Automatic plan-o-gram system
First Claim
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1. An electronic plan-o-gram system comprising:
- at least one product storage area capable of storing more than one type of product;
a plurality of electronic product identifiers, with one such electronic product identifier associated with each one of a supply of products of each product type stored in the storage area and each electronic product identifier being adapted to receive a polling signal and to generate a responsive electromagnetic signal containing information from which at least the product type of the product can be determined;
an electromagnetic sensing circuit having at least one transmitter for transmitting polling electromagnetic fields into the storage area proximate to the products so that the electronic product identifier associated with each product can generate the responsive electromagnetic signal, with the electromagnetic sensing circuit further comprising at least one receiver having at least two sensing locations, wherein the receiver is configured so that each responsive electromagnetic signal is received at two or more sensing locations;
a location circuit for using the electromagnetic signals received to determine a location for each product in the storage area;
a data interface adapted to determine product information for each product type detected based upon signals received from the product identifiers;
a communication circuit adapted to transmit signals having product and location information;
a storage area data source for storing permanent previously assembled configuration data associating each storage area and its sensing circuit with a physical location;
a central processor operable to assemble a plan-o-gram indicating the physical arrangement of products in each storage area based upon transmitted product information, transmitted location information and configuration data and to store the plan-o-gram in the form of plan-o-gram data in a plan-o-gram data source that stores the information for the location of the products within a given storage area; and
a user interface adapted to allowing the presentation of information from the stored plan-O-gram data source.
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Abstract
An electronic plan-o-gram system and method for determining plan-o-gram data are provided. In accordance with the method, identifiers associated with each of more than one product located in at least one storage area in a storage facility are sensed and a product type and product location of each product is determined based upon the sensed identifiers. A configuration of the at least one storage area in the storage facility and a location of each product in the storage facility is determined based upon the configuration and the determined product locations. A plan-o-gram data is stored indicating the location of products in the storage facility.
54 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An electronic plan-o-gram system comprising:
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at least one product storage area capable of storing more than one type of product;
a plurality of electronic product identifiers, with one such electronic product identifier associated with each one of a supply of products of each product type stored in the storage area and each electronic product identifier being adapted to receive a polling signal and to generate a responsive electromagnetic signal containing information from which at least the product type of the product can be determined;an electromagnetic sensing circuit having at least one transmitter for transmitting polling electromagnetic fields into the storage area proximate to the products so that the electronic product identifier associated with each product can generate the responsive electromagnetic signal, with the electromagnetic sensing circuit further comprising at least one receiver having at least two sensing locations, wherein the receiver is configured so that each responsive electromagnetic signal is received at two or more sensing locations; a location circuit for using the electromagnetic signals received to determine a location for each product in the storage area; a data interface adapted to determine product information for each product type detected based upon signals received from the product identifiers; a communication circuit adapted to transmit signals having product and location information; a storage area data source for storing permanent previously assembled configuration data associating each storage area and its sensing circuit with a physical location; a central processor operable to assemble a plan-o-gram indicating the physical arrangement of products in each storage area based upon transmitted product information, transmitted location information and configuration data and to store the plan-o-gram in the form of plan-o-gram data in a plan-o-gram data source that stores the information for the location of the products within a given storage area; and a user interface adapted to allowing the presentation of information from the stored plan-O-gram data source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A plan-o-gram generating system for use with a storage facility having an arrangement of storage areas, each storage area capable of storing more than one product, each product having an electronic product identifier capable of generating an electromagnetic field having data from which at least a product type of the product can be determined and each storage area being associated with a control circuit having a sensing circuit for sensing electromagnetic fields generated by the electronic product identifiers and for determining product and location information therefrom and a communication circuit for transmitting product information and location information;
- the system comprising;
a receiver having at least two sensing locations and adapted to receive the transmitted product and location information from each product identifier at two or more sensing locations; a storage area data source for storing permanent previously assembled configuration data associating each storage area and an associated sensing circuit with a physical location in the storage facility; a central processor operable to assemble a plan-o-gram indicating the physical arrangement of products in each storage area based upon the transmitted product information and location information and based upon the configuration data and to store the plan-o-gram in the form of plan-o-gram data in the storage area data source that stores the information for the location of products within the storage facility; and an output system for providing an output based upon the plan-o-gram data. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- the system comprising;
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15. A method for determining plan-o-gram data comprising the steps of:
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sensing identifiers associated with each of more than one product located in at least one storage area in a storage facility, wherein each identifier is sensed at two or more sensing locations; determining a product type and product location of each product based upon the sensed identifiers; determining a configuration of the at least one storage area in the storage facility; determining a location of each product in the storage facility based upon the storage area configuration, the determined product locations and permanent previously assembled data associating each storage area with a physical location in the storage facility; and storing a plan-o-gram data indicating the location of products in the storage facility. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification