RF contact signal detector

• US 20060178024A1
• Filed: 11/17/2005
• Published: 08/10/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ABL IP Holding LLC (Acuity Brands, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cordjia Management Services LLC
• Inventors: Hardman, Gordon E., Pyne, John W., Overhultz, Gary L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,510,123 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/83
• CPC Class Codes: A47F 10/00 Furniture or installations specially adapted to particular types of service systems, not otherwise provided for conveyor aspects B65G; building aspects E04H; coin-freed apparatus G07F
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/00 Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

A contact-based system for inexpensively monitoring the presence, location, and timing of various advertising and merchandising materials at a variety of retail facilities has been disclosed. This includes sign holders, display holders, stocking section identifiers, and the like that contain a plurality of contact point sensors that match or mate with contacts positioned on the material to be monitored. Identifying contacts are placed on the material to be monitored at a factory such that when they are inserted into a pre-specified location at a facility, contact is made. The contact data is then decoded data and relayed wirelessly to a device at the facility that in turn relays the data to a remote server to determine if the merchandising materials have been positioned in that facility and at a plurality of facilities at the right place and at the right time.

Claims

1. An RF contact tag signal detection system comprising:

at least one location for receiving an object;

at least one object contact associated with an object to generate data that at least identifies the object;

at least one multi-contact sensor on the at least one location physically contacting the at least one object contact to read the object generated data; and

an RF identifier associated with the location and coupled to the at least one multi-contact sensor for relaying the sensed object data to a receiver within the facility.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the RF identifier is an Active Transmitter Tag (ATT).

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the RF identifier is a semi-passive tag.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the object is pre-coded on at least one object container to enable the object to be placed in a predetermined location in a facility.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the object physically contacting at least one contact on the sensor is used to determine if the object is placed in the proper location in a facility at the proper time.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the object is a pre-coded display, sign, product, product container, product or category section marker, advertisement, or other merchandising material to be placed in the facility.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the location is a single sign holder, shelf, rack, display holder, product container, or specific merchandising area or sub-area at a retail facility.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the location is a plurality of proximal sign holders, shelves, racks, display holders, product containers or specific merchandising areas or sub-areas at a retail facility.

9. The system of claim 1 further including:

a rack; and

a plurality of shelves on each rack such that each shelf defines a location to receive at least one packaged product container carrying an object contact.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein:

multiple contacts are associated with the prepackaged product container.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein:

the multiple contacts associated with the object are coded to at least identify the object; and

the multi-contact sensor reads the code on the object container to at least identify the object in the container.

12. The system of claim 7 wherein the RF tag is mounted on or near the object container.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one contact associated with the object container further comprises:

a socket forming part of the object container and having spaced multiple electrical contacts being arranged to form a code that at least identifies the object in the object container.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one multi-contact sensor on the object container further comprises:

a mating pickup sensor for contacts forming part of the object when the container is placed in the pre-specified location which contains the sensor for reading the code and the RF means for relaying the code to a receiver in the facility.

15. An RF contact tag signal detection system comprising:

at least one gondola for holding products;

identifier sockets permanently affixed at spaced locations on the gondola;

a data storage chip embedded in each of the sockets for storing binary data representing the ID of the given location to be stocked with a product on the gondola; and

a Contact Backscatter Tag (CBT) storing binary ID data representing the category or sub-category of the products stocked in given areas on the gondola such that the combination of the tag ID and the socket ID indicates which category/sub-category product is stocked in a given area on the gondola.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising:

encoded contacts associated with each of the sockets;

contacts on the CBT for mating with the contacts on each of the sockets for deriving the code therefrom; and

a remotely located backscatter reader/transmitter (BRT) for periodically reading the CBT'"'"'s associated with the category/sub-category products stocked in the given location on the gondola.

17. A method of inexpensively monitoring and reporting presence of displays containing product placed into pre-specified racks comprising the steps of:

mating a rack pick-up element having a plurality of electrical contacts with a display coding socket to generate a decoded signal representing at least the product contained in the display;

coupling the decoded signal to a tag for relaying the decoded data to a remote location for processing.