Automated delivery and inventory status notification system and method
First Claim
1. A system for notifying of one of the presence and absence of at least one of an object and a fluid, comprising:
- a plurality of containers;
a plurality of sensor units, each sensor unit associated with one of said containers, each sensor unit comprising at least one sensor configured to detect said one of the presence and absence of said at least one of an object and a fluid within said one of said containers;
at least one microcontroller connected to some of said plurality of sensor units;
a computer connected to said microcontroller; and
a signaling mechanism connected to said computer, said signaling mechanism configured to provide an alert in response to said one of the presence and absence of said at least one of an object and a fluid in each of said plurality of containers.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automated, flexible and programmable system to update delivery and inventory status for an aggregate of remote mailboxes, bins, shelves, sorter bins, and/or a plurality of bins to distant customers and vendors through email, pager, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular phone mail, voice mail at call centers and/or web site mailboxes. It can function as a delivery notice to mailbox recipients or as inventory stock management to store owners and vendors at remote locations. Various sensors mounted on flexible circuit boards located on the mailboxes, bins, or shelves together with distributed microcontrollers report status through a common bus to a master controller and then to a computer system. The computer in turn dispatches reports and information to various owners and vendors via a remote network operation center accessed through a dedicated line, a wireless service or an Internet Service Provider. The frequency of report update, changing of locations of update, and the relational database can also be reprogrammed at any time from a remote central service location.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A system for notifying of one of the presence and absence of at least one of an object and a fluid, comprising:
-
a plurality of containers;
a plurality of sensor units, each sensor unit associated with one of said containers, each sensor unit comprising at least one sensor configured to detect said one of the presence and absence of said at least one of an object and a fluid within said one of said containers;
at least one microcontroller connected to some of said plurality of sensor units;
a computer connected to said microcontroller; and
a signaling mechanism connected to said computer, said signaling mechanism configured to provide an alert in response to said one of the presence and absence of said at least one of an object and a fluid in each of said plurality of containers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method for notifying of one of the presence and absence of at least one of an object and a fluid, comprising:
-
supplying a container configured to hold the one of an object and a fluid;
sensing, by a sensor unit associated with the container, the one of the presence and absence of the at least one of an object and a fluid;
forwarding, in response to said sensing, a first signal to a microcontroller connected to the sensor unit;
sending, in response to the first signal, a second signal from the microcontroller to a computer; and
providing an alert in response to the second signal;
wherein the alert is indicative of the one of the presence and absence of the at least one of an object and a fluid. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
Specification