Patent Publication Number: US-2007096918-A1

Title: Package opened indicating device

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
      U.S. patent application Ser. No. (Atty Docket No. 200405361-1), entitled Seal Method and System for Packages, by Geoff M. Lyon et al., is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND  
      Products are often sent through a supply chain between the original source, such as a manufacturer, and the final destination, such as a consumer. The products may be tampered with at any number of different points along the supply chain. For example, a wholesaler may receive goods that have been tampered with, which it passes on to a retailer, or directly to the consumer.  
      Manufacturers typically attempt to protect products to prevent tampering of the products by providing features that indicate that the products have been opened. Some approaches that manufacturers have used include placing seals, which often include holograms, on the products, which may break when the products are opened. These approaches provide some deterrence; however, the seals may be duplicated, such that, a broken seal may be replaced to make it appear as if the product has not been opened.  
     SUMMARY  
      A device configured to indicate that a package has been opened is described herein. The device includes a voltage generator configured to convert a mechanical stress caused by opening of the package into a voltage and a circuit configured to employ the voltage to create a package opened indicator. The device also includes a data storage device configured to store the package opened indicator as electronic data.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the figures, in which:  
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a schematic diagram of an indicating device associated with a package, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a block diagram of a system for including a package identifier on a package, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example of a system through which a package may be determined as having been opened, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a supply chain for the sale of pharmaceutical products, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of an identifying system according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 5A  shows a flow diagram of a method for indicating that a package has been opened, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 5B  shows a flow diagram of a method for determining whether a package has been opened, according to an embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 6  illustrates a computer system, which may be employed to perform one or more steps in  FIG. 5B , according to an embodiment of the invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the embodiments are described by referring mainly to examples thereof. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent however, to one of ordinary skill in the art, that the embodiments may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. In other instances, well known methods and structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the embodiments.  
      As described in greater detail below, a package may be equipped with components designed to detect and indicate whether the package has been opened. The indication of whether the package has been opened, for example, is in electronically readable form to render it relatively more difficult to conceal that the package has been opened. In addition, the indication that the package has been opened may be created through conversion of the force required to open the package.  
      With reference first to  FIG. 1A , there is shown a schematic diagram of an indicating device  101  associated with a package  102 , according to an example. It should be readily apparent that the indicating device  101  depicted in  FIG. 1A  represents a generalized illustration and that other features may be added or existing features may be removed or modified without departing from a scope of the indicating device  101 . In addition, the package  102  may comprise any reasonably suitable type of package  102 , such as, a bottle, a box, or other suitable container for housing products.  
      Generally speaking, the indicating device  101  includes features that enable identification of whether the package  102  was opened. Through use of these features, a user may determine whether the package  102  was previously opened, which may be an indication that the package  102  or the products contained therein have been tampered with, and therefore, that the products contained in the package  102  may be unsafe.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1A , the package  102  includes a partition line  104 . The partition line  104  generally indicates a location where the package  102  may be opened. For instance, in the case where the package  102  comprises a bottle, the partition line  104  may indicate an interface location between the bottle and a cap. As another example, if the package  102  comprises a container designed to be torn open, the partition line  104  may indicate a location in the container where the container is to be torn open.  
      Positioned along the partition line  104  is a voltage generator  106 . The voltage generator  106  is configured to generate a voltage from the energy generated when the package  102  is opened along the partition line  104 . The voltage generator  106  may comprise a material, such as, piezoelectric material, that generates a voltage when mechanically stressed through, for instance, deformation, breaking, etc., of the voltage generator  106 . Examples of the voltage generator  106  include piezoelectric voltage sources or piezoelectric power sources as are known in the art.  
      The voltage generator  106  may be affixed or applied onto the package  102  in a variety of manners. For instance, the voltage generator  106  may comprise a seal that is adhesively attached to the package  102  at a position along the partition line  104 . In addition or alternatively, the voltage generator  106  may be applied onto the package  102  through an induction sealing process. As another example, the voltage generator  106  may be printed onto the package  102 . In any event, the voltage generator  106  may be positioned either inside or outside of the package  102 .  
      The circuit  110  is configured to use the voltage from the voltage generator  106  to create a package opened indicator. In one embodiment, creating a package opened indicator includes storing and/or altering a bit stored in a data storage device  112 . For example, the act of opening the package  102  may provide sufficient electrical energy for a bit to be created or altered by the circuit  110 .  
      In one embodiment, the circuit  110  includes a fuse  111 . If the package  102  is opened, the voltage generator  106  generates a voltage which blows the fuse  111 . The circuit  110  detects the blown fuse and stores or alters a bit in the data storage  112 . For example, the fuse  11  is blown, creating an open circuit that is detected by the circuit  110 . The circuit  110  then stores or alters a bit in the data storage  112 . In one example, the data storage  112  is operable to store a predetermined amount of data, such as 16-bits. The circuit  110 , for example, writes a “1” in one of the 16-bit bit positions of the data storage  112  to indicate that the package  102  has been opened. In this example, the “1” is the package open indicator, which is value in a predetermined storage location. The remaining bits may be used to store other data, such as a package identifier. In another example, the package identifier is altered. For example, the package identifier is 16 bits, and the circuit  110  alters one of the bits to indicate that the package  102  has been opened. In this example, the altered bit or the package identifier as a whole with the altered bit is the package opened indicator.  
      As described in greater detail below, the information pertaining to the package opened indicator may be evaluated to determine whether the package  102  has been opened. This information may be compared with predetermined information to determine whether one or more of the bits stored in the data storage device  112  or represented by the circuit  110  has changed due to the creation or alteration of the bit as described above. For instance, the package identifier stored in the data storage device  112  may be altered through creation or alteration of one or more bits of the package identifier due to opening of the package  102 . The modified package identifier may be compared with the original package identifier to determine whether the package  102  was previously opened.  
      The data storage  112  is shown as the data storage for the RFID tag  114 . It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the data storage  112  may be separate from the RFID tag  114  and a package open indicator may be written from the data storage  112  to the RFID tag  114  and then transmitted to the reader  118 . The RFID tag  114  transmits the package identifier and/or the package open indicator to the reader  118 , for example, when interrogated, such as known in the art. The RFID tag  114  may include a passive, active, or semi-active RFID tag as is known in the art.  
      The voltage generator  106  is used to generate a voltage when the package  102  is opened. In one embodiment described above, the voltage is used to blow the fuse  111  to indicate the package  102  has been opened. The voltage generated by the voltage generator  106  may be used to power the circuit  110 . For example, the voltage generator  106  may include a piezoelectric power source that generates power when the package  102  is opened.  
      The indicating device  101  may be affixed or applied onto the package  102  in a variety of manners either during or after fabrication of the package  102 . For instance, one or more of these components may be adhesively attached to the package  102 . As another example, one or more of these components may be printed onto the package  102 .  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a simplified block diagram  140  of a system  142  for including a package identifier on the package  102 , according to an example. It should be apparent that the system  142  depicted in  FIG. 1B  represents a generalized illustration and that other features may be added or existing features may be removed or modified without departing from a scope of the system  142 .  
      In addition to the elements depicted in  FIG. 1A , the system  142  is also depicted as including a manufacturing module  144  and a package information storage module  146 . The manufacturing module  144  generally denotes one or more devices configured to manufacture the package  102  to include the components described above with respect to  FIG. 1A . By way of example, the manufacturing module  144  may include a device configured to fabricate the physical structure of the package  102  and a device configured to apply a label onto the package  102 . As another example, the manufacturing module  144  may include a device configured to affix or apply the indicating device  101  onto the package  102 . The manufacturing module  144  may further include a device configured to connect the components of the indicating device  101  such that at least one of data and power may be transmitted between these components.  
      The manufacturing module  144  may also include a device configured to seal the package  102 . In one embodiment, the device is configured to attach the voltage generator  106  to the package  102  through an induction sealing process. In any regard, the device may provide a seal along the partition line  104  shown in  FIG. 1A  configured to release a predetermined amount of energy when the package  102  is opened along the partition line  104 .  
      The package information storage module  146  may include software or a device for generating an original package identifier  150 , which may include a package identifier for the package  102 . For example, the package information storage module  146  may generate the original package identifier  150  using an algorithm or the original package identifier  150  may be pre-determined and the package information storage module  146  retrieves the pre-determined original package identifier  150  from a storage device.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1B , the package information storage module  146  may store the original package identifier  150  in the data storage device  112  of the package  102 , either before or after the affixing process. In addition, or alternatively, the original package identifier  150  may include a value that may be changed if the package  102  is opened. In this regard, the original package identifier  150  may be used to determine whether the package  102  has been opened. The package information storage module  146  may also store the original package identifier  150  in a server database  152 , which may be part of a server system as described herein below with respect to  FIG. 2 . In another embodiment, the package information storage module  146  retrieves a pre-determined original package identifier from the server database  152 , and then stores the original package identifier in the data storage device  112  of the package  102 .  
      The original package identifier  150  may be substantially unique for each package  102  manufactured by the manufacturing module  144 . Alternatively, the original package identifier  150  may be the same for a number of packages  102 . For instance, sets or subsets of packages  102  may have the same original package identifiers  150 .  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a simplified example of a system  200  through which a package  102  may be determined as having been opened. The package opened identifying system  200  may additionally be implemented to determine the authenticity of the package  102 . The package opened identifying system  200  includes a network  210 , a server system  220 , and a user system  230 . The server system  220  and the user system  230  may include any reasonably suitable type of computer system, such as the computer system described herein below with reference to  FIG. 6 . The server system  220  may include a network interface including software and/or hardware, and serving software (not shown) for communicating with other systems connected to the server system  220  through the network  210 . The network  210  may include any type of network, including a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, etc.  
      The server system  220  may include a package identifier module  240  and the server database  152 . The user system  230  may include, for instance, the reading device  118  and a destination output  250 , which may be used to receive and display information from the server system  220 . In one regard, the user system  230  may be used to submit information pertaining to a package  102  to the server system  230  to determine whether the package  102  has been opened. In addition, the user system  230  may be used to transmit and receive information used to authenticate the package  102 . The user system  230  may be used to submit information to the server system  220  through, for instance, a website administered by the server system  220 .  
      The server system  220  may implement the package identifier module  240  to determine whether a package  102  has been opened. In one example, the package identifier module  240  may be employed to compare the original package identifier  150  with package information stored in the data storage device  112  through. If the stored package information matches the original package identifier  150 , the server system  220  may output an indication that the package  102  has not been opened. However, if the stored package information does not match the original package identifier  150 , the server system  220  may output and indication that the package  102  has been opened. A match may not occur, for instance, if the original package identifier  150  stored in the data storage device  112  has been altered through opening of the package  102  as described above.  
      The server system  220  may transmit a message to the user system  230  indicating that the package  102  has either been opened or not opened via the network  210 . The message transmitted by the server system  220  may include a message sent to a browser of the user system  230 , an email or other type of message, including facsimiles, etc.  
      Although the user system  230  and the server system  220  have been illustrated and described as comprising separate elements, the functionalities of these systems may be combined into a single system. Thus, for instance, the user system  230  may include the functionalities of the server system  220  and may thus be used to determine if a package  102  has been opened without requiring data transfer with the server system  220 .  
      In addition, the package opened identifying system  200  may be used to determine whether a package  102  has been opened at any point of a supply chain, from the manufacturer to the customer. As an example,  FIG. 3  illustrates a pharmaceutical supply chain and use of the package opened identifying system  200  in  FIG. 2  in a pharmaceutical supply chain  300 . It should be apparent that the package opened identifying system  200  may be used in supply chains for many product types without departing from a scope of the package opened identifying system  200 .  
      With reference now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a simplified example of a supply chain  300  for the sale of pharmaceutical (“pharma”) products. As shown in  FIG. 3 , raw materials  310  are received by a pharma manufacturing facility (“PMF”)  312 . The PMF  312  sends the manufactured pharma products to a wholesaler  314  or a repackager/wholesaler  318 . The wholesaler  314  may sell the pharma products to institutions  322 , such as pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes or hospices, or retailers  324 , which sell the pharma products to individual users  330 . The wholesaler  314  may also send some or all of its received pharma products to the repackager/wholesaler  318 .  
      The repackager/wholesaler  318  may sell the pharma products to closed-door pharmacies  326 . The closed door pharmacies  326  may sell the pharma products to institutions  322 , such as hospitals, nursing homes or hospices. The PMF  312  may also directly provide pharma products to the closed-door pharmacies  326 .  
      At any point along the supply chain  300 , a package  102  manufactured at the PMF may be opened by someone other than the end user  330 . Due to the number of entities handling the pharma products as they progress through the supply chain  300 , pharmacies  324  and institutions  322  may receive pharma packages  102  that have been tampered with or opened. For example, secondary wholesalers  316  may receive opened packages  102  products, which the secondary wholesalers  316  may sell to retailers  324  or wholesalers  314 , introducing the opened packages  102  into the supply chain  300 .  
      The package opened identifying system  200  in  FIG. 2  may be used at any point along the supply chain  300  determine whether a package  102  has been opened. In this example, the server system  220  used to determine whether the pharma products have been opened may be administered by the PMF  312  or administered by an agent of the PMF  312 . The user system  230  may be located at any of the other locations in the supply chain  300 , including the institution  322 , the retailers  324 , closed-door pharmacies  326 , the wholesaler(s)  314 , repackager/wholesaler(s)  318 , secondary wholesaler(s)  316 , or individual user  330 . In addition, the user system  230  may be located at any point outside of the supply chain  300  where it is desired to determine whether a package  102  has been opened.  
      The embodiments described herein are not limited for use in a pharmaceutical supply chain, and may be used for authenticating any device or item that may store or otherwise include a package identifier.  
      An example of an identifying system  400  for identifying whether a package has been opened is depicted in  FIG. 4 . It should be readily apparent that the identifying system  400  depicted in  FIG. 4  represents a generalized illustration and that other features may be added or existing features may be removed or modified without departing from a scope of the identifying system  400 .  
      The identifying system  400  is depicted as including many of the components described above with respect to  FIGS. 1A, 1B  and  2 . More particularly, the identifying system  400  depicts the indicating device  101  associated with the package  102 , the server system  220 , and the user system  230 . In one regard, the identifying system  400  provides an illustration of one manner in which these components interact with each other.  
      As shown, when the package  102  is opened, as indicated as open package  402 , energy  404  is imparted onto the voltage generator  106 . More particularly, when the package  102  is opened  402 , energy  404  is imparted onto the voltage generator  106  through the mechanical stress associated with opening of the package  102 .  
      The voltage generator  106  generates energy in the form of a voltage  406  from the energy  404  received when the package  102  is opened. The voltage supplied to the circuit  110  may cause the circuit  110  to store a package opened indicator  408  in the data storage device  112 . The circuit  110  may store a package opened indicator  408  by one or more of storing and altering one or more bits stored in the data storage device  112 .  
      The package information  410  stored in the data storage device  112  may be retrieved by the reader device  118 . For example, the reader  118  may interrogate the RFID  114  to receive the stored package information  410 . The stored package information  410  may include one or both of a package opened indicator  408  and a package identifier.  
      The stored package information  410  may be transmitted to the server system  220  over the network  210 . The package identifier module  240  may evaluate the package information  410  to determine whether the package  102  has been opened. In one example, the package identifier module  240  may compare the package information  410  with the original package identifier  150  stored in the database  152 . If the values for the package information  410  do not match the original package identifier  150 , the package identifier module  240  may determine that the package  102  has been opened. In another example, the package identifier module  240  may compare values of the package opened indicator  408  with other stored values to determine whether there is a match.  
      The package identifier module  240  may also transmit an indication  414  as to whether the package  102  has been opened to the destination output  250  of the user system  230 . As such, a user along any point in the supply chain  300 , may implement the identifying system  400  to determine whether a package  102  has been opened.  
      According to another example, the user system  230  may be employed to determine whether the package  102  has been opened without requiring communication with the server system  220 . In this example, the user system  230  may be programmed to determine whether there is a difference in a value read from the indicating device  101  and a predetermined value. The predetermined value may have been stored in the user system  230  or the user system  230  may retrieve the predetermined value from the indicating device  101 , in which case, the predetermined value would have also been stored in the data storage device  112 .  
      With reference to  FIG. 5A , there is shown a flow diagram of a method  500  for indicating that a package  102  has been opened. It is to be understood that the following description of the method  500  is but one manner of a variety of different manners in which an example of the invention may be practiced. It should also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the method  500  represents a generalized illustration and that other steps may be added or existing steps may be removed, modified or rearranged without departing from a scope of the method  500 .  
      In the method  500 , at step  502 , a mechanical stress caused by opening of the package  102  is converted into a voltage. At step  504 , a package opened indicator is created through receipt of the voltage, such as described with respect to  FIGS. 1A and 4 . As described in greater detail above, the package opened indicator is readable by an electronic device and may be used to identify whether the package  102  has been opened. Manners in which the package opened indicator may be evaluated are described in greater detail with respect to  FIG. 5B .  
      More particularly,  FIG. 5B  shows a flow diagram of a method  520  for determining whether a package  102  has been opened. It is to be understood that the following description of the method  520  is but one manner of a variety of different manners in which an example of the invention may be practiced. It should also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the method  520  represents a generalized illustration and that other steps may be added or existing steps may be removed, modified or rearranged without departing from a scope of the method  520 .  
      The description of the method  520  is made with reference to  FIG. 4 , and thus makes reference to the elements cited therein. It should, however, be understood that the method  520  is not limited to being implemented by the elements shown in  FIG. 4  and may be implemented by more, less, or different elements as those shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      At step  522 , the package  102  may be interrogated through use of a reader device  118 . The interrogation may be in the form of RF signals  412  transmitted to a RFID tag  114  of the indicating components  101 . In response to receipt of the RF signals  412 , the RFID tag  114  may transmit information pertaining to the package opened indicator  408  to the reader device  118 , as indicated at step  524 . The information may be transmitted to the server system  220  at step  526 . At step  528 , the server system  220 , and more particularly, the package identifier module  240  may compare the information with information stored in the database  152  to determine whether the package  102  has been opened. The server system  220  may additionally output an indication at step  530  as to whether the package  102  has been opened. In one regard, the server system  220  may output an indication to the destination output  250  of the user system.  
      Referring to  FIG. 6 , and also with reference to  FIG. 2 , a schematic diagram of a computer system  600  is shown in accordance with an embodiment. The computer system  600  shown may be used as a server in the system shown in  FIG. 2 . The computer system  600  may include one or more processors, such as processor  602 , providing an execution platform for executing software. The computer system  600  also includes a memory  606 , which may include Random Access Memory (RAM) where software is resident during runtime. Other types of memory such as ROM (read only memory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable, programmable ROM) and data storage, such as hard disks, etc., may be used.  
      A user interfaces with the computer system  600  with one or more input devices  618 , such as a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, and the like and a display  620 . A network interface  630  is provided for communicating with other computer systems. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that  FIG. 6  is meant to illustrate a generic computer system. Any type of computer system may be used. Furthermore, one or more components of the components of the computer system  600  are optional, such as the display and input devices, and other types of components may be used or substituted as is known in the art.  
      One or more of the steps of the operations shown in  FIG. 5B  may be implemented as software embedded on a computer readable medium, such as the memory  606 , and executed by the processor  602 . The steps may be embodied by a computer program, which may exist in a variety of forms both active and inactive. For example, there may exist as software program(s) comprised of program instructions in source code, object code, executable code or other formats for performing some of the steps. Any of the above may be embodied on a computer readable medium, which include storage devices and signals, in compressed or uncompressed form. Examples of suitable computer readable storage devices include conventional computer system RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable, programmable ROM), and magnetic or optical disks or tapes. Examples of computer readable signals, whether modulated using a carrier or not, are signals that a computer system hosting or running the computer program may be configured to access, including signals downloaded through the Internet or other networks. Concrete examples of the foregoing include distribution of the programs on a CD ROM or via Internet download. In a sense, the Internet itself, as an abstract entity, is a computer readable medium. The same is true of computer networks in general. It is therefore to be understood that those functions enumerated herein may be performed by any electronic device capable of executing the above-described functions.  
      It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other known electronic components may be added or substituted in the computer system  600 . In addition, the computer system  600  may include a system board or blade used in a rack in a data center, a conventional “white box” server or computing device, etc. Also, one or more of the components in  FIG. 6  may be optional.  
      What has been described and illustrated herein is an embodiment along with some of its variations. The terms, descriptions and figures used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the subject matter, which is intended to be defined by the following claims—and their equivalents—in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.