Patent ID: 7987020

Claim:
A method for storing and dispensing keys comprising the steps of acquiring said keys; assigning a unique identification code to each key; providing a plurality of tags onto which information may be placed and remotely read; attaching a unique one of said plurality of tags to each of said respectively acquired keys; placing the respectfully unique identification code of each of said respective keys onto the respective tags attached to the respective keys; acquiring a wheel having a plurality of slots; creating a unique location code for each of said plurality of slots; placing each of said keys and said respective and attached tags into respectively and unique slots; placing the respectively unique location code of each respective slot into the respective tags which are respectively placed within the respective slots, whereby a tag contains the location code of said slot in which said tag resides; selecting one of said keys; remotely reading the location code and the identification code information of said tag attached to said selected one of said keys in order to determine the presence and the location of said selected one of said keys within said wheel; and moving said wheel to a predetermined position, effective to allow said selected one of said keys to be removed from the respective slot in which said selected one of said keys resides; and removing said selected one of said keys from said respective slot in which said selected one of said keys reside.