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:
Aug. 05, 2025
Filed:
Apr. 15, 2022
Apex Brands, Inc., Apex, NC (US);
Jiangming He, Shanghai, CN;
Bin Sun, Shanghai, CN;
Mingshuai Wang, Shanghai, CN;
Henglian Luo, Shanghai, CN;
Jingru Wang, Suzhou, CN;
APEX BRANDS, INC., Apex, NC (US);
Abstract
A tool storage system is provided that includes a drawer, and an optical system configured to detect presence of an object in the drawer. The optical system includes a photoelectric sensor and processing circuitry. The photoelectric sensor includes a light transmitter configured to emit pulsed light, and a photoelectric receiver configured to convert a reflection of the pulsed light off of the object to an electrical signal that indicates proximity of the object and thereby the presence of the object in the drawer. The processing circuitry is configured to output a pulse-frequency modulation (PFM) signal from which the light transmitter is driven to emit the pulsed light. The PFM signal has a frequency that is adjustable to control an average intensity of the pulsed light, the frequency calibrated for a type of the object and an effective range of the photoelectric sensor.