Patent ID: 11886951
Assignee: WIRE PULSE, INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 17:
18. A method for tracking a length of a material wound on a reel, the material having a known starting length and a known thickness, the reel having a reel core of known width and known volume, the reel further having reel flanges physically connected to the reel at opposite ends of the reel core such that the reel flanges rotate with the reel core, the material being wound about the reel core between the reel flanges, the method comprising:
a) physically installing a plate module to the reel, the plate module comprising a reel identification index to identify the reel;
b) removably installing a sensor module to the plate module;
c) producing a signal indicative of rotation of the reel using a sensor included by the sensor module;
d) counting cumulative forward rotations of the reel via a sensor module processor using at least the signal;
e) storing memory contents comprising the cumulative forward rotations of the reel to a sensor module memory operably associated with the sensor module processor; and
f) calculating a remaining length of the material wound on the reel based on at least the cumulative forward rotations of the reel.