초록 ▼

An inventory tracking and management apparatus especially for drycleaning inventory control includes a flexible substrate such as a packet or sheet which houses an RF encoding device for automatic capture of an identifying code, and an optical encoding pattern or series of alphanumeric characters on

An inventory tracking and management apparatus especially for drycleaning inventory control includes a flexible substrate such as a packet or sheet which houses an RF encoding device for automatic capture of an identifying code, and an optical encoding pattern or series of alphanumeric characters on an exposed surface. The RF encoding element can be captive within a flexible fabric packet that can survive repeated processing, or sewn into a hem of a single thickness sheet, etc. The optical pattern or characters preferably includes barcode for automatic or semiautomatic data capture as well as human readable characters, in each case cross referenced to the identifying code from the RF element and to inventory control records in a database. The packet has one or more openings, preferably defined by a grommet or open centered snap, which receive a fastener for temporary attachment to a trackable unit of inventory including one or more items, e.g., garments. The fastener can include a pin or plastic anchor, or the grommet can allow the packet to be placed over a coat hanger hook to reside in repeatable position on the hanger neck.

대표청구항 ▼

[ I claim:] [1.] A reusable inventory tracking and management apparatus, comprising:a substrate which is resistant to conditions prevailing in a process, the substrate being removably attachable to a trackable unit of inventory having one or more items to be passed through a process and recovered;me

[ I claim:] [1.] A reusable inventory tracking and management apparatus, comprising:a substrate which is resistant to conditions prevailing in a process, the substrate being removably attachable to a trackable unit of inventory having one or more items to be passed through a process and recovered;means for temporarily attaching said substrate to said trackable unit during passing through the process, said means for attaching being removable following the process for re-use on a later trackable unit of inventory;a responder encoding an electronic identification code for the substrate and for the trackable unit during passing through the process, said responder being attached permanently to the substrate;a visual identification tag containing at least one form of optical identification code for identifying said piece of inventory, said visual identification tag being located on an exposed surface of said substrate;first data input means operable to input the electronic identification code and second data input means operable to input the optical identification code; and,an inventory control computer database coupled to the first and second data input means, having means for cross referencing the electronic identification code and the optical identification code, whereby either of the electronic identification code and the optical identification code are useful for accessing the inventory control database for reference to a record associated with the trackable unit.