ELECTRONICALLY KEYED DISPENSING SYSTEMS AND RELATED METHODS UTILIZING NEAR FIELD FREQUENCY RESPONSE

摘要

A DISPENSING SYSTEM (100) IS DISCLOSED WHICH UTILIZES AN ELECTRONICALLY POWERED KEY DEVICE AND/OR IDENTIFICATION CODE (156) ASSOCIATED WITH A REFILL CONTAINER (110) TO PRECLUDE THE NEED FOR MECHANICAL KEYS. THE SYSTEM UTILIZES A NEAR FIELD FREQUENCY RESPONSE TO DETERMINE WHETHER A REFILL CONTAINER IS COMPATIBLE WITH A DISPENSING SYSTEM. IN PARTICULAR, THE REFILL CONTAINER (110) IS PROVIDED WITH A COIL (158) TERMINATED BY ONE OF A NUMBER OF CAPACITORS (160). THE CONTAINER (110) IS RECEIVED IN A HOUSING (102) THAT PROVIDES A PAIR OF COILS (252,248) THAT ARE IN A SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE INSTALLED REFILL CONTAINER? S COIL (158). BY ENERGIZING ONE OF THE HOUSING?S COILS, THE OTHER COIL DETECTS A UNIQUE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE GENERATED BY THE CONTAINER?S COIL. IF THE SIGNATURE IS ACCEPTABLE, THE DISPENSING SYSTEM (100) IS ALLOWED TO DISPENSE A QUANTITY OF MATERIAL. THE SYSTEM ALSO PROVIDES A UNIQUE LATCHING MECHANISM TO RETAIN THE CONTAINER AND ENSURE POSITIONING OF ALL THE COILS.