Method and System of Managing the Safety of a Plurality of Personal Protection Equipment Items
First Claim
1. A method of managing the safety of a plurality of personal protection equipment items, the method comprising the steps of:
- assigning a unique identifier with a size of at least 128 bits to each item of a plurality of personal protection equipment items;
for each item of the plurality of personal protection equipment items, encoding the unique identifier assigned to the item into an ultra high frequency RFID chip and attaching the chip to the item either before or after said encoding;
storing the assigned unique identifiers in a database that associates each identifier with the item corresponding to the unique identifier;
wirelessly receiving the unique identifier from each of a plurality of the chips after the chips are attached to their corresponding item;
automatically accessing the database to determine which items correspond to each of the unique identifiers received in the wirelessly receiving step; and
electronically transmitting to a user information specific to the items determined in the automatically accessing step.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for managing the safety of a plurality (10) of personal protection equipment items (11). The system and method assign unique identifiers (12) to each of the items (11) and encodes the identifiers (12) into Ultra High Frequency RFID chips (18) attached to each of the items (11). A user (29) can identify the specific items (11) in the user'"'"'s inventory by scanning the chips (18) and the system can provide safety information relevant to each of the specific items (11) based on the chips (18) that are scanned, including training information specific to each item (11), training information specific to each worker (34) assigned to each item (11) by a user (29), and maintenance and/or inspection protocols in the form of images (60) illustrating the steps of the protocols and text (62) explaining the steps.
36 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of managing the safety of a plurality of personal protection equipment items, the method comprising the steps of:
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assigning a unique identifier with a size of at least 128 bits to each item of a plurality of personal protection equipment items; for each item of the plurality of personal protection equipment items, encoding the unique identifier assigned to the item into an ultra high frequency RFID chip and attaching the chip to the item either before or after said encoding; storing the assigned unique identifiers in a database that associates each identifier with the item corresponding to the unique identifier; wirelessly receiving the unique identifier from each of a plurality of the chips after the chips are attached to their corresponding item; automatically accessing the database to determine which items correspond to each of the unique identifiers received in the wirelessly receiving step; and electronically transmitting to a user information specific to the items determined in the automatically accessing step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for managing the safety of a plurality of personal protection equipment items, the system comprising:
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a plurality of personal protection equipment items, each item having an ultra high frequency RFID chip attached thereto with a unique identifier encoded therein that is assigned to the item and no other item of the plurality, the unique identifier having a size of at least 128 bits; an electronic database associating each item and information specific to the item with the 128 bit unique identifier assigned to the item; an electronic database associating specific safety information with each item; a wireless reader capable to receive the unique identifier from each of the RFID chips; a programmed processor operably associated with the wireless reader and configured to access the databases and identify each item and the specific safety information for the item in response to the wireless reader receiving the unique identifier from the RFID chip attached to the item; and a display operably associated with the processor to receive the specific safety information and display it to a user. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification