Patent ID: 6397163
Filing Date: 2002-05-28
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
A method of determining a cumulative thermal exposure of a product disposed within a shipping container, the method comprising:defining a shipping route from a first geographic location to a second geographic location, the shipping route comprising at least one geographic position intermediate the first and second geographic location, the shipping route having a time duration; providing a thermal product-keeping exposure profile for the product; providing thermal characteristics of the shipping container; providing a historical weather database of ambient temperature; retrieving an ambient temperature from the historical weather database corresponding to the first and second geographic locations and the at least one geographic position along the shipping route; corresponding the retrieved ambient temperature to an ambient temperature within the shipping container; corresponding the ambient temperature within the shipping container to a product temperature of the product disposed within the shipping container; developing a cumulative thermal exposure of the product using the corresponding product temperature; and determining if the cumulative thermal exposure of the product is within the thermal product-keeping exposure profile.