WO2008131765A1

WO2008131765A1 - Lotion dispenser device for suntan centres

Info

Publication number: WO2008131765A1
Application number: PCT/DK2008/000148
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Laursen
Original assignee: Peter Laursen
Priority date: 2007-04-27
Filing date: 2008-04-23
Publication date: 2008-11-06
Also published as: DK200700631A; EP2143084A1

Abstract

This invention relates to a dispenser device for dispensing lotion to a solarium user, said dispenser device comprises: - a container for lotion, - a dispenser unit for dispensing lotion from said container, - communication means enabling said dispenser device to communicate with an admittance device, - timing means, - processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit based on communication with said admittance device and said timing means. The invention further relates to an admittance device for admitting a user access to solarium treatment and for activating the dispenser device described above.

Description

Lotion dispenser device for suntan centres

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a lotion dispenser device for dispensing lotion to a solarium user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today many people want to improve their looks or well-being and therefore many people use solariums in order to become suntanned and/or to relax. The users of solariums often want as much tanning effect as possible and/or want to enjoy relaxing in the solarium for a long period of time. The user therefore often uses very powerful solariums for a long period of time in order to achieve large tanning effect and/or to relax. Many people use lotion when they use the solariums - for instance in order to improve their skin condition, to avoid that their skin dries out, to improve the tanning effect, to make the tanning effect last for longer timer or in order to avoided getting sunburned.

Today many people use unstaffed suntan centres with a number of solariums where the user activates the solariums through an admittance device. The user chooses the suntan treatment through the admittance device, for instance by choosing type of solarium and/or treatment time. The user hereafter applies lotion to his/her body before or after using the solarium. However, when using unstaffed suntan centres, the users need to bring lotion by themselves, and it is a fact that many people forget to bring lotion when going to a suntan centre. They do therefore not use lotion, and thus many people do not benefit from the lotion's effects.

In order to avoid that the users do not use lotion, many unstaffed suntan centres are provided with a vending machine offering lotion. BE886373A2 describes a vending machine for soap, where the vending machine comprises a container containing soap and a dispenser unit for dispensing the soap. This vending machine is adapted to block the dispenser unit until the user has paid a certain amount of money such that the user is unable to dispense soap unless enough money has been paid. This vending machine could be adapted to contain lotion instead of soap, but many people have already activated the solarium when they realize that they have forgotten the lotion and they do therefore not have time to buy the lotion from a vending machine before the solarium starts. The consequence is that most users skip using lotion because they do not want to miss time in the solarium. Further, many people have not brought any money to buy lotion from the vending machines.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to solve the above mentioned problems and to promote the use of lotion for users of suntan centres.

This is achieved by a dispenser device for dispensing lotion to a solarium user, said dispenser device comprises:

- a container for lotion,

- a dispenser unit for dispensing lotion from said container, - communication means enabling said dispenser device to communicate with an admittance device,

- timing means,

- processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit based on communication with said admittance device and said timing means.

Hereby persons using a suntan centre comprising a number of solariums accessible through an admittance device are offered to buy lotion while they get access the solarium and users having forgotten their lotion at home are reminded about the lotion and have the opportunity of buying lotion before activating the sun. This is achieved because a dispenser device for dispensing lotion to a solarium user is provided. The dispenser comprises communication means and is communicatively connected to an admittance device. The admittance device can therefore request the dispenser device to dispense lotion to a user that has purchased lotion. The communication means could for instance be a wire connection between the admittance device and the dispenser device where the admittance device applies an amount of voltage to the wire when the processing means of the dispenser device should activate the dispenser unit. The processing means could in this case be an analogue logical electric circuit which activates the dispenser unit when receiving a high voltage signal. The communication means and processing means could also be based on different communication protocols as known in the art of data communication. The dispenser unit could be any unit suitable for making lotion flow out of the container on request, e.g. a pump unit adapted to pump lotion out of the container, a piston that pushes lotion out of the container, an air pump that pumps air into the container whereby lotion flows out of the container due to the pressure inside the container etc. The dispenser device could for instance be placed next to the solarium, whereby the user could use the lotion just before or just after he/she has used the solarium. It is further ensured that only the user that has purchased the lotion can use the dispenser device. This is achieved because the dispenser device can be activated for a predetermined amount of time and therefore only enables the user to apply the lotion within this time period. The dispenser device could for instance be activated a couple of minutes before the solarium is started and then be deactivated a couple of minutes after the solarium has been stopped. This ensures that the next user of the solarium does not have access to the lotion unless he/she has paid for the lotion.

In another embodiment the dispenser device comprises means for measuring the amount of lotion dispensed by said dispenser, and wherein said activation and deactivation of said dispenser unit is further based on said amount of lotion dispensed by said dispenser unit. Hereby it is possible to limit the amount of lotion dispensed to the user; the user can buy a predetermined amount of lotion and the dispenser device would then be deactivated when the predetermined amount of lotion has been dispensed causing the user not to apply more lotion.

In another embodiment the dispenser device further comprises activating means, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser unit is further based on activation of said activating means. Hereby it is achieved that the user can activate the dispenser device when he/she is ready to apply the lotion and the user can further use the lotion in small doses. The activating means could be any kind of means enabling the user to activate the dispenser unit, e.g. a mechanical pump mechanism, a button that the user needs to push, an infrared sensor that can detect when a user places his hand near the dispenser unit and thereafter activates the dispenser unit etc.

In another embodiment of the dispenser device, the activation means is an infrared motion detector detecting the motion of said user, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser unit is further based on the motion of said user. Hereby the user could activate the dispenser unit without getting in physical contact with the dispenser device whereby the hygiene when using the dispenser device is improved, because less dirt, bacteria, viruses etc. can be transmitted from one user to the next user. The infrared motion detector could be adapted to detect the motions of the user's hands when they are placed beneath the dispenser unit and upon motion detection activate the dispenser unit that dispenses lotion to the user's hands.

The present invention further relates to an admittance device for admitting a user access to a solarium treatment, said admittance device comprises: - communication means enabling said admittance device to communicate with a dispenser device, said dispenser device comprising: o a container for lotion, o a dispenser unit for dispensing lotion from said container, o communication means enabling said dispenser device to communicate with said admittance device, o timing means, o processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit based on communication with said admittance device and said timing means.

- processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser device based on communication with said dispenser device such that said processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit can be enabled and/or disabled.

Hereby the same advantages as described above are achieved.

In another embodiment the admittance device further comprises processing means for determining at least one usage recommendation in relation to said solarium treatment, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said usage recommendation. Hereby the same advantages as described above are achieved and the admittance device could further determine a usage recommendation in relation to the solarium treatment. The usage recommendation could for instance be a set of guidelines defining how the user could advantageously use said solarium treatment; e.g. define for how long a time period the user ought to undergo the solarium treatment in order to achieve a given effect; it could define how the user should use the solarium treatment equipment in order to achieve a given effect, instruct the user not to undergo the solarium treatment at all etc.

The usage recommendation could further recommend the user to use a certain kind and/or amount of lotion in connection with the solarium treatment, and the dispenser device could then be activated according to this usage recommendation. The usage recommendation could for instance be determined on the basis of parameters related to the user's properties related to the user's body properties such as information relating to skin type, hair/eye colour, the user's tendency to become sunburned, resting/maximum heart rate, blood type, age, allergic information, information on the user's disease history, previously usage of the solarium treatment etc. The body properties could for instance be stored in a database to which the admittance device has access, or it could be measured by body sensors connected to the admittance device.

In another embodiment the admittance device further comprises communication means enabling said admittance device to communicate with said user, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said communication with said user. Hereby it is possible for the user to communicate with the admittance device and e.g. choose to activate the dispenser device in order to use lotion in connection with the solarium treatment.

In another embodiment the admittance device further comprises means for receiving payment, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said received payment. Hereby it is possible for the user to pay for the use of the solarium and for the lotion. The admittance device could therefore be adapted to not activate the dispenser device if the user has not paid for the lotion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described referring to the figures, where figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a suntan centre comprising a dispenser device according to the present invention,

figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of a dispenser device according to the present invention,

figure 3 illustrates a flow diagram communication between the different devices in the suntan centre, when a user wants to use a solarium,

Figure 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating how the admittance device acts when a user wants to use a solarium.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 illustrates a suntan system according to the present invention, the suntan system comprising an admittance device (101 ) embodied as a microprocessor, microcontroller, PC or the like comprising processing means (103), volatile (105) and none-volatile (107) storage means, a number of input/output ports (109a - 109f) for communication with peripherical devices, and a network adapter enabling the admittance device to communicate through a data network (113) such as LAN, WAN, the internet etc. The user communicates with the admittance device through input (115)/output(117) means such as keyboard, mouse, touchpad, trackball, touch screens, monitors, speakers etc. connected to input/output ports (109a) and (109b) or integrated as a part of the admittance device (101 ). The suntan centre comprises a number of solariums (119a, 119b) connected to the admittance device and the admittance device can admit a user access to one of the solariums. For instance by activating and deactivating the solariums or by controlling a door locking system enabling the user to open the door into a room where the solarium is positioned. Further, the suntan centre comprises a payment system (121) such as a credit card terminal or a cash machine adapted to receive payment from a user. This payment system is also connected to the admittance device. The payment system makes it possible for the user to pay a specific amount of money in order to access/use a solarium.

The suntan centre further comprises a dispenser device (129) connected to the admittance device. The dispenser device offers lotion (131) to the user (131) and is typically placed besides the solarium, such that the user can apply the lotion just before or just after using the solarium. The admittance device can activate and deactivate the dispenser device, such that for instance only users who have paid for the lotion can use the dispenser device. The admittance device could for instance activate the dispenser device for a period of time before and/or after the solarium has been activated, and the user can therefore apply as much lotion as he/she wants before/after using the solarium. On the other hand, the admittance device could also request the dispenser device to dispense only a predetermined amount of lotion to the user (133).

The admittance system is also connected to a number of body sensors embodied as a fingerprint scanner (135) and a body property detector embodied as a skin color scanner (137). The fingerprint scanner is used to uniquely identify the user, and the skin color scanner is used to determine the skin color of the user in order to determine a usage recommendation outlining how the user should use a solarium. Instead of the fingerprint scanner for identifying the user, other body sensors where the identification is based on body characteristics of the user could be used - e.g. an iris scanner, a facial scanner, a DNA scanner, a voice recognizer etc. Likewise, other body property detectors could be used in order to determine the usage recommendation.

In this embodiment the admittance device comprises a user register stored as a database in the non-volatile memory (107) or an external server connected to the network (127). The database stores user specific data such as user ID₁ address, telephone number, age, gender, user habits defining how the user uses the suntan centre, identification data, body specific conditions of the user , etc. The identification data is suitable for identifying the user, and could for instance be a personal user name and access code or unique body characteristics such as fingerprints, DNA, facial structures, iris structures, voice characteristics etc. Further, the body characteristics could be used as a link in order to identify the ID of the user. The physical conditions could for instance define the user's skin type, the color of the skin, the number of freckles or birth marks, eye or hair colour etc.

Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a dispenser device (129) according to the present invention; the dispenser device (129) comprises a control unit (201 ), a lotion container (203), a pump unit (205) and an infrared sensor (207). The control unit (201 ) could be embodied as a microprocessor, DSP, PLD, analogue electrical circuits or other logic circuits. From the admittance device (101 ) the control unit receives a dispenser activation/deactivation signal (209) informing the control unit to activate the infrared sensor such that the user can activate the pump unit. The control unit thereafter activates the infrared sensor through a sensor activation signal (211 ) and the infrared sensor can then register when a user wants to use the lotion and activates (213) thereafter the pump unit (205) which pumps lotion from the lotion container to the solarium user. This embodiment further comprises a feed back signal (215a, 215b) informing the control unit about the amount of lotion that has been dispensed to the user. The feed back signal could be a signal proportional to the amount of lotion (215a) dispensed to the user by the pump unit or it could be a part (215b) of the pump activation signal fed into the control unit enabling the control unit to count the number of times the pump unit has been activated. The control unit could then be adapted to deactivate the infrared sensor when a predetermined amount of lotion has been dispensed to the user. In another embodiment the dispenser device comprises a number of containers comprising different kinds of lotion, and the users could then from the admittance device choose which kind of lotion that he/she wants to use. The admittance device then communicates to the control unit from which of the containers the lotion should be dispensed to the user. This could be embodied by including one pump for each container and then adapting the control unit to activate the pumps for the type of lotion requested by the user. The user could then choose to use one kind of lotion before using the solarium and another kind of lotion after using the solarium. Finally, the dispenser device compromises a power supply or a battery (not shown) in order to supply the different components with power.

Figure 3 illustrates a flow diagram of the communication between the user (203), the admittance device (101 ), the solarium (119a) and the dispenser device (129) when a user wants to use one of the solariums in the suntan centre. First (301 ) the user starts to use the admittance device in order to get access to one of the solariums, and the admittance device hereafter asks (302) the user which solarium he/she wants to use. Hereafter the user selects the solarium (303) that he/she wants to use and the admittance device registers the user's choice (304) and asks (305) if the user wants to buy lotion. The user hereafter decides whether or not he/she wants to buy lotion (306) and the admittance device registers the choice (307). Hereafter the admittance device asks (308) the user to pay for the wanted services; e.g. both for access to the solarium and for the lotion. The user hereafter pays (309) for the requested services e.g. by using a payment system as described in figure 1. The admittance device hereafter activates the dispenser device (311a) if the user has chosen to buy lotion and if the user has provided sufficient payment. The admittance device could for instance in step (311a) request the dispenser device to be activated for a given period of time or to dispense a certain amount of lotion to the user. The dispenser device then registers the request from the admittance device and starts to wait (312) for the user to request lotion. On the other hand if the user has not chosen to buy lotion or if sufficient payment has not been provided the admittance device does not (311 b) activate the dispenser device. The admittance device then (313) activates the solarium, which registers (314) that it needs to start within a given time period - e.g. 5 minutes. Finally, the admittance device informs (315) the user that the solarium is ready to use. The user could hereafter try to activate the dispenser device; however, if the dispenser device has not been activated in step (312), the user would not (317a) get any lotion. In contrast, the dispenser device would dispense (318) lotion to the user if it has been activated. Finally, the user would (319) start to use the solarium which starts (320) after the given time period. The communication thereafter terminates (321). In another embodiment the dispenser device is also activated such that the user can apply lotion after he/she has used the solarium.

Figure 4 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating how the admittance device acts when a user wants to use one of the solariums in the suntan centre. Solid lines indicate the flow path and dashed lines indicate communication storage and peripherical devices. The admittance device is initialized in step (401 ) such that it gets configured to communicate with the input/output devices (115, 117), the solariums (119a, 119b), the payment system (121 ), the fingerprint scanner (135), the skin color scanner (137) and optionally a network (113). The admittance device is further configured for communication with a user (403) via input means and a graphical user interface displayed on a screen as described in figure 1. Initially the user (403) starts to use the admittance device, and the admittance device asks in step (405) if the user has used the suntan centre before and thus is a registered user. The admittance device starts up a registration process (407) where a new user record is created in a user register (409) if the user has not used the suntan centre before. The registration process comprises a step where the user enters personal information such as name, address, age, phone number, e-mail, etc. Further, the topography of the user's finger is determined by the fingerprint scanner (135) in order to establish a unique identification of the new user. The finger topography could later on be used to identify the user and link the user to the user record stored in the user register. The user is also requested to answer a number of questions in order for the admittance device to determine the user's skin type. The questions could for instance relate to how often the user gets sunburned, in what degree the user tends to be tanned when exposed to the sun, the color of the user's hair and eyes, whether or not the user has freckles or birth marks. Further, the user's skin type could be determined by acquiring information about the skin color of the user from the skin color scanner (137). The information is stored in the user register, and the admittance device could thus access and use this information when necessary.

On the other hand, if the user has used the suntan centre before, the admittance device starts a login process (411), where the admittance device identifies the user and the user's user record in the use register (409). In this embodiment the user is identified through the fingerprint scanner (135) and the user therefore places his/her finger at the fingerprint scanner which scans the topography of the finger, and the user record is identified by finding the user record that matches the finger topography. Other body characteristics as described in figure 1 could be used when identifying the user, and further the user could be identified by requiring the user to enter an account name and password, by using a member card formed for instance as a credit card or by communication with the user's mobile phone.

The user is in step (413) offered a number of options, e.g. the possibility of editing his/her user data (415), starting a payment process (417) or starting to use a solarium (419). A data editing process is started up, if the user wants to edit his/her user data. The data editing process makes it possible for the user to change his/her user data stored in the data register (409) for instance in order to register address changes, change member status, change preferred settings etc. The user could also choose to perform a payment enabling the user to access suntan services that requires payment. This is achieved through the payment system (121 ) which allows the user to pay an amount of money for instance by using a credit card or cash. The payment system would in the case of credit card payment be securely connected to a money transfer server (not shown) as known in the art of payments systems and thereby allow credit card payments. The payment would be registered in the user record in the user register.

A solarium activation process (419) is activated when a user wants to use a solarium. The solarium activation process comprises the step of determining (421) at least one usage recommendation recommending how the user should use the suntan service.

The usage recommendation is determined on the basis of user data stored in the user record (409) and on basis of the current skin color of the user measured by the skin color scanner (125). The usage recommendation would inform the user as to how he/she should use the suntan system in order to achieve as much tanning effect as possible without getting sunburned. The usage recommendation could for instance recommend which solarium the user should use, for how long time the user should use the solarium, recommend the user to use a certain lotion or recommend the user not to use the solarium.

Users with very dark skin are less likely to be sunburned and the user recommendation therefore suggests to users with dark skin to use the more powerful solariums and/or use the solarium for a longer period of time than would be the case for users with pale skin. On the other hand, the user recommendation could recommend the user not to use the solarium if the user's skin colour is very red indicating that the user is already sunburned.

The specific user data entered by the user when creating a user record is also used when determining the usage recommendation and the colour of the user's eyes could also be used when determining to how much sun the user may be exposed. Blue eyed persons are typically more sensitive to sun exposure than persons with brown eyes. Further, persons with many freckles or birth marks are typically much more sensitive to sun exposure than persons with no freckles or birth marks. In addition to the body characteristics, other parameters like e.g. usage history defining how the user has previously used the suntan centre might also be used. Users that are often exposed to the sun are typically more resistant to sun exposure.

The user recommendation could for instance be classified into three usage recommendations defining the amount of sun to which the user should be exposed:

- Limited amount of sun, 0-5 minutes of sun exposure

- Moderate amount of sun, 5-15 minutes of sun exposure

- High amount of sun, more than 15 minutes of sun exposure

The user could thereafter, on the basis of the recommendation, decide for how long he/she wants to be exposed to the sun.

The user recommendation could also be determined on the basis of information defining the effect of the different solariums available in the suntan centre and/or available sun protection lotion. Such a recommendation could for instance define for how long the user should use a certain type of solarium and what kind of sun lotion the user should use. One advantage of this is that the user recommendation is determined on the basis of whether or not the sun tubes in a solarium are all-new or old and worn out. Hereby it is possible to avoid that a user gets sunburned because he/she uses a solarium with new sun tubes for the period of time that he/she is used to. This is achieved by measuring the intensity of the UV light emitted from the solariums and hereafter using the intensity when determining the usage recommendation. The intensity could be measured by using standard photo detectors and be entered in the admittance device manually, e.g. by a service technician or it could be measured online by connecting the admittance device to a photo detector.

A set of user recommendations defining different ways of using the suntan centre could in one embodiment be presented to the user, who could thereafter choose to use the suntan centre according to one of the usage recommendations. Such a set of user recommendations could for instance be presented as a list where each bullet point defines a user recommendation:

- Solarium type 1 for 5 minutes not using sun protection cream - Solarium type 1 for 10 minutes using sun protection cream type A

- Solarium type 1 for 15 min using sun protection cream type B

- Solarium type 2 for 5 minutes using sun protection cream type A

- Solarium type 2 for 10 minutes using sun protection cream type B

The usage recommendations would be presented to the user on the screen, whereafter the user in step (423) chooses how to use the suntan centre for instance by choosing one of the user recommendations or by manually setting the solarium. Further, the user can choose to buy lotion from the dispenser device.

Once the user has chosen how he/she wants to use the suntan centre, the admittance device checks (425) if the user has paid enough money to use the suntan service, and the payment process (417) is activated if an insufficient amount of money has been paid. On the other hand, if the user has paid enough money, the admittance device would thereafter activate (427) the dispenser device if the user has chosen to buy lotion and the solarium that the user wants to use the is activated as well.

Claims

1. A dispenser device (129) for dispensing lotion (131 ) to a solarium user (133), said dispenser device comprises:

- a container (203) for lotion, - a dispenser unit (205) for dispensing lotion from said container,

- communication means enabling said dispenser device to communicate (209) with an admittance device,

- timing means,

2. A dispenser device according to claim 1 , wherein said dispenser device further comprises measuring means for measuring the amount of lotion dispensed by said dispenser and wherein said activation and deactivation of said dispenser unit is further based on said amount of lotion dispensed by said dispenser unit.

3. A dispenser device according to claims 1-2, wherein said dispenser device further comprises activating means, wherein said activation and deactivation of said dispenser unit is further based on activation of said activating means.

4. A dispenser device according to claim 3, wherein said activation means is an infrared motion detector (207) detecting the motion of said user, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser unit is further based on the motion of said user.

5. An admittance device (101 ) for admitting a user access to a solarium treatment, said admittance device comprises: - communication means (109d) enabling said admittance device to communicate with a dispenser device (129), said dispenser device comprising:

^■ a container (203) for lotion, B a dispenser unit (205) for dispensing lotion from said container,

^■ communication means enabling said dispenser device to communicate with said admittance device (101),

^■ timing means,

^■ processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit based on communication with said admittance device and said timing means.

- processing means (103) for activating and deactivating said dispenser device based on communication with said dispenser device such that said processing means for activating and deactivating said dispenser unit can be enabled and/or disabled.

6. An admittance device according to claim 5, wherein said admittance device further comprises processing means (103) for determining at least one usage recommendation in relation to said solarium treatment, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said usage recommendation.

7. An admittance device according to claims 5-6, wherein said admittance device further comprises communication means (115, 117) enabling said admittance device to communicate with said user, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said communication with said user.

8. An admittance device according to claims 5-7, wherein said admittance device further comprises means (121) for receiving payment, wherein said activating and deactivating of said dispenser device is further based on said received payment.