ITEM LOCATOR SYSTEM UTILIZING ITEM AND LOCATION BAR CODES

• US 20080048830A1
• Filed: 09/27/2007
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ThinkLogix, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lamson Holdings LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Mahoney, Jerome, Glynn, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 7,791,471 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.91
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence

Abstract

An item location system uses voice activation and responsiveness to identify location(s) of item(s) sought by a user. The system may include a continuous speech recognition digital signal processor, a programmable microprocessor interfaced therewith, voice input and user feedback mechanisms, including audio and/or video feedback. Some embodiments utilize audio feedback to the user. The system also includes sufficient software and equipment to create item-identification/corresponding location-identification data pairs by utilizing item identifying bar codes on the items and matching them to location identifying bar codes physically situated on the corresponding locations. The continuous speech recognition engine may utilize Hidden Markov Models to create real time continuous speech recognition and feedback.

Claims

1. A method of creating data for locating one of a plurality of items in a facility, comprising:

using a first set of bar codes to determine item identity for each of the plurality of items; and

using a second set of bar codes to determine the location of at least one of the plurality of items, wherein the second set of bar codes are physically located on portions of the facility.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

reading the location data from the second set of bar codes in conjunction with the item identification data from the first set of bar codes; and

storing the location data and the item identification data for use as resource data in a memory.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein reading the location data comprises reading using a bar code reader.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the portions of the facility comprise one or more of the following:

aisle ends, shelf edges, bin walls, and parking spaces.

5. A locator system comprising:

a local processor residing in a facility;

a database, coupled for access by the local processor, storing location information for each of a plurality of items in the facility;

an input interface, coupled to the local processor, for accepting a request by a user for the location of at least one of the plurality of items; and

a controller, coupled to the local processor, operable to provide feedback to the user regarding the location of the at least one of the plurality of items, wherein the feedback is selected from the group consisting of audio feedback, visual feedback and combinations therof, and wherein the form of the feedback is selected from the group consisting of an answer, default instructions and combinations thereof.