the second user selection of the amount of the consumable resource to order, and the third user selection of the frequency of which the consumable resource is to be delivered to the user; 
 generating an electronic message comprising a refill order for the consumable resource, wherein the refill order includes an indication of the type of the consumable resource to order, an indication of the amount of the consumable resource to order, and an indication of the frequency of which the consumable resource is to be delivered to the user; and 
 transmitting the electronic message comprising the refill order to a remote system separate from the mobile computing device and separate from the domestic appliance. 
   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the process further comprises receiving, from the remote system, status information for the domestic appliance, the status information including at least an indication of a consumption level for the consumable resource utilized by the domestic appliance. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the process further comprises:
 transmitting, to the remote system, geo-location data indicating an approximate location of the mobile computing device; and   receiving, from the remote system, an alert notification indicating at least (1) that the consumable resource requires a refill or a replacement and (2) that a retail location where the refill or the replacement for the consumable resource may be purchased is nearby based on the geo-location data.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the second input element for receiving the second user selection of the amount of the consumable resource to order comprises a user-selectable list of one or more predetermined amounts and associated prices for the one or more predetermined amounts. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the third input element for receiving the third user selection of the frequency of which the consumable resource is to be delivered to the user comprises a user-selectable list of one or more predetermined frequencies and associated descriptions indicating an approximate number of people for which each predetermined frequency may be appropriate. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the domestic appliance is a receptacle assembly comprising at least a containing body portion configured to store waste, and wherein the consumable resource is a trash bag of a predetermined capacity. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the consumable resource is a battery powering the domestic appliance. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the process further comprises:
 receiving, from the consumable resource management user interface, a user input indicating a type of the domestic appliance; and   automatically determining the consumable resource, based at least in part on the received user input indicating the type of the domestic appliance.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 12 , wherein the domestic appliance is an electric soap dispenser comprising at least a reservoir configured to store liquid soap. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 19 , wherein the user input can indicate at least one of a type of trash can or a type of soap pump.