Patent Abstract:
An asset tracking system includes a series of sensors placed on a tool storage system connected to a computerized system. The sensor mounts are placed so that sensor can detect the presence or absence of the tool assigned to the spot. In some examples, these sensors are pressure sensors calibrated to detect the weight of the tool upon the tool mount. The system can remotely notify a user of the status of the tools through either a display or a telecommunications system. The system can also be configured in some examples to check tools out to a specific user via the computerized system.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates generally to mounting a sensor to a storage place for an object and, more particularly, to various methods and apparatus for mounting a sensor for use with an asset tracking system. 
       BACKGROUND OF RELATED ART 
       [0002]    In many fields, equipment and inventory is tracked and its user and location monitored. This can be done manually or with the help of software. Many organizations have policies for checking out tools and returning those tools within certain windows. These policies endeavor to prevent the tools from getting lost or damaged. For example, a construction company might require someone to sign out a drill or a jackhammer and return it at the end of the job or their shift. Missing tools can cause work slowdowns and be costly to replace if the tool is lost or believed lost. Stored tools are less likely to be damaged accidentally, cause harm, or be used inappropriately. 
         [0003]    Accordingly, there is a need to improve compliance with tool policies, by for example, displaying missing tools and notifying designated individuals of tools that have not been returned. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary network system in which the methods described hereinafter may be employed; 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a front isometric view of an example sensor mount according to the principles of this disclosure. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a rear isometric view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a rear elevated view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a side elevated view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 6  is a bottom plan view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  is a front elevated view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 9  is a top isometric view of another example sensor mount according to the principles of this disclosures. 
           [0013]      FIG. 10  is a bottom isometric view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 11  is a bottom plan view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 12  is a side elevated view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 9 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 13  is a side view of the sensor mount of  FIG. 9  with a sensor and tool receiving portion. 
           [0017]      FIG. 14  shows a plurality of sensor mounts on a pegboard with tools. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    The following description of example methods and apparatus is not intended to limit the scope of the description to the precise form or forms detailed herein. Instead the following description is intended to be illustrative so that others may follow its teachings. 
         [0019]    Turning to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary computing system comprised of a plurality of processing devices  20 / 68  linked via a network  12 , such as a wide area network or the Internet, is illustrated. Processing devices  20 , illustrated in the exemplary form of a device having conventional computer components, are provided with executable instructions to, for example, provide a means for a user to access a remote processing device, e.g., a third party server system  67 , via the network  12  to, among other things, view electronic documents made available by such third party, to perform a search for products and/or services (individually and collectively referred to hereinafter as “products”), etc. Generally, the computer executable instructions reside in program modules which may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a processing device  20  may be embodied in any device having the ability to execute instructions such as, by way of example, a personal computer, mainframe computer, personal-digital assistant (“PDA”), cellular or smart telephone, tablet computer, or the like. Furthermore, while described and illustrated in the context of discrete processing devices  20 , those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various tasks described hereinafter may be practiced in a distributed or cloud-like environment having multiple processing devices linked via a local or wide-area network whereby the executable instructions, required data, etc. may be associated with and/or executed by one or more of multiple processing devices. 
         [0020]    It will also be appreciated that, in the case of a user and/or the current location not having the ability to access to the Internet, a further device having all data and logic could communicate with the User&#39;s Computing Device via BlueTooth or any other protocol that makes sense to accomplish the various goals set forth herein. 
         [0021]    For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executable instructions, a processing device  20  preferably includes a processing unit  22  and a system memory  24  which may be linked via a bus  26 . Without limitation, the bus  26  may be a memory bus, a peripheral bus, and/or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. As needed for any particular purpose, the system memory  24  may include read only memory (ROM)  28  and/or random access memory (RAM)  30 . Additional, external memory devices may also be made accessible to the processing device  20  by means of, for example, a hard disk drive interface  32 , a magnetic disk drive interface  34 , and/or an optical disk drive interface  36 . As will be understood, these devices, which would be linked to the system bus  26 , respectively allow for reading from and writing to a hard disk  38 , reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk  40 , and for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk  42 , such as a CD/DVD ROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and their associated non-transient, computer-readable media allow for the nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the processing device  20 . Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that other types of non-transient, computer readable media that can store data may be used for this same purpose. Examples of such media devices include, but are not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital videodisks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, nano-drives, memory sticks, and other read/write and/or read-only memories. 
         [0022]    A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of the memory/media devices. For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS)  44 , containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the processing device  20 , such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM  28 . Similarly, the RAM  30 , hard drive  38 , and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to store computer executable instructions comprising an operating system  46 , one or more applications programs  48  (such as a Web browser, electronic document viewer/editor, etc.), other program modules  50  (such as program extensions), and/or program data  52 . Still further, any such computer-executable instructions may be downloaded to one or more of the computing devices as needed, for example, via a network connection. 
         [0023]    A user may interact with the various application programs, etc. of a processing device  20 , e.g., to enter commands and information into the processing device  20 , through input devices such as a touch screen or keyboard  54  and/or a pointing device  56 . While not illustrated, other input devices may include a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, a camera, a gesture recognizing device, etc. These and other input devices would typically be connected to the processing unit  22  by means of an interface  58  which, in turn, would be coupled to the bus  26 . Input devices may be connected to the processor  22  using interfaces such as, for example, a parallel port, game port, firewire, or a universal serial bus (USB). To view information from the processing device  20 , a monitor  60  or other type of display device may also be connected to the bus  26  via an interface, such as a video adapter  62 . In addition to the monitor  60 , the processing device  20  may also include other peripheral output devices, not shown, such as speakers and printers. 
         [0024]    A processing device  20  may also utilize logical connections to one or more remote processing devices, such as vendor server system  68  having one or more associated data repositories  68 A in which is stored, for example, product information and user information. In this regard, while the server system  68  has been illustrated in the exemplary form of a computer, it will be appreciated that the server system  68  may, like processing device  20 , be any type of device having processing capabilities. Again, it will be appreciated that the server system  68  need not be implemented as a single device but may be implemented in a manner such that the tasks performed by the server system  68  and/or data needed for performance of such tasks are distributed to a plurality of processing devices linked through a communication network, e.g., implemented in the cloud. Additionally, the server system  68  may have logical connections to other third party server systems via the network  12  as needed and, via such connections, will be associated with data repositories that are associated with such other third party server systems. 
         [0025]    For performing tasks, e.g., to support commerce related functionalities, the server system  68  may include many or all of the elements described above relative to the processing device  20 . By way of further example, the server system  68  includes executable instructions stored on a non-transient memory device for, among other things, handling search requests, providing search results, accepting user ratings/comments information, for displaying user ratings/comments information, for handling orders for goods, for retrieving and providing inventory information, etc. Communications between the processing device  20  and the server system  68  may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as a network router, that is responsible for network routing. Communications with the network router may be performed via a network interface component  73 . Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g., the Internet, World Wide Web, or other like type of wired or wireless network, it will be appreciated that program modules depicted relative to the processing device  20 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the memory storage device(s) of the server system  68 . 
         [0026]    Referring now to the figures, and more particularly to  FIGS. 1-3 , an example sensor mount  10  is illustrated. In this instance, the example sensor mount  10  including a plate  104  and at least one nob  102 . One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the plate  104  could be made any suitable size or shape as desired in order to adapt the sensor mount  10  to a wide variety of locations and conditions. The example plate  104  serves as a foundation to the sensor mount  10  and provides solidity and structure to the sensor mount  10 . It can therefore be made of many types of material with sufficient strength and stiffness to the device, such as for example, metal and/or a plastic materials. 
         [0027]    In this example, the nobs  102  are configured to work with any type of tool storage system, such as a hanging pegboard type tool storage system  80  such as that shown and described in  FIG. 13  below. The example nobs  102  are adapted to clasp, fasten, mount, hang, or lock into the tool storage system  80 . The nobs  102  allow for accurate and repeatable placement of the sensor mount  10  with respect to a tool storage system  80  giving accurate and reliable tool detection. In order to keep the sensor mount  10  secure, an adhesive, mechanical fastener, or the like can be applied to bind the mount to the tool storage system if desired by the user. 
         [0028]    The nobs  102  of the illustrated example are adapted to align with a set of complimentary holes on a pegboard as is commonly known in the art. In one example of the present disclosure, the nobs  102  are spaced one inch apart in order to fit exactly into a standard pegboard. Specifically, in this example, the nobs have a diameter of ¼ in. (0.25) and a height of 3/16ths in. (0.1875 in.) in order to insure a align with a press fit. The nobs  102  could also be hooks or other projections adapted to fit within the tool storage system, such as the apertures shown in  FIG. 13  below. 
         [0029]    The rectangular plate  104  includes a recessed area  106 . In this disclosure, the recessed area  106  is adapted to fit a sensor  1204 , such as a proximity sensor, to ensure accurate alignment of the tool mount over the sensor mount  10 . For example, the recessed area can account for the exact thickness the sensor to give a flush fit between the parts and ensuring a flat placement of the tool mount over the sensor. The rectangular plate may  104  also be adapted to contain and protect other parts, such as internal wiring or power sources, as needed. These parts may also be set into or enveloped by the rectangular plate  104  like the sensor  1204  is protect by recessed area  106 . 
         [0030]    The sensor  1204  is configured to interact with the tool mount and sense whether to tool is present in the support position of the tool mount. The sensor  1204  may be a pressure sensor or a proximity sensor, but will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that any suitable sensor including, for instance, a piezo-electric sensor, strain gauge, laser rangefinder, a temperature sensor, light sensor, RFID sensor, or any other device as desired to detect the presence of the tool in the mount. 
         [0031]    The sensor mount  10  may be in operable communication with an asset tracking system. This asset tracking system may include multiple sensor mounts as well as a controller and memory, user interface, and display that can communicate to the user the status of their tools. The display, for example, may be as simple as lights next to the tool mount or as complicated as interactive screens so long as the user may be appraised of the appropriate information. In one example of the present disclosure, light emitting diodes illuminate whenever a tool is not present giving a visual impression of how many tools are missing. 
         [0032]    The controller of the example asset tracking system may also include a microprocessor. This microprocessor includes the ability to remotely notify users of the status of the tools. This notification function can be used, for example, to email a manager what tools are still check out at the end of a set time, like the end of each shift. The notification can also be adapted to notify the user when a tool has been checked out for a period of time. The memory of the asset tracking system may be RAM or more permanent storage as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art. This memory may be used to record a log of interactions, tool usage, or any other information received by the asset tracking system. 
         [0033]    In operation, the sensor mount  10  is place onto the pegboard and a tool mount is placed over it. When weighted by a tool, the tool mount contacts the sensor  1204  and triggers a signal to the asset tracking system. Upon receiving the signal, the microprocessor begins a counter. When the tool is returned, the sensor mount  10  sends a second signal to the microprocessor, which terminates count for that tool. The microprocessor constantly compares the count to a set value. When the count exceeds, the set value, the microprocessor triggers the notification to the user. For example the microprocessor can send an email or text message, trigger an audio or visual message, or the like. The microprocessor may have an internal clock. At certain times, the microprocessor will alert the user if any sensor mounts  10  have signaled that a tool has been removed and never signaled that the tool has been returned. For example, the triggering time can be every day at 5:00 pm or every 8 hours. 
         [0034]    The asset tracking system may also comprise an identity tracking system and require that reach tool be assigned to a user. In one example, the user could access a tool check out system on a standard personal computer or hand held in operable communication with the asset tracking system that provides a unique identifier to the system. In another example, the user could have a unique identifier communicated by a simple transmitter or scannable identification. This could be an RFID tag, a magnetic strip card, or a Bluetooth communication as would understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The controller of the asset tracking system can log the checked out tools under the nearest unique identifier provided by a user. This will provide a log as to who took a tool and enable the user to more reliably track down the location of the tools if they are misplaced. 
         [0035]    Another example of the sensor mount  10  is shown in  FIGS. 8-11 . Rather than be positioned under the tool mounting structure, this variant example is positioned between the tool storage system and the mount for the tool. This hinge variant sensor mount  80  has a plate  104  and upper portion  802  connected by a hinge  804 . One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the movable connection could also be accomplished by a translating plate, resilient section, or any other suitable hinge or pivot method. A mount for the tool is attached to the upper portion  802 , while plate  104  is attached to the tool storage system  1302 , shown as a pegboard below with respect to  FIG. 13 . 
         [0036]    In this example, the plate  104  has the recessed area  106  adapted to fit a sensor  40 . The recessed area  106  can pass all the way through the plate  104  to allow wires and thicker sensors to be accommodated. The upper portion  802  has a recessed striking area  808 . The recessed striking area  808  is adapted to cooperate with the recessed area  106  to fully contain the sensor  1204 . In this example, the upper portion  802  can sit flush on the plate  104  when the hinge  804  is fully rotated, because the sensor  1204  is completely enclosed within the hinge variant  80 . The plate  104  may also have other areas to protect and contain other parts of the system such as a power source and connecting wires as necessary. 
         [0037]    This upper portion  802  contains several mounting slots  810 . The mounting slots are used to connect tool mounts  1202  to the sensor mount  80 . These tool mounts  1202  can clip, friction fit, or be secured using bolts with a plurality of pilot holes  812  in the upper portion  808 . It will be appreciated that the tool mount  1202  may be hooks, straps, magnets or any other method of holding a tool in a support position as desired by the user. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any sort of connection could be used to connect the tool mount  1202  to the upper portion  802  including but not limited to chemical adhesives, mechanical fasteners, or integrally forming the tool mount  1202  as part of the upper portion  802 . 
         [0038]    The plate  106  has a plurality of mounting holes  814  that can be used to affix the sensor mount  80  to a tool mounting system  1302 . They can be used to receive screws, bolts, or any other method of connecting that one of ordinary skill might use. The mounting holes  814  may be partially sunk, beveled, or otherwise adapted to better connect to the tool mounting system  1302 . The mounting holes  814  may also be slightly larger than necessary for the connector to simultaneously allow wires to pass through the mounting hole  814  from one side of the plate  106  to the other. 
         [0039]    The hinge  804  in this example comprises complimentary hollow cylinders  816  in the plate  104  and the upper portion  802 . When these hollow cylinders  816  are aligned, a pin  1102  can be inserted into cylinders  816  thereby rotatably joining the plate  104  and upper portion  802 . In one example, the friction between the hollow cylinders and the pin is minimized by including hinge teeth. In yet another example, the pin  1102  is sized so that it is a slip-fit on all but one hinge tooth. In this example, the final hinge tooth is a press-fit. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that friction could also be minimized through material choice, addition of lubricants, or other suitable means. 
         [0040]      FIGS. 12-13  show an example of the sensor mount  10  in use.  FIG. 12  shows the sensor mount  80  with a tool mount  1202  attached. The sensor  1204  is juxtaposed within the recessed area  106  to sit within the sensor mount  80 . The sensor  1204  may be in operable communication with an asset tracking system. In this example, this is accomplished by connecting wires  1206  to the sensor  1204  and the asset tracking system. One of ordinary skill will appreciate that this connection could also be accomplished wirelessly as well using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, radio, or any other suitable means of communication. In  FIG. 13 , a plurality of hinge variants  80  and attached tool mounts  1202  are affixed to a pegboard comprising tool mounting system  1302 . Also shown in  FIG. 13 , the tool mount  1202  is adapted to bear a variety of tools  1304  as shown.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6