AUTOMATIC PRICING AND INVENTORY CONTROL APPARATUS

• US 3,637,989 A
• Filed: 07/14/1969
• Issued: 01/25/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Joseph D. Howard, William M. Brobeck
• Original Assignee: Joseph D. Howard, William M. Brobeck
• Inventors: Howard, Joseph D., Brobeck, William M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilbur, Maynard R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kilgore, Robert M.
• Application Number:
  US04/841,209
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 235/61.9,61.111,61.112,61.113,61.115,61.8,61.7,91.14 101/93C 194/4R
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/10 mechanically operated

Abstract

This relates to an apparatus for indicating the price and amount on hand of any specific item of a number of items in a warehouse or store. Every item has a code marking with identical items carrying identical code markings. A memory unit is provided in the apparatus, with space for every coded marking in stock. Associated with the space of each such marking in the memory is a price and an inventory counter, so that, as each coded marking on a particular item is registered, the associated price is displayed, as well as, the new inventory count of the item.

Claims

1. Automatic pricing and inventory control apparatus for instantaneously indicating the price and inventory quantity of each of a large plurality of different items wherein each identical item only bears a like code marking and different items bear different code markings comprising a. a memory unit having a large plurality of information storage locations and being divided into sections with portions of each section corresponding to portions of other sections, b. code, price and inventory quantity input means connected to said memory unit for applying code information to a first section of the memory unit, price information to a second section of the memory unit and inventory quantity to a third section of the memory unit, the price and inventory quantity of each code being stored at locations in said respective sections corresponding to the location of the related code in the code storage portion, c. means scanning said memory unit to successively read each stored code and corresponding price and quantity, d. a register for entering codes and applying same to said memory unit, e. control means comparing registered codes with each stored code to obtain a coincidence signal for an identity and gating the price and quantity information corresponding to the identical stored code from the memory, f. means applying said gated quantity minus one to said memory unit as a new inventory quantity replacement for the previously stored quantity, and g. readout means displaying said gated price and new inventory quantity information.