Abstract:
A provisioning system includes a plurality of supply bins each having a bottom wall and a peripheral wall extending upward from the bottom wall to define a bin interior. A sensor module is disposed in each bin interior. The sensor module includes an RF interface capable of providing wireless communication and a sensor capable of detecting items in the bin interior and communicating via the RF interface based upon a quantity of the items detected by the sensor in the bin interior. An RF reader reads all of the RF interfaces in the supply bins in a supply room to determine what items need to be resupplied.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Some known provisioning systems, such as supply rooms for hospitals, use a two-bin system. Like supplies are stored in two bins. When one bin is empty, a user takes a card from the empty bin and places it on a provisioning board. In the meantime, supplies are drawn from the second bin. Periodically, the provisioning board is checked to see what supplies need to be replenished. This can be done manually or via RF tags in the cards. 
         [0002]    Even with the RF tags, the known system still relies on human action to indicate that one of the bins is empty. If this is not done promptly, the second bin may run out of supplies before the bins can be re-provisioned. Other known systems use three or more bins, but have the same reliance on human action to indicate that one or more of the bins is empty. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    A provisioning system includes a plurality of supply bins. A sensor module is disposed in each bin interior. The sensor module includes an RF interface capable of providing wireless communication and a sensor capable of detecting items in the bin interior. The sensor communicates via the RF interface based upon a quantity of the items detected by the sensor in the bin interior. For example, the sensor may detect when the bin is empty or nearly empty. An RF reader reads all of the RF interfaces in the supply bins in a supply room or in a cabinet to determine what items need to be resupplied. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a schematic of a provisioning system according to one embodiment. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  shows one of the bins of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a schematic side view of one embodiment of the bin of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a schematic side view of another embodiment of the bin of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a schematic side view of another embodiment of the bin of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 6  is a schematic side view of another embodiment of the bin of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  is a schematic side view of another embodiment of the bin of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0011]    A schematic of a provisioning system  10  according to one embodiment is shown in  FIG. 1 . The provisioning system  10  includes a plurality of bins  12  in a supply room  21 . The bins  12  may be many different sizes. A sensor module  14  is installed in each bin  12  (although only illustrated in one bin  12  for clarity). The sensor module  14  is preferably a passive RFID tag. The sensor module  14  includes an RF interface  16  which provides wireless communication. The sensor module  14  further includes a sensor  18  in communication with the RF interface  16 . 
         [0012]    The system  10  further includes at least one RF reader  20  for reading the RF interface  16  to obtain a measured value from the sensor  18 . The RF reader  20  is installed in the supply room  21  (or in cabinets in the supply room  21 ), each within range of the RF interfaces  16  in the bins  12 . The system  10  may include a plurality of supply rooms  21 , each having a plurality of bins  12  and each bin  12  having a sensor module  14 . A single RF reader  20  preferably interrogates a plurality of sensor modules  14  within each supply room; however, more than one RF reader  20  may be utilized in a single supply room  21  (for example, one RF reader  20  for each cabinet or set of shelves in a supply room  21 ). 
         [0013]    All of the RF readers  20  report back to an inventory system  22 , which is a computer hosting inventory and replenishment management software. As will be explained further below, the sensor module  14  detects when the bin  12  is empty (or nearly so) and reports the empty bin  12  when interrogated by the RF reader  20 . From that point on, the system  10  operates the same as existing bin based systems. As is known from the existing systems, an empty bin  12  is a triggering event for replenishment (the additional bin(s) are used during the time between the indication of the empty bin and the replenishment of the bin). Therefore, the sensor module  14  only needs to detect when the bin  12  is completely empty, but it would be acceptable if the sensor module  14  were to report an empty bin  12  when it was only nearly empty. Thus, absolute precision is not required, although detection should err toward being early rather than not at all. 
         [0014]    Optionally, depending on the type of items  50  in the bin  12  and the type of sensor  18  in the sensor module  14 , it will be possible for the sensor module  14  to estimate the number of items  50  remaining in the bin  12 . In this case, those supplies could be stored in a single bin  12  and when the sensor module  14  sends the inventory system  22  an estimate of the number of items  50  remaining that is below a threshold (e.g. approximately half of the starting number of items  50 ), the inventory system  22  initiates a replenishment of that bin  12  of supplies  50 . 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12 . The bin  12  includes a bottom wall  12   a  and a peripheral wall  12   b  extending upward from the perimeter of the bottom wall  12   a . The bottom wall  12   a  may be rectangular, round or other shapes of known bins. The bottom wall  12   a  and peripheral wall  12   b  may be integrally molded as a single piece of plastic. As shown, the sensor module  14  may be positioned on the upper surface of the bottom wall  12   a  of the bin  12 . The presence of the items  50  in the bin  12  is detected by the sensor module  14 . Again, it is sufficient if the sensor module  14  simply detects the presence or absence of any items  50  (i.e. completely empty vs not completely empty (or at least one remaining)) when interrogated by the RF reader  20 . 
         [0016]    The sensor  18  of the sensor module  14  may be any one of several types, depending upon the intended contents of the bin  12 . For example, the sensor  18  may be a simple contact switch or pressure switch. As another example, the sensor  18  may be optical, and may include photovoltaic cells that detect ambient light or another light source that would be blocked by the presence of inventory in the bin  12 . As another example, the sensor  18  may be capacitive, which could be used for some types of objects in the bin  12 , depending on the objects&#39; conductivity or dielectric. In addition, the sensor  18  could be acoustic that detects sound reflected from objects in the bin or magnetic and detects the presence of metal. The RFID controller and antenna may be similar in structure and principle to those in RFID tags or RFID sensor modules available from RFMicron, Farsens and Powercast. 
         [0017]    As is known, the controller  26  in a passive RFID is powered by energy received by the antenna  24  from the RFID reader  20  and modulates the RF waves from the RFID reader  20  to send information to the RFID reader  20 . The information sent to the RFID reader  20  includes a RFID tag number associated with the particular bin  12  and information from the sensor module  14 , such as presence/absence of items  50  relative to a threshold, which may or may not be zero, and as indicated does not need to be precise (i.e. it could detect “empty” early). The inventory system  22  includes a database correlating the tag number to the particular bin  12  in a particular supply room  21  and correlating the particular supply items  50  that are supposed to be kept in that particular bin  12 , so that the right items  50  can be delivered to the right bin  12  in the right supply room  21  when needed. 
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12  with a sensor module  14   a  having a first type of sensor  18   a . The RF interface  16   a  of the sensor module  14   a  includes an antenna  24  and a controller  26   a . The sensor  18   a  is a simple contact switch including a first conductor  28  and a second conductor  30  that make electrical contact if there are items  50  (or a sufficient number of items  50 ) on the upper surface of the sensor module  14   a , which may be the first conductor  28 . The electrical contact between the first conductor  28  and the second conductor  30  is detected by the controller  26   a  and is reflected in the signal as part of the digital code (e.g. changing one or more bits) transmitted by the controller  26   a  via the antenna  24  in response to interrogation by the RF reader  20  ( FIG. 1 ). When the bin  12  is empty, or when the number of items  50  remaining in the bin  12  is below a threshold, the electrical contact in the sensor  18   a  is broken (or closed, depending on the configuration of the sensor  18   a ), altering the signal (i.e. digital code) sent from the RF interface  16   a  when interrogated by the RF reader  20 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12  with a sensor module  14   b  having a second type of sensor  18   b . The RF interface  16   b  of the sensor module  14   b  includes an antenna  24  and a controller  26   b . The sensor  18   b  is a proximity sensor including a sensing antenna  32  that detects the capacitance, conductance or permittivity of the area above it. If there are items  50  (or a sufficient number of items  50 ) on the upper surface of the sensor module  14   b , the capacitance, conductance or permittivity of the items  50  is sensed by the sensor  18   b . The sensor module  14   b  would have to be used with the right types of items  50 , whose capacitance, conductance and/or permittivity can be detected by the sensor  18   b . The change in capacitance, conductance and/or permittivity is detected by the controller  26   b  and is reflected in the signal as part of the digital code (e.g. changing one or more bits) transmitted by the controller  26   b  via the antenna  24  in response to interrogation by the RF reader  20  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12  with a sensor module  14   c  having a third type of sensor  18   c . The RF interface  16   c  of the sensor module  14   c  includes an antenna  24  and a controller  26   c . The sensor  18   c  is a photovoltaic cell  34  that generates electricity when exposed to light, such as an ordinary light source  35  for the supply room  21  ( FIG. 1 ) or for the cabinet or the shelf on which the bin  12  sits, or a dedicated light source inside the bins  12 . The light source could be visible or invisible light. When enough items  50  (or all the items  50 ) are removed from the upper surface of the sensor module  14   c , the voltage, current or resistance of the sensor  18   c  will change more than a threshold. This change relative to the threshold is detected by the controller  26   c  and is reflected in the signal as part of the digital code (e.g. changing one or more bits) transmitted by the controller  26   c  via the antenna  24  in response to interrogation by the RF reader  20  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12  with a sensor module  14   d  having a fourth type of sensor  18   d . The RF interface  16   d  of the sensor module  14   d  includes an antenna  24  and a controller  26   d . The sensor  18   d  is a magnetic sensor (including a magnet generating a magnetic field in the bin  12 ) that detects the presence of magnetic objects above it (that is, the objects  50  are magnetic in that they are attracted by a magnet). The magnetic sensor  18   d  may be a passive magnet that opens or closes a switch when drawn toward magnetic items  50  on the sensor module  14   d . If there are items  50  (or a sufficient number of items  50 ) on the upper surface of the sensor module  14   d , the presence of the items  50  is sensed by the sensor module  14   d . The sensor module  14   d  would have to be used with magnetic items  50 , whose presence can be detected by the sensor  18   b . When a sufficient number of items  50  are removed (e.g. all of the items  50 ), the absence of magnetic items  50  is detected by the controller  26   d  and is reflected in the signal as part of the digital code (e.g. changing one or more bits) transmitted by the controller  26   d  via the antenna  24  in response to interrogation by the RF reader  20  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is a schematic side view (not to scale) of one of the bins  12  with a sensor module  14   e  having a fifth type of sensor  18   e . The RF interface  16   e  of the sensor module  14   e  includes an antenna  24  and a controller  26   e . The sensor  18   e  is one or more acoustic transducers  38  (e.g. microphones) that generate an electrical response when receiving acoustic energy, such as sound, which may be ambient sound in the supply room  21  ( FIG. 1 ) or sound from a dedicated acoustic wave generator  40  in the room  21  (or in a cabinet in which a plurality of bins  12  are stored). When there are items  50  in the bin  12 , the items  50  absorb and block the acoustic waves entering the bin  12  from reaching the acoustic transducers  38 . When enough of the items  50  have been removed from the upper surface of the sensor module  14   e , the electrical signals from the acoustic transducers  38  change more than a threshold. This change in is detected by the controller  26   e  and is reflected in the signal as part of the digital code (e.g. changing one or more bits) transmitted by the controller  26   e  via the antenna  24  in response to interrogation by the RF reader  20  ( FIG. 1 ). Depending upon the type of items  50  in the bin  12 , the signals from the acoustic transducers  38  may either be summed or compared (if one might be uncovered before the other). 
         [0023]    Any of the sensor modules  14   a - e  could be used in the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . The system  10  thus operates as a bin based supply system without the need for human intervention in requesting replenishment. This improves the reliability of the system  10 . The system  10  could still be a two-bin system or multi-bin system (which could be more than two bins per item type), in which two or more bins  12  contain a certain supply item and users draw from one bin  12  first. When the first bin  12  is empty, the inventory system  22  is notified by the sensor module  14  (via RF reader  20 ) and replenishment is initiated. In the meantime, users draw from the second bin  12  to obtain that supply. The second bin  12  may also have a sensor module  14  in which case if both bins  12  of the two-bin system indicate a lack of items  50 , the inventory system  22  (having been notified by both bins  12 ) initiates a replenishment at a higher priority. If there are more than two bins  12 , the additional bins  12  could also include sensor modules  14 , and the indication that each succeeding bin  12  is empty raises the priority of replenishment. Within a single supply room, the bins  12  could have sensor modules  14  of different types, including the several types described above or even additional types, which could depend upon the particular supply item  50  stored in each set of bins  12 . 
         [0024]    In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes and jurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are considered to represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.