WO2009002926A1

WO2009002926A1 - Rfid-enabled hamper and inventory system

Info

Publication number: WO2009002926A1
Application number: PCT/US2008/067891
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey L. Aldridge
Original assignee: Cintas Corporation
Priority date: 2007-06-22
Filing date: 2008-06-23
Publication date: 2008-12-31

Abstract

A system for cataloguing and obtaining inventory information for garments having RFID tags stored in a receptacle such as a hamper is disclosed. The system may be configured to allow a user to receive an accurate inventory of the garments having RFID tags by way of RFID antennas on the receptacle that transmit that sense the RFID tags and transmit the information to a portable reader. The reader may be configured to sense garments as they are being removed from, placed into or while within the container.

Description

RFID-ENABLED HAMPER AND INVENTORY SYSTEM

Jeffrey L. Aldridge Lebanon, Ohio

Field of the Invention

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to hampers and other receptacles configured to receive soiled garments, and include hampers, receptacles, and associated systems configured to inventory soiled garments contained in the hamper or receptacle.

Background of the Invention

|0002] Systems configured to use RFID to inventory garments placed within a receptacle are known within the art. One such system 10 is shown in FIG. 1. In this version, the receptacle 18 is enclosed within a secure area 20, and the user 12 does not have direct access to the receptacle 18. Instead, the user 12 deposits the soiled garment 14, which has an RFID tag attached to it, into a chute 16 directed toward a receptacle 18. The chute 16 may be one-way, and may include one or more antennas integral with it. In addition, in the illustrated version, a reader and data storage means are in communication with the one or more antennas. The information on the RFID tag is read as the garment passes through the chute 16 before being deposited into the receptacle 18. The chute 16 in this example may also have a mechanical one-way mechanism built-in.

|0003] Prior art systems which catalogue garments as they are deposited into the receptacle, such as the one shown in FIQ. 1 , may raise several issues such as cost and accuracy. In addition to the space and physical complexity that may be associated with prior art chute/receptacle systems, these types of prior art systems may require a reader and means of storing the identifying information for each receptacle, which may be very costly to purchase and maintain. In these prior art systems, in order to receive an accurate inventory, the reader and storage means may need to be present on-site, active, and functioning properly at all times that garments may be deposited into the receptacle. If the reader and storage means are not active or not functioning properly at any time, garments may be deposited without being recorded and the inventory may be inaccurate. In addition, because the garments are read as they are deposited into the receptacle, if a garment is removed from the receptacle after being recorded, the inventory stored in the storage means may no longer be accurate.

Brief Summary of Embodiments of the Invention

|0004| Embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a system for cataloguing garments contained in a receptacle, such as a hamper or any other suitable device. The system may be configured to allow a user to receive an accurate inventory of the garments, soiled or clean, in the receptacle via a portable reader.

[0005| In one embodiment, such as the one shown in FIG. 2, the system 1 10 comprises a garment containing at least one RFID tag, a receptacle 120 including at least one RFID antenna 1 16, a portable reader 1 14, and a port 118 configured to allow the portable reader 114 to communicate with the at least one RFID antenna 116. It will be appreciated that the figure is representative, and the receptacle 120 may be cube-shaped, spherical, or have any other suitable configuration. The receptacle 120 may also be open or closed. Although the system 1 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes four RFID antennas 1 16 integral with the receptacle 120, the system 1 10 may include any suitable number of RFID antennas 1 16 in any suitable configuration. The at least one RFID antenna 1 16 may be integral to the receptacle 120, externally attached to the receptacle 120, or have any other suitable location or configuration. The at least one RFID antenna 1 16 may be configured such that the RFID tag on each garment can be read either as the garments are lying statically in the receptacle 120, or, alternately, as the garments are being removed by the user 1 12. The port 1 18 may be placed in any suitable position on the receptacle 120, such that it allows the portable reader 114 to communicate with the at least one RFID antenna 1 16.

|0006] In this example, the portable reader 1 14 is also a data storage device configured to store identifying information associated with each RFID tag in each garment. The portable reader 1 14 may be powered by batteries or any other suitable power source. In Ihiδ Yersion, the identifying information associated with each RFID tag is read by the at least one RFID antenna 1 16 and then relayed to the portable reader 1 14 when the portable reader 1 14 is inserted into the port 1 18. The portable reader 1 14 may be configured such that a user 1 12 may carry the portable reader 1 14 from receptacle to receptacle.

10007) The RFID tags may be read as the garments are placed in the receptacle 120, as the garments are lying statically in the receptacle 120, or, alternately, as they are being removed by the user 1 12. In the former instances, the user 1 12 may insert the portable reader 1 14 into the port 118, allow the portable reader 1 14 to receive the identifying information from each RFID tag in each garment via the at least one RFID antenna 1 16, and then disconnect the portable reader 1 14 from the port 1 18. The user 1 12 may then remove the garments from the receptacle 120. In the latter case, the user 1 12 may insert the portable reader 1 14 into the port 1 18, remove the garments from the receptacle 120, and then remove the portable reader 1 14 from the port 1 18, thereby allowing the portable reader 114 to receive and store the identifying information from each of the RFID tags in each of the garments in the receptacle 120. Other ways in which the garments may be inventoried (e.g., sequencing of garment placement, RFID tag reading, removal of garments, coupling portable reader 1 14 with port 1 18, removal of reader 1 14 from port 1 18, etc.) will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. In the present example, once the user 1 12 has received the inventory information on the portable reader 1 14 and removed the garments, then he may move on to the next receptacle and repeat the process.

[0008| Embodiments of the present invention, such as the one shown in FIG. 2, attempt to address the cost and accuracy issues raised by some prior art systems by allowing a user 1 12 to use a single portable reader 1 14 to receive and store the inventory information from multiple receptacles 120 and by allowing the user 1 12 to take inventory simultaneously with removal. Because only the antenna 1 16, as opposed to a reader 1 14 and storage means, is part of the receptacle 120, the cost per receptacle may be kept relatively low, thereby making it feasible for users 1 12 to place these receptacles 120 at small customer sites. In addition, because the RFID tags in the garments are readjust before or during removal them from the receptacle 120, as long as the RFID tags in the garments are functioning properly, the inventory the user 1 12 receives on the portable reader 114 will match what he removes. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0()09| FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a prior art chute/receptacle system.

100010) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a system in accordance with the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed:

1. A system for cataloguing and tracking garments:

(a) at least one garment, each said at least one garment comprising at least one RFID tag;

(b) a receptacle comprising at least one RFID antenna disposed such that the said at least one RFlD tags are readable on at least one of the garments contained within said receptacle;

(c) a portable reader adapted to store identifying inventory information associated with each of said at least one RFID tag; and

(d) a port disposed on said receptacle and configured to allow said portable reader to communicate with the at least one RFlD antenna after said at least one RFID antenna has sensed the identifying inventory information associated with each said RFID tag and transmitted said identifying inventory information to said portable reader, whereby the garment inventory of the container may be readily sensed and communicated to a user of said portable reader.