COMPREHENSIVE NO-TOUCH INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
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Abstract
A system directed to inventory in an enclosure employs sensors and data processing to provide real time inventory management without requiring additonal user action. Adaptable to storage units such as refrigerators, cabinets and pantries, and particularly useful for tracking perishable items, object recognition rechnology generates time-stamped data identifying objects as they are placed in and removed from the enclosure, thereby enabling an associated database to maintain inventory of objects in the enclosure in real time. Embodiments further comprise sensors providing weight data for an object as it is placed in the enclosure, enabling the inventory database to track item weights. The system database enables software means to provide users actionable information such as expiration alerts, recipes, shopping lists, dietary recommendations and other information concerning food items in the enclosure.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1-12. -12 (canceled)
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13. A system for managing inventory in a storage unit, comprising:
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at least one image sensor disposed within the storage unit, the image sensor configured to transmit image data of the contents of the storage unit; an image processing system configured to receive the image data from the at least one image sensor, the image processing system further comprising means for processing the image data to derive item identification data identifying items by item type contained in the storage unit in real-time, the image processing system further configured to transmit the item identification data; a data processing system configured to receive item identification data from the image processing system, the data processing system further configured to provide an inventory database with item identification data, the inventory database containing a listing of each item by item type in the storage unit; and a user interface to the system for managing inventory. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for managing inventory in a storage unit, comprising the steps of
obtaining image data of the contents of the storage unit, processing the image data to derive item identification data, updating an item inventory database with item identification data, and providing at least one of a user interface and a provider interface to the item inventory database.
Specification