KR20160129521A - Portable drink container - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable beverage container is provided. According to an aspect of the present invention, a portable beverage container includes: a light emitting portion that emits light into a housing; A light receiving unit for receiving the irradiated light; And a control unit for calculating remaining drink amount information based on the signal output from the light receiving unit and for providing a notification signal when the remaining drink amount information is unchanged for a predetermined period of time, And are disposed symmetrically with respect to the center area of the housing.

Description

[0001] Portable drink container [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a portable beverage container, and more particularly, to a portable beverage container that can provide convenience to a user.

Water is a very important factor that accounts for more than 70% of our body. It promotes metabolism in the body, helps cell respiration, maintains body temperature and prevents skin aging. Therefore, we can easily hear advice from many media and experts that we should drink water frequently.

Generally, the recommended amount of water that a person should drink per day is 8-10 cups per 200ml. On the other hand, every time we drink water, it is troublesome to calculate the amount of water consumed and satisfy the daily recommended amount of water.

Korea Patent No. KR 2011-0136293 (2011.12.21)

A problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a portable beverage container capable of providing a notice to a user at the time of drinking water.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable beverage container including: a light emitting unit that emits light into a housing; A light receiving unit for receiving the irradiated light; And a control unit for calculating remaining drink amount information based on the signal output from the light receiving unit and for providing a notification signal when the remaining drink amount information is unchanged for a predetermined period of time, And are disposed symmetrically with respect to the center area of the housing.

When the signal output from the light-receiving unit is a first signal, the control unit determines that a beverage exists between the light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit. When the signal output from the light- It can be determined that the beverage does not exist between the light receiving portion and the light receiving portion.

Also, the intensity of the first signal may be greater than the intensity of the second signal.

The portable terminal may further include a first transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting the calculated remaining amount of drink information to the mobile terminal.

The apparatus may further include a display unit for performing a notification operation in a visual form according to the provided notification signal, and an alarm unit for performing a notification operation in an audible form.

Other specific details of the invention are included in the detailed description and drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a beverage intake amount providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 are perspective views of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view for explaining the principle of the convex lens.
7 and 8 are horizontal cross-sectional views of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a block diagram of a server in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 and 12 are views showing a display of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

It is to be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "on" or " on "of another element or layer, All included. On the other hand, a device being referred to as "directly on" or "directly above " indicates that no other device or layer is interposed in between.

The terms spatially relative, "below", "beneath", "lower", "above", "upper" May be used to readily describe a device or a relationship of components to other devices or components. Spatially relative terms should be understood to include, in addition to the orientation shown in the drawings, terms that include different orientations of the device during use or operation. For example, when inverting an element shown in the figures, an element described as "below" or "beneath" of another element may be placed "above" another element. Thus, the exemplary term "below" can include both downward and upward directions. The elements can also be oriented in different directions, so that spatially relative terms can be interpreted according to orientation.

One element is referred to as being "connected to " or" coupled to "another element, either directly connected or coupled to another element, One case. On the other hand, when one element is referred to as being "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to " another element, it does not intervene another element in the middle. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. "And / or" include each and every combination of one or more of the mentioned items.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, components and / or sections, it is needless to say that these elements, components and / or sections are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, element or section from another element, element or section. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first element, the first element or the first section mentioned below may be the second element, the second element or the second section within the technical spirit of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" used in the specification are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the components, steps, operations, and / Or additions.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Also, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. A description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a beverage intake amount providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a beverage intake providing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a portable beverage container 10, a mobile terminal 20, and a server 30, but does not exclude other configurations .

The portable beverage container 10 refers to a cup used for drinking beverage, and can communicate with the mobile terminal 20 and / or the server 30 through a radio signal. In an embodiment of the present invention, the case where the tumbler is used as the portable beverage container 10 is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto and can be variously changed according to the purpose.

Here, the radio signal may be a radio signal using Bluetooth, a radio signal using near field communication (NFC), a radio signal using radio-frequency identification (RFID), or a radio signal using WI-FI (wireless-fidelity) But is not limited thereto. In addition, the beverage may be drinking water or various liquids made to be drinkable by a person.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a portable beverage container according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the principle of a convex lens, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are cross- Sectional view of the container in the horizontal direction.

2 to 8, a portable beverage container 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light emitting unit 110, a light receiving unit 120, a controller 130, a first transceiver 140, a display unit 150, an alarm unit 155, a housing 160, a cover 170, and a connection unit 180, but does not exclude any additional configuration.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the housing 160 may be formed in a cylindrical shape having a space for receiving beverages therein. However, if the beverage can be received therein, the shape of the housing 160 is not limited thereto It can be variously changed. At this time, the housing 160 includes a hole at one side (for example, at the top) into which the drink can be inserted or removed.

The lid 170 prevents the beverage contained in the housing 160 from being exposed to the outside by blocking the hole and may be formed to correspond to the shape of the housing 160. At this time, when the lid 170 is separated from the hole, the connection part 180 connects the housing 160 and the lid 170 to prevent the lid 170 from being lost.

One side of the cover 170 and the other side of the housing 160 may be formed of a rubber material to prevent slippage and the portion of the housing 160 and the lid 170 that is in contact with the beverage may be formed of a tritan material, Can be suppressed.

In addition, a magnet may be provided in one area of the lid 170 and the housing 160. Therefore, when the user opens the lid 170 to drink the beverage inside the housing 160, the lid 170 is attached to one area of the housing 160, so that the lid 170 is not rattled, .

The light emitting unit 110 irradiates light into the housing 160. 5, the light emitting units 110 may be spaced apart from each other in the height direction of the housing 160. Referring to FIG. Here, the predetermined interval may be variously changed according to the capacity of the beverage container 10, and it is preferable to use infrared rays that are not visible to the light emitted from the light emitting unit 110. However, May be used.

The light receiving unit 120 receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit 110. 5, the light receiving unit 120 may be disposed at a predetermined distance in the height direction of the housing 160. Referring to FIG. Here, the light receiving unit 120 may be formed at a corresponding number or position of the light emitting unit 110, and the light receiving unit 120 may include a light receiving sensor for receiving light emitted from the light emitting unit 110, But the present invention is not limited thereto.

The control unit 130 may be implemented as a direct circuit (IC) or a system on chip (SoC) and may include not only the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 but also the first and second transceivers 140, The operation of each of the display unit 150 and the alarm unit 155 can be controlled. At this time, based on the signal output from the light receiving unit 120, information on remaining drink amount in the housing 160 is calculated, and a notification signal can be provided when the remaining drink amount information does not change for a predetermined time. For example, when the user inputs the predetermined time using the wireless communication through the mobile terminal 20 or inputs the predetermined time directly to the portable beverage container 10, ), The controller 130 may generate a notification signal and provide a notification to the user.

The first transceiver 140 may transmit the remaining beverage amount information calculated by the controller 130 to the mobile terminal 20 and / or the server 30. Specifically, the mobile terminal 20 and / or the server 30 transmits the calculated remaining drink amount information to inform the user of how much beverage is consumed per day by the user through the mobile terminal 20. Also, the first transceiver 140 may transmit information such as the predetermined time from the mobile terminal 20.

The display unit 150 performs a notification operation in a visual form in accordance with the notification signal provided from the control unit 130. 3 and 4, the display unit 150 may include a light emitting diode (LED) disposed outside the housing 160 to emit light. Here, the light emitting diode is a semiconductor device that converts current into direct light by using a phenomenon in which electrons in the n region meet the pores of the p region to cause recombination light emission when a voltage is applied in the forward direction using the p-n junction of the semiconductor. However, if the user can visually recognize, the specific configuration of the display unit 150 can be replaced with all configurations applicable to the purpose of the ordinary artisan in the technical field of the present invention.

The alarm unit 155 performs a notification operation in an audible form according to a notification signal provided from the control unit 130. [ Specifically, the alarm unit 155 may include a speaker disposed outside the housing 160 or outside the cover 170, but may be variously modified as long as the user can perceive it audibly Do.

In addition, the portable beverage container 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a sensor unit (not shown) having at least one of a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. In this case, when the movement of the beverage container 10 is detected through the gyro sensor and / or the acceleration sensor, the control unit 130 controls the movement of the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 The operation can be controlled. For example, after the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 are operated to measure remaining drink amount information, if there is no detected movement for a predetermined period of time, the controller 130 keeps the remaining drink amount information And the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 may not be operated. In addition, after the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 are operated to measure remaining drink amount information, the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 are operated immediately when the detected motion is detected for a predetermined period of time The changed remaining drink quantity information can be calculated. Accordingly, the operation of the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 can be controlled according to the movement of the portable beverage container 10, thereby improving the power efficiency. However, if the movement of the portable beverage container 10 can be detected, the detailed configuration of the sensor unit may be variously changed.

6 to 8, the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

7 and 8, the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 may be installed at symmetrical positions with respect to the center area of the housing 160. Specifically, the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 may be installed symmetrically with respect to the center O of the parallel (horizontal) axis cross section of the housing 160. In an embodiment of the present invention, the parallel cross-section of the housing 160 is described by taking a circle as an example, but it is not limited thereto and may be formed into an ellipse or other shape.

Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the parallel light passing through the convex lens 112 is collected at the focus f. This is the principle of convex lenses, which can be applied not only to convex lenses, but also to transparent and convex, for example, flasks containing water, dew drops, round tanks or water cups.

7, when light is not present between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120, the lights L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ ) can be known. The light (L ₁ , L ₂ , L _3), the first light (L ₁₎ passing through the origin (O) of the light reception, but that is a light receiving unit 120, only the reference point (O) the second and third light (L _2, L ₃ are not received by the light receiving unit 120. That is, all the light emitted from the light emitting portion 110 is not received by the light receiving portion 120, despite the straightness of the light.

8, when the beverage is present between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120, the lights L ₁ , L ₂ , L ₃ ) can be known. The light L ₁ , L ₂ , and L ₃ emitted from the light emitting portion 110, as the principle of the convex lens, L ₃ are all received by the light receiving unit 120.

That is, when there is a beverage between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120, the first signal outputted from the light receiving unit 120 is a signal when there is no beverage between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120 Is greater than the intensity of the second signal output from the light receiving section (120). When the signal output from the light receiving unit 120 is a first signal, the control unit determines that a beverage exists between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120. When the signal output from the light receiving unit 120 is the second signal, Signal, it is determined that there is a beverage between the light emitting unit 110 and the light receiving unit 120, and the remaining beverage amount information in the housing 160 can be calculated. Here, the remaining amount of drink information includes not only the amount of the drink remaining in the housing 160, but also the amount of the drink that the user has drank over time.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the method of measuring the amount of beverage using the principle of the convex lens has been described, but various sensing sensors generally used in the technical field of the present invention can be applied.

9 is a block diagram of a server in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

9, the server 30 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a third transmission / reception unit 310 and a database 320, but does not exclude additional configurations. Here, the server 30 may be a computer program that provides a service to another program, but is not limited thereto.

The third transmission / reception unit 310 can exchange data with the portable beverage container 10 and / or the mobile terminal 20. Specifically, the DB information stored in the database 320 is transmitted to the portable beverage container 10 and / or the mobile terminal 20, or the remaining beverage amount information is received from the portable beverage container 10, From the database 320 and transmit it to the mobile terminal 20.

The database 320 stores DB information such as sex, age, weight, and / or country information of users, and analyzes and informs the beverage consumption pattern data of the users based on the stored information.

10 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10, a mobile terminal 20 includes a second transceiver 210, a controller 220, and a display 230, but does not exclude other configurations.

The mobile terminal 20 can receive or receive data with the portable beverage container 10 and / or the server 30. [ The mobile terminal 20 may be implemented in various forms. For example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a PMP (Portable Multimedia Player), a navigation, an e-book, a tablet PC, a mobile internet device (MID) A tablet, a digital camera, an Internet of things (IoT) device, an Internet of everything (IoE) device, or a wearable computer. The mobile terminal 20 may also include a mobile terminal 20 that does not support a multitasking function. The multitasking function refers to a function of processing two or more jobs simultaneously by one device or simultaneously executing two or more programs.

The mobile terminal 20 can activate a specific application to proceed with a process for providing a drink intake amount. Here, an application is an application software, which means, in a broad sense, all software running on the operating system.

The user may be provided with a beverage intake using an application program (APP) executed by the controller 220. [ Specifically, the second transmitting / receiving unit 210 receives the remaining drink amount information from the portable beverage container 10 and receives the DB information stored in the database 320 from the server 30. At this time, the controller 220 executes the application program (APP), and the application program (APP) generates beverage intake amount information using the received remaining drink amount information and / or the received DB information, 230 to the user. Herein, the drink intake amount information may include information on a drink recommendation amount (for example, water recommendation amount) to be consumed during a day, information on a drink amount consumed by a user during a day, and a difference between a recommended amount and an intake amount. For example, if the user drank 1L of water for 12 hours using the portable beverage container 10 and the daily water recommended amount applied to the user is 2L, then the application program (APP) The display 230 may be provided with information for allowing the user to further drink water. According to embodiments, an application program (APP) may provide the information to a user via a speaker implemented in the mobile terminal 20.

11 and 12 are views showing a display of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the display 230 provides the user with information that he drank 25% of the beverage during the day. For example, when the amount of beverage to be drunk by a user is 2 liters per day, information is received from portable beverage container 10 that 500 ml beverage is consumed per day today. At this time, information on the previous day is displayed together, thereby providing convenience to the user.

Referring to FIG. 12, the display 230 provides the user with the amount of beverage consumed by the user and the evaluation thereof. For example, it is labeled LATE because it consumes 100 ml at 19:14 min, but is later than a predetermined amount of time (for example, 19 o'clock) and consumes less than the recommended amount (for example, 200 ml) to drink once. Also, drinking 200ml at 21:01 minutes, it is later than a predetermined time (for example, 21:00), so it is labeled GOOD. In addition, we drank 200 ml at 22:45, which is faster than a pre-determined time (eg, 23 o'clock) and marked PERFECT since it met the recommended amount to drink once (eg 200 ml).

11 and 12 are merely examples of the contents displayed on the display 230, and can be variously changed according to the preference of the user.

That is, in the beverage intake amount providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the portable beverage container 10 calculates the remaining beverage amount information and provides it to the mobile terminal 20 and / or the server 30, Provides the DB information to the mobile terminal 20, and the mobile terminal 20 calculates the beverage intake amount information through the remaining beverage amount information and DB information, and provides the information to the user, thereby providing convenience to the user.

In addition, the portable beverage container 10 provides a notification signal to the user at predetermined time intervals, thereby providing convenience to the user.

A method for providing a drink intake amount according to an embodiment of the present invention may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium that is prepared (or programmed) by a computer program. The computer program may be downloaded and installed from the server of the app store or the operation server to the mobile terminal 20, and may be executed by the controller 220. In this case, the recording medium may refer to a database or a memory accessible by a server or an operation server of the App Store.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, You will understand. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

10: Portable beverage container
20:
30: Server
110:
120:
130:
140: first transmission /
150:
155:
160: Housing

Claims (5)

A light emitting unit for irradiating light into the housing;
A light receiving unit for receiving the irradiated light; And
And a control unit for calculating remaining drink amount information based on the signal output from the light receiving unit and providing a notification signal when the remaining drink amount information does not change for a predetermined time,
Wherein the light-emitting portion and the light-
And is installed at a position symmetrical with respect to a center area of the housing. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
Wherein when the signal output from the light receiving unit is a first signal, it is determined that a beverage exists between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit,
And determines that there is no beverage between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit when the signal output from the light receiving unit is the second signal. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the intensity of the first signal is greater than the intensity of the second signal. The method according to claim 1,
And a first transmission / reception unit for transmitting the calculated remaining amount of drink information to the mobile terminal. The method according to claim 1,
A display unit for performing a notification operation in a visual form in accordance with the provided notification signal, and an alarm unit for performing a notification operation in an audible form.

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