Article-identification-and-location device systems and methods of using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11922246-B2
Application number	US-202117398038-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2021
Priority date	Jun 4, 2019
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

A luggage tag comprises an indicator; a thin tag body including a radiofrequency (RF) receiver configured to receive an RF signal transmitted by an RF transmitter and a processor in communication with the RF receiver and the indicator, the processor being configured to acquire information from the RF signal that is received by the RF receiver and to turn on the indicator in response to the information acquired from the RF signal; and a coupling unit for coupling the thin tag body of the luggage tag to luggage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A luggage tag comprising:
an indicator;
a thin tag body including:
a radiofrequency (RF) receiver configured to receive an RF signal transmitted by an RF transmitter; and
a processor in communication with the RF receiver and the indicator, the processor being configured to acquire unique information from the RF signal that is received by the RF receiver, to process the unique information to switch to a mode from a plurality of different modes that the luggage tag operates in, and to perform an action commensurate with the mode from a plurality of preset actions in response to processing the unique information, the action including controlling the indicator; and

means for coupling the thin tag body of the luggage tag to luggage.

2. The luggage tag of claim 1 , wherein the means for coupling the thin tag body of the luggage tag to luggage comprises a strap.

3. The luggage tag of claim 2 , wherein the strap is tamperproof.

4. The luggage tag of claim 1 , wherein the tag body further includes at least one sensor adapted to detect a change of state of the body of the luggage tag or an environmental condition of the luggage tag in connection with the tracking of the location of the luggage tag.

5. The luggage tag of claim 4 , wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of an inertial sensor, a humidity sensor, a temperature sensor, a contact sensor, an angular Hall sensor, or a capacitive touch sensor.

6. The luggage tag of claim 1 , wherein the tag body further includes a memory storing a unique identifier of the unique information provided at both the luggage tag and an electronic device used by a user of the luggage tag associated with the luggage tag and with user information about the user of the luggage tag.

7. The luggage tag of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to compare the information acquired from the RF signal with the unique identifier stored in the memory and to turn on the indicator if the information acquired from the RF signals matches the unique identifier stored in the memory.

8. The luggage tag of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is a light-emitting diode (LED).

9. The luggage tag of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is a speaker.

10. A method of monitoring environmental conditions of an item of interest, the method comprising:
measuring, by an article-identification-and-location device physically coupled to the item of interest, a condition of an environment of the item of interest;
receiving, by the article-identification-and-location device, information in a radiofrequency (RF) signal transmitted by an electronic device used by a user;
processing the information to switch to the article-identification-and-location device to a mode from a plurality of different modes that the device operates in;
performing an action commensurate with the mode from a plurality of preset actions in response to processing the information;
confirming, by the article-identification-and-location device, the user electronic device is permitted to receive environmental data from the article-identification-and-location device in response to the information received in the RF signal transmitted by the user electronic device;
transmitting, by the article-identification-and-location device, after confirming the user electronic device is permitted to receive environmental data from the article-identification-and-location device, an RF signal that conveys environmental data corresponding to the measured environmental condition of the item of interest; and
pairing, by the user electronic device, a current geographical location of the item of interest with the environmental data corresponding to the measured environmental condition of the item of interest that is conveyed by the RF signal transmitted by article-identification-and-location device, to produce a data point representing the measured environmental condition of the item of interest at the current geographical location of the item of interest.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of confirming the user electronic device is permitted to receive environmental data from the article-identification-and-location device includes comparing the information received in the RF signal transmitted by the user electronic device with a unique identifier that is stored in memory of the article-identification-and-location device and associated with both the item of interest and the user.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of determining, by the user electronic device, a geographical location of the user electronic device, to establish thereby the current geographical location of the item of interest.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of transmitting, by the user electronic device to a customer electronic device over a communications network, a message conveying the data point representing the measured environmental condition of the item of interest at the current geographical location of the item of interest.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of displaying, on the customer electronic device, a real-time representation of the current geographical location of the item of interest and the measured environmental condition of the item of interest using the data point received from the user electronic device.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of recording a plurality of data points representing measured environmental conditions of the item of interest at geographical locations along a route taken by the user.

16. A system comprising:
an article-identification-and-location (A-I-A-L) device physically coupled to an item of interest, the A-I-A-L device including at least one sensor, a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver, and a processor in communication with the RF transceiver and the at least one sensor, the at least one sensor adapted to measure a condition of an environment of the item of interest; and
an electronic device used a user, the electronic device having an RF transceiver and a processor in communication with the RF transceiver of the electronic device,
wherein the RF transceiver of the A-I-A-L device receives information in an RF signal transmitted by the RF transceiver of the user electronic device, the processor of the A-I-A-L device confirms the user electronic device is permitted to receive environmental data from the A-I-A-L device in response to the information received in the RF signal transmitted by the RF transceiver of the user electronic device, and the RF transceiver of the A-I-A-L device transmits, after the processor of the A-I-A-L device confirms the user electronic device is permitted to receive environmental data from the A-I-A-L device, an RF signal that conveys environmental data corresponding to the measured environmental condition of the item of interest,
wherein the processor of the A-I-A-L device processes the information to switch to a mode from a plurality of different modes that the A-I-A-L device operates in, and performs an action commensurate with the mode from a plurality of preset actions in response to processing the unique information, and
wherein the user electronic device pairs a current geographical location of the item of interest with the environmental data corresponding to the measured environmental condition of the item of interest, to produce a data point representing the measured environmental condition of the item of interest at the current geographical location of the item of interest.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the A-I-A-L device further in

Assignees

• Position Imaging Inc

Inventors

• Hill Edward L
• Xiong Yifeng
• Chakravarty Narasimhachary Nallana
• Martel Brian
• Bujold Marc
• Bilbrey Brett
• Ibbotson Mark R

Classifications

• G06K19/0723 Primary

  the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs · CPC title

• G06K7/10099

  the directional field being used for pinpointing the location of the record carrier, e.g. for finding or locating an RFID tag amongst a plurality of RFID tags, each RFID tag being associated with an object, e.g. for physically locating the RFID tagged object in a warehouse · CPC title

• G06K19/07749

  the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card · CPC title

• G06K19/0717 Primary

  the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure · CPC title

• G06K19/07758

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