Inventory and business management system which accounts for the contents of full and partially filled product containers

A system for taking inventory of and obtaining inventory reports on a plurality of different products which are dispensed in full containers and in predetermined quantities less than the full amount from the containers, each container including a code associated therewith which uniquely identifies the product contained within the coded container, said system comprising:

• identifying means for identifying each particular product dispensed, including means for sensing the code of the coded container and for deriving a product identification signal related to the code sensed and the product identified thereby and the container from which the product is dispensed;
• weighing means for separately weighing each container of each of the plurality of particular products and any product contained therein and for supplying a weight signal related to the weight of each container and any product contained therein;
• information entering means for entering information including the number of full containers of each particular identified product and for supplying a number signal related to the number of full containers of the particular identified products entered;
• computer means operatively connected to receive the product identification signal from said identifying means and the weight signal from said weighing means and the number signal from said information entering means, said computer means operatively responding upon receipt of a product identification signal to thereafter accept at least one of the weight signal or the number signal and to correlate the product identification signal with the weight and number signal for each particular container identified, said computer means including (a) data store memory means for containing product record information on each particular product identified and for containing previous and current inventory data on the quantity of each particular product previously on-hand and currently on-hand respectively, said product record information including the specific gravity of each particular product and the weight of each empty container for each particular product and the quantity of product contained within each full container;
• and (b) program memory means containing data for controlling said computer means to create at least one inventory report by utilizing the product identification, weight and number signals and the product record information and inventory data contained in said data store memory means;
• said computer means for operatively correlating the product identification signal with the corresponding product record information for each container identified and automatically calculating the quantity of each particular product in each full container identified by multiplying the quantity of product contained in each full container by the number of full containers represented by the number signal and automatically calculating the quantity of particular product contained within any less-than-full container which has been identified and weighed by subtracting the weight of the empty container from the weight represented by each weight signal and performing at least one mathematical operation on the result of such subtraction using a number related to the specific gravity of the particular product identified, said computer means further adding the quantities of particular product in all full and less-than-full containers to obtain a total quantity amount in creating a current inventory report, the inventory reports including information describing the quantity of each particular product at the time when the previous and current inventory data was obtained;
• and
• said computer means adapted to be connected to copy producing means, said copy producing means operatively producing perceptible copies of inventory reports created by said computer means.