Patent ID: 7818088

Claim:
A system for managing inventory said system comprising: at least one material handling device for use in transporting an item of inventory, said item of inventory having a readable identifier associated therewith; at least one inventory reader coupled to the at least one material handling device wherein said inventory reader is aimed to read the identifier associated with the item of inventory; a computer processor in communication with the at least one reader for receiving information regarding said item of inventory from the reader; and a position locating system on said material handling device, wherein said position locating system takes position readings from overhead references to determine the position of the item of inventory and transmits information to the computer processor so that position determinations can be made; and a location measurement device mounted on at least one material handling device, wherein said location measurement device determines a current location of the at least one material handling device using sensed measurements of movements of the material handling device and thus updates the position of the material handling device between said position readings taken by said position locating system.