Pedigree and integrity evaluation of packages

• US 20050251431A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sensitech Incorporated (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sensitech Incorporated (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Inventors: Schmidtberg, Rupert A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,487,037 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/6
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 21/00 Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 9/005 Solid-state data loggers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

The present invention is directed to novel systems and methods for authenticating the pedigree and/or confirming the integrity of a transported package. Among other things, a method is disclosed that involves receiving information from an electronic device associated with the package at an authentication appliance at a destination location, transmitting at least a first portion of the information from the authentication appliance to a server, receiving from the server a network address of an authentication computer to be used to evaluate the pedigree and/or integrity of the package, after receiving the network address from the server, transmitting at least a second portion of the information from the authentication appliance to the authentication computer at the network address, and receiving from the authentication computer a signal indicative of a determination made by the authentication computer concerning the pedigree and/or integrity of the package based upon a comparison of the at least the second portion of the information with data stored in a database.

Claims

1. A method of evaluating the pedigree of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, the method comprising steps of:

(a) receiving first information concerning the package at at least one processor, the first information identifying location event information that was expected to have been accumulated by an electronic device associated with the package while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location;

(b) receiving second information concerning the package at the at least one processor, the second information comprising location event information that was actually accumulated by the electronic device associated with the package while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location; and

(c) with the at least one processor, comparing the second information with the first information to evaluate the pedigree of the package.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising steps of:

(d) accumulating the second information from the electronic device at the destination location; and

(e) transmitting the second information to the at least one processor via a network connection.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising a step of:

(f) with the at least one processor, transmitting at least one signal to the destination location via the network connection reflecting a determination made by the at least one processor concerning the pedigree of the package.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the steps (a)-(f) are performed automatically.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and wherein the method further comprises steps of:

accumulating the second information at the destination location by using an RFID reader to read the second information from the RFID tag; and

communicating the second information from the RFID reader to the at least one processor.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of:

communicating the first information from a warehouse management system at the source location to a database accessible by the at least one processor.

7. A method of evaluating the integrity of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, the method comprising steps of:

(a) receiving first information concerning the package at at least one processor, the first information identifying acceptable parameters for a physical or environmental condition of the package while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location;

(b) receiving second information concerning the package at the at least one processor, the second information identifying a physical or environmental condition of the package that was sensed by a sensor included in an electronic device associated with the package and stored in memory of the electronic device while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location, the second information having been retrieved from the memory of the electronic device at the destination location; and

(c) with the at least one processor, comparing the first information with the second information to evaluate the integrity of the package.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising steps of:

(d) accumulating the second information from the electronic device at the destination location; and

(e) transmitting the second information to the at least one processor via a network connection.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising a step of:

(f) with the at least one processor, transmitting at least one signal to the destination location via the network connection reflecting a determination made by the at least one processor concerning the integrity of the package.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the steps (a)-(f) are performed automatically.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, and wherein the method further comprises steps of:

accumulating the second information at the destination location by using an RFID reader to read the second information from the RFID tag; and

communicating the second information from the RFID reader to the at least one processor.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising a step of:

communicating the first information from a warehouse management system at the source location to a database accessible by the at least one processor.

13. A system for evaluating the integrity of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, comprising:

an authentication computer configured and arranged to receive data accumulated at the destination location from a memory of an electronic device including a sensor that had monitored a physical or environmental condition of the package while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location, to analyze the data to determine whether it falls within acceptable parameters for the physical or environmental condition of the product while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location, and to transmit a signal to the destination location reflecting a determination made by the authentication computer concerning the integrity of the package.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising an authentication appliance, wherein the authentication appliance comprises means for receiving the data accumulated by the sensor and means for communicating the data to the authentication computer.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the authentication appliance is configured and arranged to automatically accumulate the data after the package has reached the destination location.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag associated with the package, and wherein the system further comprises an RFID reader configured and arranged to read the data from the memory of the RFID tag, and to communicate the data to the authentication computer.

17. A system for evaluating the pedigree of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, comprising:

an authentication computer configured and arranged to receive location event information accumulated by an electronic device associated with a package while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location, to analyze the data to determine whether the data sufficiently corresponds with location event information that was expected to have been accumulated by the electronic device while the package was being transported from the source location to the destination location, and to transmit a signal to the destination location reflecting a determination made by the authentication computer concerning the pedigree of the package.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising an authentication appliance, wherein the authentication appliance comprises means for receiving the location event information accumulated by the electronic device and means for communicating the location event information to the authentication computer.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag associated with the package, and wherein the system further comprises an RFID reader configured and arranged to read the location event information from a memory of the RFID tag, and to communicate the location event information to the authentication computer.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the authentication appliance is configured and arranged to automatically receive the location event information after the package has reached the destination location.

21. A method of evaluating the pedigree and/or integrity of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, the method comprising steps of:

(a) receiving information from an electronic device associated with the package at an authentication appliance at the destination location;

(b) transmitting at least a first portion of the information from the authentication appliance to a server;

(c) receiving from the server a network address of an authentication computer to be used to evaluate the pedigree and/or integrity of the package;

(d) after receiving the network address from the server, transmitting at least a second portion of the information from the authentication appliance to the authentication computer at the network address; and

(e) receiving from the authentication computer a signal indicative of a determination made by the authentication computer concerning the pedigree and/or integrity of the package based upon a comparison of the at least the second portion of the information with data stored in a database.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information comprises an electronic product code.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information comprises location event information.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information is indicative of at least one environmental condition to which the package has been exposed.

26. A method of evaluating the pedigree and/or integrity of a package transported from a source location to a destination location, the method comprising steps of:

(a) receiving information from an electronic device associated with the package at an authentication appliance at the destination location;

(b) transmitting at least a first portion of the information from the authentication appliance to a server;

(c) receiving from the server a network address of an authentication computer to be used to evaluate the pedigree and/or integrity of the package;

(d) after receiving the network address from the server, transmitting at least a second portion of the information from the authentication appliance to the authentication computer at the network address; and

(e) with the authentication computer, comparing the at least the second portion of the information with data stored in a database to make a determination concerning the pedigree and/or integrity of the package.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the electronic device comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information comprises an electronic product code.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information comprises location event information.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein at least some of the second portion of the information is indicative of at least one environmental condition to which the package has been exposed.

31. A method for evaluating the pedigree and/or the integrity of a package, comprising steps of:

(a) receiving first information concerning the package at at least one processor, the first information reflecting a containment relationship amongst components of the package and having been accumulated at least in part before the package left a source location;

(b) receiving second information concerning the package at the at least one processor, the second information reflecting a containment relationship amongst components of the package and having been having been accumulated after the package reached a destination location; and

(c) using the at least one processor to compare the second information with the first information to evaluate the pedigree and/or confirm the integrity of the package.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising a step of accumulating the second information by using a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader to read a plurality of RFID tags associated with the package.

33. The method of claim 31, further comprising a step of:

communicating at least a portion of the first information from a warehouse management system at the source location to a database accessible by the at least one processor.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising a step of:

storing in the database, as at least a portion of the first information, repackaging information received from a repackaging location between the source location and the destination location, the repackaging information reflecting a change to the containment relationship amongst the components of the package that was effected at the repackaging location.