System and method for tracking shipment of items utilizing RFID-tags

• US 8,123,118 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2008
• Issued: 02/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Inventors: McDonald, Glenn E
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US12/197,968
• Publication Number:
  US 20080308623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: 235/492, 235/375, 235/380, 235/451
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/60 Business processes related to postal services shipping G06Q10/083; franking apparatus G07B17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00024 Physical or organizational aspects of franking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/0004 Determining the location of mailpieces outside apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader

Abstract

A system and method of tracking a plurality of items during transfer from a source location to a destination. One embodiment is a method comprising associating information identifying the plurality of items with a radio frequency (RF) tag that identifies a carrier unit. The method further comprises storing said associated information in at least one of the RF tag and a computer memory. The method further comprises communicating with the RF tag to identify the location of the carrier unit. The method further comprises identifying the location of at least one of the plurality of items based at least in part on the location of the carrier unit. Another embodiment is a system configured to perform an embodiment of the method.

Claims

1. A method of tracking transport of at least one item in a carrier from a source location to a destination, the method comprising:

receiving a signal from a wireless tag, the signal including an identifier of a carrier;

receiving data indicative of an identifier of at least one item associated with the identifier of the carrier;

accessing a memory to determine prior locations at which the wireless tag of the carrier has been detected; and

outputting information indicative of prior locations of the at least one item based on the prior locations of the carrier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the prior locations comprise at least one detected location in addition to the destination.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the current location of the carrier and storing the identified location in the memory.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing said location in a memory comprises storing said associated information in a memory of a wireless tag of the carrier.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein storing said information in a memory comprises storing said information in a memory of a handheld electronic device.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of storing information comprises storing in the tag at least one of:

the weight of the item, the volume of the item, an expiration date, and a destination.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of storing information comprises storing in the tag at least one of:

a last inspection date, a last firing date, an identification number of the last user, a warranty date, and a weapon identification number.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving the item identifier from a wireless identifier tag of the item, and wherein the step of storing information comprises storing the item identifier in a database that relates the item with the carrier.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one item comprises a container.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises a vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one item comprises at least one of a weapons container and military equipment.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the item identifier comprises at least one:

of a barcode, an RFID, and human readable text.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting information comprises at least one of:

information about previously stored location information and expiration date information related to one at least one item.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting comprises generating a report.

15. A system for tracking transport of at least one item in a carrier from a source location to a destination, the system comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a signal from a wireless tag, the signal including an identifier of a carrier;

a memory configured to store locations where the carrier was previously detected;

a processing unit configured to receive data indicative of at least one item associated with the identifier of the carrier, access a memory to determine prior locations of the carrier, and output information indicative of prior locations of the at least one item based on the prior locations of the carrier.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive the identifier from at least one wireless tag of at least one of the items, each of the at least one wireless tags providing the identifier of at least one item and wherein the processing station is further configured to store information identifiers of at least one wireless tag in a database that relates the at least one wireless tag with the carrier.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising a reader configured to send an interrogation signal to each of the plurality of wireless tags and receive the identifier from each of the plurality of wireless tags, wherein the reader is further configured to communicate the identifier to the processing unit.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless tag is configured to store at least one of:

the weight of at least one of the plurality of items, the total weight of the plurality of items, the volume of at least one of the plurality of items, the total volume of the plurality of items, an expiration date, and a second location.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless tag is configured to store at least one of:

a latest inspection date, a last ammunition-firing date, an identification number of the last user, a warranty date, a squadron or unit number, or a military weapon identification number.

20. A method for providing transport instructions, the method comprising:

receiving data indicative of a plurality of items associated with an RFID tag of a carrier;

determining utilization of the carrier based on the data indicative of the item'"'"'s associated carrier; and

providing transport instructions for the carrier such that the instructions are based at least in part on the utilization of the carrier.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the utilization level comprises determining an occupancy level.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the occupancy level comprises determining a volume occupancy.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the occupancy level comprises determining a weight occupancy.

24. A method for providing transport instructions, the method comprising:

receiving data indicative of a plurality of items associated with an RFID tag of a carrier;

receiving at least one date associated with at least one of the items;

providing transport instructions for the carrier such that the instructions are based on the received date.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the received date comprises a date indicative of at least one of:

a packing date, an expiration date of an item, a time a weapon was fired, a date associated with any of the prior locations and a date associated with the current location.