Organizer management system using R.F. identification

• US 6,348,864 B1
• Filed: 05/06/2000
• Issued: 02/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magnex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Magnex Corporation
• Inventors: Zhu, Shengbo, Lin, Fong-Jei
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Daniel J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, PHUNG
• Application Number:
  US09/565,992
• Time in Patent Office: 654 Days
• Field of Search: 340/570, 340/568, 340/568.1, 340/825.49, 340/539, 364/479.14, 364/900, 235/385
• US Class Current: 340/570
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/38 with central registration

Abstract

An organizer management system for facilitating the location of an item stored in one of several drawers in one or more drawer organizer cabinets. Each drawer has an LED mounted on a front panel and a circuit having a crystal with a specific resonant frequency. The resonant frequency of the crystal in a given drawer is different from all other crystals in the system. All drawer circuits are coupled in parallel to a computer-controlled r.f. signal generator. To locate a particular item, the user enters a description of the item into a system computer, which contains a list of items in the system and the corresponding frequency for each item. The computer then operates the r.f. generator to generate an r.f. signal of the correct frequency for the specified item. The LED on only the drawer containing that item is activated, so that the user can visually locate the correct drawer.

Claims

1. A drawer organizer management system comprising:

a cabinet having a structure including a rear wall for providing a plurality of drawer locations, said cabinet having a plurality of pairs of external terminals each arranged in a position corresponding to a different one of said drawer locations for receiving r.f. signals from a source;

a plurality of drawers each slidably mounted in a different one of said drawer locations between a closed position and an opened position, each of said plurality of drawers having a pair of electrically conductive drawer terminals adjacent the rear thereof and adapted to engage a corresponding pair of said external terminals, a pair of electrical r.f. signal conductors coupled to said drawer terminals, and an r.f. circuit coupled to said pair of r.f. signal conductors and having a crystal resonant at a specific frequency and a visible indicator activated whenever the associated crystal detects an r.f. signal at the specific frequency of that crystal, the resonant frequency of each of said crystals being different from the remaining ones of said crystals so that an r.f. signal of a specific frequency applied to said external input terminals causes only one of said plurality of crystals to resonate and only the visible indicator associated to said only one of said plurality of crystals to be activated.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said drawers has a front panel;

and wherein said indicators are located on said front panel so as to provide a visible indication of a resonant crystal in the drawer when the drawers are closed.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said visible indicators comprises an LED.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said drawers has a rear panel;

and wherein said pair of electrically conductive drawer terminals is mounted on said rear panel.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a positive detent mechanism for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a pair of positive contact elements for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said pair of positive contact elements each comprises a spring.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a positive detent mechanism and a pair of positive contact elements for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said pair of positive contact elements each comprises a spring.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein said a plurality of pairs of external terminals are mounted on said rear wall of said cabinet.

11. A drawer organizer management using r.f. identification of individual drawers in a cabinet, said system comprising:

a computer;

an r.f. signal generator coupled to said computer for generating r.f. signals of different frequencies;

a cabinet having a structure including a rear wall for providing a plurality of drawer locations, said cabinet having a plurality of pairs of external terminals coupled to said r.f. signal generator for receiving r.f. signals from said generator, each of said external terminals being arranged in a position corresponding to a different one of said drawer locations; and

a plurality of drawers each slidably mounted in a different one of said drawer locations between a closed position and an opened position, each of said plurality of drawers having a pair of electrically conductive drawer terminals adjacent the rear thereof and adapted to engage a corresponding pair of said external terminals, a pair of electrical r.f. signal conductors coupled to said drawer terminals, and an r.f. circuit coupled to said pair of r.f. signal conductors and having a crystal resonant at a specific frequency and a visible indicator activated whenever the associated crystal detects an r.f. signal at the specific frequency of that crystal, the resonant frequency of each of said crystals being different from the remaining ones of said crystals so that an r.f. signal of a specific frequency applied to said external input terminals causes only one of said plurality of crystals to resonate and only the visible indicator associated to said only one of said plurality of crystals to be activated.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said drawers has a front panel;

and wherein said indicators are located on said front panel so as to provide a visible indication of a resonant crystal in the drawer when the drawers are closed.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said visible indicators comprises an LED.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said drawers has a rear panel;

and wherein said pair of electrically conductive drawer terminals is mounted on said rear panel.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a positive detent mechanism for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a pair of positive contact elements for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said pair of positive contact elements each comprises a spring.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein each of said drawers is provided with a positive detent mechanism and a pair of positive contact elements for promoting contact between said electrically conductive drawer terminals and said external terminals.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein said pair of positive contact elements each comprises a spring.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein said a plurality of pairs of external terminals are mounted on said rear wall of said cabinet.