Managing a condition of a selection of clothing items

• US 9,717,357 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2015
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Johnson, Michael C., Longenbach, Travis, Pizzuti, Nicolas E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORTELL, JOHN F
• Application Number:
  US14/788,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20170000277A1
• Time in Patent Office: 763 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 25/1407 with identification means identification in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/18 Status alarms G08B21/02 takes precedence

Abstract

A monitoring system including one or more processors communicatively connected with a memory, one or more output interfaces, one or more connectivity interfaces and one or more sensors, is attached to a clothing frame. The one or more sensors sense one or more indicators of a status of a clothing item attached to the clothing frame, the one or more sensors attached to the clothing frame and connected to one or more processors, one or more output interfaces, and one or more connectivity interfaces. The monitoring system determines the status information for the clothing item based on the one or more indicators. The monitoring system selectively adjusts an output interface to display the status information. The monitoring system communicates the status information to one or more additional clothing frames via the one or more connectivity interfaces.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

one or more processors communicatively connected with a memory, one or more output interfaces, one or more connectivity interfaces and one or more sensors attached to a clothing frame;

the one or more sensors operative to sense one or more indicators of a status of a clothing item attached to the clothing frame;

the one or more sensors further comprising a radio frequency identifier reader installed within the one or more sensors attached to the clothing frame and operative to read an identifier for the clothing item from a radio frequency identifier chip on the clothing item;

the one or more processors operative to determine status information indicating a condition of the clothing item based on the one or more indicators;

the one or more processors operative to selectively adjust an output interface to display the status information;

the one or more processors operative to communicate the status information to one or more additional clothing frames via the one or more connectivity interfaces;

the one or more processors operative to communicate the identifier via the one or more connectivity interfaces to a monitoring system, wherein the monitoring system accesses additional information associated with the identifier from a wardrobe database of a history of each detection of the identifier and broadcasts the identifier and the additional information to the clothing hangar and to one or more additional clothing hangers to update one or more additional inventory databases with the identifier and the additional information in one or more additional memories; and

the one or more processors operative to update an inventory database with the identifier and with the additional information, received from the monitoring system via the one or more connectivity interfaces, in the one or more memories to locally maintain an updated list of inventory items.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more output interfaces comprise a plurality of light emitting diodes configured in a position of the clothing frame that is visible when the clothing item is attached to the clothing frame, each of the light emitting diodes configured to emit one or more selected colors when triggered.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more power sources for providing power to the one or more output interfaces, the one or more connectivity interfaces, the one or more sensors, and the one or more processors; and

the one or more power sources comprising a conductive arm of the clothing frame connected to a battery, the conductive arm connectively affixable to a conductive bar for holding the clothing frame.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more power sources for providing power to the one or more output interfaces, the one or more connectivity interfaces, the one or more sensors, and the one or more processors;

the one or more power sources comprising a receiver for receiving and providing wireless energy.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors further comprise an odor sensor for sensing one or more gaseous compounds indicative of a selection of one or more contamination odor conditions and wherein the one or more processors trigger an output to the one or more output interfaces to indicate the one or more contamination odor conditions.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more connectivity interfaces operative to receive a broadcast of a database of a plurality of weights each associated with a separate clothing item identifier from among a plurality of clothing item identifiers;

the one or more sensors further comprising a weight sensor comprising a plurality of spring based measuring devices for measuring a weight of the clothing item; and

the one or more processors operative to compare the weight with the database to identify a particular weight from among the plurality of weights associated with a particular clothing item identifier from among the plurality of clothing item identifiers to identify the a particular clothing item identifier associated with the particular weight in the database.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors further comprise an optical sensor for sensing one or more of a transparency, a fabric type, and a fabric condition of the clothing item.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more processors operative, in response to detecting from the one or more indicators from the one or more sensors that the clothing item is attached to the clothing frame, to start a timer to track an amount of time the clothing item is attached to the clothing frame;

the one or more processors operative, in respond to detecting from the one or more indicators from the one or more sensors that the clothing item is removed from the clothing frame, to stop the timer;

the one or more processors operative to compare the amount of time on the timer that the clothing item is attached to the clothing frame with one or more thresholds; and

the one or more processors operative, in response to the amount of time on the timer that the clothing is attached to the clothing frame reaching a particular threshold of the one or more thresholds, to adjust an output in the one or more output interfaces to indicate the particular threshold is met.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more connectivity interfaces operative to receive other status information from the one or more additional clothing frames indicating that another clothing item has been removed from one of the one or more additional clothing frames;

the one or more processors operative to determine whether the clothing item on the clothing frame is associated with the another clothing item; and

the one or more processors operative to, in response to determining the clothing item on the clothing frame is associated with the another clothing item, to adjust an output to the one or more output interfaces to indicate the clothing item is associated with the another clothing item.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more connectivity interfaces operative to receive other status information from the one or more additional clothing frames about one or more other clothing items from one or more ranges of connectivity, wherein the one or more additional clothing frames broadcast range is only a short range wireless broadcast that is detectable by the one or more connectivity interfaces when the clothing frame is physically positioned within a particular range of the one or more additional clothing frames;

the one or more processors operative to accumulate the status information and the other status information into accumulated status information; and

the one or more processors operative to transmit the accumulated status information to a wardrobe management system at a remote network location over a wireless local area network.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more connectivity interfaces further comprise one or more of a short range wireless broadcast controller and remote transmission controller.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more second processors connected with one or more second output interfaces, one or more second connectivity interfaces and one or more second sensors attached to a second clothing frame;

the one or more second sensors operative to sense one or more second indicators of a second status of a second clothing item attached to the second clothing frame;

the one or more second processors operative to determine second status information for the second clothing item based on the one or more second indicators;

the one or more second processors operative to communicate the second status information to the clothing frame via a short range wireless broadcast from the second one or more connectivity interfaces;

the one or more connectivity interfaces of the clothing frame operative to receive the second status information from the short range wireless broadcast; and

the one or more processors operative to determine status information for the clothing item based on the one or more indicators for one or more current mode settings from among a plurality of mode settings, the plurality of mode settings comprising an organizational mode, an odor monitoring mode, and a status mode, wherein the status information for the organization mode tracks one or more clothing items indicated as removed from the clothing frame and the second clothing frame during a particular time period and replaced on the clothing frame after the particular time period, wherein the status information for the odor monitoring mode tracks the one or more clothing items sensed with an odor compound that is specified as adverse odor compound on the clothing frame and the second clothing frame, wherein the status information for the status mode tracks whether an amount of time that the one or more clothing items detected as positioned on the clothing frame exceeds a threshold;

the one or more processors operative to selectively adjust an output interface to display the status information for the one or more current mode settings, wherein the output interface in the organization mode displays the status information for the clothing item and the second clothing item indicating at least one selection of the clothing item and the second clothing item grouped together in each separate group from among a plurality of groups based on being concurrently removed during a particular time period, wherein the output interface in the odor monitoring mode displays the status information for the adverse odor compound indicating at least one selection of the clothing item and the second clothing item require cleaning, wherein the output interface in the status mode displays the status information for the clothing item and the second clothing item indicating the threshold exceeded; and

the one or more processors operative to communicate the status information to second clothing frame via the one or more connectivity interfaces, wherein the second clothing frame comprises the second output interface to display the status information and the second status information for the current mode setting, wherein in the organization mode a same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second separate output interface for each separate group, wherein in the odor monitoring mode the same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second output interface for each odor company specified as the adverse odor compound requiring maintenance, wherein in the status mode a same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second output interface for the threshold exceeded.

13. A method, comprising:

attaching a monitoring system comprising one or more processors communicatively connected with a memory, one or more output interfaces, one or more connectivity interfaces and one or more sensors, to a clothing frame;

sensing, by the one or more sensors, one or more indicators of a status of a clothing item attached to the clothing frame, the one or more sensors attached to the clothing frame and connected to one or more processors, one or more output interfaces, and one or more connectivity interfaces;

reading, by the one or more sensors, an identifier from a radio frequency identifier chip attached to the clothing item;

identifying, by the one or more processors, the clothing item from the identifier;

determining, by the one or more processors, status information indicating a condition of the clothing item based on the one or more indicators;

selectively adjusting, by the one or more processors, an output interface to display the status information;

communicating, by the one or more processors, the status information to one or more additional clothing frames via the one or more connectivity interfaces;

communicating, by the one or more processors, the identifier via the one or more connectivity interfaces to a monitoring system, wherein the monitoring system accesses additional information associated with the identifier from a wardrobe database of a history of each detection of the identifier and broadcasts the identifier and the additional information to the clothing hangar and to one or more additional clothing hangers to update one or more additional inventory databases with the identifier and the additional information in one or more additional memories; and

updating, by the one or more processors, an inventory database with the identifier and with the additional information, received from the monitoring system via the one or more connectivity interfaces, in the one or more memories to locally maintain an updated list of inventory items.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

sensing, by the one or more sensors, one or more gaseous compounds indicative of a selection of one or more contamination odor conditions; and

controlling, by the one or more processors, an output to the one or more output interfaces to indicate the one or more contamination odor conditions.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more connectivity interfaces, a broadcast of a database of a plurality of weights each associated with a separate clothing item identifier from among a plurality of clothing item identifiers;

sensing, by the one or more sensors, from a plurality of spring based measuring devices, a weight of the clothing item; and

identifying, by the one or more processors, the clothing item by comparing the weight with the database to identify a particular weight from among the plurality of weights associated with a particular clothing item identifier from among the plurality of clothing item identifiers to identify the a particular clothing item identifier associated with the particular weight in the database.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more connectivity interfaces, other status information from the one or more additional clothing frames indicating that another clothing item has been removed from one of the one or more additional clothing frames;

determining, by the one or more processors, whether the clothing item on the clothing frame is associated with the another clothing item; and

in response to determining the clothing item on the clothing frame is associated with the another clothing item, adjusting, by the one or more processors, an output to the one or more output interfaces to indicate the clothing item is associated with the another clothing item.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

attaching a second monitoring system comprising one or more second processors connected with one or more second output interfaces, one or more second connectivity interfaces and one or more second sensors, to a second clothing frame;

sensing, by the one or more second sensors, one or more second indicators of a second status of a second clothing item attached to the second clothing frame;

determining, by the one or more second processors, second status information for the second clothing item based on the one or more second indicators;

communicating, by the one or more second processors, the second status information to the clothing frame via a short range wireless broadcast from the second one or more connectivity interfaces;

receiving, by the one or more connectivity interfaces, the second status information from the short range wireless broadcast;

determining, by the one or more processors, the status information for the clothing item based on the one or more indicators for one or more current mode settings from among a plurality of mode settings, the plurality of mode settings comprising an organizational mode, an odor monitoring mode, and a status mode, wherein the status information for the organization mode tracks one or more clothing items indicated as removed from the clothing frame and the second clothing frame during a particular time period and replaced on the clothing frame after the particular time period, wherein the status information for the odor monitoring mode tracks the one or more clothing items sensed with an odor compound that is specified as adverse odor compound on the clothing frame and the second clothing frame, wherein the status information for the status mode tracks whether an amount of time that the one or more clothing items detected as positioned on the clothing frame exceeds a threshold;

selectively adjusting, by the one or more processors, an output interface to display the status information for the one or more current mode settings, wherein the output interface in the organization mode displays the status information for the clothing item and the second clothing item indicating at least one selection of the clothing item and the second clothing item grouped together in each separate group from among a plurality of groups based on being concurrently removed during a particular time period, wherein the output interface in the odor monitoring mode displays the status information for the adverse odor compound indicating at least one selection of the clothing item and the second clothing item require cleaning, wherein the output interface in the status mode displays the status information for the clothing item and the second clothing item indicating the threshold exceeded; and

communicating, by the one or more processors, the status information to second clothing frame via the one or more connectivity interfaces, wherein the second clothing frame comprises the second output interface to display the status information and the second status information for the current mode setting, wherein in the organization mode a same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second separate output interface for each separate group, wherein in the odor monitoring mode the same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second output interface for each odor company specified as the adverse odor compound requiring maintenance, wherein in the status mode a same visual indicator is selected in the output interface and the second output interface for the threshold exceeded.

18. A computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory computer readable storage devices and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the stored program instructions comprising:

program instructions to control a monitoring system comprising one or more processors communicatively connected with a memory, one or more output interfaces, one or more connectivity interfaces and one or more sensors, to a clothing frame;

program instructions to sense, by the one or more sensors, one or more indicators of a status of a clothing item attached to the clothing frame, the one or more sensors attached to the clothing frame and connected to one or more processors, one or more output interfaces, and one or more connectivity interfaces;

program instructions to read, by the one or more sensors, an identifier from a radio frequency identifier chip attached to the clothing item;

program instructions to identify, by the one or more processors, the clothing item from the identifier;

program instructions to determine status information indicating a condition of the clothing item based on the one or more indicators;

program instructions to selectively adjust an output interface to display the status information;

program instructions to communicate the status information to one or more additional clothing frames via the one or more connectivity interfaces;

program instructions to communicate the identifier via the one or more connectivity interfaces to a monitoring system, wherein the monitoring system accesses additional information associated with the identifier from a wardrobe database of a history of each detection of the identifier and broadcasts the identifier and the additional information to the clothing hangar and to one or more additional clothing hangers to update one or more additional inventory databases with the identifier and the additional information in one or more additional memories; and

program instructions to update an inventory database with the identifier and with the additional information, received from the monitoring system via the one or more connectivity interfaces, in the one or more memories to locally maintain an updated list of inventory items.