Label having an activatable bar code

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9691011-B2
Application number	US-201313737190-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 9, 2013
Priority date	Jan 10, 2012
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A label including a label body having an upper surface and a bottom surface and a light-transmissive portion and an opaque portion is disclosed. The label includes an adhesive disposed on at least a portion of the bottom surface for affixing the label body to a portion of a container. An excitation-activatable material arranged to contain machine readable information is disposed on at least a portion of the upper surface of the light-transmissive portion of the label body. The machine readable information is undetected by a detector in ambient light, and detectable by the detector upon application of an excitation wavelength to the excitation-activatable material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A machine readable label, comprising:
a label body having an upper surface and a bottom surface, the label body comprising a light-transmissive portion and an opaque portion, wherein the light-transmissive portion spans the upper surface and the bottom surface, the opaque portion comprising human readable indicia disposed thereon;
an adhesive disposed on at least a portion of the bottom surface for affixing the label body to a portion of a container;
an excitation-activatable material arranged to contain machine readable information disposed on at least a portion of the upper surface of the light-transmissive portion,
wherein the machine readable information is undetected by a detector in ambient light, and detectable by the detector upon application of an excitation wavelength to the excitation-activatable material, and
wherein the machine readable information comprises patient identifier information.

2. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the opaque portion at least partially surrounds the light-transmissive portion.

3. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the opaque portion is adjacent the light-transmissive portion.

4. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the upper surface of the opaque portion comprises the human readable indicia printed thereon.

5. The machine readable label of claim 4 , wherein the indicia comprises intended fill volume information.

6. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the label is disposed on a specimen collection container, and wherein a content of the specimen collection container is viewable through the light transmissive portion.

7. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the specimen collection container is a blood collection container.

8. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable information comprises at least one barcode.

9. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the machine readable information comprises a plurality of barcodes.

10. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is a light transmissive adhesive.

11. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is disposed at least partially about a perimeter of the label body.

12. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the excitation wavelength is less than about 400 nm.

13. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the excitation wavelength is from about 10 nm to about 400 nm.

14. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the excitation wavelength is greater than about 700 nm.

15. The machine readable label of claim 1 , wherein the excitation wavelength is from about 750 nm to about 1mm.

16. A machine readable label, comprising:
a label body having an upper surface and a bottom surface, the label body comprising a light-transmissive portion that spans the upper surface and the bottom surface;
an adhesive disposed on at least a portion of the bottom surface for affixing the label body to a portion of a container, wherein the adhesive is a light transmissive adhesive;
an excitation-activatable material arranged to contain machine readable information disposed on at least a portion of the upper surface,
wherein the machine readable information is undetected by a detector in ambient light, and detectable by the detector upon application of an excitation wavelength to the excitation-activatable material, and
wherein the machine readable information comprises patient identifier information.

17. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the label body further comprises a light-transmissive portion and an opaque portion, said opaque portion at least partially surrounding the light-transmissive portion.

18. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the label body further comprises a light-transmissive portion and an opaque portion, and wherein the opaque portion is adjacent the light-transmissive portion.

19. The machine readable label of claim 18 , wherein the opaque portion comprises indicia printed thereon.

20. The machine readable label of claim 19 , wherein the indicia comprises intended fill volume information.

21. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the label is disposed on a specimen collection container, and wherein a content of the specimen collection container is viewable through the light transmissive portion.

22. The machine readable label of claim 21 , wherein the specimen collection container is a blood collection container.

23. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the machine readable information comprises at least one barcode.

24. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the machine readable information comprises a plurality of barcodes.

25. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the adhesive is disposed at least partially about a perimeter of the label body.

26. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the excitation wavelength is less than about 400 nm.

27. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the excitation wavelength is from about 10 nm to about 400 nm.

28. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the excitation wavelength is greater than about 700 nm.

29. The machine readable label of claim 16 , wherein the excitation wavelength is from about 750 nm to about 1 mm.

30. A specimen collection container, comprising:
an open top end, a closed bottom end and a sidewall extending therebetween having an exterior surface and defining a container interior adapted to receive a specimen therein, and
a machine readable label disposed on a portion of the exterior surface, the label comprising:
a label body having an upper surface and a bottom surface, the label body comprising a light-transmissive portion and an opaque portion, the light-transmissive portion spans the upper surface and the bottom surface, the opaque portion comprising human readable indicia disposed thereon,
an adhesive disposed on at least a portion of the bottom surface affixing the label body to a portion of the exterior surface of the sidewall of the container, and
an excitation-activatable material arranged to contain machine readable information disposed on at least a portion of the upper surface of the light-transmissive portion,

wherein the machine readable information is undetected by a detector in ambient light, and detectable by the detector upon application of an excitation wavelength to the excitation-activatable material, and
wherein the machine readable information comprises patient identifier information.

31. The specimen collection container of claim 30 , further comprising a closure for covering the open top end of the specimen collection container.

32. The specimen collection container of claim 30 , wherein a contents of the specimen collection container is viewable through at least a portion of the label.

33. A specimen collection container, comprising:
an open top end, a closed bottom end and a sidewall extending therebetween having an exterior surface and defining a container interior adapted to receive a specimen therein, and
a machine readable label disposed on a portion of the exterior surface, the label comprising:
a label body having an upper surface and a bottom surface, the label body comprising a light-transmiss

Assignees

• Becton Dickinson Co

Inventors

• Gelfand Craig A

Classifications

• B01L3/5453

  for test tubes · CPC title

• G06K19/0614 Primary

  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

• B01L2300/021

  Identification, e.g. bar codes · CPC title

• G06K19/06046 Primary

  Constructional details · CPC title