US 2017/0323365 A1 · Methods and Systems for Monitoring a Facility

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful for monitoring a facility, such as the safety, security, and status of individuals and items within the facility. In one illustrative approach, a retail facility maintains information regarding product location, in part, from correlating a shopper's cart path and their purchased items with those of other shoppers. In some approaches, a cart path may be determined, in part, by depositing compounds on a floor surface, provide shopping carts configured to pick up the compounds deposited on the floor of the retail facility, and capture, via a compound detector, the compounds deposited on the cart wheels of a particular shopping cart during a customer checkout at a point of sale terminal, and generate an estimated cart path for the particular one of the plurality of shopping carts.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A facility monitoring system comprising:

a database of individuals or items permitted within a facility and one or more approved, expected, or permitted locations for each of the individuals or items in the database;
a plurality of compounds disposed in different areas of a floor of the facility, the floor compounds including at least a first compound with a first light spectra and a second compound having a second light spectra, the first and second light spectra absorbing or emitting different spectra of light;
at least one access point at the facility with a sensor configured to identify a particular individual or particular item exiting the facility;
a compound detector configured to detect compounds present on or associated with the individuals or items exiting the facility at the access point;
and
a control circuit coupled to the database, the sensor, and the compound detector, the control circuit configured to identify visited areas where the particular individual or the particular item accessed in the facility by analyzing the detected compounds present on or associated with the individuals or items.

3 more elements

A facility monitoring system comprising:

a database of a plurality of retail items disposed within a retail location and an aisle location associated with some of the plurality retail items;
a floor surface of the retail location, the floor surface having a plurality of compounds deposited thereon, the plurality of compounds including at least a first compound having a first light spectra and a second compound having a second light spectra, the first and second light spectra absorbing or emitting different spectra of light;
a plurality of shopping carts, each of the plurality of shopping carts having cart wheels configured to pick up the compounds deposited on the floor surface when at least one of the cart wheels contacts the floor surface upon which the compound is deposited;
at least one point of sale terminal in the retail location;
a compound detector configured to detect the compounds present on the cart wheels;
and
a control circuit coupled to the database, the at least one point of sale terminal in the retail location, and the compound detector, the control circuit configured to generate an estimated cart path for a particular one of the plurality of shopping carts by analyzing the detected compounds present on the cart wheels of the particular shopping cart.

4 more elements

A method of locating and monitoring items within a retail location, the method comprising:

maintaining a database of aisle locations associated with retail items located within the retail location;
depositing a plurality of compounds onto a floor surface of the retail location, the plurality of compounds including a first compound having a first light spectra and a second compound having a second light spectra, the first and second light spectra absorbing or emitting different spectra of light;
providing shopping carts with wheels configured to pick up the compounds deposited on the floor of the retail location;
capturing, via a compound detector, the compounds deposited on the cart wheels of a particular shopping cart during a customer checkout at a point of sale terminal;
and
generating an estimated cart path for the particular one of the plurality of shopping carts.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Methods and Systems for Monitoring a Facility

Life of this patent

Methods and Systems for Monitoring a Facility

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims23