MONITORING REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF TOOLS WITHIN AN INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM

• Main Authors: Gordon, Mark T, Lobo, Andrew R, Born, Traig E, Phillips, Preston C, Lipsey, Matthew J, Fly, David C, Pavlick, Gavin T, Rogers, Frederick J, Chwan, Joseph, Houston, Cody L
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.07.2024
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDEDFOR ELSEWHERE; CALCULATING; CHECKING-DEVICES; COFFEE MILLS; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; FURNITURE; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; HAND TOOLS; HUMAN NECESSITIES; MANIPULATORS; PAYING COUNTERS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; SPECIAL FURNITURE, FITTINGS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR SHOPS,STOREHOUSES, BARS, RESTAURANTS OR THE LIKE; SPICE MILLS; STORAGE MEANS FOR WORKSHOPS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; TRANSPORTING; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; WORKSHOP EQUIPMENT, e.g. FOR MARKING-OUT WORK

An inventory control system for managing and transporting a subset of tools from a plurality of storage containers. Each of the plurality of storage containers can comprise a plurality of storage locations. Each storage location can store objects, wherein the objects can rest in a tray. Each storage location can comprise at least one image sensing device configured to capture image data of the plurality of storage locations. Each storage location can comprise a data processor configured to receive information representing captured images of the storage locations and data representing the usage or status of the objects associated with the images. The system can further comprise a portable container comprising a plurality of supplemental locations for storing the objects containers. The portable container can be configured to communicate with the plurality of storage locations and configured to reconcile objects shared between the portable container and the plurality of storage containers.