Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20090140046?dq=7,444,563
Timestamp: 2015-05-04 01:31:03
Document Index: 102792188

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 10', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 30', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'art 20', 'arts 20', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 10', 'art 20']

Patent US20090140046 - Electronic Inventory Tracking System - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsSystems and methods are disclosed for tracking items in a shopping cart using radio frequency identification. In one embodiment, a first set of items is positioned in a first item zone alongside an aisle. An electronic tag reader is capable of remotely reading identification tags on the items into an...http://www.google.com/patents/US20090140046?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20090140046 - Electronic Inventory Tracking SystemAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20090140046 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 11/948,653Publication dateJun 4, 2009Filing dateNov 30, 2007Priority dateNov 30, 2007Also published asUS7828211Publication number11948653, 948653, US 2009/0140046 A1, US 2009/140046 A1, US 20090140046 A1, US 20090140046A1, US 2009140046 A1, US 2009140046A1, US-A1-20090140046, US-A1-2009140046, US2009/0140046A1, US2009/140046A1, US20090140046 A1, US20090140046A1, US2009140046 A1, US2009140046A1InventorsJohn David Landers, Jr., David John Steiner, Paul Morton Wilson, Kimberly Ann WoodOriginal AssigneeInternational Business Machines CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManReferenced by (4), Classifications (4), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetElectronic Inventory Tracking System
US 20090140046 A1Abstract
a first set of items positioned in a first item zone, each item in the first set of items having a machine-readable identification tag; an electronic tag reader capable of remotely reading the identification tags into an electronic record of shopping cart contents when the identification tags are within a readable range from the electronic tag reader; an energy field generator configured to generate a first detectable energy field extending from a location within the readable range of at least some of the items in the first item zone to a location outside the readable range of any of the items in the first item zone; and wherein the tag reader is movable along the aisle into and out of the first detectable energy field, and is configured to not read the identification tags into the electronic record while the tag reader is within the first detectable energy field and to selectively read the identification tags into the electronic record when the tag reader is outside the first detectable energy field. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy field generator is selected from the group consisting of an RF field generator configured for generating a detectable RF field, and acoustic energy field generator configured for generating a detectable acoustic energy field, and a magnetic field generator configured for generating a detectable magnetic field.
a second set of items positioned in a second item zone spaced from the first item zone, each item in the second set of items having a machine-readable identification tag; wherein the detectable energy field generator is configured to generate a second detectable energy field extending from a location within the readable range of at least some of the items in the second item zone to a location outside the readable range of any of the items in the second item zone; and wherein the tag reader is movable into and out of the second detectable energy field, and is configured to not read the identification tags in the second item set into the electronic record while the tag reader is within the second detectable energy field and to selectively read the identification tags in the second item set into the electronic record when the tag reader is outside the second detectable energy field. 4. The system of claim 3, further comprising a shelf having a plurality of consecutively arranged item bins, including a first bin or region defining the first item zone and a second bin or region defining the second item zone.
a second shopping cart having a detectable energy field generator for generating an detectable energy field extending a distance from the second shopping cart, wherein the tag reader is configured not to read identification tags if the tag reader is receiving the detectable energy field from the second shopping cart. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the tag reader is configured to read into the electronic record the identification tag of each item from the first item zone that is within the readable range in response to moving from inside the detectable energy field to outside the detectable energy field.
a forced-scanning zone spaced from the item zones, wherein the energy field generator is configured to generate a detectable energy field in the forced-scanning zone distinct from the first detectable energy field, and wherein the tag reader is configured to read the identification tags into the electronic record in response to entering the detectable energy field in the forced-scanning zone. 12. A method, comprising:
positioning a first set of items in a first item zone, each item in the first set of items having a machine-readable identification tag; generating a first detectable energy field extending from a location within the readable range of at least some of the items in the first item zone to a location outside the readable range of any of the items in the first item zone; and moving the tag reader along the aisle into the first detectable energy field, not reading the identification tags into the electronic record while the tag reader is within the first detectable energy field, moving the tag reader out of the first detectable energy field, and selectively reading the identification tags into the electronic record when the tag reader is outside the first detectable energy field. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the first detectable energy field comprises generating a detectable RF field, generating a detectable acoustic energy field, or generating a detectable magnetic field.
positioning a second set of items in a second item zone spaced from the first item zone, each item in the second set of items having an associated machine-readable identification tag; generating a second detectable energy field extending from a location within the readable range of at least some of the items in the second item zone to a location outside the readable range of any of the items in the second item zone; and moving the tag reader into the second detectable energy field, not reading the identification tags in the second item set into the electronic record while the tag reader is within the second detectable energy field, moving the tag reader along the aisle out of the second detectable energy field, and selectively reading the identification tags in the second item set into the electronic record when the tag reader is outside the second detectable energy field. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising positioning the first item set in a first bin defining the first item zone on a shelf and positioning the second item set in a second bin defining the second item zone on the shelf.
generating an detectable energy field extending a distance from the second shopping cart; and receiving the detectable energy field from the second shopping cart at the first shopping cart, and not reading the identification tags in the first item set while the tag reader is receiving the detectable energy field from the second shopping cart. Description
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the shopping cart as positioned in one item zone associated with RF field �RF-A.�
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an inventory tracking system 10 according to one embodiment of the invention. The system 10 may be implemented, for example, at a supermarket that stocks a large variety of different goods. The goods can be uniquely tracked and accounted for while shopping using RFID tags or other remotely machine-readable identification devices. A plurality of item zones, generally indicated at 12, include exemplary item zones 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, which are positioned to form an aisle 14. Each item zone 12 can be used to group a set of for-sale inventory items, and a different item set 15 may be stocked in each item zone 12. For example, item set 15A is stocked in item zone 12A, and item set 15D is stocked in item zone 12D. Accordingly, each item set may be physically associated with an item zone by physically present in the item zone, and each item set may also be logically associated with an item zone by informing a system controller which item set is being placed in which item zone. Although not required, each item set 12 in this embodiment includes like items. For example, one item zone 12 may contain a plurality of ketchup bottles of a particular brand and size, another item zone may contain a particular brand and size of mustard, and yet another item zone may contain a particular brand and size of relish. Accordingly, like items in a particular item zone may all be the same price. Characteristics of the items (e.g. brand, size, and price) may be encoded in a remotely machine-readable device, such as an RFID tag, and selectively read (i.e. �scanned�) by an RFID tag reader.
Each item zone 12 in this embodiment is optionally defined by a respective one of a plurality of bins 16 on a supermarket shelf 18. The term �bin� as used herein is intended to encompass not only an open-top container, but also any basket, container, case, or other item holder used to contain or hold each item set in its respective item zone. However, the use of bins and shelves is not required. For example, the item zones 12 could instead be areas of a supermarket floor or a supermarket wall demarcated with paint, tape, or other marking system that would aid stockers in visually determining where to place the different item sets. The use of bins 16 provides a convenient way to keep the different item sets 15 separate both organizationally and visually, such as to assist stockers with stocking items in their respective bins and to aid shoppers in selecting items. The bins 16 and shelf 18 also provide a structural framework for some electronic components of the inventory system 10, as discussed further below. A shopping cart 20 is configured for moving along the aisle 14, typically by rolling the shopping cart along the floor within the aisle 14. A shopper can push the shopping cart 20 along the aisle 14 and select items from the various item zones 12.
Generally, the term �RF� is used herein to include any electromagnetic field from very low frequency (e.g., RF used for communication between submarines) to Gamma rays, which are forms of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) or light emissions of a specific frequency produced from sub-atomic particle interaction, such as electron-positron annihilation and radioactive decay. RF can be largely distinguished according to its frequency. For example, light is a form of RF at a wavelength that it is detectable to the human eye. One skilled in the art might use the term RF to describe a range of frequencies that typically penetrate solid objects so the field itself is not blocked (or attenuated). There are practical limits and considerations, however, to which types and frequencies of RF may be selected for use in this embodiment. For example, the RF generated radioactively by plutonium could be used to implement the invention, but the radiation produced by plutonium is really a very high energy electromagnetic field that would be impractical. Furthermore, the invention is not limited to the use of electromagnetic fields, and virtually any detectable energy field could be used in place of the electromagnetic fields. For example, ultrasonic generators could be positioned to generate generated detectable acoustic fields, or magnets could be positioned to generate detectable magnetic fields. The term RF is therefore considered herein to also include electromagnetic fields.
In this embodiment, each electromagnetic field is a distinct RF field, each designated with a letter corresponding to the associated item zone 12. For example, the electromagnetic field generator 30 generates an electromagnetic field �RF-A� in front of item zone 12A, an electromagnetic field �RF-B� in front of item zone 12B, and so forth. Accordingly, each RF field is physically associated with an item zone by being in close proximity between the RF field and the item zone, and each RF field may also be logically associated with the item zone by informing a system controller which RF field is in close proximity to which item zone. Each RF field RF-A, RF-B, etc. in this embodiment also includes at least one detectably distinct characteristic. For example, each RF field may be on a different frequency or amplitude than the other RF fields. Alternatively, each RF field may contain other identifying information used to differentiate one RF field from another RF field, such as by having a unique digital ID encoded in each RF field. Using existing RF field generation means, the different RF fields may be precisely controlled so that, for example, each RF field extends only a short distance into the aisle 14 from its respective item zone 12. For example, radio frequency transmitters and antenna systems known in the art may be used to generate a controlled RF field that extends a short distance into the aisle 14, such as between two inches to no more than four feet into the aisle 14. The antenna design may also be used to determine the shape and intensity of the RF field. Existing RF field generation techniques may also be used to control the RF fields with enough precision that the RF fields do not appreciably intersect with one another, thereby creating tightly controlled boundaries between distinct RF fields. A determination of whether or not adjacent RF fields intersect could be made according to the resolution of the RF field detector, rather than a determination of literal intersection. For example, an RF fields may decay or diminish as a function of distance from the respective RF field generator to a level that is below a predefined threshold level by the RF field detector or other tag reader at a certain distance. Thus, portions of two RF fields are considered not to intersect, even if they literally intersect, so long as the portion of the RF fields above the detection threshold level of the RF detector do not intersect. The shopping cart 20 may be moved down the aisle 14 into and out of the various RF fields. For example, the shopping cart 20 is currently shown with its front end in RF-A, and may be rolled down the aisle 14 in the direction shown to move the shopping cart 20 out of RF-A and into RF-B, out of RF-B and into RF-C, and so forth.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the shopping cart 20 as positioned in RF-A in front of item zone 12A. One of the items from item set 15A has been removed from item zone 12A and placed in the shopping cart 20. Each item from item set 15A includes a remotely machine-readable identification device 34A, which in this embodiment is a radio-frequency identification (�RFID�) tag. The invention also encompasses alternative embodiments using remotely machine-readable identification devices other than RFID tags, whether such technology now exists or is later developed. As previously mentioned, RFID tags have the advantage of being remotely and omnidirectionally readable. Each tag 34A may include identifying information indicating shared characteristics of items in item set 15A, such as brand, size, and price. The identifying information may also include information to differentiate items within the item set 15A, such as a serial number to distinguish one item having a particular brand, size, and price from another identical item having the same brand, size, and price.
FIG. 8 is a plan view illustrating how the RFID reader 22′ in one shopping cart 20′ may be configured to refrain from reading items in another shopping cart 20″, and vice-versa. The shopping cart 20′ has an RF generator 30′ that emits an RF field RF′ that extends to or beyond a readable range 35′ of the contents of the shopping cart 20′. Alternatively, the RF generator 30′ could be built into or included with the RFID reader 22′. Likewise, the shopping cart 20″ (or, alternatively, the RFID reader 22″) has an RF generator 30″ that emits an RF field RF″ that extends to or beyond a readable range 35″ of the contents of the shopping cart 30″. When the RFID reader 22″ in the shopping cart 20″ detects the RF field generated by the RF generator 30′ on the shopping cart 20′, the RFID reader 22″ refrains from reading any items into its electronic record 40″. Likewise, when the RFID reader 22′ in the shopping cart 20′ detects the RF field generated by the RF generator 30″ on the shopping cart 20″ (or any other RF generator on any other shopping cart), the RFID reader 22′ refrains from reading any items into its electronic record 40′. Such a configuration prevents the RFID reader in a first shopper's shopping cart from inadvertently detecting and reading items in a second shopper's cart, and vice-versa, which is desirable because supermarkets and shopping centers often have many shoppers and shopping carts at any given time. The shopping carts are not required to each have a different or unique RF field. Rather, even a single RF field could be chosen to designate the presence of a shopping cart, and all of the shopping carts (including carts 20′ and 20″) may be assigned that particular RF field, so long as it is configured to avoid picking up its own RF field and identifying it as an indication that another cart is present. Thus, the RF detector of any cart could detect the presence of any other cart by virtue of detecting the one RF field designated for all shopping carts. However, it may be desirable to provide a way for each cart to distinguish its own RF field from the RF fields of other carts. There are a number of ways to do this. One example would be for all the RF generators associated with the respective carts to send a 10 ms pulse out at regular or predefined intervals, such as once per second. The RF detector may then �listen� for 1 second, and if only the pulse of that RF detector is detected, the RF detector could determine that no other RF detector is in proximity (and therefore no other cart of items is in proximity) and that scanning is therefore permitted. This would allow the RF detector of one cart to distinguish its own RF signals from that of another cart, even if the RF signals of the different carts are otherwise essentially identical (e.g. have the same frequency and amplitude). The RF detector could perform a 2nd �listen� at the end of scanning to ensure that no cart came in range while the scanning was performed. This is analogous to the way Ethernet works. Other ways for the RF generator of a cart to distinguish its own RF signals from RF signals emitted by the RF generator of another cart will be apparent to one skilled in the art having benefit of this disclosure. An alternative way of distinguishing the RF field of one cart from that of other carts would be to generate different RF fields at each cart, such as by using different frequencies (channels) or different signal content in the RF field generated at each cart.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of a supermarket 200 according to an embodiment of the invention having forced-scanning zones 202 with associated RF fields �RF-FS� and a checkout zone 204 having an associated RF field �RF-CH�. The embodiments in connection with FIGS. 1-8 illustrated how a cart entering and leaving the RF field of an item zone could trigger the scanning of a cart to update items currently in the cart. The discussion of the embodiments in FIGS. 1-8 further included examples of verifications that could be performed, such as not scanning items from a particular item zone unless the cart had not only left the RF field of that item zone but also entered another RF field of another item zone. FIG. 9 illustrates a still further step that may be used to perform a forced scanning of the cart 10 when it enters any of the forced scanning zones 202. Here, the forced-scanning zones are optionally positioned in areas of the supermarket floor that are out of any RF field from the various item zones�specifically, the forced-scanning zones are placed adjacent to the ends 208 of supermarket shelves 18. As the cart 10 is moved around the store within the aisles 14, items may be scanned in periodically, as described above in connection with FIGS. 1-8. Then, whenever the cart 10 is moved out of the aisles 14, such as to bring the cart 10 to an adjacent aisle 14, the cart 10 is passed between the wall 206 and the ends 208 of the shelves 18. This forces (or at least encourages) movement of the cart 10 into the forced-scanning zones 202 and into RF fields RF-FS. The field RF-FS signals are detected by the RF detector 22 and communicated to the RFID reader 22 to cause the RFID reader to perform a scan. Thus, at least in the optional layout of FIG. 9, the RFID reader 22 will update the cart contents each time it reaches the end of one aisle 14 and moves to another aisle 14. This is useful, for example, to ensure that at the end of every aisle 14, the contents of the cart 20 get updated.
Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8317101 *Nov 12, 2009Nov 27, 2012Ncr CorporationProduce data collecter which collects internal produce informationUS20140036630 *Jul 31, 2012Feb 6, 2014Ncr CorporationMethod and apparatus for reducing recognition times in an image-based product recognition systemEP2701102A1 *Aug 23, 2013Feb 26, 2014Samsung Electronics Co., LtdMethod and system for providing information by using store terminalWO2011047864A2 *Oct 21, 2010Apr 28, 2011Airbus Operations GmbhSystem and method for storage in an aircraft galley* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification235/385International ClassificationG06F19/00Cooperative ClassificationG06Q10/087European ClassificationG06Q10/087Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionApr 9, 2014FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Sep 4, 2012ASAssignmentOwner name: TOSHIBA GLOBAL COMMERCE SOLUTIONS HOLDINGS CORPORAFree format text: PATENT ASSIGNMENT AND RESERVATION;ASSIGNOR:INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:028895/0935Effective date: 20120731Nov 30, 2007ASAssignmentOwner name: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, NEW YFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LANDERS, JOHN DAVID, JR., MR.;STEINER, DAVID JOHN, MR.;WILSON, PUAL MORTON, MR.;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:020183/0122;SIGNING DATES FROM 20071111 TO 20071113RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services