Patent ID: 7104448

Claim:
An inventory control system for rental items, comprising: a) an electronically writable, unpowered return reminder tag located on a surface of a rental item at a predetermined location, the unpowered return reminder tag including an electronically writable bistable display, a machine readable code identifying the rental item, and a plurality of conductive pads located on the front side of the tag for writing to the display; b) a docking station having a body defining a surface for supporting the surface of the rental item bearing the unpowered return reminder tag, and a pair of perpendicular alignment edges arranged with respect to the surface of the docking station to align the rental item with respect to the surface of the docking station; a scanning aperture located in the surface of the docking station for accessing the machine readable code on the unpowered return reminder tag; a plurality of contact pins located on the surface of the docking aperture for contacting the conductive pads of the unpowered return reminder tag; c) a data base containing an inventory of rental items; d) an operator interface for an operator to indicate a check in or check out condition; and e) control electronics connected to the docking station, the data base and the operator interface, the control electronics being responsive to a check in signal from the operator interface for reading the machine readable code and updating the database to indicate that the rental item has been checked in, and responsive to a check out signal from the operator interface for applying appropriate voltages to the contact pins for writing to the display on the unpowered return reminder tag and for updating the database to show that the item has been checked out.