Wireless environmental sensing in packaging applications
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring an environmental condition associated with an item of inventory along a distribution chain having a plurality of locations, wherein the plurality of locations includes at least a point of origin and a final destination, the system comprising:
- at least one item of inventory;
an RF transponder associated with the at least one item of inventory, said transponder including an RF processor having an antenna coupled to the RF processor;
at least one environmental condition sensor in communication with the RF transponder on the at least one item of inventory;
a power source for powering the RF transponder and the at least one environmental condition sensor, wherein the RF transponder receives an environmental condition from the environmental condition sensor for storage as environmental condition data;
a log of location data;
a log of environmental condition data; and
a reporting infrastructure for processing the location data and the environmental condition data.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for monitoring an environmental condition associated with an item of inventory along a distribution chain having a plurality of locations comprises at least one item of inventory, an RF transponder associated with the item of inventory, and at least one environmental condition sensor in communication with the RF transponder. The system includes a power source for powering the RF transponder and the environmental condition sensor to record an environmental condition. The system also includes a log of location data, a log of environmental condition data, and a reporting infrastructure for processing the location data and the environmental condition data. A method for tracking an environmental condition along a distribution chain is also included.
-
Citations
42 Claims
-
1. A system for monitoring an environmental condition associated with an item of inventory along a distribution chain having a plurality of locations, wherein the plurality of locations includes at least a point of origin and a final destination, the system comprising:
-
at least one item of inventory;
an RF transponder associated with the at least one item of inventory, said transponder including an RF processor having an antenna coupled to the RF processor;
at least one environmental condition sensor in communication with the RF transponder on the at least one item of inventory;
a power source for powering the RF transponder and the at least one environmental condition sensor, wherein the RF transponder receives an environmental condition from the environmental condition sensor for storage as environmental condition data;
a log of location data;
a log of environmental condition data; and
a reporting infrastructure for processing the location data and the environmental condition data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A method of tracking an environmental condition associated with an item of inventory along a distribution chain having a plurality of locations, said plurality of locations including at least a point of origin and a final destination, said method comprising:
-
providing an item of inventory having an associated RF transponder, an environmental condition sensor, and a power source, said power source for powering the environmental condition sensor to sense an environmental condition;
repeatedly powering the RF transponder and the environmental condition sensor as the item of inventory travels along the distribution chain to read the environmental condition and generate a log of environmental condition data;
repeatedly determining a location of the item of inventory as the item of inventory travels along the distribution chain and generating a log of location data; and
correlating the log of location data and the log of environmental condition data using a reporting infrastructure. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
Specification