Patent ID: 7918402

Claim:
An item contents verification system for use in an order fulfillment assembly line of carrier-totes each containing at least one of a plurality of items having a labeling, the system comprising: (a) the labeling comprising a luminescent marking and a human-visible indicia; (b) said luminescent marking comprising a coded-indicia generally invisible to a human eye without an irradiation, each said coded-indicia to contain item-information about the item to which the labeling is applied; (c) an inspection apparatus within the assembly line adapted for automatically collecting said item-information from said luminescent coded-indicia oriented outwardly and within a respective one of the carrier-totes as said respective carrier tote passes in proximity to said inspection apparatus; (d) said inspection apparatus comprising a source of radiation selected from the group consisting of an ultra-violet (UV) radiation source, a near-infrared (near-IR) radiation source, and an infrared (IR) radiation source for emitting at said luminescent coded-indicia; (e) in communication with said inspection apparatus is a processor unit adapted for comparing, while said respective one of the carrier-totes is in the assembly line, a purchase order comprising at least one selected item against said item-information collected about each said item within said respective carrier-tote; if said item-information collected is of said order, said respective carrier-tote contents is deemed verified; and (f) a reject spur to which any said respective carrier-tote is routed if the contents is not deemed verified.