Replenishment receptacle (connected consumer packaged goods) for a consumption and replenishment system and process

Abstract

A replenishment receptacle comprised of a volumetric region for storing a consumable good during shipping to a consumer location, a processor, a transceiver, programmatic instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium, an a sensor for determining a quantity of the consumable good in the volumetric region. The sensor periodically detects and reports changes in the quantity of the consumable good present the volumetric region. When the quantity is low (below an established threshold), the consumer good is automatically reordered from a vender, purchased, and shipped to a consumer location. In embodiments, a rate of consumption of the consumable good affects when automatic reordering occurs to ensure the consumable good does not run-out before a new quantity arrives at the consumer location. The replenishment receptacle is able to be discarded in embodiments, where in others it is reusable and/or partially recyclable.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A consumption system comprising:
 a network-enabled replenishment receptacle comprising a wireless transceiver, a sensor, a processor, and a power source, said network-enabled replenishment receptacle having a volumetric region for a consumable product, wherein the network-enabled replenishment receptacle is shipped to a consumer delivery location specified by a consumer, wherein the processor triggers the sensor to measure quantities of consumer goods contained in the volumetric region and to convey a message of the measured quantities via the wireless transceiver; and   a remotely-located consumption server configured to, upon the replenishment receptacle having reached a predefined volumetric region threshold such that the measured quantities is less than the predefined volumetric region threshold, effectuate an automatic repurchasing of the consumable product from a vendor for delivery to the consumer delivery location.   
     
     
         2 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle is configured to automatically detect a movement of the replenishment receptacle to a defined replenishment location, which is a sub-region designated for an address of the consumer delivery location, wherein the movement to the defined replenishment location triggers a detection of whether the predefined volumetric region threshold has been reached and if so triggers the automatic repurchasing. 
     
     
         3 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a network-enabled consumption device having a device volumetric region for storing a consumable product and a means for determining a relative level of volume empty versus not empty within the device volumetric region, wherein a consumer is associated with the consumption device, wherein a second predefined volumetric region threshold is compared against a sum of the volume determined from the device volumetric region and a volume present in the replenishment receptacle, wherein when the sum is less than the second predefined volumetric region threshold, an automatic repurchasing of the consumable product from a vendor for delivery to the consumer delivery location.   
     
     
         4 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle further comprises:
 programmatic instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium;   an electromagnetic (EM) emitter array for emitting a plurality of beams; and   an electromagnetic (EM) sensor array for detecting emissions of the plurality of beams, wherein the plurality of beams are distributed within different non-overlapping portions of the volumetric region, wherein one emitter of the EM emitter array corresponds to one sensor of the EM sensor array in a one-to-one fashion, wherein the processor executing a portion of the programmatic instructions determines a volumetric level of consumable products within the volumetric region based on a quantity of uninterrupted beams and a quantity of interrupted beams are emitted by the EM emitter array and received by corresponding ones of the EM sensor array.   
     
     
         5 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle further comprises:
 a user profile for storing data about the consumer of the replenishment receptacle, wherein the consumer delivery location for the replenishment receptacle in stored within the user profile.   
     
     
         6 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver, the processor, and the sensor of the replenishment receptacle are contained within a separate module that is able to be coupled and decoupled from a container portion of the replenishment receptacle, wherein the separate module is reused. 
     
     
         7 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle further comprises:
 a locking mechanism for securing access to the volumetric region of the replenishment receptacle.   
     
     
         8 . The consumption system of  claim 7 , wherein a delivery person is provided with a means to unlock the locking mechanism upon placement of an order to replenish the consumable product with the vendor. 
     
     
         9 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle is made from a durable material capable of withstanding minor environmental conditions. 
     
     
         10 . The consumption system of  claim 1 , wherein the replenishment receptacle is a disposable packaging, wherein the processor, the wireless transceiver, and the power source, and the battery are disposed of in a residential trash dispenser after consumer use of the consumable product. 
     
     
         11 . A consumption system comprising:
 a network-enabled consumption device having a volumetric region for storing the consumable product, said consumption device comprising:
 a processor; 
 a transceiver; 
 programmatic instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium; 
 a means for determining a relative level of volume empty versus not empty within the volumetric region; 
   a network-enabled replenishment receptacle having a volumetric region for receiving delivery of the consumable product to a replenishment location specified by a consumer, wherein the replenishment receptacle is a discrete container capable of being physically moved by the consumer to the replenishment location, said replenishment receptacle further comprising:
 a transceiver; 
 a sensor for determining when the delivered consumable product is placed within the volumetric space; and 
 a battery for supplying power to the transceiver and sensor; and 
   a remotely-located consumption server configured to, upon the consumption device having reached a predefined volumetric region threshold and the replenishment receptacle being moved to the replenishment location, effectuate an automatic repurchasing of the consumable product from a vendor for delivery to the replenishment receptacle at the replenishment location.   
     
     
         12 . The consumption system of  claim 10 , wherein the transceiver and the sensor are embedded within a face of the replenishment receptacle. 
     
     
         13 . The consumption system of  claim 10 , wherein the transceiver and the sensor are contained within a separate module that is able to be coupled and decoupled from the container portion of the replenishment receptacle. 
     
     
         14 . The consumption system of  claim 10 , wherein the replenishment receptacle further comprises:
 a locking mechanism for securing access to the volumetric region of the replenishment receptacle.   
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 establishing, via circuitry and a processor, a communications pathway between a network-enabled replenishment receptacle, and a remotely-located consumption server by a consumer, wherein the replenishment receptacle is a packaging within which a consumable consumer good is shipped to a consumer location, wherein the circuitry and the processor are contained within the replenishment receptacle;   detecting, via the circuitry and the processor, a volume of consumer goods in replenishment receptacle using a sensor embedded in the replenishment receptacle, wherein the sensor is communicatively linked to the circuitry;   wirelessly conveying a message from the replenishment receptacle via a wireless transceiver of the replenishment receptacle, wherein the message indicates a quantity of the consumer goods present in the replenishment receptacle; and   automatically repurchasing a new quantity of the consumable product from a vendor for delivery to the consumer location responsive to the quantity being less than a previously defined threshold, wherein a consumer has pre-approved a charging of a consumer account by the vendor for the new quantity to be delivered to the consumer location.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a subscription service is established to ensure the consumer good is continuously reordered and shipped to the consumer location so that the consumer good does not run-out per typical consumption patterns before the new quantity arrives at the consumer location. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the replenishment receptacle is a disposable packaging for the consumer good within which the consumer goods are shipped to the customer location. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 reusing the processor, the wireless transceiver, and the sensor by:
 removing the processor, the wireless transceiver, and the sensor from the replenishment receptacle after the consumer goods of the replenishment receptacle is consumed and 
 adding the processor, the wireless transceiver, and the sensor to a different replenishment receptacle to detect and report a quantity of consumer goods in the different replenishment receptacle. 
   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 detecting that the replenishment receptacle has been physically moved from the storage location to the replenishment location; and   restricting the automatically repurchasing of the new quantity of the consumable product to when the replenishment receptacle is detected in the replenishment location, such that no repurchasing occurs unless the replenishment receptacle is detected at the replenishment location and the quantity as detected by the sensor is less than the previously defined threshold.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining, via the circuitry and the processor, a rate of consumption of the consumer goods from the replenishment receptacle, wherein the automatic repurchasing is conditioned upon the rate of consumption by at least one of:
 when the rate of consumption is significantly less than a defined expected rate, requiring confirmation from a consumer before effectuating the automatic repurchasing as the rate of consumption is indicative of possible consumer apathy to the consumer goods of the replenishment receptacle; 
 when the rate of consumption is significantly greater than the defined expected rate, expediting shipping of the new quantity to the consumer location to ensure arrival of the new quantity before an original quantity in the replenishment receptacle is completely consumed; and 
 when the rate of consumption is significantly different than the defined expected rate, changing the previously defined threshold to adjust a time that future automatically ordered quantities of the consumer goods arrives at the consumer location per the rate of consumption.