Steven R Ewing

US Patent:

56971737, Dec 16, 1997

Filed:

Jul 17, 1996

Appl. No.:

8/683774

Inventors:

Henry Jemison McCarrick - Fallbrook CA
Kevin Cochrane Ross - San Clemente CA
Steven Todd Ewing - Laguna Beach CA

Assignee:

Span Instuments - Plano TX

International Classification:

G09F 300
F16L 1500
H05K 500

US Classification:

40310

Abstract:

An inventory control collar incorporating a resident memory for use on a cylindrical neck of a storage container comprising an electrically insulative housing having a central opening sized to fit around the cylindrical neck of the storage container, and a circumferential groove located in the top of the housing. A first conductive ring inserted into the circumferential groove in the housing is electrically connected to the first terminal of the memory and a second conductive ring inserted into the circumferential groove in the housing is electrically connected to the second terminal of the memory. An electrically insulative retainer ring is inserted into the circumferential groove between the first and second rings. Data is conducted to and from the memory by electrically contacting the first and second conductive rings.