Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting a plurality of mobile digital image capture and processing (MICAP) systems

• US 20080203147A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cameron Dee Dryden, Jeffrey Robert Smith, Ole-Petter Skaaksrud, Robert Russell Rhodes, Wayne Luke Gordon, Xiaoxun Zhu
• Original Assignee: Cameron Dee Dryden, Jeffrey Robert Smith, Ole-Petter Skaaksrud, Robert Russell Rhodes, Wayne Luke Gordon, Xiaoxun Zhu
• Inventors: Zhu, Xiaoxun, Skaaksrud, Ole-Petter, Gordon, Wayne Luke, Smith, Jeffrey Robert, Dryden, Cameron Dee, Rhodes, Robert Russell
• Granted Patent: US 7,870,999 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network including a data collection and processing center operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, and including a RDBMS for storing and managing shipping information, and a plurality of pickup/delivery vehicles. Each pickup/delivery vehicle is equipped with a mobile digital image capture and processing (MICAP) system for (i) capturing and processing digital images of shipping documents, bearing embedded bar codes, at the point of pickup, (ii) automatically decoding embedded bar codes in said shipping documents, and performing optical character recognition (OCR) on text presented therein, (iii) formatting captured digital images of the shipping labels with such decoded/recognized information, and (iv) transmitting the formatted digital images to said data collection and processing center, for automatic recognition processing and population of the RDBMS maintained by said network.

Claims

1. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network, comprising:

a data collection and processing center operably connected to the infrastructure of the Internet, and including a RDBMS for storing and managing shipping information;

a plurality of pickup/delivery vehicles, wherein each pickup/delivery vehicle is equipped with a mobile digital image capture and processing (MICAP) system for

(i) capturing and processing digital images of shipping documents, bearing embedded bar codes, at the point of pickup,

(ii) automatically decoding embedded bar codes in said shipping documents, and performing optical character recognition (OCR) on text presented therein,

(iii) formatting captured digital images of the shipping labels with such decoded/recognized information, and

(iv) transmitting the formatted digital images to said data collection and processing center, for automatic recognition processing and population of said RDBMS maintained by said network.

2. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network of claim 1, wherein step (ii) further comprises automatically performing optical character recognition (OCR) on text presented in said shipping documents.

3. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network of claim 1, wherein at points of shipment pickup, digital images of shipping labels are produced and processed so as to capture 1D and/or 2D bar-coded shipment tracking numbers graphically represented in the digital images, and then each recognized bar-coded shipment tracking number is either stored in JPG EXIF header of the digital image, or is used to name the digital image, prior to transmission to the central data collection and processing center of the network.

4. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting a plurality of mobile digital image capture and processing (MICAP) systems, each including a digital image capture and processing instrument mounted within a pickup/delivery vehicle, for quickly capturing, processing and transmitting digital images of shipping labels to the data collection and processing center on the network, over a wireless communications infrastructure.

5. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network of claim 4, wherein each said MICAP system comprises a digital image capture and processing instrument mounted within a pickup/delivery vehicle.

6. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting a plurality of mobile digital image capture and processing (MICAP) systems, wherein each said MICAP system comprises a digital image capture and processing instrument mounted within a pickup/delivery vehicle for quickly capturing and processing digital images of shipping documents, and transmitting said digital images to a hand-held bar-code driven portable/mobile data terminal (PDT) or portable digital assistant (PDA) in wireless communication with said digital image capture and processing instrument, for transmission of the digital images over a wireless communications infrastructure, to a data collection and processing center on the network, for subsequent image processing, information recognition, and information storage within an RDBMS maintained on the network.

7. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network of claim 6, wherein each MICAP system produces digital images of original shipping documents, at different image resolutions.

8. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network, wherein a digital image capture and processing instrument employed therein aboard pickup/delivery vehicle, is characterized by a number of innovative features and benefits, including, for example, the following:

(i) can generate digital images of shipping labels in an image format tailored for quick transfer to the PDT or PDA in the system;

(ii) can be operated by depressing a single button, thereby minimizing time in the field;

(iii) supports integrated image-processing enhancements;

(iv) supports USB connectivity;

(v) supports Bluetooth for data upload via WiFi, GPRS, EDGE or GSM communication protocols;

(vi) can be triggered from the PDT or PDA device;

(vii) includes an integrated illumination source that is automatically driven during imaging operations;

(viii) is designed to be powered from a pickup/delivery vehicle;

(ix) has a dust and drip resistant enclosure; and

(x) enables digital imaging of shipping documents and automatic reading of bar code numbers graphically represented in the shipping documents, thereby eliminating lost paperwork associated with shipment transactions.

9. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting a plurality of digital image capture and processing instruments deployed aboard a plurality of pickup/delivery vehicles, each said digital image capture and processing instruments including an area-type color image sensing array that captures and produces digital images of shipping documents that are visually pleasing to view by human operators who are assigned the task of reviewing and analyzing certain of these images at remote data-keying stations, for shipping information recognition operation, and data entry into an RDBMS on said network.

10. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network comprising a plurality of a digital image capture and processing instruments employed aboard plurality of pickup/delivery vehicle, wherein each said digital image capture and processing instrument performs document imaging and processing functions using a one-button manual operation.

11. An Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery network supporting a plurality of digital image capture and processing instruments deployed aboard a plurality of pickup/delivery vehicles, wherein each said digital image capture and processing instrument can upload digital images of shipping documents to one or more application servers and/or human-operated data-keying workstations supported on said network for machine and/or human-assisted recognition-processing, and acquisition of shipping information contained in said digital images and the entry of said shipping information into an RDBMS maintained on said network for the purpose of supporting its shipping, tracking, and delivery operations.

12. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery information network of claim 11, wherein each said digital image capture and processing instrument can automatically read machine-readable content graphically represented in shipping labels during the digital imaging thereof, and then automatically encode such bar code number/information in a header of the digital image file, and use an item of said machine-readable content to name the digital image file prior to transmission to said one or more application servers and/or human-operated data-keying workstations supported on said network.

13. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery information network of claim 12, wherein said pickup/delivery vehicle comprises vehicles selected from the group consisting of:

ground-transport vehicles such as trucks, vans, cars, bicycles, pedal-carts, rickshaws and the like;

air-transport vehicles such as jets, planes and helicopters;

water/sea-transport vehicles such ships, boats and hydro-planes.

14. The Internet-based shipping, tracking, and delivery information network of claim 13, wherein said machine-readable content comprises information content selected from the group consisting of:

bar-coded shipment tracking numbers; and

alpha-numerically expressed shipping information, such as the shipper'"'"'s address, the shipment components and its contents, the number of items in the shipment, the destination address including street address and postal code, the shipping and delivery service requested, customs clearance requirements, and the like.

15. An Internet-based globally-extensive shipping, tracking and delivery network, wherein packages that are picked up at the point of pick-up, which may or may not bear network-assigned shipping labels, are placed on the pickup/delivery vehicle and shipping documents are digitally imaged and the digital images are transmitted to a data collection and processing center on the network for storage, and recognition processing, and while the shipment is transported to its first scanning point in the network, the network recognizes/reads all of the shipping information in the digital images of the original shipping label, and when the pickup/delivery vehicle arrives at the first sorting and routing facility in the network, the shipment items are sorted and/or routed using either the bar-coded shipment tracking number on the original shipping label or a network-assigned shipment tracking number correlated to the original shipment tracking number within an RDBMS on the network, for facilitating shipment tracking, early customs clearance, and delivery over the network.