Storage box locking system
AssigneeOtter Products, LLC
InventorsCurtis R. Richardson, Thomas D. Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A locking system that controls access to a parcel storage box having a lockable door or lid with an electrically controllable locking mechanism. The locking system includes an optical scanner for scanning a barcode on a parcel that includes tracking information. A communication module transmits the tracking information to a separate computing system over a wireless network and then receives a response from the computing system indicating whether or not the transmitted barcode information is associated with an expected delivery. Electrical circuitry opens the locking mechanism if the tracking information is associated with an expected delivery.
Claims10
A locking system configured for electrically controlling access to a parcel box having a lockable access door, the locking system comprising:
- an electrically controllable locking mechanism configured for selectively locking the lockable access door of the parcel box;
- a user interface including a button for activating the locking system;
- an optical barcode scanner configured for scanning a barcode on a parcel in response to receiving an input at the button, wherein the scanned barcode includes tracking information for the parcel;
- a communication module configured for transmitting the tracking information from the scanned barcode to a computing system over a wireless network and configured for receiving a response from the computing system over the wireless network, wherein the response includes verification information determined based, at least in part, on whether the transmitted tracking information is associated with an expected delivery;
- electrical circuitry configured to open the electrically controllable locking mechanism if the received verification information indicates that the transmitted tracking information is associated with the expected delivery;
- and
- a rechargeable battery.
A locking system adapted for controlling access to a storage box, the locking system comprising:
- a weather resistant housing;
- an electrically controllable locking mechanism adapted for selectively locking a lid of the storage box;
- a button adapted for activating the locking system when actuated by a user of the locking system;
- an optical reader adapted for capturing shipping information from a parcel in response to the actuation of the button by the user;
- a wireless communication module adapted for transmitting the captured shipping information to a computing system over a wireless network, the wireless communication module further adapted for receiving a response from the computing system over the wireless network, wherein the response indicates whether the shipping information is determined to be associated with a delivery that is expected in a present timeframe;
- and
- electrical circuitry adapted to open the electrically controllable locking mechanism if the received response indicates that the shipping information is associated with the delivery that is expected in the present timeframe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.