INTELLIGENT ADAPTIVE LABEL DEVICE AND METHOD

• US 20170053290A1
• Filed: 05/25/2016
• Published: 02/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chromera, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Chromera, Inc.
• Inventors: Atkinson, Paul, Kruest, James, Agrawal, Anoop, Cronin, John P., Adams, Lori L., Tonazzi, Juan Carlos L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,002,359 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products

Abstract

Briefly, an intelligent label is associated with a good, and includes one or more permanent and irreversible electrochromic indicators that are used to report the condition of that good at selected points in the movement or usage of that good. These electrochromic indicators provide immediate visual information regarding the status of the good without need to interrogate or communicate with the electronics or processor on the intelligent label. In this way, anyone in the shipping or use chain for the good, including the end user consumer, can quickly understand whether the product is meeting shipping and quality standards. If a product fails to meet shipping or quality standards, the particular point where the product failed can be quickly and easily identified, and information can be used to assure the consumer remains safe, while providing essential information for improving the shipping process. It will be understood that the label may take many forms, such as a tag attached to the good, integrated into the packaging for the good, integrated into the good itself, or may even be an information area on a prepaid card for example. The label may also include, for example, print information regarding the good, usage or shipping rules, or address and coded information.

Claims

1. A method of quality control for a good, comprising:

providing an intelligent tag on the good, the tag comprising a processor, a memory, a display, a sensor, a timer, and a power source;

monitoring data from the sensor according to a first rule;

responsive to detecting a threshold value, monitoring data from the sensor according to a second rule;

determining, using the data generated using the second rule, a characteristic of the good or of the good'"'"'s environment; and

generating, responsive to the characteristic, a message.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising applying a power signal to the display to generate a readable indicia of the message on the display.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising electronically communicating the message to a remote location.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the second rule has a data monitoring rate faster or slower than the first rule.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the second rule stores a higher density or lower density of the monitored data to the memory than the first rule.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the threshold value is a value based on the timer.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the threshold value is a data value from the sensor.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the threshold value is generated from evaluating a set of data from the sensor, the set of data have a time-varying characteristic.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sensor is an environmental sensor.

10. The method according to claim 9 wherein the environmental sensor is a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a vibration sensor, a chemical sensor, a biological sensor, a gas sensor, a pH sensor, a magnetic sensor, an optical sensor, a smoke sensor, a pressure sensor, an altitude sensor, or a shock sensor.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the intelligent tag comprises a second environmental sensor that is positioned at a different location of the good, and the threshold value is determined using data from both the first and second environmental sensors.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first environment sensor and second environment sensors are on different surfaces of the good.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sensor is a sensor of the good.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the quality sensor generates data according to temperature, biological makeup, density, opacity, leaks, volume, or color of the good.

15. The method according to claim 1 wherein the tag further comprises a location sensor, and the threshold value is generated by the location sensor.

16. An intelligent tag for attachment to a good, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a display;

a first sensor at a first location on the good for sensing a condition at the first location;

a second sensor at a second location on the good for sensing the condition at the second location;

a timer;

a power source; and

wherein the processor uses data from both the first and second sensor to generate a message.

17. The intelligent tag according to claim 16, wherein the processor generates a power signal to the display to generate a readable indicia of the message on the display.

18. The intelligent tag according to claim 16, wherein responsive to the message, the processor changes the rate at which at least one of the sensors collects data, or the processor changes the density at which data from at least one of the sensors is stored into the memory.

19. The intelligent tag according to claim 16, wherein the first sensor and second sensor are both environmental sensors, or the first sensor and second sensor are both good sensors.

20. The intelligent tag according to claim 16, further comprising:

a good sensor, and

wherein the first sensor and second sensor are both environmental sensors.

21. An intelligent tag for attachment to a fluid bag, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a display;

a first environment sensor at a first location on the fluid bag for sensing a condition at the first location;

a second environment sensor at a second location on the fluid bag for sensing the condition at the second location;

a timer;

a power source; and

wherein the processor uses data from both the first and second sensor to change the rate at which at least one of the sensors collects data, or to change the density at which data from at least one of the sensors is stored into the memory.

22. The intelligent tag according to claim 21, further including a good sensor for detecting a characteristic of the fluid.

23. The intelligent tag according to claim 21, wherein the processor generates an alarm message using the data from both the first and second sensors.

24. The intelligent tag according to claim 21, wherein the fluid bag is a blood bag.

25. A method of quality control for a good, comprising:

providing an intelligent tag on the good, the tag comprising a processor, a memory, a display, a timer, and a power source;

monitoring data from the sensor according to a first rule;

responsive to detecting a threshold value, monitoring data from the sensor according to a second rule;

determining, using the data generated using the second rule, a characteristic of the good or of the good'"'"'s environment; and

generating, responsive to the characteristic, a message.

26. A method of quality control for a good, comprising:

providing an intelligent tag on the good, the tag comprising a processor, a memory, a sensor, a timer, and a power source;

monitoring data from the sensor according to a first rule;

responsive to detecting a threshold value, monitoring data from the sensor according to a second rule;

determining, using the data generated using the second rule, a characteristic of the good or of the good'"'"'s environment; and

generating, responsive to the characteristic, a message.