System for determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together in a common location
First Claim
1. A system for determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, comprising:
- a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location;
a magnet secured to each respective item in the set of items, each magnet positioned with respect to the respective item to which it is secured so as to add to a total magnetic field strength present in the common location when the respective item is present in the common location;
at least one magnetic field sensor positioned with respect to the common location to determine magnetic field strength present at the common location, the magnetic field strength sensed being an indication of the number of magnets present in the common location, the number of magnets present being an indication of whether all items of the set are present in the common location; and
means to compare the magnetic field sensed in the common location at a particular time with the expected total magnetic field if all items are present in the common location to provide an indication if any items are missing from the common location.
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Abstract
A system for determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, such as a set of golf clubs normally maintained together in a golf bag, utilizes a magnet secured to each respective item. A magnetic field sensor monitors total magnetic field in the common location as an indicator of missing items. Alternately, a sensor can keep track of items removed from and added to the common location as an indicator of missing items. If one or more items are missing, an alarm, such as an audible and/or visual alarm, can be provided in a desired manner, such as when keeping track of gold clubs in a golf bag, when the golf bag is moved.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, comprising:
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a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location; a magnet secured to each respective item in the set of items, each magnet positioned with respect to the respective item to which it is secured so as to add to a total magnetic field strength present in the common location when the respective item is present in the common location; at least one magnetic field sensor positioned with respect to the common location to determine magnetic field strength present at the common location, the magnetic field strength sensed being an indication of the number of magnets present in the common location, the number of magnets present being an indication of whether all items of the set are present in the common location; and means to compare the magnetic field sensed in the common location at a particular time with the expected total magnetic field if all items are present in the common location to provide an indication if any items are missing from the common location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, comprising:
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a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location; a magnet secured to each respective item in the set of items, each magnet positioned with respect to the respective item to which it is secured so as to enter the common location when the item is added to the common location and to leave the common location when the item is removed from the common location; a sensor to sense the passage of a magnet by the sensor and positioned with respect to the common location to sense the removal of a magnet from the common location or the addition of a magnet to the common location, and means for keeping track of the number of magnets removed and the number of magnets added to the common location, the excess of the number of magnets removed from the common location over the number of magnets added to the common location indicating the number of items missing from the common location. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, comprising the steps of:
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securing a magnet to each of the items of the set of items; obtaining a measurement of total magnetic field when all items are present in the common location to obtain an expected total magnetic field when all items are present; sensing the total magnetic field present in the common location at a particular time when it is desired to know if all items are present in the common location; and comparing the sensed total magnetic field with the expected total magnetic field when all items are present to determine if all items are present at the particular time.
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21. A method of determining presence or absence of individual items making up a set of items normally maintained together as a set in a common location, comprising the steps of:
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securing a magnet to each of the items of the set of items; assembling all items in the common location; after assembling all items in the common location, sensing movement of magnets out of and into the common location; and keeping track of all magnets removed from the common location and all magnets added to the common location thereby knowing whether an item is missing from the common location to determine if all items are present at a particular time in the common location.
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Specification