The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 03, 2020
Filed:
Sep. 19, 2018
W.w. Grainger, Inc., Lake Forest, IL (US);
Geoffry A. Westphal, Evanston, IL (US);
Ray “Qianyu” Rui, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Eun Sem Kil, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Jerry Shim, Lake Forest, IL (US);
Svetlana Kharlamova, Lake Forest, IL (US);
W.W. Grainger, Inc., Lake Forest, IL (US);
Abstract
An inventory management system includes a beacon or button connected to a warehouse server. The beacon buttons are placed in or near a product storage area with a number of products. The beacon has a controller and a transceiver to communicate with a server. There is a user input on the front of the beacon and several sensors able to detect a user identity and interaction with the products. When the user input is triggered, the beacon sends a message to the warehouse server including a user identity and other sensor data. Additionally, the beacon includes an energy harvester configured to power the beacon from ambient or user provided energy.