Abstract:
A method and associated system for managing an item in a place. Positional information about an operating object and positional information about the item is monitored at regular intervals by a receiver receiving locational coordinates of a tag associated with the item and a tag carried by the operating object. Based on the positional information, it is detected i) that the item in the place is being moved, (ii) that the operating object inside the place is moving, (iii) a distance between the location of the operating object and the item, and (iv) that the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other. After the previous detections, it is determined that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, which triggers preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place.

Description:
MANAGEMENT OF AN OBJECT 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation application claiming priority to Ser. No. 13/226,599, filed Sep. 7, 2011. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing an object, and particularly to a method and apparatus for checkout management of an object located in a place such as a warehouse or a shop. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    A conventional method for checkout management of commodities located in a facility such as a warehouse or a shop involves attaching a tag to each commodity, emitting a weak radio wave toward the tag from an antenna near a gate of the facility to detect a commodity passing through the gate, and restricting exit from the facility as necessary. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The present invention provides a method and associated system and computer program product for managing an item in a place, which comprises: 
         [0005]    detecting, by a processor of a computer system, that: (i) the item in the place is being moved, (ii) an operating object inside the place is moving, and (iii) the operating object inside the place and the item in the place are within a previously specified distance of each other; 
         [0006]    responsive to said detecting, said processor determining whether the operating object has a reservation for borrowing the item and subsequently determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item; 
         [0007]    responsive to said determining that the operating object does not have said reservation for borrowing the item, said processor determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item; and 
         [0008]    responsive to said determining that the operating object has illegitimately taken the item, said processor preventing the operating object from removing the item from the place. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a conceptual block diagram of an object management system and an environment in which the system is applied, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a hardware configuration for implementing an object management apparatus of the present invention, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a conceptual diagram of a system configuration of the object management apparatus, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a data structure of an object management database  1024 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is an operational flow in the object management system, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    In the method of the present invention, a first positional information communication unit is associated with a first object (e.g., an item), and a second positional information communication unit is associated with a second object (e.g., a managing object) that potentially operates the first object. 
         [0015]    A location management unit receives positional information about the first object from the first positional information communication unit, and the location management unit receives positional information about the second object from the second positional information communication unit. 
         [0016]    The location management unit requests an object management unit to check an access right to the first object if a movement of the first object is detected, if a movement of the second object is detected, and if a location of the first object and a location of the second object are within a predetermined range. 
         [0017]    The object management unit refers to access right information about the first object to determine whether or not the second object is authorized to move the first object. 
         [0018]    In the above management method, the object management unit may display an alarm message on display means if the second object is not authorized to move the first object. 
         [0019]    Alternatively or additionally, in the above management method, the object management unit may cause a block unit to restrict a movement of the second object if the second object is not authorized to move the first object. 
       A. Description of Terms 
       [0020]    Terms used throughout the specification and the claims will be described next. 
         [0021]    (1) Unit: Units include all devices connectable to a network or a bus. 
         [0022]    For example, units include server computers, portable computers, displays, storage devices, office machines such as facsimiles and copiers, printers, and firmware. 
         [0023]    Units may also be virtual units implemented by computer software. 
         [0024]    Besides the above typical examples, a unit may necessarily be confined in a single housing but functions of such a unit as above may be physically distributed as long as the distributed functions serve as the unit. 
         [0025]    Further, a unit may refer to a program code or a group of program codes residing in computer memory. 
         [0026]    (2) Object: Objects include all tangibles, such as commodities, parts, intermediate products, machines, books, documents, natural products, and living things. Objects also include matters that typically assume no particular shapes, such as gases and liquids manageably contained in containers or the like. 
         [0027]    In this specification, objects (i.e., operating objects) also include persons, conveyer machines, and robots capable of operating objects (e.g., items). Operating objects typically encompasses the act of carrying the objects or items, including borrowing and using the objects or items. 
         [0028]    (3) Positional Information: Positional information includes any information capable of uniquely specifying the location of an object. 
         [0029]    The positional information is typically represented in the form of, although not limited to, XYZ coordinates or polar coordinates. 
         [0030]    The accuracy of the positional information can be selected as appropriate for the use of the present invention. 
         [0031]    (4) Access Right: An access right refers to authority to operate an object, for example authority to carry an object. 
       B. Hardware Configuration 
       [0032]      FIG. 1  is a conceptual block diagram of an object management apparatus and an environment in which the apparatus can be applied, it accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0033]    In an embodiment, an object management apparatus  102  manages items such as  130 ,  131 , and  132  placed on storage shelves  120 ,  121 , and  122  in a warehouse  160 , and a visitor  150  (e.g., a person). The warehouse  160  may be more generally a place such as a warehouse or a shop. 
         [0034]    The objects (e.g., items) such as  130 ,  131 , and  132  have RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags  140   141 , and  142  associated therewith, respectively. 
         [0035]    More specifically, the tags are attached to, embedded in, or tied with (e.g., a wire), the objects, so that the tags are moved with the movement of the objects. 
         [0036]    Positional information about the tags is obtained with a receiver  103 . The obtained positional information is sent to the object management apparatus  102 . 
         [0037]    As a technique of obtaining the positional information about the individual tags with the receiver  103 , a Mojix STAR System of Mojix Inc. can be used. The Mojix STAR system realizes an increase in the receiver sensitivity by 100,000 times compared with conventional UHF-band REID readers, and a reading distance exceeding about 200 meters. The Mojix STAR system is also “capable of high-accuracy location detection with UHF-band passive tags (a location accuracy of about 1 to 3 m).” 
         [0038]    Displays  110 ,  111 , and  112  may be attached to the display shelves or may be placed at convenient locations in the warehouse  160 . 
         [0039]    The visitor  150  enters the warehouse  160 , carrying an RFID tag  165 . 
         [0040]    The displays  110 ,  111 , and  112  may display guidance for the visitor  150  by communicating with the object management apparatus  102  via the receive  103 . 
         [0041]    A block unit  170  is provided at agate of the warehouse  160 . 
         [0042]    The block unit  170  may be a bar for restricting entrance and exit or an automatic door, for example. 
         [0043]    A gate management unit  104  cooperates with the object management apparatus  102  to control the operation of the block unit  170 . 
         [0044]    A user computer  101 , including an input device and a display device (not shown), inputs data to the object management apparatus  102  through the input device and displays data received from the object management apparatus  102  on the display device. 
         [0045]    The user computer  101 , the object management apparatus  102 , the gate management unit  104 , and the receiver  103  are interconnected via a communication network  150  such as a local area network. 
         [0046]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a hardware configuration for implementing the object management apparatus  102 , in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. A computer system of the present invention comprises the hardware configuration depicted in  FIG. 2  of the object management apparatus  102 . 
         [0047]    The other units in  FIG. 1  (i.e., the user computer  101 , the gate management unit  104 , and the receiver  103 ) may also be implemented in a similar hardware configuration within a computer system. 
         [0048]    Components to be described below are illustrative, and not all of them are required components for the present invention. 
         [0049]    Each unit may have some of its components removed or added as appropriate for functions of the unit. 
         [0050]    The unit includes a CPU  202 , a memory  204 , a storage device  206 , an I/O control device  210 , a user interface  214 , a bus  208  interconnecting these components, and a communication port  212 . 
         [0051]    Code of a computer program running on the unit may be stored in the storage device  206  or may be introduced into the memory  204  from an external apparatus via the communication port  212  and the I/O control device  210 . 
         [0052]    The computer program code may be executed by the CPU  202  after being loaded into the memory  204 , or may be executed by the CPU  202  while remaining stored in the storage device  206 . A computer program product comprises a computer readable storage device (e.g., the storage device  206 ) such that the program code is stored on the storage device, wherein the program code is configured to be executed by a processor (e.g., the CPU  202 ) to perform the methods of the present invention. 
         [0053]    In any case, the memory  204  may also be used as temporary storage memory in one embodiment. 
         [0054]    The user interface  214  is used for displaying the operation state of the unit, inputting the operation mode, and the like. 
         [0055]    The computer program code may be divided into pieces and recorded separately on a plurality of storage media. Part of the divided pieces of code may be recorded on a storage medium in another external information processing apparatus connected to the unit via the communication port  212  and the succeeding communication network  150 , and the CPU  202  may cooperatively execute the divided pieces of code. Distributing the divided pieces of code to a plurality of apparatuses and cooperatively executing the pieces of code is embodied as a client-server system for example. Which pieces of code are executed by each apparatus to implement its functions is a matter of choice as appropriate in system design, and the present invention encompasses any form of such choice. 
         [0056]    The unit ay also be configured as follows. The unit is physically separated on the basis of functional blocks to be described below. The hardware as shown in  FIG. 2  is provided for each functional block, and the functional blocks cooperate via the respective communication ports  212 . 
         [0057]    An operating system running in the unit may be, although is not necessarily, an operating system that supports a graphic user interface multi-window environment as standard, such as Windows XP (R), AIX (R), or Linux (R), or any other operating system. 
         [0058]    The present invention is not limited to any particular operating system environment. 
         [0059]    A computer system rises a processor (e.g., the CPU  202 ), a memory (e.g., the memory  204 ) coupled to the processor, and a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, said storage device containing program code configured to be executed by the processor via the memory to implement the methods of the present invention. 
       C. System Configuration 
       [0060]      FIG. 3  is a conceptual diagram of a system configuration of the object management apparatus, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0061]    The object management apparatus  102  includes an object management control unit  1022 , an object management database  1024 , a location management unit  1026 , and an I/O unit  1028 . 
       &lt;Object Management Control Unit&gt; 
       [0062]    The object management control unit  1022  sends a command for obtaining current positional information about an individual object (e.g., an item) to the receiver  103  via the I/O unit  1028 . 
         [0063]    The object about which the positional information should be obtained is identified by referring to the object management database  1024 . 
         [0064]    The object management control unit  1022  obtains the current positional information about the individual object from the receiver  103  via the I/O unit  1028  and updates the content of the object management database  1024 . 
         [0065]    Also, in response to a notification of the entrance of the visitor  150  by the gate management unit  104 , the object management control unit  1022  sends a command for obtaining positional information about the visitor  150  to the receiver  103  and updates the positional information about the visitor  150  in the object management database  1024 . 
         [0066]    The object management control unit  1022  may send the commands for obtaining the positional information to the receiver  103  at regular intervals. 
         [0067]    Alternatively or additionally, once the visitor  150  is recognized by the object management control unit  1022 , the object management control unit  1022  may obtain the positional information at regular intervals only about the visitor  150  and about an object that the visitor  150  is authorized to access. 
         [0068]    The object management control unit  1022  obtains, from the receiver  103 , the positional information about the RFID tags such as  140 ,  141 , and  142  attached to the objects such as  130 ,  131 , and  132  in the warehouse  160 , and about the RFID tag  165  carried by the visitor  150 , and stores the positional information in the object management database  1024 . 
         [0069]    The location management unit  1026  refers to the object management database  1024  to monitor, at regular intervals, the positional information about the visitor  150  (who borrows an object) and the positional information about the object that the visitor intends to borrow. 
         [0070]    The location management unit  1026  also monitors changes in the positional information about the object over time to determine the moving speed (i.e., velocity) of the object. 
         [0071]    As will be described below, if the positions and the moving speeds of the visitor  150  and the object meet certain relationships, the object management control unit  1022  is notified of this fact. 
         [0072]      FIG. 4  is a data structure  400  (in the form of a table) of the object management database, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0073]    The structure shown in  FIG. 4  is merely an example, and the data arrangement order and data types are not limited to the example shown. In short, it is only necessary that the positional information about the objects (e.g., items)  130 ,  131 , and  132 , the positional information about the visitor  150 , and the access right of the visitor  150  to an object are reflected. 
         [0074]    The data structure  400  is a reservation table that includes an identifier  402  of an object, whether or not a reservation for lending of the object has been made  404 , the date of starting the lending  406  of the object, the date of finishing the lending  408  of the object, an identifier  410  of borrower who is an operating object who borrows the object (e.g., an operating object such as the visitor  150  authorized to enter the room and take out the object), current positional information  412  about the borrower (e.g., visitor  150 ), and current positional information  414  about the object. 
         [0075]    For example, an object AD-6136 is reserved for lending, and the date of starting the lending is Jan. 4, 2010, and the date of finishing the lending is Jan. 5, 2010. 
         [0076]    The borrower is AA6400. 
         [0077]    This borrower AA6400 is permitted to enter the warehouse  160  in a period between these dates of Jan. 4, 2010 and Jan. 5, 2010. 
         [0078]    The entrance is permitted or denied by the object management control unit  1022  through referring to the object management database  1024  and controlling the gate management unit  104 . 
         [0079]    The current location of the visitor is (100, 50), and the current location of the object is (99, 51). 
         [0080]    An object BO-7799 has an expected borrower AA8000, who has not entered the warehouse  160 . The object is stored at a location (200, 100). 
         [0081]    The I/O unit  1028  connects the object management control unit  1022  to the gate management unit  104 , the receiver  103 , and the displays  110 ,  111 , and  112  via the external network  150 . 
         [0082]      FIG. 5  shows an operational flow in an object management system, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. 
         [0083]    When the visitor  150  (i.e., an operating object) reaches near the block unit  170 , the gate management unit  104  notifies the object management apparatus  102  of this fact. 
         [0084]    The object management control unit  1022  in the object management apparatus  102  sends, to the receiver  103 , a command for obtaining the identifier of the visitor  150  from the RFID tag carried by the visitor  150 . The obtained identifier is sent to the object management control unit  1022  (step  502 ). 
         [0085]    The object management control unit  1022  refers to the object management database  1024 . If the visitor  150  has a reservation for borrowing an object (e.g., an item) (step  504 ), the object management control unit  1022  controls the gate management unit  104  to open the block unit  170  which enables the visitor  150  to enter the warehouse  160  (step  506 ). 
         [0086]    As described above, the object management control unit  1022  monitors the current location of the visitor  150  thereafter. 
         [0087]    According to the location of the visitor  150  in the warehouse  160 , the object management control unit  1022  may send guide information to the displays  110 ,  111 , and  112  via the receiver  103  for guiding the visitor  150  to the reserved object(step  508 ). 
         [0088]    As described above, the location management unit  1026  in the object management apparatus  102  monitors the positions of the visitor  150  and the reserved object at regular intervals, and also monitors changes in the positional information about the object over time to determine the moving speed (i.e., velocity) of the object. 
         [0089]    If a fact is established that: (i) the visitor  150  in the warehouse  160  and the reserved object are within a predetermined (i.e. previously specified) distance of each other (step  510 ), (ii) the object is being moved (i.e., a movement of the object is detected in step  512 ), and (iii) the visit r is moving (i.e., a movement of the visitor is detected in step  514 ), then the location management unit  1026  notifies the object management control unit  1022  of this fact. 
         [0090]    The object management control unit  1022  refers to the object management database  1024  to determine whether or not the visitor has a reservation for borrowing the object being moved (step  516 ). 
         [0091]    If in step  518  the visitor does not have a reservation for the borrowing of the object, the object management control unit  1022  determines that the object has been illegitimately taken by the visitor  150 . 
         [0092]    In step  520 , the object management control unit  1022  causes the user computer  101  to display an alarm message on a display device and transmit reports to a system manager. 
         [0093]    The object management control unit  1022  may also control the gate management unit  104  to close the block unit  170  (step  524 ) when the visitor  150  is detected reaching near the gate through the receiver  103  (step  522 ), which prevents the visitor  150  from removing the object from the warehouse  160 . 
         [0094]    While particular embodiments of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, many modifications and changes will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to encompass all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.