Electronic Pourer For Inventory Management

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems are disclosed to implement an electronic pourer to dispense a liquid from a container. The electronic pourer can be used with an inventory system for inventory and/or accounting purposes. In one embodiment, the electronic pourer includes an orientation determining subsystem configured to determine an orientation of the electronic pourer, a wireless communication subsystem, a processing subsystem having at least one processing core, and a power source configured to power up the electronic pourer. The processing subsystem can be coupled to the orientation determining subsystem and the wireless communication subsystem to determine whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer based on the angular displacement of the orientation determining subsystem, and transmit information to an external computing device via the wireless communication subsystem. In another embodiment, the electronic pourer is equipped with a tamper-proof subsystem.

1 . An electronic pourer to dispense a liquid from a container, comprising:
 an orientation determining subsystem configured to determine an orientation of the electronic pourer;   a wireless communication subsystem;   
       a processing subsystem having at least one processing core, wherein the processing subsystem is coupled to the orientation determining subsystem and the wireless communication subsystem, and wherein the processing subsystem is configured to:
 based on the orientation of the electronic pourer, determine whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer, and transmit, via the wireless communication subsystem, electronic pourer data to an external computing device; 
 a tamper-proof subsystem, coupled to the processing subsystem, wherein the processing subsystem, upon receiving a notification from the tamper-proof subsystem, is configured to transmit a first binary flag representing activation when the electronic pourer is coupled to the container and wherein the tamper-proof subsystem is further configured to transmit a second binary flag representing deactivation when the electronic pourer is decoupled from the container; and 
 a power source configured to supply power to the processing subsystem, orientation determining subsystem, and wireless communication subsystem. 
 
     
     
         2 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic pourer data further includes at least one of a binary flag indicating the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber, a timestamp value of the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , wherein the processing subsystem determines whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer when the angular rotation of the electronic pourer is between 20 and 180 degrees about an axis. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a power control switch, configured to turn on or off the electronic pourer;   
     
     
         5 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a dispensing chamber and an electronic chamber, wherein the electronic chamber does not come in direct contact with the liquid being dispensed. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a single chamber configured to dispense liquid, and wherein the single chamber further includes at least one electronic component out of a set comprising the orientation determining subsystem, wireless communication subsystem, and the processing subsystem, and wherein the at least one electronic component is secluded in such a manner that the liquid being dispensed does not come in direct contact with the any electronic component. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic pourer of  claim 1 , wherein the orientation determining subsystem includes a gyroscope. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which when executed by a processing subsystem of an electronic pourer for use to dispense a liquid from a container, implements a method comprising:
 receiving orientation data related to the electronic pourer, wherein the orientation data is received from an orientation determining subsystem configured to determine an orientation of the electronic pourer;   based on the orientation of the electronic pourer, determining whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer; and   transmitting, via a wireless communication subsystem, electronic pourer data to an external computing device;   wherein the processing subsystem is coupled with a power source configured to supply power to the processing subsystem, orientation determining subsystem, and wireless communication subsystem, and wherein the processing subsystem transmits a first binary flag representing activation of the electronic pourer when the electronic pourer is coupled to the container and wherein the processing subsystem transmits a second binary flag representing deactivation of the electronic pourer when the electronic pourer is decoupled from the container.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the electronic pourer data further includes at least one of a binary flag indicating the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber, a timestamp value of the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the processing subsystem determines whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer when the angular rotation of the electronic pourer is between 20 and 180 degrees about an axis. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 turning on or off the electronic pourer based on an instruction received from a power control switch;   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a dispensing chamber and an electronic chamber, wherein the electronic chamber does not come in direct contact with the liquid being dispensed. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a single chamber configured to dispense liquid, and wherein the single chamber further includes at least one electronic component out of a set comprising the orientation determining subsystem, wireless communication subsystem, and the processing subsystem, and wherein the at least one electronic component is secluded in such a manner that the liquid being dispensed does not come in direct contact with the any electronic component. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the orientation determining subsystem includes a gyroscope. 
     
     
         15 . A method performed by an electronic pourer, comprising:
 receiving, by a processing subsystem, orientation data related to the electronic pourer, for use to dispense a liquid from a container, wherein the orientation data is received from an orientation determining subsystem configured to determine an orientation of the electronic pourer;   determining, by the processing subsystem, whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer, wherein the determining is based on the orientation of the electronic pourer; and   transmitting, by the processing subsystem electronic pourer data to an external computing device via a wireless communication subsystem of the electronic pourer;   wherein the processing subsystem is coupled with a power source configured to supply power to the processing subsystem, orientation determining subsystem, and wireless communication subsystem, and wherein the processing subsystem transmits a first binary flag representing activation of the electronic pourer when the electronic pourer is coupled to the container and wherein the processing subsystem transmits a second binary flag representing deactivation of the electronic pourer when the electronic pourer is decoupled from the container.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the electronic pourer data further includes at least one of a binary flag indicating the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber, a timestamp value of the determination that liquid has been dispensed from the dispensing chamber. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the processing subsystem determines whether liquid has been dispensed from the electronic pourer when the angular rotation of the electronic pourer is between 20 and 180 degrees about an axis. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 turning on or off the electronic pourer based on an instruction received from a power control switch; and wherein the orientation determining subsystem includes a gyroscope.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a dispensing chamber and an electronic chamber, wherein the electronic chamber does not come in direct contact with the liquid being dispensed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the electronic pourer comprises a single chamber configured to dispense liquid, and wherein the single chamber further includes at least one electronic component out of a set comprising the orientation determining subsystem, wireless communication subsystem, and the processing subsystem, and wherein the at least one electronic component is secluded in such a manner that the liquid being dispensed does not come in direct contact with the any electronic component.