Patent ID: 7516890
Filing Date: 2009-04-14
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for providing information on availability and/or status and/or location of one or more specified inventory items, the method comprising: providing an electromagnetic energy source that generates and transmits energy over a wireless energy path; providing at least one of a specified inventory item and a specified class of inventory items as a target inventory item, among an array of inventory items, with an electromagnetic mechanism that receives and utilizes electromagnetic energy from the energy source; receiving an electronic inquiry concerning information associated with the target inventory item; determining, through use of a computer, at least one of the following availability, status and location information items: (i) whether the target inventory item is located at or adjacent to at least one determinable inventory item location; and (ii) present status information for the target inventory item, where the present status information includes at least one of presence or absence of the target inventory item in the array, at least one present location, if known, of the target inventory item, and operational readiness of the target inventory item; and (iii) at least one of user name and user contact information, if the target inventory item is not located at or adjacent to the determinable inventory item location and has been removed by an identifiable user; determining and displaying for at least one time, the status, if known, of at least one of the target inventory items, where the status is characterized by the group of characteristics consisting of absent, use-ready, inactivated for maintenance, permanently inactivated, and withdrawn from use; determining and displaying at least one time, if known, at which the target inventory item was removed or examined or maintained or repaired or modified or substituted or replaced; providing information on at least one attribute associated with the target inventory item, in response to receipt of the electronic inquiry, where the at least one attribute is one or more of (1) number of replicas of the target inventory item that should be present in inventory, and (2) name or contact information for user, if the target inventory item has been removed or examined or maintained or repaired or modified or substituted or replaced; when the target inventory item is located at or adjacent to the determinable location, providing at least one of a visibly perceptible signal and an audibly perceptible signal indicating present location of at least one of the target inventory item; when the target inventory item is not located at or adjacent to the determinable location, determining if the target inventory item is located elsewhere in the array; and when the target inventory item is determined to be located elsewhere in the array, providing an indicium indicating the present location of the target inventory item.