Two dimensional barcode with dynamic environmental data system, method, and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017193260-A1
Application number	US-201715464207-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus for combining preprinted information together with coded sensor information within a two-dimensional barcode. The sensor information may be of an environmental, physical or biological nature, and records a cumulative change in status of the environmental or biological condition to which the labeled product has been exposed. A sensor dye chemistry is employed that undergoes a continuous chemical or physical state change in response to the occurrence of the environmental condition. The continuous change is between an initial state and an end state causing a change in the color state of the sensor dye embedded within the sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode, encoding sensor digital information. Sensor information is recovered utilizing the error-correction feature during barcode decoding.

First claim

1 . A sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode, comprising:
a substrate; a first layer provided on the substrate comprising a sensor dye region, the sensor dye region, the first layer further comprising a sensor dye having a chemistry that is configured, responsive to the occurrence of an environmental condition, to undergo a continuous chemical or physical state change between an initial state and an end state, causing a change in the color state of the sensor dye, wherein the color state indicates exposure to the environmental condition; and a second layer provided on the substrate comprising a two-dimensional error-correcting barcode symbol, the bar code symbol further comprising a plurality of modules in a permanent color state, the modules optionally being square, rectangular, or circular.

2 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the second layer is aligned with a feature of the first layer, and wherein, preferably, the sensor dye region is positioned in an invariant area of the two-dimensional barcode such that an upper left corner of the second layer is aligned with an upper left corner of the first layer.

3 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition is selected from the group consisting of time, temperature, and time-temperature product, and wherein, preferably, the sensor dye continuously changes color state between the initial state and the end state when exposed to the environmental condition.

4 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode of claim 1 , wherein the second layer is printed over the first layer.

5 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional error-correcting barcode symbol is from the symbology group consisting of Data Matrix, QR Code, Aztec Code, MaxiCode, PDF417 and Dot Code symbologies.

6 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional error-correcting barcode symbol utilizes Reed-Solomon error correction.

7 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the sensor dye is initially in a first color state when unactivated and dynamically changes to a plurality of different color states within a range between the initial state and the end state before reaching the end state.

8 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 7 , wherein the sensor dye reaches an intermediate state between the initial state and the end state when the specified condition of the sensed property is beyond a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is preferably a labeled product life.

9 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 7 , wherein the sensor dye dynamically changes to a plurality of different color states related to one of expended product life and remaining labeled product life.

10 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the second layer provides sensor digital information, the sensor digital information preferably encoded in an invariant pixel map of the two-dimensional symbol, and more preferably encoded as binary encoded sensor data, and more preferably the binary encoded sensor data is in an error correcting code, preferably chosen from the group consisting of Hamming Codes, Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem Codes, Golay Codes, Simplex Codes, Reed-Muller Codes, Fire Codes, Convolutional Codes, and Reed-Solomon Codes.

11 . The sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol of claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional error-correcting barcode includes encoded application identifiers, and wherein, preferably, a first application identifier indicates the size and location of the sensor dye region and a second application identifier indicates product life equation parameters, wherein, preferably, the product life equation parameters are Arrhenius equation parameters.

12 . An article of manufacture, comprising:
pharmaceutical, biological, or food product, preferably a vaccine; a container holding the pharmaceutical, biological, or food product, preferably a vaccine vial; and a sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol provided on or in the container, preferably being applied to the outside surface of the container.

13 . A method of reading of a sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol comprising:
optically scanning an image of the sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol to obtain color values for pixels in the image; constructing a scanned pixel map containing the color values in the sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol; processing the pixels in the scanned pixel map to assign a binary color value to each pixel and to form a binarised pixel map; identifying the two-dimensional barcode symbol in the binarised pixel map; decoding the identified two-dimensional barcode symbol in the binarised pixel map to recover a symbol codeword sequence; recovering underlying data codewords from the symbol codeword sequence, preferably by utilizing error correction process on the symbol codeword sequence; processing the data codewords for identification of barcode modules in a sensor dye region; determining an average color value of the barcode modules in the sensor dye region; and processing the average color value of the sensor dye region to determine a reflectance percentage of incident light at a time of scanning.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein processing color information includes:
capturing white light reflectance of pixels included in the sensor dye region; and creating a colored light filter effect on reflectance data from the scanned pixels utilizing a filter to generate filtered colored image values of the pixels in a scanned pixel map.

15 . The method of claim 15 , wherein processing color information further includes:
reducing the filtered colored image values in the scanned pixel map to greyscale values; determining an average greyscale value of the average color value of the barcode modules; and processing the average grey value to determine the incident light reflectance percentage at the time of scanning.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein processing the pixels in the scanned pixel map includes classifying each pixel as one of a black pixel, a white pixel, and a color pixel.

17 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the black pixels, the white pixels, and the color pixels are used to form a ternarised pixel map, and the black and white pixels in the ternarised pixel map are used to identify the two-dimensional barcode symbol in the ternarised pixel map.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the sensor dye region is located in an invariant area of a Data Matrix barcode symbol.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the sensor dye region includes a sensor dye that is responsive to environmental factors including at least one of temperature, time, radiation, light, and toxic chemicals.

20 . A method of reading of a sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol comprising:
optically scanning an image of the sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol to obtain a greyscale value for each pixel in the image; constructing a greyscale pixel map of the pixels in the sensor-augmented two-dimensional barcode symbol; processing the pixels in the greyscale pixel map to assign a binary color value to each pixel and to form a binarised pixel map; identifying the two-dimensional barcode symbol in the binarised pixel map; decoding the identified 2D ba

Assignees

• Temptime Corp

Inventors

• Prusik Thaddeus
• Abdo Mohannad
• Hohberger Clive

Classifications

• G06K7/1473 Primary

  error correction · CPC title

• G06K19/0614

  the marking being selective to wavelength, e.g. color barcode or barcodes only visible under UV or IR (methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers using a selected wavelength, see G06K7/12) · CPC title

• G06K19/06037

  multi-dimensional coding · CPC title

• G06K19/06075

  the marking containing means for error correction · CPC title

• G06K19/06046

  Constructional details · CPC title