Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20050024200A1/en
Timestamp: 2018-03-20 09:47:21
Document Index: 438937565

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 119', 'Application No. 60', '§ 119', 'Application No. 60', '§ 119', 'Application No. 60', '§ 120', '§ 119', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

US20050024200A1 - Nested visibility for a container hierarchy - Google Patents
US20050024200A1
US20050024200A1 US10841368 US84136804A US2005024200A1 US 20050024200 A1 US20050024200 A1 US 20050024200A1 US 10841368 US10841368 US 10841368 US 84136804 A US84136804 A US 84136804A US 2005024200 A1 US2005024200 A1 US 2005024200A1
US7173530B2 (en )
This application: claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/468,930, filed on May 7, 2003, entitled “Concepts for Smart Container,” by Stephen Lambright et al.; claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/468,929 filed on May 7, 2003, entitled “Concepts for Nested Visibility of Logistics Units,” by Stephen Lambright et al.; claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Patent Application No. 60/528,334, filed on Dec. 9, 2003, entitled “Concepts for Nested Visibility of Logistics Units,” by Stephen Lambright et al.; claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/821,296, filed on Apr. 8, 2004, entitled “Continuous Security State Tracking for Intermodal Containers Through a Global Supply Chain,” by David Shannon et al., which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/461,946, filed on Apr. 9, 2003, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Managing, Securing, and Tracking Intermodal Containers Through the Global Supply Chain,” by David Shannon, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/470,294, filed on May 13, 2003, entitled “Global Supply Chain Federation,” by David Shannon, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/514,968, filed on Oct. 27, 2003, entitled “Mechanisms for Secure RF Tags on Containers,” by Ravi Rajapakse et al.; and is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. <attorney docket #21790-7897>, filed May 6, 2004, entitled “State Monitoring of a Container,” by Stephen Lambright et al., the entire contents of each being herein incorporated by reference.
A system and method for nested visibility are disclosed. The system according to some embodiments of the present invention is set forth in FIGS. 1-4, and methods operating therein, according to some embodiments of the present invention, are set forth in FIGS. 5-6.
As used herein, “layers” within the hierarchy can be defined in a variety of ways. Generally, each layer is capable of identifying itself in response to an interrogation, and is defined relative to other layers. A lower layer is capable of being contained within a higher layer. For example, an item or good at a first layer is contained within its packaging at a second layer, and a packaging is contained within a carton of layer three. A spectrum of layers can extend from an item and at the lowest layer to a vehicle at the highest layer. Preferably, less capable automatic identification technologies, such as bar codes, are within lower layers, and more capable automatic identification technologies, such as active RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags, are within higher layers. In one embodiment, the nested container 185 comprises a smart container as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. <attorney docket #21790-07897>.
FIGS. 2A-C are schematic diagrams illustrating example physical layers within a container hierarchy according to some embodiments of the present invention. Accordingly, a nested container 185 at the highest layer comprises a container 210 with an identification device 220 as shown in FIG. 2A. The nested container contains a nested pallet 216 holding nested containers 212 with nested items 214. The identification device 220 is in communication (preferably wirelessly) with a site server 250. The site server 250 can be a local portion of a centralized system for security, tracking, and the like. The site server 250 can collect information about containers 185, 212, 214, and the nested pallet 216 for local analysis or uploading. The site server 250 can also write instructions and/or data to the nested containers 185, 212, 214 and the nested pallet 216.
The identification devices 220, 232, 234 are coupled, attached, mounted, or otherwise associated with the containers 210, 222, 224 for identification. In one embodiment, the identification devices 220, 232, 234 although heterogeneous, are interoperable. For example, identification device 220 comprises an active RFID tag, identification device 232 comprises a passive RFID tag, and identification device 234 comprises a bar code. Other types of identification devices 220 not herein described, such as EPC (Electronic Product Code) tags can also be used in some embodiments. An example identification device 220 is descried in further detail below with respect to FIG. 3.
a computer-readable medium having computer program instructions and data embodied thereon for, in an associated container within a plurality of nested containers, each nested container having automatic identification technology, a method for tracking the plurality of nested containers, the method comprising the steps of:
23. The computer product of claim 19, further comprising:
24. The computer product of claim 19, further comprising:
25. The computer product of claim 19, further comprising:
26. The computer product of claim 19, further comprising:
27. The computer product of claim 19, further comprising:
US20050024200A1 true true US20050024200A1 (en) 2005-02-03
US7173530B2 US7173530B2 (en) 2007-02-06
US7173530B2 (en) 2007-02-06 grant