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.
Claims21
A system for receiving and temporarily storing parcels, the system comprising:
- a weather resistant housing including a lockable lid, the lockable lid configured for providing controlled access to a protected cavity inside the weather resistant housing when the lockable lid is in an opened position, the protected cavity configured for receiving one or more of the parcels for temporary storage of the one or more of the parcels, the lockable lid restricting access to the protected cavity when the lockable lid is in a closed position;
- an electrically controllable lock for selectively locking the lockable lid;
- an optical barcode scanner accessible at an exterior of the weather resistant housing, the optical barcode scanner configured for scanning a barcode on the one or more of the parcels;
- a communication module configured for transmitting barcode information derived from the scanned barcode to a computing system over a network and configured for receiving a response from the computing system over the network, wherein the response includes verification information determined based, at least in part, on whether the transmitted barcode information is associated with one or more expected deliveries;
- and
- electrical circuitry configured to open the electrically controllable lock to release the lockable lid for insertion of the one or more parcels into the protected cavity inside the weather resistant housing if the received verification information indicates that the transmitted barcode information is associated with at least one of the one or more expected deliveries.
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.