Inventory monitoring system

• US 7,813,973 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2004
• Issued: 10/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inventrol LLC
• Original Assignee: Inventrol LLC
• Inventors: Gudbjartsson, Larus
• Primary Examiner(s): Zeender; F. Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Haider; Fawaad
• Application Number:
  US10/957,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20050077352A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,199 Days
• Field of Search: 705/28
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems

Abstract

An inventory monitoring system measures changes in weight of an inventory stored on one or more scales. The inventory items are divided into classes by weight, and the system determines the maximum number of items that can be in a combination while maintaining a distinct combined weight. Items are then removed or added, and the change in weight on the scales is correlated to a change in the number of inventory items to track the number of items removed or added over time. In a combined system, scanners are employed to track inventory received or sold, and data from the scanners relating to the items in the inventory is filtered out for comparison to the inventory changes indicated by changes in weight. The system has particular utility for monitoring inventories of cigarettes.

Claims

1. An inventory monitoring system for a storage system having a platform on which is stored an inventory having various classes of elements, wherein each class has an associated element weight characteristic and can have a variable number of elements, the platform in turn being supported by an electronic scale which generates a digital load signal proportional to the load supported by the platform,

the inventory monitoring system interfacing with a microcomputer having,

a communication port for receiving the digital load signal,

at least one user input interface for allowing a user to input information on the inventory stored on the platform, and

at least one output interface for presenting information to the user,

the inventory monitoring system comprising:

means for entering the weight characteristics of the elements of the inventory classes that are to be stored on the platform via the at least one user input interface;

an addressable platform inventory table which is in communication with the microcomputer for recording the number of elements that are stored on the platform;

means for determining, based on the weight characteristics of the inventory classes being stored on the platform, a maximum distinguishable number of elements that can be simultaneously withdrawn from or added to the platform with assurance that the combination will have a distinct weight unique to that combination;

means for presenting said maximum distinguishable number to the user via the at least one output interface;

means for indicating to the microcomputer a change in the digital load signal resulting from a change in the inventory stored on the platform;

means for calculating a weight change corresponding to the change in the digital load signal; and

means for adjusting said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and for providing a record of current inventory.

2. The inventory monitoring system of claim 1 further comprising:

a platform inventory log table;

means for entering a time-stamped record of current inventory into said platform inventory log table responsive to said means for adjusting said platform inventory table; and

means for presenting said platform inventory log table to the user.

3. The inventory monitoring system of claim 2 further comprising:

means for detecting when said calculated weight change does not correspond to a combined weight of inventory items where the combination has no more items than said maximum distinguishable number and reporting such condition; and

means for reinitializing said platform inventory table.

4. The inventory monitoring system of claim 3 wherein said means for detecting when said calculated weight change does not correspond to a combined weight of inventory items further comprises:

a validity checking routine which checks for weight changes inconsistent with possible combinations of elements totaling no more than said maximum distinguishable number;

means for bypassing said means for adjusting said platform inventory table; and

means for generating a time-stamped error message and recording said error message in said platform inventory log table.

5. The inventory monitoring system of claim 2 wherein said means for adjusting said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and providing a record of current inventory further comprises:

a look-up table setting forth the unique weights associated with the allowed combinations of elements that can be withdrawn from the platform at one time consistent with said maximum distinguishable number; and

means for selecting from said look-up table the inventory change having a combination weight corresponding to said calculated weight change and for adjusting the current inventory in accordance with said selected inventory change.

6. The inventory monitoring system of claim 4 wherein said means for adjusting said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and providing a record of current inventory further comprises:

a look-up table setting forth the unique weights associated with the allowed combinations of elements that can be withdrawn from the platform at one time consistent with said maximum distinguishable number; and

means for selecting from said look-up table the inventory change having a combination weight corresponding to said calculated weight change and for adjusting the current inventory in accordance with said selected inventory change.

7. The inventory monitoring system of claim 6 wherein the platform is configured to store an inventory of cigarettes.

8. The inventory monitoring system of claim 2 wherein the inventory system is used in conjunction with a scanned general electronic inventory system which has an input scanner generating an input scanner signal and a point of sales scanner generating a register scanner signal, the inventory system further comprising:

a supplemental inventory accounting system having,

sampling taps for accessing the input scanner signal and the register scanner signal without interference,

means for filtering the tapped scanner signals to select data relating to the products stored on the platform,

a selected scanned inventory table for reporting the filtered data,

means for sending the filtered data to said selected scanned inventory table,

a selected scanned inventory log table,

means for entering a time-stamped record of selected scanned current inventory into said selected scanned inventory log table responsive to said means for filtering the tapped scanner signals, and

means for presenting said selected scanned inventory log table to the user.

9. The inventory system of claim 8 further comprising:

means for entering a correction to the selected scanned current inventory into said selected scanned inventory log table.

10. The inventory system of claim 9 further comprising:

means for comparing said selected scanned log inventory table to said platform inventory log table.

11. The inventory monitoring system of claim 10 wherein the platform is configured to store an inventory of cigarettes.

12. An inventory monitoring system for a storage system having J platforms, each of the J platforms having an inventory stored thereon having various classes of elements wherein each class has an associated element weight characteristic and can have a variable number of elements, each of the J platforms in turn being supported by one of J electronic scales, each of the J electronic scales having,

at least one load cell which supports the platform and provides a load signal proportional to the weight of the inventory stored on the platform,

a signal converter for converting the load signal from the at least one load cell into a tagged digital signal where the tag is unique for that particular one of the J electronic scales,

the inventory monitoring system being designed for use with a computer having,

a communication port for receiving the tagged digital signals,

at least one user input interface for allowing a user to input information on the inventory classes stored on each of the platforms, and

at least one output interface for presenting information to a user,

the inventory monitoring system comprising:

a platform inventory table accessible to the computer and having J pages for recording the number of elements that are stored on the platforms, each of said pages being associated with one of the J electronic scales;

means for entering the weight characteristics of the elements of the inventory classes that are to be stored on each of the J platforms via the at least one user input interface;

means for determining, based on the weight characteristics of the inventory classes being stored on each of the J platforms, a maximum distinguishable number of elements that can be simultaneously withdrawn from or added to the associated one of the J platforms with assurance that the combination will have a distinct weight unique to that combination;

means for presenting said maximum distinguishable number to a user via the at least one output interface;

means for initializing each of said J pages of said platform inventory table;

a gating routine for selecting an appropriate one of said J pages of said platform inventory table to correspond to the tag associated with each of the tagged digital signals and advancing the signal;

means for calculating a weight change associated with the Jth scale responsive to said advanced signal; and

means for adjusting said selected appropriate one of said J pages of said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and for providing a record of current inventory stored on each of the platforms.

13. The inventory monitoring system of claim 12 further comprising:

a platform inventory log table accessible to the computer and having J pages for recording the number of elements that are stored on the platforms, each of said pages being associated with one of the J electronic scales;

further wherein said gating routine also serves to select an appropriate one of said pages of said platform inventory log table to correspond to the tag associated with each of the tagged digital signals; and

the inventory monitoring system still further comprising;

means for entering a time-stamped record of current inventory into said selected appropriate page of said platform inventory log table responsive to said means for adjusting said selected appropriate one of said J pages of said platform inventory table; and

means for presenting said platform inventory log table to the user.

14. The inventory monitoring system of claim 13 further comprising;

means for detecting when said calculated weight change does not correspond to a combined weight of inventory items where the combination has no more items than said maximum distinguishable number and reporting such condition.

15. The inventory monitoring system of claim 14 wherein said means for adjusting said selected appropriate one of said J pages of said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and for providing a record of current inventory stored on each of the platforms further comprises:

a look-up table having J pages, each page setting forth the unique weights associated with the allowed combinations of elements that can be withdrawn at one time from the platform supported on an associated one of the J electronic scales consistent with said maximum distinguishable number; and

means for selecting, from the appropriate page of said look-up table, the inventory change having a combination weight corresponding to said calculated weight change and for adjusting the record of current inventory stored on the platform associated with the associated one of the J electronic scales in accordance with said selected inventory change.

16. The inventory monitoring system of claim 15 wherein the inventory system is used in conjunction with a scanned general electronic inventory system which has an input scanner generating an input scanner signal and a point of sales scanner generating a register scanner signal so as to form a composite inventory monitoring system, the composite inventory monitoring system further comprising:

a supplemental inventory accounting system having,

a sampling tap for monitoring the input scanner signal and the register scanner signal,

means for filtering the tapped scanner signals to select data relating to the products stored on the J platforms,

a selected scanned inventory table for reporting the filtered data,

means for sending the filtered data to said selected scanned inventory table, and

means for time stamping the filtered data in response to said means for sending the filtered data to said selected scanned inventory table so as to create a time stamped log of said scanned inventory table; and

means for correlating the time dependance of said platform inventory log table and said time stamped log of said scanned inventory table.

17. A method of reporting inventory stored on a platform supported on an electronic scale, the method comprising the steps of:

dividing the inventory into separate classes where each class of elements has a unique weight range;

determining the unique combinations of elements from the weight ranges;

establishing a table of the weights and associated combination numbers;

setting a maximum number of elements that can be simultaneously added or withdrawn,

the maximum number being set such that a combination of items having no more elements than the maximum number will have a distinct combination weight;

adding inventory elements to or removing inventory elements from the platform in groups of elements numbering less than or equal to the set maximum number;

using the electronic scale to measure the weight changes which occur as inventory is added to or removed from the platform;

determining a change of inventory correlating to the measured change in weight;

making a log based on the determined change in inventory and the time;

if no match can be identified, recording the weight change and time; and

return to said step of measuring the weight changes.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the inventory is cigarettes and the classes contain both packs and cartons.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the total inventory value for packs is maintained by creating a tenfold multiple for cartons and adding the result to the pack count, further wherein the inventory is dynamic such that new inventory can be stocked by adding cartons, and packs are restocked by removing cartons, breaking the cartons and reloading the contents as packs.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the method is employed in combination with a method of electronically maintaining a store inventory by scanning in and out of the inventory items one at a time, the combined method further comprising the steps of:

selectively monitoring the inventory added and the inventory sold at point of sale;

making a receipt/sale log of those inventory changes that correspond to the inventory stored on the platform and the time of occurrence of such changes; and

comparing said log based on weight of inventory to said receipt/sale log.

21. An inventory monitoring system for a storage system having J platforms, each of the J platforms having an inventory stored thereon having various classes of elements wherein each class has an associated element weight characteristic and can have a variable number of elements, each of the J platforms in turn being supported by one of J electronic scales, each of the J electronic scales having,

at least one load cell which supports the platform and provides a load signal proportional to the weight of the inventory stored on the platform,

a signal converter for converting the load signal from the at least one load cell into a tagged digital signal where the tag is unique for that particular one of the J electronic scales,

the inventory monitoring system being designed for use with a computer having,

a communication port for receiving the tagged digital signals,

at least one user input interface for allowing a user to input information on the inventory classes stored on each of the platforms, and

at least one output interface for presenting information to a user,

the inventory monitoring system comprising:

a platform inventory table accessible to the computer for recording the number of elements that are stored on the platforms;

means for entering the weight characteristics of the elements of the inventory classes that are to be stored on each of the J platforms via the at least one user input interface;

means for determining, based on the weight characteristics of the inventory classes being stored on each of the J platforms, a maximum distinguishable number of elements that can be simultaneously withdrawn from or added to the associated one of the J platforms with assurance that the combination will have a distinct weight unique to that combination;

means for presenting said maximum distinguishable number to a user via the at least one output interface;

means for initializing said platform inventory table;

a gating routine for selecting an appropriate one of said J platforms to correspond to the tag associated with each of the J tagged digital signals and advancing the signal;

means for calculating a weight change associated with the Jth scale responsive to said advanced signal; and

means for adjusting said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and for providing a record of current inventory stored on the J platforms.

22. The inventory monitoring system of claim 21 further comprising:

a platform inventory log table accessible to the computer for recording the number of elements that are stored on the platforms;

means for entering a time-stamped record of current inventory into said platform inventory log table responsive to said means for adjusting said platform inventory table; and

means for presenting said platform inventory log table to the user.

23. The inventory monitoring system of claim 22 further comprising;

means for detecting when said calculated weight change does not correspond to a combined weight of inventory items where the combination has no more items than said maximum distinguishable number for the one of said J platforms associated with the tag of said advanced signal and for reporting such condition.

24. The inventory monitoring system of claim 23 wherein said means for adjusting said platform inventory table responsive to said calculated weight change and for providing a record of current inventory further comprises:

a look-up table having J pages, each page setting forth the unique weights associated with the allowed combinations of elements that can be withdrawn at one time from the platform supported on an associated one of the J electronic scales consistent with said maximum distinguishable number; and

means for selecting, from the appropriate page of said look-up table, the inventory change having a combination weight corresponding to said calculated weight change and for adjusting the record of current inventory in accordance with said selected inventory change.