Handshake authenticated coded locked container

• US 10,204,465 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Glasgow, Dane, Gonzales, Jr., Sergio Pinzon, Brown, Ilya
• Primary Examiner(s): Alunkal, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US14/320,441
• Publication Number:
  US 20150379796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,688 Days
• Field of Search: 340 551, 340 554, 340 573
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/0092 for cargo, freight or shipping containers and applications therefore in general
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00174 Electronically operated locks; Circuits therefor; Nonmechanical keys therefor, e.g. passive or active electrical keys or other data carriers without mechanical keys mechanical locks with electric permutation E05B49/00; arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit
• CPC Class Codes: G09C 1/00 Apparatus or methods whereby a given sequence of signs, e.g. an intelligible text, is transformed into an unintelligible sequence of signs by transposing the signs or groups of signs or by replacing them by others according to a predetermined system cryptographic typewriters G09C3/00

Abstract

A system and method for a handshake authenticated coded locked container are provided. In example embodiments, a digitally encoded lock mechanism that is used by a sender to lock a container before shipping is determined. An access key is received from the recipient that receives the container. An authentication process is performed that determines whether the access key triggers the unlocking of the container. Based on a determination that the access key triggers the unlocking of the container, instructions are provided to unlock the container.

Claims

1. A tangible machine-readable device storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a container, a digitally encoded lock mechanism that is used to lock the container before shipping to a recipient;

detecting, by the container, that a recipient device of the recipient is within range of the container;

in response to the detecting that the recipient device is within range of the container, transmitting, by the container, an access key representing a copy of the digitally encoded lock mechanism to the recipient device, the recipient device having an application installed thereon for receiving the access key from the container;

receiving, at the container, the access key to unlock the container;

in response to the receiving of the access key at the container, causing an authentication process to be performed that determines whether the access key causes the container to unlock; and

based on a determination that the access key causes the container to unlock, unlocking the container.

2. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the authentication process occurs at one or more of the container, a central server that stores a copy of the digitally encoded lock mechanism, or the recipient device.

3. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the authentication process further comprises determining that the container is located in a location corresponding to a predetermined location of the recipient of the container, the unlocking of the container further being in response to the container being at the predetermined location.

4. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein:

the access key comprises a code;

the receiving, at the container, the access key comprises receiving the code via Bluetooth from the recipient device; and

the authentication process comprises determining the received code matches the digitally encoded lock mechanism.

5. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein:

the access key comprises a series of one or more dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones;

the receiving, at the container, the access key comprises receiving the series of one or more DTMF tones from the recipient device; and

the authentication process comprises determining whether the received DTMF tones matches the digitally encoded lock mechanism.

6. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the container, the access key is via an input mechanism on the container.

7. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise locking down the container in response to the access key not matching the digitally encoded lock mechanism after a predetermined number of tries, the locking down of the container disabling the lock on the container from being unlocked until a reset is performed.

8. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the authentication process comprises determining whether both the access key matches the digitally encoded lock mechanism and an unlock signal is received from the recipient device via Bluetooth.

9. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving an unlock signal from the device of the sender or the central server.

10. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein:

the access key comprises a scannable code, and

the receiving, at the container, the access key comprises receiving the scannable code via a scanning component of the container.

11. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise providing a visual alert on the container or an audio alert by the container when the container has traveled off course by a predetermined amount from a predetermined location of the recipient.

12. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, wherein the authentication process comprises determining that both the access key matches the digitally encoded lock mechanism and a biometric of the recipient is verified.

19. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 1, further comprising using a security component of the container to verify that content within the container has not been tampered with.

20. The tangible machine-readable device of claim 19, wherein the security component comprises one or more of a camera to capture an image of the recipient, weight scale to measure a weight of the content initially, or bill counter to scan cash as it is placed into the container.

13. A method comprising:

receiving, at a container, a digitally encoded lock mechanism that is used to lock the container before shipping to a recipient;

detecting, by the container, that a recipient device of the recipient is within range of the container;

in response to the detecting that the recipient device is within range of the container, transmitting, by the container, an access key representing a copy of the digitally encoded lock mechanism to the recipient device, the recipient device having an application installed thereon for receiving the access key from the container;

receiving, at the container, the access key to unlock the container in response to the detecting that the container arrives at the location corresponding to the predetermined location of the recipient, the automatically receiving comprising causing one of a recipient device, a device of the sender, or a central server to automatically, without human intervention, provide the access key to the container in response to the detecting that the container arrives at the location corresponding to the predetermined location of the recipient;

in response to the receiving of the access key at the container, causing, using a hardware processor, an authentication process to be performed that determines whether the access key causes the container to unlock; and

based on a determination that the access key causes the container to unlock, unlocking the container.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the access key comprises a scannable code; and

the receiving, at the container, the access key comprises receiving the scannable code via a scanning component of the container.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the authentication process comprises determining whether both the access key matches the digitally encoded lock mechanism and the container is located at a predetermined location corresponding to the recipient.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the access key comprises an unlock signal receivable from the recipient device via Bluetooth; and

the receiving, by the container, the access key comprises receiving the unlock signal from the recipient device via Bluetooth.

17. A system comprising:

one or more hardware processors; and

a hardware storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, causes the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, at a container, a digitally encoded lock mechanism that is used to lock the container before shipping to a recipient;

detecting, by the container, that a recipient device of the recipient is within range of the container;

in response to the detecting that the recipient device is within range of the container, transmitting, by the container, an access key representing a copy of the digitally encoded lock mechanism to the recipient device, the recipient device having an application installed thereon for receiving the access key from the container;

receiving, at the container, the access key to unlock the container;

in response to the receiving of the access key at the container, causing an authentication process to be performed that determines whether the access key causes the container to unlock; and

unlocking the container in response to a determination that the access key causes the container to unlock.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise locking down the container in response to the access key not matching the digitally encoded lock mechanism after a predetermined number of tries, the locking down of the container disabling the lock on the container from being unlocked until a reset is performed.