Patent Grant
11651405
The present disclosure generally relates to containers, and in particular, to a service for providing and updating bags that can protect their contents during emergency situations.
Severe weather, natural disasters, fires and other extreme conditions can force the evacuation of large numbers of people. Often, people are unprepared for evacuation, and in the urgent rush to evacuate with family members and pets, important objects and documents can be left behind and eventually destroyed. There is a need in the art for a container that can protect valuables and important documents during an emergency situation.
In one aspect, a method of providing a dynamic go-bag service to a user is provided. The method includes receiving user information from a user, including information about the user, the user's family, and the user's home or residence. Based on the received user information, the method further includes generating a customized go-bag for the user that includes contents specific for the user to use in an emergency situation. The method also includes providing the customized go-bag to the user.
In another aspect, a method of providing a dynamic go-bag service to a user is provided. The method includes determining whether any user information associated with a user has changed. The user information includes at least information about the user, the user's family, and the user's home or residence. Upon determining at least one change in the user information, the method also includes generating an updated list of supplies or items to be included in the contents of an updated go-bag for the user. The method includes comparing the updated list of supplies or items to contents of a go-bag previously provided to the user to determine one or more updated supplies or items. The method further includes providing the one or more updated supplies or items to the user.
In another aspect, a system for providing a dynamic go-bag service to a user is provided. The system includes a computing system including at least one processor. The at least one processor is in communication with a communication network. The at least one processor is configured to receive user information from a user through the communication network, including information about the user, the user's family, and the user's home or residence. Based on the received user information, the at least one processor is also configured to generate a customized go-bag for the user that includes contents specific for the user to use in an emergency situation. The at least one processor is also configured to provide the customized go-bag to the user.
Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description and this summary, be within the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the following claims.
The disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
As described herein, a container is provided that can store and protect valuables and important documents during an emergency situation, referred to as a “go-bag”. Emergency situations can refer to situations that are caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes or wildfires. Various embodiments of the go-bag may allow a user to safely transport items. In some instances, an emergency situation may cause an unsafe environment such as flooding or fires. Embodiments of a go-bag may allow the transported items to remain protected from water and/or fire. Other emergency situations may leave a user with no electrical power or access to electronic necessities. In some embodiments, the go-bag may provide electrical power to electronic devices. In some situations where flooding may occur, some embodiments of a go-bag may provide a waterproof vessel for items to remain dry and float. In other embodiments, the vessel may float in a predetermined orientation so that the go-bag can continue to generate electrical power for a user. In some embodiments, a go-bag may include identification features so that the go-bag can be returned to its owners.
According to the techniques of the present embodiments, a method and system for generating a customized go-bag and maintaining and/or updating the contents of the go-bag are provided. In some embodiments, a customized go-bag may be replaced with a new customized go-bag that includes contents reflecting a change in circumstances or other factors associated with a user. In some embodiments, one or more items in the contents of a go-bag may be replaced, updated, changed, or otherwise modified based on one or more criteria. In some cases, the criteria may be time-based. In other cases, the criteria may be based on changes in a user's circumstances or other factors associated with the user. With these techniques, a user's go-bag may be maintained or updated to remain relevant to the current needs and circumstances of the user.
Additionally, operation 102 may further include requesting and receiving information associated with the new user, including, for example, information about the user's family (e.g., number of family members, ages, genders, clothing sizes, special conditions, etc.), information about the user's home or residence (e.g., geographic region, location, address, number of floors, dwelling type, connected utilities, etc.), as well as other information about the user and/or the user's family (e.g., documents, pets, allergies, medications, etc.). For example, in some embodiments, operation 102 may include providing a menu or other interface that allows the user to provide the information to the service provider. In some embodiments, operation 102 may also be implemented for existing users to allow the existing users to provide new or additional information that may be used by the service provider.
Next, method 100 includes an operation 104 where a customized go-bag is created or generated for the user. For example, at operation 104, the customized go-bag may be created or generated based on the user information received at operation 102. That is, the contents of the go-bag are customized specifically to the circumstances and needs of a particular user based on the information provided at operation 102. In general, the contents of a go-bag may include a variety of different items that are selected to be useful to a user in an emergency situation. Examples of a go-bag that may be created or generated include any embodiments or combinations of embodiments of a go-bag described in co-pending and commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/456,136, filed on Jun. 28, 2019 and titled “Go-Bag for Emergency Situations”, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,350,718, the disclosure of which application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety (referred to herein as the “Go-Bag Application”).
Method 100 further includes an operation 106, where the customized go-bag created at operation 104 is sent to the user. For example, the customized go-bag may be created or generated at one location as part of operation 104 and then sent to the user at another location, such as the user's home or residence. In addition, in some embodiments, the location at which the customized go-bag is created or generated may be located remotely from the location of the computing system or other processor that is configured to implement method 100. For example, the customized go-bag may be created or generated, including assembling the customized items in the contents of the go-bag, at one or more different locations. In some cases, the go-bag itself (i.e., the container) may be manufactured in one location and the contents (i.e., the customized items inside the go-bag) may be assembled at another location. With this arrangement, users in different geographic regions may receive their customized go-bags from locations that are located within geographic proximity of the user.
Next, method 108 includes an operation 108. At operation 108, the go-bag sent to the user at operation 106 is updated and/or maintained. In various embodiments, the customized go-bag may be updated and/or maintained as part of operation 108 in different ways. For example, in one embodiment, the customized go-bag may be updated and/or maintained by sending the user a new customized go-bag with replaced, updated, changed, or otherwise modified contents. In other embodiments, the customized go-bag may be updated and/or maintained by providing replacement or updated items that may be added or exchanged with items in the existing customized go-bag.
In the various embodiments, the customized go-bag is updated and/or maintained at operation 108 to reflect a change in circumstances or other factors associated with a user, the user's family, or any of the information provided by the user as part of operation 102 and/or may also be updated based on one or more other criteria, such as time-based criteria (e.g., expiration dates of medicine or food, best-by dates of batteries or other items, etc.), weather-related criteria (e.g., items relevant during hurricane season, items relevant during winter or snowstorm season, etc.), or other criteria that may necessitate different items useful for emergency situations. With these techniques, a user's go-bag may be maintained or updated to remain relevant to the current needs and circumstances of the user.
In an example embodiment, go-bag 205 includes representative contents 210 that have been customized for a particular user. For example, go-bag 205 may include contents 210 customized according to method 100, described above (e.g., created at operation 104 based on the information received for a user as part of operation 102). Contents 210 of go-bag 205 include a variety of different items that may be useful to a user in an emergency situation.
In this embodiment, contents 210 include food 212 (e.g., energy/protein bars, canned food, dried fruit, etc.), clothing 214 (e.g., one or more changes of clothing for the user and/or other family members, extra socks, shirts, undergarments, etc.), toiletries 216 (e.g., sanitizing wipes or other products, tissues, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, eye drops, etc.), medications 218 (e.g., over-the-counter medicines, painkillers, disinfectants, allergy or cold medicines, antihistamines, epi-pens, as well as prescription medicines for the user and/or the user's family, or other medicines or medications), family supplies 220 (e.g., baby formula, diapers, pet food, etc.), emergency supplies 222 (e.g., flares, flashlights, mirrors, matches, blankets, bandages, etc.), and documents 224 (e.g., identification, insurance cards, wills, passports, birth certificates, lists of contacts, photos, mortgage, other important financial or personal documents, etc.). It should be understood that the specific items included in contents 210 shown in
As shown in
In some embodiments, go-bag 205 may also include one or more identification features disposed on its exterior surface. The identification features may allow a user to identify go-bag 205 if lost or separated from the user. Examples of an identification feature can include a quick response (QR) code 235, a barcode 240, or a numerical code that can identify the user of go-bag 205. In other embodiments, any other kind of identifier or indicia could be used with go-bag 205 as an identification feature. In this embodiment, the identification features are disposed on a portion of a tab along a top of go-bag 205, including QR code 235 and barcode 240. In other embodiments, the identification features may be located on other portions of go-bag 205. Some embodiments of go-bag 205 can include multiple identification features. For example, as shown in
As described in the Go Bag Application, incorporated by reference above, go-bag 205 may include any number of features, including, but not limited to an airtight and/or waterproof seal to protect the contents of the go-bag, provisions that protect the contents in high temperature or fire conditions (e.g., flame or fire resistant material layers), provisions to increase the buoyancy of the go-bag in water (e.g., buoyant or inflatable layers), provisions that can provide electrical power, self-orienting features, locking features, tracking features, etc.
In this embodiment, go-bag 205 includes a solar panel 245 disposed on an outside surface of the bag that can provide electrical power to an interior void or space 255 of go-bag 205. In some embodiments, an electrical conductor can extend from solar panel 245 to the interior void 255 of go-bag 205. The electrical conductor can be placed in any desired or suitable location within interior void 255. Any suitable mechanical connection may be provided to connect an electronic device to the electrical conductor. In some cases, a universal connector, such as a USB connector, may be provided to electrically connect an electronic device or external battery pack to the electrical conductor to receive electricity from solar panel 245.
In this embodiment, go-bag 205 also includes include a seal 250 that can enclose interior void or space 255 from the external environment. Some embodiments of go-bag 205 may include a seal 250 with components that provide a releasable closing system that can selectively join go-bag 205 along an edge. In some embodiments, seal 250 can be a waterproof seal.
Referring now to
Next, method 300 includes an operation 304. At operation 304, whether or not any of the supplies or contents of the go-bag need to be replaced is determined. For example, based on the assessment made at operation 302, one or more items included in contents 210 of go-bag 205 may be determined to need replacing. Upon determining at operation 304 that none of the supplies in the go-bag need to be replaced or updated (e.g., the determination at operation 304 is “NO”), then method 300 may proceed back to operation 302 where the information associated with the go-bag may be assessed again at some later time. For example, the information associated with the go-bag may be assessed on a predetermined basis, such as a periodic time period (e.g., monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.), and/or may be assessed based on information indicative of a change in circumstances associated with a user (e.g., a birth, death, move, job change, etc.).
Upon determining at operation 304 that at least one of the items or supplies included in the go-bag does need to be replaced or updated (e.g., the determination at operation 304 is “YES”), then method 300 may proceed to an operation 306. At operation 306, one or more of the items or supplies that were determined to need to be replaced at operation 304 are sent to the user. In some embodiments, the replacement items or supplies may be sent to the user directly from the service provider (i.e., the dynamic go-bag service). In other embodiments, the replacement items or supplies may be sent to the user directly from one or more third-party providers on behalf of the service provider, for example, from retail merchants or other entities that manufacture, distribute, and/or sell various items or supplies that may be included in the user's go-bag.
In some embodiments, when the user receives the replacement items or supplies for the go-bag as a result of operation 306, the user may update the contents of the user's go-bag with the replacement items or supplies. For example, the user may replace or more items of contents 210 of go-bag 205, with the replacement items or supplies received based on method 300. In other embodiments, operation 306 may include generating and sending the user a new go-bag that includes the replacement items or supplies, along with the other contents of the previous go-bag. With this arrangement, a user's go-bag may be automatically maintained or updated by the service provider so that the go-bag remains relevant to the current needs and circumstances of the user.
Referring now to
In some cases, the dynamic go-bag service provider may periodically request that the user confirm and/or update the user's information so that the new information may be used as part of operation 402. In other cases, operation 402 may be triggered based on a user-initiated update or change in the user's information, for example, upon a change in circumstances or situation, the user may access the user information and make changes that trigger implementation of method 400.
Upon determining at operation 402 that the user information has not changed (e.g., the determination at operation 402 is “NO”), then method 400 may proceed back to operation 402 where whether the user's information has changed may be assessed again at some later time. For example, changes to the user's information may be assessed on a predetermined basis, such as a periodic time period (e.g., monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.), upon initiation by the user, and/or may be assessed based on user information indicative of a change in circumstances associated with the user (e.g., a birth, death, move, job change, etc.).
Upon determining at operation 402 that the user information has changed (e.g., the determination at operation 402 is “YES”), then method 400 proceeds to an operation 404. At operation 404, current information associated with the user's go-bag is retrieved. For example, at operation 404, a list of the current contents of the user's go-bag (e.g., contents 210 of go-bag 205) may be accessed from a database or memory by the service provider. Next, at an operation 406, a list of supplies or items is generated based on the new user information provided at operation 402. In an example embodiment, operation 406 may include generating a complete list of items based on the updated user information.
Next, method 400 may proceed to an operation 408 where the generated list of items based on the updated user information determined at operation 406 is compared with the current contents of the user's go-bag. That is, the contents of the go-bag that the user has been previously provided (e.g., as part of method 100, described above) is compared with the list generated based on the updated user information. Based on the comparison, method 400 proceeds to an operation 410 where the updated supplies or items are sent to the user to include in the user's existing go-bag. For example, the comparison at operation 408 may determine that based on the updated user information, the user has recently added a new family member. As a result, at operation 410, updated supplies or items to be included in the user's go-bag are sent to the user. In the case of a new family member, these updated supplies or items may include extra clothing, additional food and water, baby diapers, etc.
In some embodiments, the updated items or supplies may be sent to the user directly from the service provider (i.e., the dynamic go-bag service). In other embodiments, the updated items or supplies may be sent to the user directly from one or more third-party providers on behalf of the service provider, for example, from retail merchants or other entities that manufacture, distribute, and/or sell various items or supplies that may be included in the user's go-bag. In some embodiments, when the user receives the updated items or supplies for the go-bag as a result of operation 410, the user may update the contents of the user's go-bag with the updated items or supplies. For example, the user may add the updated or new items to contents 210 of go-bag 205, with the updated items or supplies received based on method 400. In other embodiments, operation 410 may include generating and sending the user a new go-bag that includes the updated items or supplies, along with the other contents of the previous go-bag. With this arrangement, a user's go-bag may be automatically maintained or updated by the service provider so that the go-bag remains relevant to the current needs and circumstances of the user.
Additionally, in some embodiments, operation 410 of method 400 may further include providing or sending the user an updated go-bag (i.e., the container to hold the contents of the go-bag), either along with the updated items or as part of a completely updated go-bag. For example, the updated go-bag may be larger in order to hold the updated contents (i.e., additional items and/or supplies may require a larger container than the previous go-bag can accommodate). In other embodiments, the updated go-bag may include additional or different features that would be useful to the user in an emergency situation based on the changes to the user information. For example, the user may move to a new home or residence in a geographic area with a history of flooding, in which case the updated go-bag may include waterproof and/or buoyancy features.
In an example embodiment, computing system 505 is configured to store user information 510 associated with a plurality of users of a dynamic go-bag service. In some embodiments, user information 510 may include any information provided by or received from a user in connection with the go-bag service, including information originally provided by the user when setting up the service (e.g., as part of operation 102 of method 100), as well as updated, changed, or modified information provided by a user (e.g., as part of any one or more of operations 302 of method 300 and/or operation 402 of method 400). Additionally, user information 510 may also include other information about a user from one or more publically available databases or sources.
In this embodiment, user information 510 includes for each user of the plurality of users one or more of the following types of information: basic information 512 (e.g., a user's identity or legal name, a username and password, account identifier, gender, age, sex, date of birth, etc.), work information 514 (e.g., a user's employer, job title, industry, work site location, etc.), family information 516 (e.g., number of people in a user's family, family member's ages, names, dates of birth, allergies, medications and/or medicines, medical conditions, pets, etc.), home and living information 518 (e.g., a home or residence address, type of residence or dwelling, number of floors, vehicles, number of people and/or pets at home, etc.), location information 520 (e.g., a geographic area, zip code, state, flood plain information, nearby emergency or evacuation routes, climate type, etc.), and/or current go-bag information 522 (e.g., information associated with one or more go-bags currently in the user's possession, such as a go-bag generated or created as part of method 100, 300, and/or 400 above).
It should be understood that user information 510 illustrated in
Referring now to
In an example embodiment, computing system 505 of dynamic go-bag service provider may use network 605 to communicate with a user through a mobile device 610. Mobile device 610 may be a cellular phone, tablet, computer, or other device including a processor. For example, mobile device 610 may run one or more software applications associated with operations of the dynamic go-bag service described herein. These applications could be native to the mobile device's operating system or web-applications that run on a browser. Moreover, an application may be configured with a graphical user interface (GUI) that facilitates visual and/or tactile interaction between a user and elements of the dynamic go-bag service, including computing system 505. Using mobile device 610, a user may interact with the dynamic go-bag service as described above.
In other embodiments, a user may additionally or alternatively interact with the dynamic go-bag service, including computing system 505, using other mechanisms, including, but not limited to a desktop computer and/or telephone (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN)).
As described above, in some embodiments, the dynamic go-bag service provider may use one or more third party providers and/or suppliers to provide updated, replacement, modified, new or original supplies or items for the contents of a user's go-bag. For example, as shown in
Referring now to
For example, in this embodiment, a first item 711 (e.g., a canned food item), a second item 712 (e.g., baby diapers), and/or a third item 713 (e.g., toothpaste) included in contents 210 of go-bag 205 are selected for replacement or updating. As described above, one or more of these items may be expired or the user's circumstances may have changed. Accordingly, as shown in
As described above, one or more of the replacement or updated items (e.g., items 721, 722, 723) may be replaced or updated based on changes in circumstances of the user and/or based on other criteria. For example, first item 711 may be replaced with first replacement item 721 because an expiration date (e.g., a time-based criteria) of the canned food has passed. In another example, second item 712 may be replaced with second replacement item 722 because the user's baby no longer needs diapers but may need milk or formula (e.g., a change in the user's family circumstances). In yet another example, third item 713 may be replaced with third replacement item 723 because the user or someone in the user's family may have developed an allergy to an ingredient in the previous toothpaste (e.g., another example of a change in the user's or user's family circumstances).
Additionally, in some embodiments, go-bag 205 may be replaced with updated go-bag 705. In some cases, updated go-bag 705 may already include all of updated contents 710. In other cases, updated go-bag 705 may be provided separately and the one or more replacement or updated items (e.g., items 721, 722, 723) may also be provided as a group or individually for the user to include with the remaining contents 710 of updated go-bag. In addition, in some embodiments, updated go-bag 705 may be a different size (e.g., to accommodate additional or larger items in contents 710) and/or may include additional or different features (e.g., waterproofing, buoyancy, fireproofing, charging, tracking, etc.), as described above. With this arrangement, the dynamic go-bag service according to the embodiments described herein maintains or updates a user's go-bag to remain relevant to the current needs and circumstances of the user for use in emergency situations.
In some embodiments, a go-bag may be provided with a mechanism configured to track or dynamically update a list of the contents contained within the go-bag. For example, a go-bag may include a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader that receives information from each item in the contents of the go-bag via associated RFID tags on each item. In other embodiments, a go-bag may include a computer vision object recognition sensor that is configured to identify the items contained in the go-bag based on image analysis. With this arrangement, a go-bag may configured to track and update a list of the contents contained therein. In addition, when one or more items are replaced or updated, the go-bag may use the RFID and/or object recognition sensor to update the list of the contents with the replaced and/or updated items.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, the description is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. Also, various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the attached claims.
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