Radio-frequency tags for sorting post-consumption items

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10438108-B2
Application number	US-201615142950-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	Jan 8, 2003
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

An apparatus and method of selectively sorting post-consumption items that are associated with radio-frequency tags based on data received from the RF tag. One embodiment includes a conveyor, a picker arm, and an RF reader. Another embodiment includes an RF reader and a receptacle for selectively holding post-consumption items based on data retrieved from the associated RF tag.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a container of an item to carry a content;
a radio frequency tag attached to the container or the content, the radio frequency tag storing machine-readable code comprising first data and second data, wherein the first data which, when read by a tag reader, provides information as to how the item was consumed, wherein the first data comprises at least two of: information relating to a previous location of the item, a recall indicator to indicate whether the item or the content is subjected to a recall, a date, a shelf life for the item or the content, a composition for the item or the content, or an identification number of a device that last updated the first data or the second data, wherein the second data which, when read by the tag reader interacting with a sorting apparatus, causes the sorting apparatus to sort the item as a post-consumption item in accordance with a type of action to be taken, the second data comprising information for identifying a retrieval company for providing a retrieval service for the post-consumption item and the type of action to be taken for the post-consumption item as one or more of: for recycling, for treatment as a hazardous waste, or for disposal as a biodegradable material; and
the sorting apparatus to sort the container in accordance with the type of action to be taken.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a battery for powering the radio frequency tag.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radio frequency tag is an active radio frequency tag.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radio frequency tag is a passive radio frequency tag.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the tag reader.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sorting apparatus comprises a pushing arm for pushing the container into a bin in accordance with the type of action to be taken.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Kreiner Barrett M
• Hodges Donna K

Classifications

• G06Q30/02

  Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising · CPC title

• B07C5/3412 Primary

  according to a code applied to the object which indicates a property of the object, e.g. quality class, contents or incorrect indication (sorting according to size measured by light-responsive means B07C5/10; sorting according to optical properties B07C5/342; for packages B65D79/02; for information carriers G06K7/00) · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06K19/07758 Primary

  arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag · CPC title

• B07C2301/0016

  RFID-tags · CPC title