Systems, methods, and computer program products for providing real-time validation of container loading and positioning data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10210473-B2
Application number	US-201414199438-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2014
Priority date	Mar 6, 2014
Publication date	Feb 19, 2019
Grant date	Feb 19, 2019

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems, methods, and computer program products for providing dynamic real-time verification and validation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle. One or more computer processors are configured to: receive actual load data associated with at least one container; retrieve at least a portion of expected load data associated with the container for which actual load data has been received; verify the actual weight of the one of the plurality of packages and in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of packages. In response to a successful validation, at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of packages may be generated. If validation is unsuccessful, further loading may be prevented.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A load to position system for providing dynamic real-time verification, validation, and mitigation of data associated with the receiving, loading, and positioning of a plurality of containers upon a transport vehicle, said system comprising:
one or more mobile devices, each having a data capture element configured to scan at least a portion of each of the plurality of containers to obtain therefrom actual load data and a user interface for communication between the system and respective users of the one or more mobile devices;
one or more memory storage areas containing expected load data associated with the plurality of containers for which transit upon the transport vehicle is planned, the expected load data comprising a container identification number, an expected load weight, an expected load center of gravity, an expected load position, and an expected load sequence for each of the plurality of containers, said expected load sequence being indicative of an expected particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle; and
one or more computer processors configured to:
receive, via the one or more mobile devices, captured actual load data associated with at least one of the plurality of containers, the actual load data comprising at least the container identification number, an actual load weight, an actual load center of gravity, and an actual load position for the one of the plurality of containers;
retrieve at least a portion of the expected load data associated with the one of the plurality of containers for which actual load data has been received, the retrieval being based at least in part upon identifying the corresponding container identification numbers in the received actual load data and the retrieved portion of the expected load data;
verify at least one of the actual weight or center of gravity of the one of the plurality of containers, the verification being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load weight and center of gravity for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load weight and center of gravity so as to determine whether a load weight or center of gravity discrepancy exists there-between;
in response to a successful verification identifying no load weight or center of gravity discrepancies, validate the actual load position of the one of the plurality of containers, the validation being based at least in part upon a comparison of the retrieved expected load position for the one of the plurality of containers against the actual load data so as to determine whether a load position discrepancy exists there-between;
in response to a successful validation identifying no load position discrepancies, automatically generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and
in response to identifying at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy or at least one load position discrepancy:
automatically generate and transmit to the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices at least one communication indicative of at least one of an unsuccessful verification or an unsuccessful validation, said at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle pending implementation of at least one of a plurality of mitigating actions;
automatically retrieve the plurality of mitigating actions from the one or more memory storage areas;
automatically determine two or more appropriate mitigating actions within the plurality of mitigating actions, said two or more appropriate mitigating actions being configured to at least one of alleviate or eliminate the identified discrepancies causing the unsuccessful verification or validation, said determination comprising the sub-step of automatically recalculating the expected load data, said recalculation resulting in at least a recalculated expected load sequence based upon each of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;
automatically generate and transmit to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices a selectable indication of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions;
responsive to a selection, received from at least one user, via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, of one of the two or more appropriate mitigating actions, automatically generate and electronically transmit across each of the one or more mobile devices executable instructions configured to automatically implement the selected mitigating action taking into account the recalculated expected load sequence, said recalculated expected load sequence providing a new particular order in which each of the plurality of containers are intended to be loaded onto the transport vehicle;
confirm, via a user input received via the user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile devices, completion of the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and
upon confirmation:
automatically determine and re-verify, via at least one of the one or more mobile devices, whether the identified at least one weight or center of gravity discrepancy has been at least one of alleviated or eliminated due to the implementation of the selected mitigating action; and
if all discrepancies have been at least one of alleviated or eliminated, generate and transmit to the user interface of each of the one or more mobile devices, at least one communication containing executable instructions configured to automatically recommence, via execution of the data capture element of at least one of the one or more mobile devices to scan actual load data associated with the recalculated expected load sequence, continued loading of the plurality of containers in accordance with the recalculated expected load sequence or departure of the transport vehicle.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the verification and the validation are performed in a substantially real-time fashion by one or more users of the system as said one or more users coordinating loading of the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the verification and the validation are performed via the one or more mobile devices associated with the system, so as to enable one or more users of the system to flexibly capture and record the actual load data throughout the process of loading the plurality of containers upon the transport vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer processors are, in response to the successful verification and the successful validation, further configured to:
conduct a final comparison of the actual load data against the expected load data, the final comparison being configured to compare a plurality of parameters within the actual load data against a corresponding plurality of parameters within the expected load data so as to determine whether one or more accuracy discrepancies exist;
in response to a successful confirmation of no accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication configured to facilitate at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle; and
in response to identifying one or more accuracy discrepancies, generate at least one communication indicative of an unsuccessful confirmation and configured to prevent at least one of further loading of the plurality of containers or departure of the transport vehicle.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein, upon the successful confirmation, the one or more processors are further configured

Assignees

• United parcel service america inc

Inventors

• Arora Shikha
• Guilford Todd
• Lam Wai
• Peck Cindy

Classifications

• G01G19/40

  with provisions for indicating, recording, or computing price or other quantities dependent on the weight (indicating means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; recording means for weighing apparatus G01G23/18; computers in general G06) · CPC title

• G06Q10/0832 Primary

  Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods · CPC title

• B64D9/00

  Equipment for handling freight; Equipment for facilitating passenger embarkation or the like · CPC title

• G06Q10/08 Primary

  Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management · CPC title