Granted Patent B1

US 12,731,686 · App. 18/736,114 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventor: Arlow Farrell (Murfreesboro, TN)

Assignee: ENOVATE MEDICAL, LLC

G16H40/67G01R31/382G01R31/396G16H40/40

Abstract

Claims (50)

1 . A mobile workstation comprising:

a cart movable between locations in a facility;

a transceiver configured to wirelessly send to and wirelessly receive data from, via a wireless network, at least one remote server; and

a sensor configured to generate data relating to the mobile workstation based on a signal detected by the sensor,

wherein the transceiver wirelessly sends the data relating to the mobile workstation to the remote server, and

wherein the remote server performs the steps of:

determining a use state of the mobile workstation based on the data relating to the mobile workstation;

updating the use state of the workstation to in-use based on the signal;

determining, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation over a period of time, that the mobile workstation requires maintenance by determining that an amount of time the use state of the workstation is in-use is less than a threshold amount; and

providing, to a user interface, a maintenance recommendation for the mobile workstation.

2 . The mobile workstation of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes an accelerometer, and wherein the signal corresponds to acceleration of the mobile workstation.

3 . The mobile workstation of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes an NFC reader, and wherein the signal corresponds to an operational proximity between the sensor and an authorized NFC tag.

4 . The mobile workstation of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes a current back draw sensor, and the signal is a current back draw signal.

5 . The mobile workstation of claim 4 ,

wherein the remote server further performs the step of determining, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation, an average current back draw over a predefined time period, and

wherein determining that the battery requires maintenance includes determining that the current back draw is less than a predefined percentage of the average current back draw.

6 . The mobile workstation of claim 1 ,

wherein the remote server further performs the steps of:

receiving data relating to a fleet of mobile workstations, wherein the data relating to the fleet of mobile workstations includes the data relating to the mobile workstation;

determining, over a predefined time period, use states of the fleet of mobile workstations based on the data relating to the fleet of mobile workstations; and

determining an average amount of time over the predefined time period, that the use state of each mobile workstation of the fleet of mobile workstations is in-use, and

wherein the threshold amount is a predefined percentage of the average amount of time.

7 . The mobile workstation of claim 1 , wherein the sensor includes at least one of a temperature sensor, an inertial measurement unit, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a laser scanning sensor, an air pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a magnetometer, a voltmeter, an ammeter, a thermometer, a proximity sensor, an NFC reader, an RFID reader, an ambient light sensor, an air quality sensor, a radioactivity sensor, a radiation sensor, a lighting sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a worksurface height sensor, a height adjustment cycle sensor, a vibration sensor, a power on/off state sensor, a voltage sensor, a current sensor, a battery cycle sensor, a contact sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a fault status sensor, a wireless networking operational sensor, an odometer, a decibel meter, an oxygen sensor, a motion sensor, a pressure sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor.

8 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

receiving, from a sensor residing on a mobile workstation, data relating to the mobile workstation based on a signal detected by the sensor;

determining a use state of the mobile workstation based on the data relating to the mobile workstation;

updating the use state of the workstation to in-use based on the signal;

determining, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation over a period of time, that the mobile workstation requires maintenance by determining that an amount of time that use state of the workstation is in-use is less than a threshold amount; and

providing, to a user interface, a maintenance recommendation for the mobile workstation.

9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the sensor includes an accelerometer, and wherein the signal corresponds to acceleration of the mobile workstation.

10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the sensor includes an NFC reader, and wherein the signal corresponds to an operational proximity between the sensor and an authorized NFC tag.

11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the sensor includes a current back draw sensor, and the signal is a current back draw signal.

12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , the functions further comprising determining, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation, an average current back draw over a predefined time period, and

wherein determining that the mobile workstation requires maintenance includes determining that the current back draw is less than a predefined percentage of the average current back draw.

13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim of claim 8 , the functions further comprising:

receiving data relating to a fleet of mobile workstations, wherein the data relating to the fleet of mobile workstations includes the data relating to the mobile workstation;

determining, over a defined timeline, use states of the fleet of mobile workstations based on the data relating to the fleet of mobile workstations; and

determining an average amount of time over the predefined time period, that the use state of each mobile workstation of the fleet of mobile workstations is in-use,

wherein the threshold amount is a predefined percentage of the average amount of time.

14 . A method of managing a mobile workstation, comprising:

sensing, by a sensor residing on a mobile workstation, data relating to the mobile workstation based on a signal detected by the sensor;

transmitting, by a transceiver residing on the mobile workstation and operably coupled to the sensor, to a remote server the data relating to the mobile workstation;

determining, by the remote server, a use state of the mobile workstation based on the data relating to the mobile workstation;

updating, by the remote server, the use state of the workstation to in-use based on the signal,

determining, by the remote server, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation over a period of time, that the battery requires maintenance by determining that an amount of time that the use state of the workstation is in-use is less than a threshold amount; and

providing, by the remote server, to a user interface, a maintenance recommendation for the mobile workstation.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the sensor includes an accelerometer, and wherein the signal corresponds to acceleration of the mobile workstation.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the sensor includes a current back draw sensor, and the signal is a current back draw signal.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining, by the remote server, based on the data relating to the mobile workstation, an average current back draw over a predefined time period,

wherein determining that the mobile workstation requires maintenance includes determining that the current back draw is less than a predefined percentage of the average current back draw.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (143)