Patents by Inventor Tom Stiefel

Tom Stiefel has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10839346
    Abstract: In some embodiments, system, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful for managing retail product inventory including a plurality of locations each having a corresponding location decay rate associated by a central control system. A central control system comprising a central control circuit coupled with memory storing code that when implemented causes the central control circuit to: determine, at a current time and for each detected first product, a confidence value corresponding to a level of confidence that the first product is still present and within a first threshold area corresponding to a first location where the first product was most recently sensed. The confidence value may decay over time proportional to a first decay period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: Tom Stiefel, Justin C. Moore, Richard B. Penn
  • Patent number: 10579918
    Abstract: In some embodiments, systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful to monitoring condition compliance. In some embodiments, an RFID tag comprises a first chip and a second chip, an antenna, a switch, wherein the switch is configured to switchably connect the first chip and the second chip to the antenna based on occurrence of a condition, a memory device, and a control circuit configured to write, in response to a connection between the first chip and the antenna, a first marker and an indication of a first state to the memory device, write, in response to a connection between the second chip and the antenna, a second marker and an indication of a second state to the memory device, determine an amount of time in which compliance was not met, and transmit, to an RFID reader, an indication of the amount of time in which compliance was not met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: Steven J. Lewis, Tom Stiefel, Alvin S. Taulbee, Jeremy R. Tingler, Eugene P. Sunday
  • Publication number: 20190294941
    Abstract: In some embodiments, systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful to monitoring condition compliance. In some embodiments, an RFID tag comprises a first chip and a second chip, an antenna, a switch, wherein the switch is configured to switchably connect the first chip and the second chip to the antenna based on occurrence of a condition, a memory device, and a control circuit configured to write, in response to a connection between the first chip and the antenna, a first marker and an indication of a first state to the memory device, write, in response to a connection between the second chip and the antenna, a second marker and an indication of a second state to the memory device, determine an amount of time in which compliance was not met, and transmit, to an RFID reader, an indication of the amount of time in which compliance was not met.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2019
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Inventors: Steven J. Lewis, Tom Stiefel, Alvin S. Taulbee, Jeremy R. Tingler, Eugene P. Sunday
  • Publication number: 20190266556
    Abstract: In some embodiments, system, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful for managing retail product inventory including a plurality of locations each having a corresponding location decay rate associated by a central control system. A central control system comprising a central control circuit coupled with memory storing code that when implemented causes the central control circuit to: determine, at a current time and for each detected first product, a confidence value corresponding to a level of confidence that the first product is still present and within a first threshold area corresponding to a first location where the first product was most recently sensed. The confidence value may decay over time proportional to a first decay period of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2019
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Tom Stiefel, Justin C. Moore, Richard B. Penn
  • Patent number: 10360488
    Abstract: In some embodiments, systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful to monitoring condition compliance. In some embodiments, an RFID tag comprises a first chip and a second chip, an antenna, a switch, wherein the switch is configured to switchably connect the first chip and the second chip to the antenna based on occurrence of a condition, a memory device, and a control circuit configured to write, in response to a connection between the first chip and the antenna, a first marker and an indication of a first state to the memory device, write, in response to a connection between the second chip and the antenna, a second marker and an indication of a second state to the memory device, determine an amount of time in which compliance was not met, and transmit, to an RFID reader, an indication of the amount of time in which compliance was not met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: Steven J. Lewis, Tom Stiefel, Alvin S. Taulbee, Jeremy R. Tingler, Eugene P. Sunday
  • Patent number: 10332069
    Abstract: In some embodiments, system, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful for managing retail product inventory including a plurality of sensors configured to detect individual presence of multiple different products within a retail shopping facility. A central control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of sensors to receive sensor information comprising identifiers detected by the plurality of sensors. The central control system comprises a central control circuit coupled with memory storing code that when implemented causes the central control circuit to: access the received sensor information and determine, at a current time and for each detected first product, a confidence value corresponding to a level of confidence that the first product is still present and within a first threshold area corresponding to a first location where the first product was most recently sensed. The confidence value may decay over time proportional to a first decay period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: Walmart Apollo, LLC
    Inventors: Tom Stiefel, Justin C. Moore, Richard B. Penn
  • Publication number: 20190095770
    Abstract: In some embodiments, systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful to monitoring condition compliance. In some embodiments, an RFID tag comprises a first chip and a second chip, an antenna, a switch, wherein the switch is configured to switchably connect the first chip and the second chip to the antenna based on occurrence of a condition, a memory device, and a control circuit configured to write, in response to a connection between the first chip and the antenna, a first marker and an indication of a first state to the memory device, write, in response to a connection between the second chip and the antenna, a second marker and an indication of a second state to the memory device, determine an amount of time in which compliance was not met, and transmit, to an RFID reader, an indication of the amount of time in which compliance was not met.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Inventors: Steven J. Lewis, Tom Stiefel, Alvin S. Taulbee, Jeremy R. Tingler, Eugene P. Sunday
  • Publication number: 20180137460
    Abstract: In some embodiments, system, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein useful for managing retail product inventory including a plurality of sensors configured to detect individual presence of multiple different products within a retail shopping facility. A central control system communicatively coupled with the plurality of sensors to receive sensor information comprising identifiers detected by the plurality of sensors. The central control system comprises a central control circuit coupled with memory storing code that when implemented causes the central control circuit to: access the received sensor information and determine, at a current time and for each detected first product, a confidence value corresponding to a level of confidence that the first product is still present and within a first threshold area corresponding to a first location where the first product was most recently sensed. The confidence value may decay over time proportional to a first decay period of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2017
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Inventors: Tom Stiefel, Justin C. Moore, Richard B. Penn