Abstract:
An environmentally-controlled structure for a cold chain. The structure includes a sensor, an identification reader, an environment implementer, and a controller. The sensor senses a parameter indicative of an environmental condition in the environmentally-controlled structure. The identification reader is positioned relative to the environmentally-controlled structure and reads information about the goods from an identification device associated with the goods. The environment implementer modifies the environmental condition inside the environmentally-controlled structure. The controller receives the indication of the environmental condition inside the environmental control structure from the sensor, receives the information about the goods from the identification reader, and controls the environment implementer to maintain a desired environment inside the environmentally-controlled structure based on the information about the goods and the indication of the environmental condition.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    The invention relates to the transportation of goods that are kept in climate controlled environments. 
         [0002]    As refrigerated goods move through the transportation chain, each link in the chain must be configured to provide the proper environment for the goods. This requires an operator at each link to determine the proper environment and to program the storage area appropriately. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    In one embodiment, the invention provides an environmentally-controlled structure for storing good in a cold chain. The structure includes a sensor, an identification reader, an environment implementer, and a controller. The sensor senses a parameter indicative of an environmental condition in the environmentally-controlled structure. The identification reader is positioned relative to the environmentally-controlled structure and reads information about the goods from an identification device associated with the goods. The environment implementer modifies the environmental condition inside the environmentally-controlled structure. The controller receives the indication of the environmental condition inside the environmental control structure from the sensor, receives the information about the goods from the identification reader, and controls the environment implementer to maintain a desired environment inside the environmentally-controlled structure based on the information about the goods and the indication of the environmental condition. 
         [0004]    In another embodiment, the invention provides an environmentally-controlled transportation and storage system. The system includes a plurality of identification elements and a plurality of environmentally-controlled containers. The identification elements are associated with particular goods in the system. Each of the plurality of environmentally-controlled containers includes an identification reader, a controller, and an environment implementation system. The identification reader is configured to read the plurality of identification elements. The controller is configured to receive information from the identification reader related to the identification element read by the identification reader and to determine the optimum environment for the environmentally-controlled container based on the information. The environment implementation system is configured to receive an indication of a desired environment for the container and to maintain the desired environment in the container. 
         [0005]    In another embodiment, the invention provides a system for controlling an environment of an environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container. The system includes an identification reader, a controller, and an environment implementation system. The identification reader reads information related to the good from a plurality of identification elements, each identification element associated with a good to be stored in environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container. The controller receives the information from the identification reader and determines the optimum environment for the environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container based on the information. The environment implementation system receives an indication of a desired environment for the environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container and maintains the desired environment in the environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container. The environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container is part of a cold chain including a plurality of environmentally-controlled transportation or storage containers, each environmentally-controlled transportation or storage container including a system for controlling the environment of the environmentally-controlled transportation or storage containers. 
         [0006]    In another embodiment, the invention provides a method of transporting and storing goods requiring environmentally-controlled conditions. The method includes providing an identification element with information related to an environment for storing a good, linking the identification element with the good, reading the identification element when the good enters an environmentally-controlled container, determining an optimum environment for the good based on the information read from the identification element, and controlling an environment of the container based on the optimum environment. 
         [0007]    Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a cold chain. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a construction of an environmentally-controlled structure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is an embodiment of an operation of the environmentally-controlled structure of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. 
         [0012]    Many goods require climate controlled environments to preserve the goods (e.g., to prevent spoilage). Table 1 below shows typical storage temperatures for various goods. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Typical Storage Temperatures 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Product 
                 Temperature 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Ice Cream, Frozen Bakery 
                 −25° F.  
                 to −10° F. 
               
               
                   
                 Frozen Foods 
                 −15° F.  
                 to 0° F. 
               
               
                   
                 Meats, Seafood 
                 20° F. 
                 to 30° F. 
               
               
                   
                 Dairy , Produce, Juice 
                 25° F.  
                 to 40° F. 
               
               
                   
                 Produce, Flowers 
                 45° F.  
                 to 60° F. 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0013]    In addition, some goods require levels of humidity or other environmental factors to be maintained at certain levels. These goods typically need to have their environments controlled from the time they are created until they are used (e.g., from harvesting to consumption).  FIG. 1  shows a typical cold chain  100  for an exemplary good. A good (e.g., a food product such as eggs) is harvested on a farm  105 . The farm  105  can include a refrigerated storage area where the good is moved after harvesting (e.g., for sorting, packaging etc.). Later, the good is moved to a refrigerated truck  115  for transportation to another facility, generally geographically near the farm  105 , such as a warehouse  120  or a factory  125 . Goods that are sent to the factory  125  will generally be sent to the warehouse  120  after being processed at the factory  125 . The warehouse  120  can be integrated with the factory  125  or separate (requiring transportation once again). The goods are provided with an identification element  130  (e.g., a radio frequency identification “RFID” tag) at the farm  105 , when loaded on or unloaded from the truck  115 , at the warehouse  120 , or at the factory  125 . In some constructions, the identification element  130  can be coupled to the good and/or modified at different points in the cold chain  100 . 
         [0014]    From the warehouse  120 , the goods are transported to a remote location via a tractor trailer  135 , or by a first truck  140  to a plane  145 , a train  150 , or a boat  155 . A second truck  160  retrieves the goods at the remote location from the plane  145 , the train  150 , or the boat  155  and transports the goods to a second warehouse  165 . From the second warehouse  165 , the goods are transported to a store  170  via a third truck  175 . 
         [0015]    Throughout the entire cold chain  100 , each container—the trucks  115 ,  135 ,  140 ,  160 , and  175 , the plane  145 , the train  150 , the boat  155 , the warehouse  120 ,  130 , and  165 , the factory  125 , and the store  170 —must provide the proper environment for the goods. The goods that each container receives can change on a regular basis (e.g., daily, seasonally, etc.), requiring that the containers constantly be reprogrammed to the correct environmental factors for the goods they are presently holding. If an error occurs, and a container is not programmed, or is programmed incorrectly, the goods can be damaged (e.g., spoiled or improperly frozen). 
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows a construction of an environmentally-controlled environment  200 . The environment  200  includes an environment containment structure  205  (e.g., a walk-in cooler, a refrigerated merchandiser, a marine container, another container, a warehouse, a refrigerated truck, etc.), an identification reader  210  (e.g., an RFID tag reader, a bar code scanner, etc.) positioned by an entranceway  215  (e.g., a door, a gate, an insulated barrier, etc.) of the structure  205 , an environment controller (EC)  220 , one or more sensors  225 , and an environment implementation system (EIS)  230  (e.g., a refrigeration unit, a humidor, a heater, etc.). As goods enter the environment containment structure  205 , the identification reader  210  reads the identification element  130  (e.g., an RFID tag, a bar code, etc.) provided with the goods. The identification reader  210  provides information obtained from the identification element  130  to the environment controller  220 . In some constructions, the information is provided to a computing device, which in turns provides information to the environment controller  220  indicating how to control the environment in the environment containment structure  205 . 
         [0017]    The controller  220  includes a processor  235  (e.g., a microprocessor, microcontroller, ASIC, DSP, etc.) and memory  240  (e.g., flash, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, etc.), which can be internal to the processor  235 , external to the processor  235 , or a combination thereof. The controller  220  also includes other circuits, such as input/output circuits and communication circuits. The controller  220  provides signals to, receives signals from and/or communicates with the identification reader  210 , the environment controller  220 , the one or more sensors  225 , and the environment implementation system  230  via wires or wirelessly. 
         [0018]    Based on the information obtained from the identification element  130 , the environment controller  220  controls the environment implementation system  230  to ensure the environment inside the environment containment structure  205  is correct for the goods entering the structure  205 . If multiple goods are stored in the structure  205 , the environment controller  220  determines the best environment for all of the goods combined (e.g., maintaining a temperature for the goods requiring the coldest temperature). In some constructions, multiple identification readers  210  are positioned around the structure  205 . This enables one or more environment controllers  220  to control one or more environment implementation systems  230  (e.g., refrigeration units, venting, etc.) to maintain different environments within the structure  205 . The different environments can be based on what goods are stored in the environmentally-controlled structure  205 , and where in the environmentally-controlled structure  205  the various goods are stored. 
         [0019]    In some constructions, the environment containment structure  205  includes multiple chambers or sections, each section providing a different environment (e.g., a trailer having a frozen section and a refrigerated section). The sections can be controlled by a single environment controller  220  and the environment of each section can be maintained by a single environment implementation system  230 . 
         [0020]    In some constructions, individual goods (e.g., a carton of ice cream) contain the identification element  130 . In other constructions, groups of goods (e.g., a pallet containing multiple cartons of ice cream) contain the identification element  130 . The identification element  130  includes data from which the environment controller  220  can determine how to best control the environment for the particular goods being stored. For example, the identification element  130  can include a proprietary environment identifier code that indicates to a proprietary system (e.g., a specific manufacturer&#39;s system) how to control the environment. In other constructions, an industry wide specification could be developed to create environment identifier codes which environment controllers  220  from different manufacturers would recognize. The identification element  130  can also contain actual environment information (e.g., temperature range, humidity range, etc.) for the particular goods. The identification element  130  can also include information on the type or class of goods, an owner of the goods, a serial number, etc., which the environment controller  220  can use to determine the optimum environment for the goods. The identification element  130  could also include various time/date stamps, for example indicating when produce was harvested at a farm. The environment controller  220  can determine if the goods have been in the cold chain  100  for a certain time period and could lower the temperature of the structure  205  to slow further ripening of the goods that have been in the cold chain  100  for an extended time period, thereby increasing the shelf life of the goods. 
         [0021]      FIG. 3  shows an embodiment of the operation  300  of an environmentally-controlled environment  200  for goods entering and leaving the environment. The identification reader  210  detects and reads the identification element  130  of goods entering or leaving the environmentally-controlled structure  205  (step  305 ). The controller  220  then determines if the goods are entering or leaving the structure  205  (step  310 ). The controller  220  can determine whether goods are entering or leaving the structure by detecting a direction of movement of the goods or the controller  220  can request an operator input, into an operator interface, whether the goods are entering or leaving. 
         [0022]    If the controller  220  determines the goods are entering the structure  205  (at step  310 ), the controller  220  compares the desired environment for the goods with the range of desired environments for goods presently stored in the structure  205  (step  315 ), and determines if the entering goods are compatible with goods presently in the structure  205  (step  320 ). If the desired environment for the new goods is not compatible (step  320 ) with the range of desired environments for goods presently stored in the structure  205 , the controller  220  issues an alarm or warning (step  325 ). The alarm can be an acoustic alarm or can be shown on a display or both. The display can show information on the desired environment for the goods, and can show information on the goods presently stored in the structure  205 . An operator makes a decision (step  330 ) to store the goods in the structure  205  in spite of the incompatibility or to move them to another structure  205 . If the goods are compatible with the goods presently stored in the structure  205  (step  320 ) or the operator chooses to store the incompatible goods in the structure anyway (step  330 ), the controller  220  determines the best environment based on all of the goods now stored in the structure  205  (step  335 ). If the goods are the only goods being stored in the structure  205 , the optimum environment is chosen. If the goods are all compatible, the controller  220  calculates the best environment for all of the goods. If the goods were not compatible (step  320 ), the operator may be given an opportunity to choose whether to let the controller  220  determine the best environment for all of the goods (e.g., reducing the temperature below freezing even if some of the goods should not be frozen) or to maintain the present environment and ignore the addition of the latest goods. Different algorithms can be used to determine the best environment including taking into account the quantity of the various goods stored, a value of the various goods stored, a length of time the goods are expected to be kept in the structure  205 , etc. (e.g., choosing the environment for the most valuable goods). If the operator decides to not store the incompatible goods in the structure  205  (step  330 ), the operation is exited (step  337 ). 
         [0023]    Once the environment is determined, the controller  220  directs the environment implementation system  230  to maintain the desired environment (step  340 ). The controller  220  also updates its inventory records to account for the goods that are now stored in the structure  205  (step  345 ) and exits the operation (step  350 ) until another identification element  130  is detected (step  305 ). 
         [0024]    If the controller  220  determines the goods are leaving the structure  205  (step  310 ), the controller  220  updates its inventory records to remove the goods from inventory (step  355 ). The controller  220  then recalculates the best environment for the goods remaining in the structure  205  (step  360 ) and directs the environment implementation system  230  to maintain the desired environment (step  365 ). The controller  220  then exits the operation (step  370 ) until another identification element  130  is detected (step  305 ). 
         [0025]    In some constructions, the identification element is powered, enabling the element to transmit the information it contains over greater distances than a passive device. In some constructions, one or more identification readers are positioned within the environmentally-controlled structure and read the identification elements after the container is sealed. The controller then determines the optimum environment and controls the environmentally-controlled structure to maintain the optimum environment. 
         [0026]    Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.