Product management system and method of managing product at a location

• US 8,284,056 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2008
• Issued: 10/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Annette Cote Mctigue
• Original Assignee: Annette Cote Mctigue
• Inventors: McTigue, Annette Cote
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C
• Assistant Examiner(s): KING, CURTIS J
• Application Number:
  US12/171,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20100007464A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,552 Days
• Field of Search: 340/612
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13003 Constructional details of switching devices

Abstract

A system and method of managing product at a location in which an echolocation RFID tag or a weight-sensing RFID tag is utilized to determine the quantity of material in a container and then this information is read by an RFID reader and then transmitted to a data storage repository and processing program for further handling of the data. The data storage repository and processing program may be near the RFID reader or may be remotely located with respect to the RFID reader.

Claims

1. A product management system comprising:

a container;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader located a distance from the container;

an echolocation RFID tag wholly contained within a top portion of the container, the echolocation RFID tag capable of transmitting radio signals to a product in the container and thereafter receiving return signals due to the reflection of the transmitted radio signals from the product;

wherein, in operation, the RFID reader transmits a signal to the echolocation tag and responsive to the RFID reader signal, the echolocation tag transmits a radio signal to the product and receives a return signal due to the reflection of the transmitted radio signal from the product, the echolocation tag transmitting information regarding the returned signal to the RFID reader, the RFID reader receiving the returned signal information from the echolocation RFID tag to determine a distance from the echolocation RFID tag to the product and then correlates the distance determined to a quantity of product in the container.

2. The product management system of claim 1 further comprising a data storage repository for storing data with respect to information received by the RFID reader.

3. The product management system of claim 1 further comprising a processing program for processing information received by the RFID reader.

4. The product management system of claim 3 wherein the processing program processes attributes and use of products.

5. The product management system of claim 3 wherein the processing program manages brand loyalty.

6. The product management system of claim 3 wherein the processing program manages market intelligence.

7. The product management system of claim 3 wherein the processing program manages product restocking.

8. The product management system of claim 3 wherein the processing program manages meal planning.

9. The product management system of claim 1 further comprising a weight-sensing RFID tag wholly contained within a bottom portion of the container to provide information regarding the weight of a quantity of the product and wherein, in operation, the RFID reader receiving the weight-related information from the weight-sensing RFID tag and determining a weight of a quantity of product in the container based on the received weight-related information.

10. The product management system of claim 9 wherein the echolocation and weight-sensing RFID tags are selected from the group consisting of active, passive and semi-passive RFID tags.

11. The product management system of claim 1 wherein the echolocation RFID tag has the capability to determine the ambient temperature and wherein, in operation, the RFID reader receives information from the echolocation RFID tag to determine the ambient temperature.

12. The product management system of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the product management system is contained in a cabinet.

13. The product management system of claim 12 wherein the cabinet is a refrigerator.

14. The product management system of claim 12 in which the RFID reader receives information from the echolocation RFID tag when a door of the cabinet is opened.

15. The product management system of claim 1 wherein the echolocation RFID tag is an integrated package comprising an externally facing antenna on one surface of the RFID tag, an internally facing antenna on an opposite surface of the RFID tag and an integrated circuit between the externally facing and internally facing antennas, the externally facing antenna to receive the signal from the RFID reader and channel the signal to the integrated circuit, the integrated circuit to direct the signal to the product in the container through the internally facing antenna, the internally facing antenna receiving the return signal from the product, the integrated circuit processing the return signal and providing information regarding the level of the product to the RFID reader through the externally facing antenna.

16. A product management system comprising:

a container;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader located a distance from the container;

a weight-sensing RFID tag wholly contained within a bottom portion of the container, the RFID tag providing information regarding the weight of a quantity of a product in the container;

an echolocation RFID tag wholly contained within a to portion of the container for the transmission of radio signals to a product and thereafter to receive return signals due to the reflection of the transmitted radio signals from the product; and

wherein, in operation, the RFID reader transmits a signal to the weight-sensing RFID tag and echolocation RFID tag and responsive to the signals, the weight-sensing RFID tag transmits information to the RFID reader regarding the weight of a quantity of product in the container and the echolocation RFID tag transmits information regarding the returned signals to the RFID reader, the RFID reader receiving the information from the weight-sensing RFID tag to determine the weight of a quantity of product in the container and the RFID reader receiving information from the echolocation RFID tag to determine a distance from the echolocation RFID tag to the product indicative of product level.

17. The product management system of claim 16 wherein the weight-sensing RFID tag is an integrated package comprising an antenna, an integrated circuit, at least two layers or films, and a flexible structure separating the at least two layers or films, the at least two layers of films and flexible structure cooperating to determine the weight of product in the container by the flexible structure physically changing the at least two layers of film relative to the weight of product in the container, wherein responsive to receiving a signal from the RFID reader, the antenna transmits a signal to the RFID reader that is indicative of the separation of the at least two layers or films which, in turn, is indicative of the weight of product in the container.

18. A product management system comprising:

a container;

a radio frequency (RFID) tag having the capability by echolocation to determine information regarding the quantity of product in the container and a radio frequency (RFID) tag having the capability by weight-sensing to determine information regarding the quantity of product in the container, the RFID tags contained wholly within a top portion and a bottom portion of the container, respectively;

an RFID reader for transmitting a signal to the RFID tags and responsive to the signal the RFID tags providing quantity of product information to the RFID reader, the RFID reader receiving the quantity of product information from the RFID tags to determine a quantity of product in the container, the RFID reader located a distance from the container;

a communication device for transmitting the quantity of product information from the RFID reader to a remote location; and

a processing program for processing the quantity of product information received by the RFID reader.

19. A method of managing product at a location, the method comprising the steps of:

placing an echolocation radio frequency identification (RFID) tag wholly within a top portion of a container;

sensing by the RFID tag information regarding the level of product in the a container at the location, the sensing including transmitting a radio signal to the product and receiving a return signal due to the reflection of the transmitted radio signal from the product which is indicative of the level of product in the container;

reading by an RFID reader at a distance from the container the information regarding the level of product from the echolocation RFID tag; and

correlating the level of the product in the container to a quantity of product in the container.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of transmitting information regarding the quantity of product to a second location.

21. A method of managing product at a location, the method comprising the steps of:

placing a weight-sensing radio frequency identification (RFID) tag wholly within a bottom portion of a container;

placing an echolocation radio frequency identification (RFID) tag wholly within a top portion of a container;

sensing by the weight-sensing RFID tag information regarding the weight of product in the container at the location;

sensing by the echolocation RFID tag information regarding the level of product in the container at the location, the sensing including transmitting a radio signal to the product and receiving a return signal due to the reflection of the transmitted radio signal from the product which is indicative of the level of product in the container;

reading by an RFID reader at a distance from the container the information regarding the weight of product from the weight-sensing RFID tag and the information regarding the level of product from the echolocation RFID tag; and

correlating the level of the product in the container to a quantity of product in the container.