Abstract:
A system and method for tracking a plurality of shipping containers which are designated as a specific group or lot is provided. The system may use the receiver range of a short range wireless communications device to track containers among themselves, or alternatively use a global positioning device in conjunction with a long range satellite or cellular communications device to report position back to a central monitoring station which utilizes a centralized method for tracking the container lots. An alarm condition is generated if any given container gets separated from the group or lot.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY  
       [0001]     The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/735,842, filed Nov. 14, 2005. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates generally to container security and supply chain management and, more particularly, to the tracking and coordination of a plurality of containers organized into groups or lots as a single shipment.  
         [0004]     2. Background of the Invention  
         [0005]     In today&#39;s efficiency conscious transportation environment, there is a strong need to cost-effectively and accurately track the location of containers, and groups of containers shipped together as a lot, at various stages during the supply chain. This need exists both in the United States and abroad.  
         [0006]     Despite the strong need, few solutions, if any, have been able to provide the accuracy needed to suit the transportation industry and the government agencies charged with monitoring shipments. This lack of an acceptable solution is due to many factors which complicate interstate and international shipping. Shipping containers are used to transport most of the commerce entering, leaving, and transiting or moving within the United States. It is estimated that there are over 6 million containers moving in global commerce. Shipping containers have revolutionized the transportation of goods by greatly reducing the number of times goods must be loaded and unloaded during transport. However, at the same time, this same advantage has created a major problem in that it is very difficult to monitor and track the location of each container during transport and in most cases the containers look very similar, so it is virtually impossible to ascertain the contents of containers without opening them up to inspect them. Furthermore, it is even more difficult to determine which containers are to be grouped together as a lot or shipment. In the transportation industry lots are used as a means of tracking a shipment or order. A lot can be made up of tens, hundreds, or thousands of a single item packed in multiple containers, or it can be comprised of an assortment of items used such as a kit of parts required for a single system packed into multiple containers.  
         [0007]     Cargo vessels carry hundreds or thousands of containers and many of them look alike. These containers are stacked in the hull of these vessels and also stacked above decks as well. As part of the supply chain, containers are often loaded at the factory or distribution source, and then ideally will remain as a group unit or lot they reach their final destination. However, during the transit process containers may be moved several times. Due to the high number of containers and the number ports, warehouses, or stops a vessel or other transportation mode may encounter prior to the final destination, there is a reasonable probability that one or more of the containers designated as a member of a lot may be separated from the others. This scenario creates a huge problem in that incomplete shipments create a major issue for the suppliers, shippers, and purchasers or these goods.  
         [0008]     As previously noted sea containers are often shipped in groups or lots. These lots may have common or inter-related cargo, come from the same manufacturer, be destined for the same delivery point, or have common paperwork linking the lot of containers together. These factors result in the desire to monitor and maintain knowledge of the location and status of all containers in the lot. This capability may improve efficiency and reduce attritions due to loss or theft.  
         [0009]     3. Description of the Related Art  
         [0010]     A container security system as described by System Planning Corporation (SPC) (U.S. Pat. No. 7,098,784) herein referred to as “the SPC Invention”, performs many of the functions to monitor containers, their content, and to detect tampering within a container during transit. This is accomplished through a device which is located on a container and performs multiple functions. Some of these functions may include controlling various sensors, collecting the data from these sensors and transmitting this data back to a central monitoring station. The central monitoring stations may also send commands and information to the device location in the each container.  
         [0011]     To enable information to be transmitted to and from the container, there are several communications subsystems including a satellite or cellular communications device, or both. The SPC invention also describes the utilization of a short range wireless or local area communication channel to communicate with various sensors and other elements within the container. The system utilizes the satellite or cellular communications channel to communicate and send status and alarms to a central monitoring station.  
         [0012]     A problem with the SPC invention is that it does not address the issues of tracking containers as lots or groups. Furthermore, the SPC invention does not go as far as to suggest utilizing either the GPS location or the short range wireless communications device to develop a system to track groups of containers.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     To address the problems and limitations noted above, a system and method for tracking lots of containers as they move through various points in the supply chain is provided.  
         [0014]     The embodiments of the present invention include several methods for tracking a plurality of containers as a single group or lot, using several communications and processing elements which are often performing other functions as well. In this manner there is little to no additional hardware cost of a tracking system which would normally monitor single containers independently. In one mode of operation, the present invention may utilize the receiver range of a short range wireless communications device to allow containers to “self-monitor” their proximity to each other member of the container lot. In an alternative mode, a global positioning device on a container may report back via a long range cellular or satellite channel to a central monitoring station, which in turn may calculate the status of any given lot of containers based on measuring the distance between individual containers and comparing them against a separation threshold.  
         [0015]     Embodiments of the present invention comprise a system and method of tracking and maintaining groups of containers as they move through the supply chain. The benefits of this system are numerous and may increase efficiency and may also reduce attrition due to loss or theft.  
         [0016]     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]      FIG. 1  shows a functional configuration of the various communication channels and the lot tracking controller according to an embodiment of the invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows multiple containers operating in a master-slave lot tracking application using the short range wireless communications device.  
         [0019]      FIG. 2   a  shows multiple containers operating in a peer-to-peer lot tracking application using the short range wireless communications device.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  shows multiple containers operating in a lot tracking application using the positioning device.  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  shows a flow chart of the lot tracking method using the positioning device.  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  shows a flow chart of the lot tracking method using the short range wireless communications device.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]     The present invention provides a unique system and method for providing tracking information of a plurality of shipping containers organized into lots or groups.  
         [0024]     Throughout this specification, preferred embodiments of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments, various examples and illustrative embodiments are provided. It should be understood that these embodiments and examples are provided purely for purposes of illustration. The present invention is limited solely by the claims appended hereto.  
         [0025]     With reference now to  FIG. 1 , and for the purposes of explanation, the basic container lot tracking system of the present invention comprises three major communications sub-systems: a short range wireless communications channel  102 ; either a cellular communications channel or other longer range wireless communications channel  104 ; a satellite communications channel  106 ; or both  104  and  106  together. Each of these communications links is used in conjunction with a lot processing controller  108 , and is mounted on the inside or outside of a container  100 , usually near the door. A global positioning determination or Global Positioning System (GPS) device  112  interfaces with the controller  108  and provides accurate geolocation information. Ideally these communications subsystems along with the controller  108  and GPS device  112  are generally housed within a single unit, however may also be comprised of separate functional units under common control. The subsystems may be used for communication with a central monitoring station  110 .  
         [0026]     The short range wireless channel protocol or wireless local area network (WLAN)  102  may be any one of a number of standards such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, 802.11, or any other standards based or proprietary wireless protocol capable of transmitting data within a few feet to a several hundred feet.  
         [0027]     The satellite channel  106  may include a satellite transceiver device, which may communicate with either geosynchronous (GEO) or Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite in a network. It may operate at any band commonly used by satellites including, but note limited to, C-band, Ku-band, L-Band, S-Band, or VHF.  
         [0028]     The cellular channel  104  may include a device that typically may use one of the common cellular standards such as GSM, CDMA, or North American TDMA. However, for purposes of this invention the cellular channel is not strictly limited to these standards, but may also include other current and future standards, as well as any wireless protocol and network suited to transmit data over long distances.  
         [0029]     There are two methods of which may be employed for lot tracking of a plurality of containers. The first method as shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 2   a  uses the range of the short range wireless communication in either a master-slave or and a peer-to-peer based approach to query and collect information that is related to the container lot. The second method has each container independently send location information back to a central monitoring station which then determines the integrity of a lot of containers.  
         [0030]     In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , the present invention has a plurality of containers designated to a unique group or lot  200 . Of these containers a single one is assigned as a lot master container  202 , and utilizes the short range wireless channel to communicate with the neighboring containers  204 ,  206 , and  208 .  
         [0031]     The method indicated in  FIG. 5  applies to the system configuration of  FIG. 2 . As a container is readied for shipment from the original destination, the container may be programmed at  502  with a unique address and another designation of the lot or group to which said container belongs. The containers then may be programmed in step  504  with a table, which contains all of the container addresses belonging to that particular lot designation. Once the container is shipped, it is desirable to track the containers belonging to this particular lot together as a group. During transit, at step  506 , the lot master container may query other neighboring containers, receive and collect back responses containing the specific container addresses and lot designations at  508 , and then compare these against the lot address table at step  510 . Should a particular container not be present in the lot group, the lot master container may then generate an alarm condition which is sent via satellite  210  to the central monitoring station  212 . In addition, there may be an audible alarm from the master or absent container as well.  
         [0032]     In an alternative configuration in  FIG. 2A , the process is repeated on a peer-to-peer basis. In this case there is no designated master and each container within a given lot keeps track of its vicinity in relation to other containers in the lot. In the example in  FIG. 2   a , if any given container  208   a  should not be able to receive a message from other containers in the same lot, it may be determined that said container has fallen out of the group  202   a ,  204   a , and  206   a , at which point an alarm condition is sent back to a central monitor station  212   a.    
         [0033]     In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , the present invention tracks the location of a group or lot of containers through a central processing approach. In this case, each container  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308  in a container lot  300  independently reports back location information to a central monitoring station  312  via satellite  310 , the central monitoring station utilizing a method to determine lot integrity.  
         [0034]     In  FIG. 4 , again as a container is readied for shipment from the original destination, the container may be programmed in step  402  with a unique address and another designation of the lot or group to which said container belongs. The containers then may be programmed in step  404  with a table, which contains all of the container addresses belonging to that particular lot designation. In step  406 , each container may then send the container address and lot designation back to the central monitoring station, and the central monitoring station compares the data against a predetermined separation distance threshold at  408 . Should this distance of any container exceed the separation distance threshold, then in step  410 , the central monitoring stations may generate an alarm condition. This may also be an audible alarm emanating from the container itself.