Object Tracking in an Enclosure

• US 20070108273A1
• Filed: 01/12/2007
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stanley Industrial and Automotive, LLC (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Winware Incorporated (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Inventors: DeNise, Derry, Harper, Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 7,753,272 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/382
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00936 for key cabinets
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00 Individual registration on entry or exit
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/10 Casings or parts thereof, e.g. with means for heating or cooling

Abstract

Various embodiments of object tracking systems and related methods and devices are disclosed. One method embodiment, among others, includes scanning an interior space of an enclosure, the enclosure having at least one radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and at least one object associated with the at least one RFID tag, receiving an indication that a user is attempting access to the interior space, and responsive to receiving the indication, determining whether access to the interior space is permitted by the user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

scanning an interior space of an enclosure, the enclosure having at least one radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and at least one object associated with the at least one RFID tag;

receiving an indication that a user is attempting access to the interior space; and

responsive to receiving the indication, determining whether access to the interior space is permitted by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining that access is not permitted, denying entry to the interior space; and

responsive to determining that access is permitted, enabling entry to the interior space.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein denying entry comprises effecting engagement between a lock and at least one access member through which access to the interior space is achieved, and wherein enabling access to the interior space comprises effecting disengagement between the lock and the at least one access member.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to determining that access is permitted, ceasing the scanning of the interior space.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether at least one access member through which access to the interior space is achieved is either closed or locked.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein responsive to determining that the at least one access member is either closed or locked, resuming the scanning of the interior space.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein responsive to resuming the scanning of the interior space:

determining whether the at least one object has been removed from the interior space; and

determining whether a second object has been returned to the interior space.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the at least one object has been removed from the interior space comprises comparing information corresponding to the at least one RFID tag to information in a data structure, the data structure comprising information pertaining to objects expected in the enclosure, and wherein determining whether the second object has been returned to the interior space comprises comparing information corresponding to an associated RFID tag to information in the data structure.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication comprises receiving user identification information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether access to the interior space is permitted by the user comprises comparing the user identification information to user information in a data structure, the data structure comprising identification information corresponding to users authorized to access the interior space.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning the interior space comprises transmitting excitation signals to the at least one RFID tag and other RFID tags, receiving response signals from the at least one RFID tag and the other tags, and reading RFID tag identifying information corresponding to the response signals.

12. A system, comprising:

an enclosure having an interior space, the enclosure comprising;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag;

an object associated with the RFID tag; and

a processor configured with authentication logic to receive an indication that a user is attempting access to the interior space, and responsive to receiving the indication, determine whether access to the interior space is permitted by the user.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured with the authentication logic to:

responsive to determining that access is not permitted, deny entry through the access member to the interior space; and

responsive to determining that access is permitted, enable entry to the interior space.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a lock configured to controllably permit opening and closing of an access member through which access to the interior space is achieved, wherein the processor is further configured with the authentication logic to deny entry by effecting engagement between the lock and the access member and enable entry by effecting disengagement between the lock and the access member.

15. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

reader logic; and

transceiver control logic coupled to one or more antennas, wherein the processor is further configured with the reader logic and the transceiver control logic to implement a scan of the interior space, wherein the scan of the interior space comprises transmitting excitation signals to the RFID tag and other RFID tags, receiving response signals from the RFID tag and the other tags, and reading RFID tag identifying information corresponding to the response signals.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured with the reader logic and the transceiver control logic to:

responsive to either opening or unlocking of the access member or permitted access, cease the scan; and

responsive to either closing or locking of the access member, resume the scan.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein responsive to resuming the scan of the interior space, the processor is further configured with the reader logic and the transceiver control logic to:

determine whether the object has been removed from the interior space; and

determine whether a second object has been returned to the interior space.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising an object data structure, wherein the processor is further configured with the reader logic to determine whether the object has been removed from the interior space or whether the second object has been returned to the interior space by comparing information corresponding to the RFID tags associated with the object and the second object to information in the data structure, the data structure comprising information pertaining to objects that are expected to be found in the enclosure

19. The system of claim 12, further comprising a user interface coupled to the authentication logic, wherein the user interface comprises one or more of a touch-screen, graphical user interface (GUI), keypad entry interface, magnetic card reader, bar-code scanner, and biometric scanner, wherein the user interface is configured to receive user identification information corresponding to the indication.

20. The system of claim 12, further comprising an authorized user data structure coupled to the authentication logic, wherein the processor is further configured with the authentication logic to determine whether access to the interior space is permitted by the user by comparing the user identification information to user information in the data structure, the authorized user data structure comprising identification information corresponding to users authorized to access the interior space.

21. A system, comprising:

means for authenticating a user seeking access to the interior space of an enclosure, the enclosure comprising radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and objects to which the RFID tags are associated; and

means for scanning the interior space of the enclosure responsive to determining that the enclosure is closed, wherein the RFID tags are associated with objects.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the means for scanning comprises means for determining whether an object has been removed from or returned to the interior space.