Management of an object

• US 9,412,085 B2
• Filed: 09/07/2011
• Issued: 08/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kamaya, Yamato, Kubota, Kazutaka, Tanaka, Hidekazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Vetter, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/226,599
• Publication Number:
  US 20120101714A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,798 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00 Individual registration on entry or exit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2462 Asset location systems combined with EAS inventory, tracking, logistic G06Q10/00; entrance control systems G07C9/00

Abstract

A method and associated system for managing an item in a place. The method detects that: (i) the item in the place is being moved, (ii) an operating object inside the place is moving, and (iii) the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other. Responsive to the previous detections, it is determined that the operating object does not have a reservation for borrowing the item, from which it is determined that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, which triggers preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place.

Claims

1. A method for managing an item in a place, said method comprising:

monitoring, at regular intervals by a receiver receiving locational coordinates of a tag associated with the item and a tag carried by an operating object, positional information about the operating object and positional information about the item;

detecting, by a processor of a computer system and based on the positional information;

(i) that the item in the place is being moved, (ii) that the operating object inside the place is moving, (iii) a distance between the location of the operating object and the item, and (iv) that the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other;

responsive to said detecting, said processor determining whether the operating object has a reservation for borrowing the item and subsequently determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item;

responsive to said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item, said processor determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item; and

responsive to said determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, said processor preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place comprises closing a block unit to block the operating object from exiting the place.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

prior to said detecting, said processor determining that the operating object is outside the place;

after said determining that the operating object is outside the place and prior to said detecting, said processor ascertaining that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item; and

responsive to said ascertaining and prior to said detecting, said processor opening the block unit to enable the operating object to enter the place.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

after the operating object has entered the place and prior to said detecting, said processor sending guide information to display units in the place for guiding the operating object to the item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place further comprises:

displaying an alarm message on a display device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said detecting further comprises:

determining the moving speed of the item.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item comprises determining that a reservation table in a database comprised by the computer system does not specify that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the reservation table comprises columns and rows, said rows comprising a specific row that specifies an individual having said reservation for borrowing the item, said columns at the specific row consisting of:

an item ID column that identifies the item;

a reservation column that indicates that the item is reserved for being borrowed;

a starting date column that denotes a starting date for borrowing the item;

a finishing column that denotes an ending date for borrowing the item;

a borrower ID column that identifies the individual;

a borrower position column that specifies a current position of the individual; and

an item position column that specifies a current position of the item.

8. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable hardware storage device having a computer readable program code stored therein, said computer readable program code configured to be executed by a processor of a computer system to implement;

monitoring, at regular intervals by a receiver receiving locational coordinates of a tag associated with an item and a tag carried by an operating object, positional information about the operating object and positional information about the item;

detecting, by the processor and based on the positional information;

(i) that the item in the place is being moved, (ii) that the operating object inside the place is moving, (iii) a distance between the location of the operating object and the item, and (iv) that the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other;

responsive to said detecting, said processor determining whether the operating object has a reservation for borrowing the item and subsequently determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item;

responsive to said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item, said processor determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item; and

responsive to said determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, said processor preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place comprises closing a block unit to block the operating object from exiting the place.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the program code is configured to be executed by the processor to implement:

prior to said detecting, said processor determining that the operating object is outside the place;

after said determining that the operating object is outside the place and prior to said detecting, said processor ascertaining that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item; and

responsive to said ascertaining and prior to said detecting, said processor opening the block unit to enable the operating object to enter the place.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the program code is configured to be executed by the processor to implement:

after the operating object has entered the place and prior to said detecting, said processor sending guide information to display units in the place for guiding the operating object to the item.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place further comprises:

displaying an alarm message on a display device.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein said detecting further comprises:

determining the moving speed of the item.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item comprises determining that a reservation table in a database comprised by the computer system does not specify that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the reservation table comprises columns and rows, said rows comprising a specific row that specifies an individual having said reservation for borrowing the item, said columns at the specific row consisting of:

an item ID column that identifies the item;

a reservation column that indicates that the item is reserved for being borrowed;

a starting date column that denotes a starting date for borrowing the item;

a finishing column that denotes an ending date for borrowing the item;

a borrower ID column that identifies the individual;

a borrower position column that specifies a current position of the individual; and

an item position column that specifies a current position of the item.

15. A computer system, comprising:

a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, said storage device containing program code configured to be executed by the processor via the memory to implement;

monitoring, at regular intervals by a receiver receiving locational coordinates of a tag associated with an item and a tag carried by an operating object, positional information about the operating object and positional information about the item;

detecting, by the processor and based on the positional information;

(i) that the item in the place is being moved, (ii) that the operating object inside the place is moving, (iii) a distance between the location of the operating object and the item, and (iv) that the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other;

responsive to said detecting, said processor determining whether the operating object has a reservation for borrowing the item and subsequently determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item;

responsive to said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item, said processor determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item; and

responsive to said determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, said processor preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place comprises closing a block unit to block the operating object from exiting the place.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the program code is configured to be executed by the processor to implement:

prior to said detecting, said processor determining that the operating object is outside the place;

after said determining that the operating object is outside the place and prior to said detecting, said processor ascertaining that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item; and

responsive to said ascertaining and prior to said detecting, said processor opening the block unit to enable the operating object to enter the place.

17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the program code is configured to be executed by the processor to implement:

after the operating object has entered the place and prior to said detecting, said processor sending guide information to display units in the place for guiding the operating object to the item.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place further comprises:

displaying an alarm message on a display device.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said detecting further comprises:

determining the moving speed of the item.

20. The computer system of claim 15, wherein said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item comprises determining that a reservation table in a database comprised by the computer system does not specify that the operating object has said reservation for borrowing the item.