Hand-Size Sensing Dispenser for Precise Sanitizer Dosing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand sanitizer dispensers often fail to provide an efficacious dose as they dispense a predetermined volume of product regardless of the user's hand size, leading to either excessive or insufficient sanitizer application.
Innovation Solution
A dispenser system that includes a housing with a processor, sensor, and pump, which senses the user's hand size and adjusts the dispensed volume accordingly, ensuring a customized dose based on the sensed parameter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a predetermined volume of sanitizer is dispensed for all users, then the dispenser operation is simple and device complexity is low, but the dosing precision is insufficient and cannot provide efficacious dose for different hand sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor performs preliminary detection of hand size before the dispensing action occurs. The system measures the hand size parameter in advance, stores this information, and then uses it to determine the appropriate dispensed volume, ensuring precise dosing before the actual dispensing takes place
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the sensor continuously detects hand size parameters, the processor analyzes this data, and the pump adjusts the dispensed volume accordingly. This closed-loop control enables the dispenser to adapt to different users and provide precise dosing while maintaining relatively simple operation
2Loss of substance
If a fixed predetermined volume is dispensed, then the device structure is simple and ease of manufacture is high, but the loss of substance increases due to excessive or insufficient sanitizer application
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser transitions from a static fixed-volume dispensing system to a dynamic adaptive system. The pump volume is no longer fixed but dynamically adjusted based on real-time hand size detection, allowing the system to optimize sanitizer usage and minimize waste while accommodating varying user needs
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the dispensing parameter (volume) based on the detected hand size parameter. By establishing a relationship between hand size measurements and optimal dispensed volumes, the system adjusts the sanitizer quantity to match actual user needs, reducing both over-dispensing waste and under-dispensing inefficiency
3Productivity
If the dispenser uses sensor detection and variable dosing, then the dosing precision and hand hygiene efficiency are improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The dispenser integrates multiple functions into a single device: hand size detection, data processing, and variable volume dispensing. The sensor serves both as a presence detector and a measurement device, while the processor handles both control logic and dosing calculations, creating a multi-functional system that improves hygiene efficiency without requiring separate dedicated devices
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary methods and systems for dispensing soap sanitizer or lotion as a function of hand size are disclosed herein. An exemplary dispenser for dispensing a soap, sanitizer or lotion includes a housing, a processor in the housing, a reservoir for holding fluid, a pump for pumping the fluid and a sensor for sensing a parameter that is indicative of the hand size. The exemplary dispenser also includes circuitry for determining a dose volume of fluid to be dispensed as a function of the sensed parameter that is indicative of a hand size and circuitry for causing the pump to dispense the dose volume.