The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 13, 2026
Filed:
Nov. 19, 2021
7-eleven, Inc., Irving, TX (US);
Matthew O'daniel Redmond, Denton, TX (US);
John Robert Keller, Plano, TX (US);
7-Eleven, Inc., Irving, TX (US);
Abstract
A system for providing a measure of a number of cups housed within a cup dispenser includes a sensor and a computing system. The cup dispenser includes a body configured to house a stack of cups, and a plunger configured to engage a first cup of the stack of cups and to bias the stack of cups toward a discharge opening defined by a first end of the body. The sensor is coupled to the plunger and is configured to measure a distance from the plunger to a second end of the body, and to transmit the measured distance across a network. The computing system receives the measured distance from the network, and determines, based on the measured distance, the measure of the number of cups housed within the cup dispenser. In response to determining that the number of cups is less than the threshold, the system transmits an alert.