ITEM STORAGE AND TRACKING SYSTEM

• US 20110012735A1
• Filed: 06/02/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BuildingLink.com LLC
• Original Assignee: Jerry Kestenbaum
• Inventors: Kestenbaum, Jerry
• Granted Patent: US 8,610,574 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/568.1
• 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

Abstract

An item storage facility that includes a resident programmable subcontroller, at least one stand, a one circuit board having a plurality of elongated openings therein supported on the stand, and a plurality of connectors resident on the circuit board and in communication with the subcontroller.

Claims

1. An item storage system for storage of items, comprising:

at least one item storage for secure storage of said items, said storage having a resident programmable subcontroller, at least one stand residing in the interior of said storage and including two spaced walls, and a circuit board supported by said walls of said stand inside said storage, said circuit board including a plurality of spaced elongated openings extending from a front surface thereof to a back surface thereof and a plurality of connectors each arranged on said back surface of said circuit board adjacent a respective side of an opening opposite another connector, and said connectors being in communication with said programmable subcontroller.

2. The item storage system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of links, each link including a coupling for mechanical coupling to one of said items and an electronic storage device uniquely identifying said link.

3. The item storage system of claim 2, further comprising a visual indicator residing on said circuit board associated with each one of said elongated openings.

4. The item storage system of claim 3, further comprising a controller operatively connected to said subcontroller and programmed to operate a visual indicator associated with each said opening in order to identify a link received in said opening in response to a user request for said item that is mechanically coupled to said link received in said opening.

5. The item storage system of claim 4, wherein said controller is programmed to operate a plurality of visual indicators in response to a user request for identification of location of a plurality of items in said storage.

6. The item storage system of claim 4, wherein said controller is programmed to operate each visual indicator continuously or intermittently.

7. The item storage system of claim 4, wherein said visual indicator is a single color or a multi-color LED.

8. The item storage system of claim 7, wherein said controller is programmed to operate said multi-color LED, and wherein each color is indicative of a respective condition.

9. The item storage system of claim 4, wherein said controller is programmed to operate a plurality of said visual indicators in a sequence to indicate a position of a link inside said storage.

10. The item storage system of claim 1, wherein one of said walls of said stand is shorter than the other one of said walls whereby said circuit board is oriented in a downwardly direction.

11. The item storage system of claim 1, further comprising another stand that includes two spaced walls, and another circuit board supported by said another wall, said stand being disposed inside said storage opposite and spaced from said at least one stand, wherein said space between said stands receives said items.

12. The item storage system of claim 1, wherein said storage includes a visual indicator on the exterior thereof that indicates a status of said storage.

13. The item storage system of claim 12, wherein said visual indicator is a multi-color LED, each color thereof being indicative of a respective status of said storage.

14. The item storage system of claim 4, further comprising a light sensor for measuring the intensity of ambient light, wherein the intensity of the light emitted by said visual indicators is adjusted according to the measurement of the intensity of the ambient light by said light sensor.

15. The item storage system of claim 2, further comprising an electronic reader residing outside said storage for reading said electronic storage device.

16. The item storage system of claim 1, further comprising another storage facility that does not include a programmable subprocessor, and includes at least one stand residing in the interior of said another storage and including two spaced walls, and another circuit board supported by said walls of said another stand inside said another storage, said another circuit board including a plurality of spaced elongated openings extending from a front surface thereof to a back surface thereof and a plurality of connectors each arranged on said back surface of said circuit board adjacent a respective side of an opening opposite another connector, and said connectors of said another circuit board being in communication with said programmable subcontroller.

17. The item storage system of claim 4, wherein said controller is in communication with another controller via a publicly accessible communication network.

18. The item storage system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of links, each link including a coupling for mechanical coupling to one of said items and an electronic storage device uniquely identifying said link, and a visual indicator residing on said circuit board associated with each one of said elongated openings, wherein each link includes an opening that registers with a visual indicator when said link is received in a respective opening.

19. The item storage system of claim 18, further comprising a diffuser integrated with said link and registering with said opening in said link.

20. The item storage system of claim 1, further comprising a basket having an interior accessible through an opening in a side wall thereof, and an electronic storage device integrated with said basket and including information identifying said basket, wherein said opening in said side wall of said basket is rendered inaccessible by one of said walls of said stand when said electronic storage device of said basket is received in a respective opening of said circuit board.