Touchless, Internet-Connected Beauty Tester

Abstract

A universal beauty tester, that is intended for use by any one of a plurality of beauty product suppliers to allow a potential customer at a retail location to obtain a sample testing of one of the beauty products of these suppliers, includes: (a) a display housing configured to house advertising material for the beauty product in such a manner as to not allow unauthorized access to this advertising material, (b) a base, (c) a universal tester bladder that is configured to store any one of the beauty products that are being made available for testing, (d) a liquid dispensing mechanism (e) a non-contact sensing mechanism that is configured to: sense when a customer makes a motion to indicate a desire to receive a test sample of the beauty product, and dispense a test sample, and (f) a processor that controls the operation of the tester and compiles data regarding its use.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A universal beauty tester that is intended for use by any one of a plurality of beauty product suppliers, to allow a potential customer at a retail location to obtain a sample testing of one of said beauty products of said suppliers, said universal beauty tester comprising:
 a display housing having an outer surface and configured to house advertising material for said beauty product in such a manner as to not allow unauthorized access to said advertising material, and wherein said outer surface having a transparent portion that allows one to see said advertising material,   a base that adjoins said display housing and has a bounding surface and an interior region and a dispensing zone,   a universal tester bladder that is configured to store a specific quantity of any one of said plurality of beauty products that are being made available for testing, wherein said bladder is located in said base interior region, and   a dispensing mechanism that is connected to said base and reactive to an input signal and configured to, upon the receipt of said input signal, cause said bladder to dispense, into said base dispensing zone, a specified quantity of said beauty product that is currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         2 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a non-contact sensing mechanism that is attached to said base and configured to: (i) sense when a customer makes a motion in a region proximate said non-contact sensing mechanism to indicate a desire to receive a test sample of said beauty product currently stored in said bladder, and (ii) send said input signal to said dispensing mechanism that causes the dispensing of said test sample.   
     
     
         3 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a processor in said base that has a memory that includes a database, software, input and output ports, and a means for connecting to a network,   wherein said dispensing mechanism further configured to create and send a dispensing output signal to said processor which indicates dispensing information, including the time of dispensing, and the amount dispensed of a test sample of said beauty product currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         4 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a processor in said base that has a memory that includes a database, software, input and output ports, and a means for connecting to a network,   wherein said dispensing mechanism further configured to create and send a dispensing output signal to said processor which indicates dispensing information, including the time of dispensing, and the amount dispensed of a test sample of said beauty product currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         5 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a functionality sensor that is attached to said universal beauty tester and configured to monitor the functionality of said beauty tester and send a functionality output signal to said processor which indicates the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         6 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a functionality sensor that is attached to said universal beauty tester and configured to monitor the functionality of said beauty tester and send a functionality output signal to said processor which indicates the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         7 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 2 , wherein:
 said universal tester bladder is further configured to detachably connect to said dispensing mechanism to provide for the filling of said universal tester bladder with said beauty product for which samples are to be dispensed, and   said base outer surface is configured to provide a space in which a customer makes a motion to indicate that said customer desires to receive a test sample of said beauty product that is currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         8 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 4 , wherein:
 said universal tester bladder is further configured to detachably connect to said dispensing mechanism to provide for the filling of said universal tester bladder with said beauty product for which samples are to be dispensed, and   said base outer surface is configured to provide a space in which a customer makes a motion to indicate that said customer desires to receive a test sample of said beauty product that is currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         9 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 6 , wherein:
 said universal tester bladder is further configured to detachably connect to said dispensing mechanism to provide for the filling of said universal tester bladder with said beauty product for which samples are to be dispensed, and   said base outer surface is configured to provide a space in which a customer makes a motion to indicate that said customer desires to receive a test sample of said beauty product that is currently stored in said universal bladder.   
     
     
         10 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 3 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         11 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 4 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         12 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 5 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         13 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 6 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         14 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 8 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         15 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 9 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (a) record in said database said dispensing information, and (b) allow one utilizing said network to access said dispensing information.   
     
     
         16 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 5 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (c) monitor said functionality output signal and issue an alert over said network when there is a problem with the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         17 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 6 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (c) monitor said functionality output signal and issue an alert over said network when there is a problem with the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         18 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 9 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (c) monitor said functionality output signal and issue an alert over said network when there is a problem with the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         19 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 12 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (c) monitor said functionality output signal and issue an alert over said network when there is a problem with the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.   
     
     
         20 . The universal beauty tester as recited in  claim 13 , wherein:
 said processor software includes instructions that causes said processor to: (c) monitor said functionality output signal and issue an alert over said network when there is a problem with the operational functionality of said universal beauty tester.