System and method for tracking inventory

• US 20040102869A1
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Published: 05/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TotalTrax, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Paper Company
• Inventors: Andersen, Scott Paul, Kirkham, Richard Ferris
• Granted Patent: US 7,151,979 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/215
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 18/28 Wound package of webs
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/01 indicating an entity as a function of which control, adjustment or change is performed, i.e. input
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2220/03 indicating an entity which is measured, estimated, evaluated, calculated or determined but which does not constitute an entity which is adjusted or changed by the control process per se
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2511/40 Identification
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2553/61 Mechanical means, e.g. contact arms
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2557/13 Data carrier, e.g. chip, transponder, magnetic strip
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 2557/50 Use of particular electromagnetic waves, e.g. light, radiowaves or microwaves
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 75/182 Identification means
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/184 Roll clamps
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0776 the adhering arrangement being a layer of adhesive, so that the record carrier can function as a sticker
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10079 the collision being resolved in the spatial domain, e.g. temporary shields for blindfolding the interrogator in specific directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10326 the antenna being of the very-near field type, e.g. capacitive
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10336 the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil

Abstract

An RFID enabled paper roll includes a tubular core, a paper stock wound around the core, and a radio frequency integrated circuit electrically coupled to an antenna and positioned on the core. A system for reading a radio frequency integrated circuit positioned on an item of inventory in a warehouse comprises a material handling device and an RFID reader coupled to the material handling device. The material handling device has at least member for use in transporting an item of inventory. The reader is configured to read the radio frequency integrated circuit associated with the item of inventory when the item is in proximity to the material handling device.

Claims

1. An RFID enabled paper roll comprising:

a core;

a paper stock wound around the core; and

an RFIC electrically coupled to an antenna and positioned on the core.

2. The paper roll of claim 1, wherein the core is tubular and the RFIC is positioned on an RFID inlet, with the RFID inlet including an adhesive surface and the adhesive surface being positioned on one of the inner surface or the outer surface of the core.

3. The paper roll of claim 2, wherein the RFID inlet includes a tag having a substrate, and the RFIC and antenna are positioned on the substrate.

4. The paper roll of claim 2, wherein the core has an inner and an outer surface and the RFID inlet is positioned on the outer surface of the core such that a portion of the paper stock comes in contact with the RFID inlet when wound around the core.

5. The paper roll of claim 1, wherein the RFIC is an inductive system and the antenna is an inductive antenna.

6. The paper roll of claim 1, wherein the RFIC is a capacitive system and the antenna is a capacitive antenna.

7. The paper roll of claim 1, wherein the RFIC is read/writable.

8. The paper roll of claim 1, further comprising a sensor for sensing an environmental condition, said sensor coupled to the RFIC and positioned on the core.

9. A system for reading an RFIC positioned on an item of inventory in a warehouse comprising:

a material handling device having at least one member for use in transporting an item of inventory, said item of inventory having an RFIC associated therewith; and

at least one RFID reader coupled to the material handling device for reading the RFIC associated with the item of inventory when the item is in proximity to the material handling device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the material handling device is a fork lift truck, the at least one member is a pair of arms extending outwardly from the fork lift truck, and the at least one reader is positioned on the fork lift truck so that when the pair of arms are in proximity to the item of inventory, the at least one reader can communicate with the RFIC associated with the item of inventory.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the RFIC is positioned on an inlet and is electrically coupled to an antenna, with the inlet being positioned on the item of inventory.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the pair of arms are a pair of clamp arms having clamp pads and the item of inventory is a paper roll, with the clamp arms encircling the paper roll to transport the paper roll.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one reader is operative to communicate with the RFIC when the paper roll is at least partially encircled by the pair of clamp arms, said reader being operative when manually activated by an operator.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising pressure switches that are coupled to the movement of the pair of clamp arms, with the pressure switches monitoring a pressure applied by the clamp arm pads to the paper roll, wherein the pressure of the clamp arm pads against the paper roll increases above a triggering level as the clamp arms engage the paper roll and decreases below a triggering level as the clamp arms deposit a paper roll, and the at least one reader is operative when the pressure reaches the triggering level.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the fork lift truck comprises a truck body, the pair of clamp arms, a lift mast to which the clamp arms are operatively associated, and a back plate coupled between the lift mast and the clamp arms, and at least one of the readers is positioned on the fork lift truck.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a reader antenna coupled to each of the at least one readers.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the reader antenna is a conductive loop that extends from the fork lift truck and is connected to the fork lift truck by at least one bracket.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the reader antenna is a conductive coating on the pair of clamp arms, and the at least one reader is electrically coupled to the conductive coating on the arms.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the reader antenna comprises a rigid, conductive tube positioned in the shape of a loop and a plurality of antenna wires are suspended in the tube, said antenna wires being wound around the loop within the tube and electrically isolated from the tube.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one reader positioned on the fork lift truck comprises two readers, with the associated reader antennae positioned on either side of and being electrically spaced from the lift mast.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one reader positioned on the fork lift truck comprises one reader, with the associated reader antenna being positioned around, but spaced from, the lift mast.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one reader positioned on the fork lift truck comprises two readers, with the associated reader antennae being positioned on each of the clamp arms of the fork lift trucks.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein a trough is formed in at least one of the clamp arms and clamp pads, and the reader antennae are positioned in the trough, with an insulating dielectric positioned between each reader antenna and trough.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the reader antenna lies in a plane and the plane is positioned at an angle relative to the lift mast.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one reader comprises a plurality of readers with a reader antenna coupled to each of the readers, wherein the reader antennae are position adjacent one another to form a grid that extends from or is positioned on the fork lift truck.

26. The system of claim 11, further comprising a computer processor in communication with the at least one reader for receiving information from the reader and transmitting information to the reader, and a position locating system for determining the position of the item of inventory in the warehouse, said position locating system for transmitting information to the at least one reader and the computer processor.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the position locating system comprises a plurality of RFID transmitters and at least one RFID receiver.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one RFID receiver is positioned on the fork lift truck and the plurality of RFID transmitters are positioned at spaced locations throughout the warehouse, and the fork lift truck comprises a plurality of fork lift trucks, with an RFID receiver being positioned one each fork lift truck.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of RFID transmitters are positioned on the ceiling of the warehouse in equally spaced intervals.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of RFID transmitters includes at least two RFID transmitters, and each RFID transmitter is configured to transmit an RF signal at a pre-determined frequency.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein each RFID transmitter transmits at a different pre-determined frequency than the other transmitters.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the computer processor includes programming for receiving and processing the signals transmitted by the RFID transmitters and received by the RFID receivers and the programming is for calculating a position of the receiver on each fork lift truck in the warehouse.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the computer processor includes a first computer processor positioned on the fork lift truck and a second computer processor positioned in the warehouse, with the first computer processor including programming for determining the position of the receiver on the fork lift truck within the warehouse based upon the received and processed signals.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the computer processor includes a Kalman filter for filtering out errors in the signals.

35. The system of claim 33, further comprising an location measurement device mounted on the fork lift truck for determining the position of the fork lift truck based upon the movement of the truck.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the first computer processor receives signals from the location measurement device, the position locating system, the reader, the RFIC and the second computer processor includes programming for determining the position of the items of inventory and includes a database for storage of the position of the item of inventory.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the location measurement device determines the angle of the receiver relative to each of the transmitters and the computer programming in the first computer processor is for calculating the position of the receiver and includes triangulation calculations that are in part dependent on the angle of the receiver relative to each of the transmitters;

and further comprising programming for correcting errors in the calculation.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the computer programming includes an algorithm for determining which transmitter signals to use in calculating a position of the receiver and the item of inventory.

39. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

an activating mechanism for activating the reader to at least one of read and write to the RFIC; and

an activating mechanism for activating the position locating system, wherein activation of the position locating system results in a calculation of a position of the item of inventory at a desired time, with the calculation being performed by the first computer processor.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein the position locating system continually calculates the position of the receiver on the fork lift truck as the truck moves about the warehouse, with the calculations being performed by the first computer processor, and further comprising an activating mechanism for activating the reader to at least one of read and write to the RFIC at a desired time.

41. The system of claim 26, wherein the position locating system comprises a plurality of RFID inlets positioned at spaced locations on a floor of the warehouse and at least one position locating reader positioned on the fork lift truck.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein each of the RFID inlets have an antenna and the at least one position locating reader has at least one reader antenna.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein the at least one position locating reader comprises a plurality of antennae positioned at different locations on the fork lift truck and the antennae are multiplexed such that the position locating reader can communicate with each of the antennae.

44. The system of claim 41, wherein each of the RFID inlets has an RFIC antenna with a first read range, and the at least one position locating reader has a reader antenna with a second read range, and dead spaces are created on the floor of the warehouse where the position locating reader cannot read any of the plurality of RFID inlets.

45. A method of tracking an item of inventory in a warehouse, comprising:

providing the system of claim 26, wherein information is stored in the RFIC positioned on the item of inventory;

associating the pair of arms of the fork lift truck with the item of inventory in the warehouse;

powering the reader on the fork lift truck to communicate with the RFIC on the item of inventory to at least one of read the information stored in the RFIC and write information to the RFIC.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

determining a preferred position for the item of inventory;

transporting the item of inventory to the preferred position;

depositing the item of inventory at the preferred position;

determining the position of the item of inventory once the item has been deposited utilizing the position locating system and the computer processor; and

storing the deposited position of the item in at least one of the RFIC and the computer processor.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising

comparing the preferred position to the deposited position;

and

signaling an alarm if the preferred position does not match the deposited position.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the arms of the fork lift truck are a pair of clamp arms having clamp pads and the item of inventory is a paper roll, with the clamp arms being configured to wrap around the paper roll for the transport thereof, and wherein the transporting step includes grasping the paper roll with the clamp pads, lifting the paper roll, and moving the paper roll to the preferred position;

and the depositing step includes depositing the paper roll in the preferred position.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the computer processor includes a first computer processor positioned on the fork lift truck and a second computer processor positioned in the warehouse, with the first computer processor including computer programming for determining the position of the item of inventory within the warehouse and the second computer processor for storing position and inventory information;

and further comprising communicating between the first and second computer processors.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the communicating step comprises wireless communication.