Collective objects management system with object identification using addressable decoder units
First Claim
1. A device for enabling the management of objects distributed in an object location space, said device comprising:
- a receptacle for an object, said receptacle having a plurality of electrically conductive members, at least one of said electrically conductive members being provided to receive address signals supplied by a source;
an address decoder circuit associated to said object, said address decoder circuit having a unique system address, said address decoder circuit further having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals in electrical contact with said plurality of electrically conductive members; and
an indicator coupled to said address decoder circuit for activation whenever said address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on said at least one of said plurality of electrically conductive members and representative of said unique system address.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A collective objects management system for objects such as documents contained in file folders in drawers of file cabinets. Each file folder has an electrical circuit with a visible indicator mounted on the file folder. Each folder circuit has an address decoder with a unique system address which generates a VALID signal whenever an incoming address from a source is a match. A local microcomputer and optional encoder receive incoming object identification signals from the source and supplies the desired object address to all the file folders in the cabinet. To aid the user, each file drawer has a visible indicator mounted on the front panel, the panel indicator being illuminated when the sought folder is contained in that drawer. The invention can be applied to a wide variety of collective objects management systems, such as supermarkets, automobile parts distributors, and various manufacturing operations.
14 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for enabling the management of objects distributed in an object location space, said device comprising:
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a receptacle for an object, said receptacle having a plurality of electrically conductive members, at least one of said electrically conductive members being provided to receive address signals supplied by a source; an address decoder circuit associated to said object, said address decoder circuit having a unique system address, said address decoder circuit further having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals in electrical contact with said plurality of electrically conductive members; and an indicator coupled to said address decoder circuit for activation whenever said address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on said at least one of said plurality of electrically conductive members and representative of said unique system address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for managing objects distributed in an object location space, said system comprising:
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a container having a plurality of mutually electrically isolated electrically conductive paths; a plurality of object receptacles positioned in said container, each of said plurality of object receptacles having (c) a plurality of electrically conductive members, each of said plurality of electrically conductive members of each of said plurality of object receptacles being electrically coupled to a different one of said plurality of mutually electrically isolated electrically conductive paths, at least one of said electrically conductive paths being provided to receive address signals supplied by a source; (d) an address decoder circuit associated to said object, said address decoder circuit having a unique system address, said address decoder circuit further having a plurality of electrically conductive terminals in electrical contact with said plurality of electrically conductive members; and (c) an indicator coupled to said address decoder circuit for activation whenever said address decoder circuit detects an address signal present on said at least one of said plurality of electrically conductive members and representative of said unique system address. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification