Wireless monitoring device

• US 20040233054A1
• Filed: 03/29/2004
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amsted Rail Company Incorporated (Amsted Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: RFTrax, Inc. (Colliers International Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Barrett, Fred, Neff, Raymond Lynn
• Granted Patent: US 7,135,976 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/08 Systems for measuring distance only indirect measurement G01S13/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/74 Systems using reradiation of radio waves, e.g. secondary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2482 EAS methods, e.g. description of flow chart of the detection procedure
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence

Abstract

The system of the invention includes a method for monitoring changes in the status or condition of a Container using one or more monitoring units mounted to the Container. The monitoring units preferably include a power supply, sensors using reflective energy with programmable parameters, globally-unique sensor identification, recording capability on a timeline, long term memory and the ability to rebroadcast information on RFID radio technology. Programmable monitoring hardware in the monitoring unit detects significant changes in the sensor outputs as a triggering event. The programmable monitoring hardware includes memory for storing identification information for the Container. The sensors which can include conventional devices that detect various forms of energy including visible light, infrared light, magnetic fields, radio frequency energy and sound. In one embodiment, a monitoring unit is mounted inside a shipping Container suitable for long distance transport. The triggering event can be used for tamper detection security.

Claims

1. A monitoring unit comprising:

a power supply;

a sensor generating an output;

monitoring electronics connected to the sensor output including a microprocessor, firmware memory for storing a program for the microprocessor and data memory, the monitoring electronics detecting and recording changes in the sensor output as a triggering event; and

a radio transmitter for transmitting information on the triggering event supplied by the monitoring electronics, the information including an identifier for the monitoring unit.

2. The monitoring unit of claim 1 further comprising a radio receiver for receiving commands and data from a reader.

3. The monitoring unit of claim 1 further comprising means for placing the microprocessor in a sleep mode and an interrupt driven timer which periodically wakes the microprocessor out of sleep to execute monitoring activity.

4. The monitoring unit of claim 3 further comprising means for monitoring the sensor output using parameters which control thresholds used to determine whether changes in the output of the sensor constitute a triggering event and means for reading the parameters from commands received by the radio receiver.

5. The monitoring unit of claim 3 further comprising means for recording each triggering event along with a timestamp on a timeline and means for transmitting the timeline to the reader upon receiving a command.

6. The monitoring unit of claim 3 further comprising means for receiving data from the reader as a container identifier, the container identifier being associated with a container to which the monitoring unit is attached and means for transmitting the container identifier to the reader upon receiving a command.

7. The monitoring unit of claim 3 further comprising means transmitting a sensor identifier to the reader upon receiving a command, the sensor identifier specifying a type of the sensor.

8. The monitoring unit of claim 2 further comprising means for changing the identifier for the monitoring unit based on a command received from a reader.

9. The monitoring unit of claim 1 further comprising means transmitting information on each triggering event in realtime.

10. A method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container comprising the steps of:

attaching a monitoring unit to an inside surface of the shipping container, the monitoring unit including a sensor, monitoring electronics and a radio transmitter;

upon receiving a radioed start command from a reader, commencing logging data on triggering events in a memory of the monitoring unit with a time stamp, a triggering event being a change in an output of the sensor; and

upon receiving a radioed get-response command from a reader, transmitting the data on triggering events to the reader.

11. The method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container of claim 10 further comprising the steps of:

storing a cargo identifier received in a store-identifier command from the reader; and

transmitting the cargo identifier upon receiving a read-identifier command from the reader.

12. The method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container of claim 11 further comprising placing the microprocessor in a sleep mode, setting an interrupt driven timer to wake up the microprocessor after a elapsed period of time to resume monitoring operations.

14. The method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container of claim 11 further comprising periodically measuring an environmental parameter, recording a value of the environmental parameter in memory and transmitting recorded values of the environmental parameter upon receiving a command from a Reader.

15. The method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container of claim 11 further comprising the steps of transmitting a sensor identifier upon receiving a read-sensor-identifier command from the reader, the sensor identifier indicating a type of sensor.

16. The method of monitoring cargo in a shipping container of claim 11 further comprising the steps of receiving a command with sensor parameters and using the sensor parameters to determine when a triggering event has occurred by filtering the sensor output according to the parameters.

17. A method of monitoring objects passing into a point:

attaching a monitoring unit at the point to be monitored, the monitoring unit including a proximity sensor, monitoring electronics and a radio transmitter;

upon sensing a change in an output of the proximity sensor, transmitting an identifier for the monitoring unit to a reader using the radio transmitter.