US-12626219-B2 - Marine equipment inventory tool

US12626219B2US 12626219 B2US12626219 B2US 12626219B2US-12626219-B2

Abstract

A system and method for tracking marine equipment is provided. Generally, the system and method of the present disclosure are designed to generate indicia corresponding to the inventory level of marine equipment used for a particular marine activity. To facilitate the assignment of indicia reflecting the inventory level of marine equipment used for a marine activity, the system and method of the present disclosure uses a plurality of equipment profiles having a defined lower limit and quantity associated with each piece of marine equipment. The lower limit may be manually input or automatically generated. The quantity may be tracked by the system using equipment transmitters and equipment sensors. In a preferred embodiment, the indicia indicate whether the quantity of a piece of marine equipment has fallen below a certain specified level as defined by the user. Users may purchase new marine equipment from third-party retailers via the user interface.

Inventors

John Calagaz

Assignees

Fishing Chaos, Inc

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231229

Claims (20)

1 . A system for managing marine equipment comprising: a tackle box having an equipment sensor configured to receive marine equipment data pertaining to marine equipment contained with an internal cavity of said tackle box, wherein an equipment transmitter of said marine equipment contained within said tackle box transmits said marine equipment data to said equipment sensor via a computer readable signal, wherein said marine equipment data is contained within at least one equipment profile of a user, wherein said computer readable signal is transmitted to said equipment sensor from said equipment transmitter at a maximum distance, wherein said computer readable signal cannot be read by said equipment sensor when said equipment sensor is beyond said maximum distance, wherein said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile is based on said marine equipment data of said equipment sensor that is not beyond said maximum distance, a processor operably connected to said equipment sensor, a computing device having a user interface and operably connected to said processor and said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device is configured to receive said marine equipment data from said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device updates said at least one equipment profile based on said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein said user interface presents a visual representation of said tackle box using said marine equipment data, a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to said processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising: receiving said marine equipment data from said tackle box when said computer readable signal emitted by said equipment transmitter is not beyond said maximum distance from said equipment sensor, comparing said marine equipment data received from said tackle box to said marine equipment data contained in said at least one equipment profile, determining a difference of marine equipment data between said at least one equipment profile and said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a current amount of marine equipment is determined by totaling marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a profile amount of marine equipment is contained within said at least one equipment profile, wherein said difference is determined by comparing said current amount to said profile amount, updating said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile when said difference is determined, creating said visual representation of said tackle box using said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile, presenting said visual representation of said tackle box in said user interface of said computing device.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said visual representation of said tackle box is created using a plurality of indicia.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein said plurality of indicia illustrate said tackle box and said marine equipment contained within said tackle box.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein said plurality of indicia used to represent said marine equipment comprises image data.
5 . The system of claim 4 , further comprising additional instructions stored on said non-transitory computer-readable medium, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform additional operations comprising: generating said image data for each said marine equipment of said tackle box using said profile amount of said marine equipment.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said processor determines said difference of marine equipment in real-time.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said processor does not determine said difference of marine equipment in real-time.
8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of limits in said at least one equipment profile, wherein said plurality of limits determine a minimum amount of marine equipment data associated with said at least one equipment profile.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor is not used to determine said current amount of marine equipment unless at least one limit of said plurality of limits pertains to said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein said visual representation of said tackle box is changed based on said at least one equipment profile chosen via said user interface, wherein said marine equipment data of said marine equipment may exist in two or more of said at least one equipment profile.
11 . A system for managing marine equipment comprising: a tackle box having an equipment sensor configured to receive marine equipment data pertaining to marine equipment contained with an internal cavity of said tackle box, wherein an equipment transmitter of said marine equipment contained within said tackle box transmits said marine equipment data to said equipment sensor via a computer readable signal, wherein said marine equipment data is contained within at least one equipment profile of a user, wherein said computer readable signal is transmitted to said equipment sensor from said equipment transmitter at a maximum distance, wherein said computer readable signal cannot be read by said equipment sensor when said equipment sensor is beyond said maximum distance, wherein said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile is based on said marine equipment data of said equipment sensor that is not beyond said maximum distance, a processor operably connected to said equipment sensor, a computing device having a user interface and operably connected to said processor and said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device is configured to receive said marine equipment data from said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device updates said at least one equipment profile based on said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein said user interface presents a visual representation of said tackle box using said marine equipment data, a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to said processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising: receiving said marine equipment data from said tackle box when said computer readable signal emitted by said equipment transmitter is not beyond said maximum distance from said equipment sensor, comparing said marine equipment data received from said tackle box to said marine equipment data contained in said at least one equipment profile, determining a difference of marine equipment data between said at least one equipment profile and said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a current amount of marine equipment is determined by totaling marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a profile amount of marine equipment is contained within said at least one equipment profile, wherein said difference is determined by comparing said current amount to said profile amount, updating said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile when said difference is determined, generating a plurality of indicia for each said marine equipment of said tackle box using said marine equipment data, creating a visual representation of said tackle box and said marine equipment using said plurality of indicia, presenting said visual representation of said tackle box in said user interface of said computing device.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein said plurality of indicia used to represent said marine equipment comprises image data.
13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein said processor determines said difference of marine equipment in real-time.
14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein said processor does not determine said difference of marine equipment in real-time.
15 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of limits in said at least one equipment profile, wherein said plurality of limits determine a minimum amount of marine equipment data associated with said at least one equipment profile.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor is not used to determine said current amount of marine equipment unless at least one limit of said plurality of limits pertains to said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor.
17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein said visual representation of said tackle box is changed based on said at least one equipment profile chosen via said user interface, wherein said marine equipment data of said marine equipment may exist in two or more of said at least one equipment profile.
18 . A system for managing marine equipment comprising: a tackle box having an equipment sensor configured to receive marine equipment data pertaining to marine equipment contained with an internal cavity of said tackle box, wherein an equipment transmitter of said marine equipment contained within said tackle box transmits said marine equipment data to said equipment sensor via a computer readable signal, wherein said marine equipment data is contained within at least one equipment profile of a user, wherein said computer readable signal is transmitted to said equipment sensor from said equipment transmitter at a maximum distance, wherein said computer readable signal cannot be read by said equipment sensor when said equipment sensor is beyond said maximum distance, wherein said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile is based on said marine equipment data of said equipment sensor that is not beyond said maximum distance, a processor operably connected to said equipment sensor, a computing device having a user interface and operably connected to said processor and said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device is configured to receive said marine equipment data from said equipment sensor, wherein said computing device updates said at least one equipment profile based on said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein said user interface presents a visual representation of said tackle box using said marine equipment data, a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to said processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by said processor, cause said processor to perform operations comprising: receiving said marine equipment data from said tackle box when said computer readable signal emitted by said equipment transmitter is not beyond said maximum distance from said equipment sensor, comparing said marine equipment data received from said tackle box to said marine equipment data contained in said at least one equipment profile, determining a difference of marine equipment data between said at least one equipment profile and said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a current amount of marine equipment is determined by totaling marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor, wherein a profile amount of marine equipment is contained within said at least one equipment profile, wherein said difference is determined by comparing said current amount to said profile amount, updating said marine equipment data of said at least one equipment profile when said difference is determined, generating image data for each said marine equipment of said tackle box using said marine equipment data, creating a visual representation of said tackle box and said marine equipment using said image data, presenting said visual representation of said tackle box in said user interface of said computing device.
19 . The system of claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of limits in said at least one equipment profile, wherein said plurality of limits determine a minimum amount of marine equipment data associated with said at least one equipment profile.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor is not used to determine said current amount of marine equipment unless at least one limit of said plurality of limits pertains to said marine equipment data received by said equipment sensor.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES This application is a continuation of a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/382,319 filed Jul. 21, 2021, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/366,507 filed Jul. 2, 2021, which is a continuation of a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/133,419 filed Dec. 23, 2020, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/002,776 filed Aug. 26, 2020, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/858,840 filed Apr. 27, 2020, which claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/036,795 filed Jul. 16, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/532,994, filed on Jul. 15, 2017, in which all applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The subject matter of the present disclosure refers generally to a system and method for tracking and replacing marine equipment used for marine activities. BACKGROUND Before embarking on a fishing excursion, fishermen often visit tackle shops to replace fishing tackle lost or damaged during previous fishing excursions. If the fisherman fails to replace lost or damage fishing tackle, it may affect the success of their next fishing outing because it may result in situations where a certain lure is needed due to certain environmental conditions but is unavailable due to not being replaced. For instance, from late spring and early fall, a dry fly may be a very effective fly for a fisherman to use while fly fishing in the northwest. However, after this season, a fisherman may have difficulty catching fish using a dry fly since flies are less likely to be an active pray from late fall to early spring. Instead, a fisherman may be better off using a streamer. If a fisherman does not have a streamer in his tackle box due to failure to replace lost or damaged streamers from previous fishing excursions, the fisherman will have to choose from a group of bad scenarios on what they should do. For instance, the fisherman may have to decide whether to stop fishing for the day, drive to a tackle shop to replace the missing tackle, or change their angling strategy by using on hand fishing tackle. The use of on hand fishing tackle could potentially ruin a fishing outing as it may seriously handicap a fisherman's ability to catch fish if it is not optimal considering the environmental conditions. If the fisherman decides to forgo the fishing outing all together or drive to a tackle shop to replace the lost or damaged fishing tackle, valuable time will have been wasted. Because there are many different kinds of lures and other pieces of fishing tackle, it is often difficult for a fisherman to keep track of what tackle needs to be replaced. Additionally, fisherman often use multiple pieces of tackle in a single outing, making the task of keeping track of their tackle box inventory that much more difficult. If a fisherman is not entirely sure what is in their tackle box, they may purchase too much or too little of a particular piece of tackle in preparation for an upcoming fishing excursion. Purchasing too much tackle of a certain kind unnecessarily reduces a fisherman's funds that might otherwise have been used on something else. Purchasing too little tackle of a certain kind may cause the fisherman to run out of a particular piece of tackle sooner than expected, which may cause the fisherman to waste time due to redundant trips to the tackle shop. Additionally, failure to accurately track the inventory of a tackle box may result in the fisherman unintentionally not replacing a specific piece of tackle altogether, thus causing the fisherman to make an otherwise unnecessary trip to a tackle shop or forcing the fisherman to use suboptimal fishing tackle during a fishing excursion. Additionally, fishermen may have multiple tackle boxes designated for a specific species of fish since the contents of a tackle box may change depending on the species of fish a fisherman desires to catch. For instance, a fisherman angling for largemouth bass will not necessarily use the same tackle as a fisherman angling for catfish. Nor will a fisherman angling for tuna necessarily use the same fishing tackle as a fisherman angling for rainbow trout. The contents of a tackle box may also change when the style of angling a fisherman desires to employ changes. For instance, a fisherman desiring to troll for sailfish will not necessarily use the same kind of fishing tackle as a fisherman desiring to pitch cast for bass. For instance, a fisherman desiring to surf fish for red fish will not necessarily use the same kind of fishing tackle as a fisherman desiring to fly fish for bone fish. Keeping track of multiple tackle boxes having fishing tackle for different purposes is tedious and may result in a fisherman forgetting to replace a specific piece of tackle while at the tackle shop or buying the wrong tackle all together. Having multiple tackle boxes for different purp