System and method for tracking inventory
First Claim
1. An inventory-tracking unit associated with a storage unit holding a plurality of items, said items being openly accessible to a user authorized to access said storage unit, said inventory-tracking unit comprising:
- a card reader to read an access card issued to an authorized user;
a sensor associated with said storage unit for automatically sensing removal of each item from said storage unit and generating first item identification data for each removed item;
a scanner external of said storage unit for subsequently reading data recorded on each item after the item has been removed from said storage unit and generating second item identification data;
a processor communicating with said card reader, sensor and scanner, said processor comparing the first item identification data generated by the sensor for each removed item and the second item identification data read by the scanner from the same removed item to detect coincidence, said processor generating a transaction upon coincidence of said first item identification data and said second item identification data; and
a communications interface to transmit said transaction to a remote computing site.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An inventory-tracking unit associated with a storage unit holding items to be dispensed includes a card reader to read an access card issued to a user and a recorder to record data from items removed from the storage unit. A processor communicates with a sensor in the storage unit and with the card reader and recorder. The sensor provides item data to the processor that is associated with items removed from the storage unit. The processor compares item data received from the sensor with the data recorded by the recorder to detect coincidence. The processor generates a transaction upon coincidence of item data received from the sensor with the recorded data. A communications interface transmits the transaction to a remote site.
-
Citations
27 Claims
-
1. An inventory-tracking unit associated with a storage unit holding a plurality of items, said items being openly accessible to a user authorized to access said storage unit, said inventory-tracking unit comprising:
-
a card reader to read an access card issued to an authorized user; a sensor associated with said storage unit for automatically sensing removal of each item from said storage unit and generating first item identification data for each removed item; a scanner external of said storage unit for subsequently reading data recorded on each item after the item has been removed from said storage unit and generating second item identification data; a processor communicating with said card reader, sensor and scanner, said processor comparing the first item identification data generated by the sensor for each removed item and the second item identification data read by the scanner from the same removed item to detect coincidence, said processor generating a transaction upon coincidence of said first item identification data and said second item identification data; and a communications interface to transmit said transaction to a remote computing site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
11. An inventory-tracking system, comprising:
-
a remote computing site; and at least one inventory-tracking unit associated with a storage unit holding a plurality of items, said items being openly accessible to a user authorized to access said storage unit, said inventory-tracking unit comprising; a card reader to read an access card issued to an authorized user; a sensor associated with said storage unit for automatically sensing removal of each item from said storage unit and generating first item identification data for each removed item; a scanner external of said storage unit for subsequently reading data recorded on each item after the item has been removed from said storage unit and generating second item identification data; a processor communicating with said card reader, sensor and scanner, said processor comparing the first item identification data generated by the sensor for each removed item and the second item identification data read by the scanner from the same removed item to detect coincidence, said processor generating a transaction upon coincidence of said first item identification data and said second item identification data; and a communications interface to transmit said transaction to said remote computing site. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A dispensing system, comprising:
-
a storage unit holding a plurality of items, said items being openly accessible to a user authorized to access said storage unit; a card reader to read an access card issued to an authorized user; a sensor associated with said storage unit for automatically sensing removal of each item from said storage unit and generating first item identification data for each removed item; a scanner external of said storage unit for subsequently reading data recorded on each item after the item has been removed from said storage unit and. generating second item identification data; a processor communicating with said card reader, sensor and scanner, said processor comparing the first item identification data generated by the scanner for each removed item and the second item identification data read by the scanner from the same removed item to detect coincidence, said processor generating a transaction upon coincidence of said first item identification data and said second item identification data; and a communications interface to transmit said transaction to a remote computing site.
-
Specification