Methods and apparatus to track wire or cable reels in an inventory storage environment using a mobile device

• US 9,934,485 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2015
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Anixter Incorporated (Wesco International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Anixter Incorporated (Wesco International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Barron, Michael C., Bordonaro, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Yu, Ariel J
• Application Number:
  US14/972,688
• Publication Number:
  US 20160260053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 838 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• 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: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Examples are disclosed to track wire or cable inventory in an inventory storage environment using an application on a mobile device. During a material intake phase, an identifier of a wire or cable reel is stored in association with a physical location of the reel, a length of a wire or cable, and a type of the wire or cable. During a material retrieval phase, a target location corresponding to the physical location of the wire or cable reel is received in response to a search query. The wire or cable reel is located using a GPS receiver based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location, or using a Bluetooth radio interface, without the GPS receiver, based on the target location when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location.

Claims

1. A method to track wire or cable inventory in an inventory storage environment using an application on a mobile device, the method comprising:

during a material intake phase;

obtaining, by the mobile device, an identifier of a wire or cable reel;

associating, by the mobile device, the identifier of the wire or cable reel with a first physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, a first length of a wire or cable on the wire or cable reel, and a first type of the wire or cable on the wire or cable reel; and

storing, by the mobile device, the first physical location, the first length, and the first type in association with the identifier at a data store separate from the mobile device;

during a material retrieval phase;

receiving, at the mobile device, a target location in response to a search query, the target location corresponding to the first physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, and the search query being based on one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics;

locating the wire or cable reel using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of the mobile device based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location;

when the mobile device reaches the threshold distance from the target location;

switching between the GPS receiver of the mobile device and a Bluetooth radio interface of the mobile device; and

establishing a wireless connection between the Bluetooth radio interface and a beacon disposed at the first physical location of the wire or cable reel;

locating the wire or cable reel using the Bluetooth radio interface of the mobile device, without the GPS receiver, based on the target location, when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location;

displaying a visual indication of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel relative to the mobile device via a user output interface of the mobile device; and

synchronizing between the beacon and the data store, via the mobile device, at least one of;

(a) location information based on the wire or cable reel being moved to a second physical location;

or

(b) length information based on the wire or cable being changed to a second length.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data store is a network data store accessible via a cloud infrastructure, or a memory located on the wire or cable reel.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, further including submitting the search query to the data store via a cloud infrastructure.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further including processing the search query at the mobile device to search for the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics in information stored in the data store located on the wire or cable reel.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics include at least one of (1) length or (2) wire or cable type.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, further including emitting an alert when the mobile device is within a second threshold distance to the target location.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein using the Bluetooth radio interface to locate the wire or cable reel includes using a Bluetooth low energy technology to communicate with a Bluetooth tag implementing the beacon and located on the wire or cable reel.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein obtaining the identifier of the wire or cable reel includes scanning a barcode or a quick response (QR) code located on the wire or cable reel.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein obtaining the identifier of the wire or cable reel includes communicating with a Bluetooth tag implementing the beacon and located on the wire or cable reel.

10. The method as defined in claim 1, further including providing a wire or cable part number in the search query.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein, when a change occurs to at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable, the synchronizing between the beacon and the data store, via the mobile device, includes updating a corresponding one of the location information or the length information at the data store.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the synchronizing between the beacon and the data store via the mobile device includes updating the data store with corresponding information via a server in a cloud infrastructure.

13. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the search query includes at least one of a reel identifier, a product name, a supplier identifier, a material description, a customer identifier, a remaining length, or a location of a corresponding wire or cable reel.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, further including storing the first physical location, the first length, and the first type in a memory located on the wire or cable reel.

15. An apparatus to track wire or cable inventory in an inventory storage environment using an application on a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:

an associator to associate, by a processor during a material intake phase, an identifier of a wire or cable reel with a first physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, a first length of a wire or cable on the wire or cable reel, and a first type of the wire or cable on the wire or cable reel;

a data store interface to store, by the processor during the material intake phase, the first physical location, the first length, and the first type at a data store separate from the mobile device;

a query builder to generate, by the processor during a material retrieval phase, a search query based on one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics, the search query to obtain a target location in response to the search query, the target location corresponding to the first physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment;

a global positioning system (GPS) receiver to locate the wire or cable reel based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location;

a Bluetooth radio transceiver to locate the wire or cable reel, without use of the GPS receiver, based on the target location when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location; and

a reel tracker to switch between the GPS receiver of the mobile device and the Bluetooth radio transceiver of the mobile device when the mobile device reaches the threshold distance from the target location, to establish a wireless connection between the Bluetooth radio transceiver and a beacon disposed at the first physical location of the wire or cable reel and to display a visual indication of the first physical location relative to the mobile device via a user output interface of the mobile device,

wherein the Bluetooth radio transceiver is to synchronize between the beacon and the data store interface at least one of;

(a) location information based on the wire or cable reel being moved to a second physical location, or (b) length information based on the wire or cable being changed to a second length.

16. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data store is a network data store accessible via a cloud infrastructure, or a memory located on the wire or cable reel.

17. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data store interface is further to submit the search query to the data store via a cloud infrastructure.

18. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, further including a processor to process the search query at the mobile device to search for the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics in information stored in the data store located on the wire or cable reel.

19. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics include at least one of (1) length or (2) wire or cable type.

20. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, further including an alert to provide a notification when the mobile device is within a second threshold distance to the target location.

21. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the Bluetooth radio transceiver is to communicate with a Bluetooth tag implementing the beacon and located on the wire or cable reel using a Bluetooth low energy technology.

22. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, further including a camera to scan the identifier of the wire or cable reel by scanning a barcode or a quick response (QR) code located on the wire or cable reel.

23. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the Bluetooth radio transceiver is to obtain the identifier of the wire or cable reel from a Bluetooth tag located on the wire or cable reel.

24. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the query builder is to include a wire or cable part number in the search query.

25. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein, when a change occurs to at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable, the synchronization between the beacon and the data store interface is used to update the data store, via the data store interface, to include a corresponding one of the second physical location or the second length.

26. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein, when:

(1) a change occurs to at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable;

or (2) a new reel is added, the data store interface is further to update the data store via a server in a cloud infrastructure.

27. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the search query includes at least one of a reel identifier, a product name, a supplier identifier, a material description, a customer identifier, a remaining length, or a location of a corresponding wire or cable reel.

28. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the data store interface is further to store the physical location, the length, and the type in a memory located on the wire or cable reel.

29. An article of manufacture comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a machine to:

during a material intake phase;

obtain an identifier of a wire or cable reel;

associate the identifier of the wire or cable reel with a first physical location of the wire or cable reel in an inventory storage environment, a first length of a wire or cable on the wire or cable reel, and a first type of the wire or cable on the wire or cable reel; and

store the first physical location, the first length, and the first type in association with the identifier at a network data store separate from a mobile device;

during a material retrieval phase;

receive a target location in response to a search query, the target location corresponding to the first physical location of the wire or cable reel in the inventory storage environment, and the search query being based on one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics;

locate the wire or cable reel using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver of the mobile device based on the target location when the mobile device is located farther than a threshold distance from the target location;

when the mobile device reaches the threshold distance from the target location;

switch between the GPS receiver of the mobile device and a Bluetooth radio interface of the mobile device; and

establish a wireless connection between the Bluetooth radio interface and a beacon disposed at the first physical location of the wire or cable reel;

locate the wire or cable reel using the Bluetooth radio interface of the mobile device, without the GPS receiver, based on the target location when the mobile device is located closer than the threshold distance to the target location;

display a visual indication of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel relative to the mobile device via a user output interface of the mobile device; and

synchronize between the beacon and the data store, via the mobile device, at least one of;

(a) location information based on the wire or cable reel being moved to a second physical location;

or

(b) length information based on the wire or cable being changed to a second length.

30. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the data store is a network data store accessible via a cloud infrastructure, or a memory located on the wire or cable reel.

31. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are further to cause the machine to submit the search query to the data store via a cloud infrastructure.

32. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are further to cause the machine to process the search query at the mobile device to search for the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics in information stored in the data store located on the wire or cable reel.

33. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the one or more user-provided wire or cable characteristics include at least one of (1) length or (2) wire or cable type.

34. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are further to cause the machine to emit an alert when the mobile device is within a second threshold distance to the target location.

35. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the machine to use the Bluetooth radio interface to locate the wire or cable reel using a Bluetooth low energy technology to communicate with a Bluetooth tag implementing the beacon and located on the wire or cable reel.

36. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the machine to obtain the identifier of the wire or cable reel from a barcode or a quick response (QR) code located on the wire or cable reel.

37. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the machine to obtain the identifier of the wire or cable reel by communicating with a Bluetooth tag implementing the beacon and located on the wire or cable reel.

38. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are to cause the machine to include a wire or cable part number in the search query.

39. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are further to cause the machine to, in association with the synchronization between the beacon and the data store via the mobile device responsive to a change occurring to at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable, update a corresponding one of the at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable at the data store to reflect the second physical location or the second length.

40. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the instructions are further to cause the machine to, when:

(1) a change occurs to at least one of the first physical location of the wire or cable reel or the first length of the wire or cable;

or (2) a new reel is added, update the data store with corresponding information via a server in a cloud infrastructure.

41. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 29, wherein the search query includes at least one of a reel identifier, a product name, a supplier identifier, a material description, a customer identifier, a remaining length, or a location of a corresponding wire or cable reel.