Enhanced Dispenser Control

Abstract

A scent dispenser may comprise a vial retaining mechanism, a heating element, vial sensor, and a controller. The vial retaining mechanism includes a vial coupling that removeably retains a vial containing a scented solution. The includes a wick extending from a cavity of the vial through an opening of a neck of the vial. The heating element is shaped to receive and heat the wick of the vial. The vial sensor includes an array of sensor pads that are arranged in alignment with the vial retained by the vial coupling. The controller is electrically coupled to the heating element and electrically coupled to the array of sensor pads. The controller regulates a temperature level of the heating element, and receives signals from the array of sensor pads and processing the signals to determine a fluid level of the vial.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fragrance management apparatus, comprising:
 a dispensing container slot configured to retain a scent dispensing container with a detectable identifying tag;   a tag reader positioned within the dispensing container slot to detect the detectable identifying tag when the scent dispensing container is positioned within the dispensing container slot;   a non-volatile memory; and   a controller of a fragrance management apparatus, the controller configured to execute instructions stored on the non-volatile memory to perform operations comprising:
 detecting, using the tag reader, a unique identifier of the scent dispensing container based on the detectable identifying tag of the scent dispensing container being placed proximate to the tag reader; and 
 determining, using one or more processors, an identity of the scent dispensing container based on the detected unique identifier; and 
 updating a scent profile to include the identity of the scent dispensing container. 
   
     
     
         2 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the detectable identifying tag is a radio frequency (RF) tag and the tag reader is an RF reader. 
     
     
         3 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the detectable identifying tag is a detectable object and the tag reader is an optical sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the optical sensor is a camera and the detectable object is a QR code. 
     
     
         5 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the detectable identifying tag includes a color and the optical sensor detects the color of the detectable identifying tag. 
     
     
         6 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the optical sensor is a light sensor and the light sensor detects a presence of the scent dispensing container based on a change in a light reading captured by the light sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the tag reader is a touch sensor and the touch sensor detects a presence of the scent dispensing container based on the touch sensor coming into contact with the detectable identifying tag on the scent dispensing container. 
     
     
         8 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 verify a viability of the scent dispensing container based on the identity.   
     
     
         9 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein verifying the viability of the scent dispensing container includes one or more of verifying an age of the scent dispensing container, verifying a fill level of the scent dispensing container, and verifying usage data of the scent dispensing container. 
     
     
         10 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein responsive to verifying the viability of the scent dispensing container, the controller is further configured to cause a scent dispensing element of the scent dispensing container to emit a scent. 
     
     
         11 . A fragrance management apparatus, comprising:
 a dispensing container slot configured to retain a scent dispensing container with an RF tag;   an RF reader positioned within the dispensing container slot proximate to the RF tag of the scent dispensing container when the scent dispensing container is retained in the dispensing container slot;   a non-volatile memory; and   a controller of a fragrance management apparatus, the controller configured to execute instructions stored on the non-volatile memory to perform operations comprising:
 detecting, using the RF reader, a unique identifier of the scent dispensing container based on the RF tag of the container being placed proximate to the RF reader; and 
 determining, using one or more processors, an identity of the scent dispensing container based on the detected unique identifier; and 
 updating a scent profile to include the identity of the scent dispensing container. 
   
     
     
         12 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the identity of the scent dispensing container is encrypted and determining the identity of the scent dispensing container further comprises decrypting the identity of the scent dispensing container. 
     
     
         13 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to verify usage data of the scent dispensing container based on the identity of the scent dispensing container. 
     
     
         14 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to verify that the scent dispensing container is new based on the verified usage data. 
     
     
         15 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to verify that the scent dispensing container is partially used based on the verified usage data. 
     
     
         16 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to verify that the scent dispensing container has been used to depletion based on the verified usage data. 
     
     
         17 . The fragrance management apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to cause the scent dispenser to not emit a scent based on the usage data being unverified. 
     
     
         18 . A method comprising:
 detecting, using an RF reader, a unique identifier of a scent dispensing container based on an RF tag of the scent dispensing container being placed proximate to the RF reader;   determining, using one or more processors, an identity of the scent dispensing container based on the detected unique identifier;   updating, using the one or more processors, a scent profile to include the identity of the scent dispensing container; and   causing a scent dispenser to emit a scent from the scent dispensing container based on the updated scent profile.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 detecting an incompatible fill data of the scent dispensing container based on the updated scent profile; and   causing the scent dispenser to not emit the scent from the scent dispensing container based on the incompatible fill data.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the scent profile includes one or more of a scent dispensing container configuration and settings for heating elements based on the scent profile.