Method and system for tracking clustered items

• US 7,336,152 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2002
• Issued: 02/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: Sirit Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Horwitz, Clifford A., Davidson, William E.
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US10/318,190
• Publication Number:
  US 20030083964A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,901 Days
• Field of Search: 705/22, 705/28, 705/29, 235/385, 340 101- 1052, 340/572.1, 340/825.49
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0029 the arrangement being specially adapted for wireless interrogation of grouped or bundled articles tagged with wireless record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A method and system for tracking each item in a cluster of items. Each item has an associated item ID. The method and system involve the following steps. Storing a plurality of item records. The plurality of item records includes, for each item in the cluster of items, an associated item record for storing the associated item ID for the item. Each item record in the plurality of records is then linked to the other item records in the plurality of item records. Using the associated item record for each item in the threshold number of items, and the link between each item record and the other item records, the item records for the associated item ID of each item in the cluster that are not in the threshold number of items are determined.

Claims

1. A method of tracking items in a cluster of items having a first subset of items and a second subset of items mutually exclusive from the first subset of items, the method comprising:

receiving a signal from a tag from a first plurality of tags without receiving a signal from a tag from a second plurality of tags and without receiving a signal from a container tag associated with more than one item in the cluster of items, each tag from the first plurality of tags being uniquely associated with an item in the first subset of items, each tag from the second plurality of tags being uniquely associated with an item in the second subset of items, the signal from the tag from the first plurality of tags being indicative of an identifier associated with a first item in the first subset of items, the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items being different from an identifier associated with a first item in the second subset of items;

obtaining an item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items based on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items; and

obtaining an item record associated with the first item in the second subset of items based on a database linking between the item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items and the item record associated with the first item in the second subset of items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items is an item identification (“

ID”

), each item from the cluster of items being uniquely associated with its own item ID.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items is a cluster ID, each item from the cluster of items being associated with the cluster ID.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a threshold defines a minimum number of items in the first subset of items, the threshold being predefined, the method further comprising:

repeatably receiving, for at least the threshold number of times, a signal from a different tag from the first plurality of tags; and

repeatably obtaining, for at least the threshold number of times, an item record associated with a different item in the first subset of items.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal associated with a location tag, the signal associated with the location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the location tag; and

associating a location value with the item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items and with the item record associated with the first item in the second subset of items based on the location identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a signal associated with a first location tag from a plurality of location tags, the signal associated with the first location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the first location tag;

receiving a signal associated with a second location tag from the plurality of location tags, the signal associated with the second location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the second location tag; and

tracking a location of the cluster of items based on the location identifier of the first location tag and the location identifier of the second location tag.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the receiving the signal from the tag from the first plurality of tags, the receiving the signal associated with the first location tag, and the receiving the signal associated with the second location tag are performed from a substantially shared location.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining an item record associated with a second item in the second subset of items based on a linking between the item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items and the item record associated with the second item in the second subset of items, the second item in the second subset of items being different from the first item in the second subset of items.

9. A method of tracking items in a cluster of items having a first subset of items and a second subset of items mutually exclusive from the first subset of items, the method comprising:

receiving a signal from a tag from a first plurality of tags without receiving a signal from a container tag associated with more than one item in the cluster of items, each tag from the first plurality of tags being uniquely associated with an item in the first subset of items, the signal from the tag from the first plurality of tags being indicative of an identifier associated with a first item in the first subset of items, the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items being different from an identifier associated with a first item in the second subset of items, the receiving being performed while the cluster of items is oriented such that a second item in the second subset of items is within scannable range but is not scannable;

obtaining an item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items based on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items; and

obtaining an item record associated with an the second item in the second subset of items based on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items without being based on an identifier associated with any of the items in the second subset of items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items is a cluster ID, each item from the the cluster of items being associated with the cluster ID.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein a threshold defines a minimum number of items in the first subset of items, the threshold being predefined, the method further comprising:

repeatably receiving, for at least the threshold number of times, a signal from a different tag from the first plurality of tags; and

repeatably obtaining, for at least the threshold number of times, an item record associated with a different item in the first subset of items.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a signal associated with a location tag, the signal associated with the location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the location tag; and

associating a location value with the item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items and with the item record associated with the second item in the second subset of items based on the location identifier.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a signal associated with a first location tag from a plurality of location tags, the signal associated with the first location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the first location tag;

receiving a signal associated with a second location tag from the plurality of location tags, the signal associated with the second location tag being indicative of a location identifier associated with the second location tag; and

tracking a location of the cluster of items based on the location identifier of the first location tag and the location identifier of the second location tag.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiving the signal from the tag from the first plurality of tags, the receiving the signal associated with the first location tag, and the receiving the signal associated with the second location tag are performed from a substantially shared location.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first item in the second subset of items is different from the second item in the second subset of items.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the first item in the second subset of items is the same as the second item in the subset of items.

17. A method of tracking items in a cluster of items having a first subset of items and a second subset of items mutually exclusive from the first subset of items, the method comprising:

receiving a signal from a tag from a first plurality of tags without receiving a signal from a tag from a second plurality of tags and without receiving a signal from a container tag associated with more than one item in the cluster of items, each tag from the first plurality of tags being uniquely associated with an item in the first subset of items, each tag from the second plurality of tags being uniquely associated with an item in the second subset of items, the signal from the tag from the first plurality of tags being indicative of an identifier associated with a first item in the first subset of items, the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items being different from an identifier associated with a first item from the second subset of items, the receiving being performed while the cluster of items is oriented such that the tag from the second plurality of tags is within activation range but cannot be activated;

obtaining an item record associated with the first item in the first subset of items based on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items; and

obtaining an item record associated with the first item in the second subset of items based on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising obtaining an item record associated with a second item in the second subset of items based solely on the identifier associated with the first item in the first subset of items, the second item in the second subset of items being different than the first item in the second subset of items.