Time and accounting system
First Claim
1. A system for recording the interaction between a plurality of objects, at least one of which objects moves relative to the other objects, said system comprising:
- a transmitting unit, said transmitting unit including;
means for generating a uniquely coded radio frequency (RF) signal, means for transmitting said uniquely coded RF signal at prescribed intervals, and first attachment means for attaching the transmitting unit to a selected one of said plurality of objects;
whereby said uniquely coded RF signal thereafter identifies said selected object; and
a receiving unit, said receiving unit including;
means for receiving said uniquely coded RF signal only when said transmitting unit and said receiving unit remain within a specified distance of each other for a specified time, second attachment means for attaching the receiving unit to another of said plurality of objects, and recording and timing means within said receiving unit for recording the receipt of the uniquely coded RF signal, including the time and interval during which the uniquely coded RF signal was received;
whereby the recording and timing means within the receiving unit may be subsequently examined to indicate the time at which the receiving unit came within the specified distance of a particular transmitting unit and the duration of time during which said specified distance was maintained, thereby providing an indication of the interaction between the selected objects.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for automatically logging the interaction between a plurality of objects. Small, self-contained transmitting beacon units are attached to a first set of objects. These beacon units transmit a uniquely coded signal at prescribed intervals. A small, self-contained portable transceiving unit is attached to a second set of objects. The second set of objects typically moves in, about, and among the first set of objects, although either set may move relative to the other. The signals transmitted by the beacon units have a limited range. If the transceiving unit is within this range for a specified period of time, the unique code associated with the transmitted signal is time-logged into a memory element contained within the portable receiving unit. At the end of a specified period of time, such as a work day, the contents of the memory of the transceiving unit may be examined to determine the objects with which an interaction has been had during the time period. A computer may be used to analyze, sort, and generate reports from the data thus logged within the transceiving units. The system is particularly well suited for use as a time and accounting system in a custodial environment, such as a hospital or similar facility.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A system for recording the interaction between a plurality of objects, at least one of which objects moves relative to the other objects, said system comprising:
-
a transmitting unit, said transmitting unit including;
means for generating a uniquely coded radio frequency (RF) signal, means for transmitting said uniquely coded RF signal at prescribed intervals, and first attachment means for attaching the transmitting unit to a selected one of said plurality of objects;
whereby said uniquely coded RF signal thereafter identifies said selected object; anda receiving unit, said receiving unit including;
means for receiving said uniquely coded RF signal only when said transmitting unit and said receiving unit remain within a specified distance of each other for a specified time, second attachment means for attaching the receiving unit to another of said plurality of objects, and recording and timing means within said receiving unit for recording the receipt of the uniquely coded RF signal, including the time and interval during which the uniquely coded RF signal was received;
whereby the recording and timing means within the receiving unit may be subsequently examined to indicate the time at which the receiving unit came within the specified distance of a particular transmitting unit and the duration of time during which said specified distance was maintained, thereby providing an indication of the interaction between the selected objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A system for recording the interaction between a plurality of first objects and at least one mobile second object, said system comprising:
-
first means attached to said first objects for generating said transmitting a coded radio frequency (RF) signal at prescribed intervals, a uniquely coded RF signal being assigned for each of said first objects; second means attached to said second object for receiving said transmitted coded RF signal only when the second object is within a specified distance of one of said first objects; third means attached to said second object for storing the coded RF signal when received, and for noting and storing the time at which the coded RF signal was received, and the length of time during which the coded RF signal was received; and fourth means for selectively examining the stored information held in said third means, whereby the interaction between said second object and said first objects may be ascertained by noting the time periods during which a particular coded RF signal, corresponding to one of said first objects, is stored within said third means. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21)
-
-
19. means for delivering a charging current to said power means once the portable unit is inserted into said charging and down-load unit;
- and
means for down-loading the information stored by said third means to a CPU, said CPU being coupled to said charging and down-load unit.
- and
-
22. A recording device for use with a plurality of beacon units, each beacon unit being adapted to be attached on or near a selected object with which the recording device may interact, each beacon unit being adapted to intermittently transmit an identifying signal that is receivable within a specified range said identifying signal comprising a radio frequency signal, said recording device comprising:
-
receiving means for receiving said identifying signal if said recording device is positioned within the specified range of said beacon unit; verifying means for determining that the same identifying signal is received over a period of time according to a specified criteria; a storage control means located in said recording device for storing the verified identifying signal therein, said memory means comprising; a multiplicity of memory locations where information can be stored, each memory location being assigned to a particular time period, and control means for storing the verified identifying signal in the respective memory location corresponding to the time period during which the uniquely coded signal was received; and examination means for examing the contents of said memory means.
-
-
23. A method for determining the interaction between a first group of objects and a second group of mobile objects, said method comprising the steps of
(a) assigning a unique code to each one of the objects within said first group; -
(b) transmitting a radio frequency (RF) signal modulated by said unique code from each of said objects of the first group; (c) receiving said modulated RF signals at each one of said mobile objects of said second group only when the distance between any object of the first group and the respective object of the second group is less than a prescribed distance; (d) demodulating the signals received by each object of the second group in order to recover the unique code therefrom; (e) for each object of the second group, storing the unique code in a memory location corresponding to a time period during which the modulated signal was received; (f) at the end of a desired period of time, examining the contents of the memory locations of each object of the second group in order to determine the presence or absence of a unique code recorded therein; and (g) assigning to each unique code found in step (f) the time period corresponding to the receipt of that code as determined by the storage location where that code was stored in step (e), which time period identifies the time at which the object of the first group having that unique code interacted with the mobile object of the second group of step (c).
-
Specification