Latch monitoring apparatus for a shipping container door
First Claim
1. A latch monitor for a container door, comprising:
- a magnet attached to a moving portion of a latch mechanism attached to said container door;
an array of magnetic sensors disposed in fixed positions relative to a stationary portion of said latch mechanism and proximate a path traversed by said magnet;
a non-transitory memory for storing data provided by said magnetic sensors corresponding to relative positions of said magnet with respect to said array of magnetic sensors, said memory including a first non-transitory memory segment having stored therein a magnetic signature of magnetic sensor output signal values established and produced by said array of magnetic sensors corresponding to said latch mechanism being in a secured state of said latch; and
a processor operative according to an executable program for analyzing said data to distinguish tampering events from a secured indication of said latch mechanism.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and apparatus for monitoring and detecting movement of components of a shipping container latch. A latch monitor may embody an electromagnetic sensing unit and a nearby magnet or light emitter for measuring and characterizing the profile of a nearby electromagnetic field. The field profile is monitored to detect a change in the profile, log the change, and report any abnormal disturbance to the electromagnetic field, indicating a breach of the integrity of a latching mechanism on a shipping container. An alert of a breach event may be sent via a communication network to an authority for response. The invention can distinguish authorized, incidental, and tampering events, and also store and upload an electronic manifest for a shipping container.
39 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A latch monitor for a container door, comprising:
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a magnet attached to a moving portion of a latch mechanism attached to said container door; an array of magnetic sensors disposed in fixed positions relative to a stationary portion of said latch mechanism and proximate a path traversed by said magnet; a non-transitory memory for storing data provided by said magnetic sensors corresponding to relative positions of said magnet with respect to said array of magnetic sensors, said memory including a first non-transitory memory segment having stored therein a magnetic signature of magnetic sensor output signal values established and produced by said array of magnetic sensors corresponding to said latch mechanism being in a secured state of said latch; and a processor operative according to an executable program for analyzing said data to distinguish tampering events from a secured indication of said latch mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A latch monitor for a container door, comprising:
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an array of magnetic sensors disposed in fixed positions relative to a stationary portion of a latch mechanism attached to said container door and proximate a path traversed by a magnet disposed on an adjacent moving portion of said latch mechanism; a processor having a non-transitory memory coupled to outputs of said array of magnetic sensors said processor responsive to data corresponding to relative positions of said magnet and said array of magnetic sensors including a magnetic signature produced by said array of magnetic sensors when said latch mechanism is in a secured state; and an executable program operative in said processor to analyze said data to distinguish tampering events from a secured indication of said latch mechanism.
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Specification