# US 2021/0243561 A1 · System and methods for tracking, locating, and sharing plastic pallets

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- Number: US 2021/0243561 A1
- Document ID: US20210243561A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/780,045
- Filed: 2020-02-03
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-02-03
- Assignees: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Applicants: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
- Inventors: Vincent Cunningham; Haleema Alamri
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210243561A1

## CPC

- G06Q 10/0875: Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials
- H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services
- B65D 19/18: made wholly or mainly of plastics material
- G06F 16/29: Geographical information databases
- G06K 7/1097: {Optical sensing of electronic memory record carriers, such as interrogation of RFIDs with an additional optical interface}
- H04W 4/80: Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- B65D: CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06K: GRAPHICAL DATA READING (image or video recognition or understanding G06V); PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS

## Abstract

A pallet tracking system for tracking a plurality of uniquely identified pallets is provided. The pallet tracking system includes a non-transitory storage device and a tracking circuit. The non-transitory storage device is configured to maintain a pallet database of data concerning the pallets. The data concerning each pallet is accessible by the unique identifier of the pallet and includes a material composition of the pallet. The tracking circuit is configured to receive the unique identifier of one of the pallets from the one of the pallets using a scanning device, retrieve the material composition of the one of the pallets from the pallet database using the received unique identifier, and return the retrieved material composition in response to a request. A pallet sharing system for sharing the pallets with a plurality of custodians using this pallet tracking system is also provided.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A pallet tracking system for tracking material compositions of a plurality of uniquely identified pallets, the pallet tracking system comprising:
a non-transitory storage device configured to maintain a pallet database of data concerning the pallets, the data concerning each pallet being accessible by the unique identifier of the pallet and comprising a material composition of the pallet, the material composition being a portion of the data concerning the pallet and identifying a structural material from which the pallet itself is made; and
a tracking circuit configured to
receive the unique identifier of one of the pallets from the one of the pallets using a scanning device,
retrieve the material composition of the one of the pallets from the pallet database using the received unique identifier, and
return the retrieved material composition in response to a request.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein:
the one of the pallets comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking device embedded in the one of the pallets and configured to transmit the unique identifier of the one of the pallets; and
the scanning device is configured to receive the transmitted unique identifier from the RFID tracking device.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein:
the one of the pallets comprises the unique identifier embedded in the one of the pallets; and
the scanning device is configured to scan the embedded unique identifier using a line-of-sight scanner that scans reflected electromagnetic radiation off the embedded unique identifier in the visible or near visible spectrums.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein the data concerning the pallets comprises:
a first unique identifier whose material composition is a first plastic; and
a second unique identifier whose material composition is a second plastic different from the first plastic.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein the data concerning the pallets comprises:
a first unique identifier whose material composition is a first plastic composite; and
a second unique identifier whose material composition is a second plastic composite different from the first plastic composite.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein:
the data concerning each pallet further comprises a location of the pallet; and
the tracking circuit is further configured to
receive the unique identifier and a present location of the one of the pallets from the one of the pallets using the scanning device, and
update the location of the one of the pallets to the received present location in the pallet database using the received unique identifier.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The pallet tracking system of claim 6, wherein:
the data concerning each pallet further comprises a location history of the pallet; and
the tracking circuit is further configured to update the location history of the one of the pallets in response to the received present location.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The pallet tracking system of claim 6, wherein:
the one of the pallets comprises a radio navigation-satellite service (RNSS) tracking device embedded in the one of the pallets and configured to transmit the unique identifier and the present location of the one of the pallets; and
the scanning device is configured to receive the transmitted unique identifier and present location from the RNSS tracking device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A pallet sharing system for sharing the pallets with a plurality of custodians using the pallet tracking system of claim 1, wherein:
the plurality of custodians comprises a first custodian and a second custodian;
the data concerning each pallet further comprises an availability indicator and a custodian of the pallet from among the plurality of custodians; and
the tracking circuit is further configured to
receive the unique identifier and a request to check in the one of the pallets on behalf of the first custodian from the one of the pallets using the scanning device when the pallet database indicates the one of the pallets is unavailable and the custodian of the one of the pallets is the first custodian,
update the data concerning the one of the pallets to indicate the one of the pallets is available in the pallet database using the received unique identifier in response to the check-in request,
receive the unique identifier and a request to check out the one of the pallets on behalf of the second custodian from the one of the pallets using the scanning device when the pallet database indicates the one of the pallets is available, and
update the data concerning the one of the pallets to indicate the one of the pallets is unavailable and the custodian is the second custodian in the pallet database using the received unique identifier in response to the checkout request.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The pallet sharing system of claim 9, wherein:
the data concerning each pallet further comprises a custodial history of the pallet; and
the tracking circuit is further configured to update the custodial history of the one of the pallets in response to at least one of the check-in request and the checkout request.

### Claim 11

An automated pallet tracking method for tracking material compositions of a plurality of uniquely identified pallets, the pallet tracking method comprising:
maintaining, on a non-transitory storage medium, a pallet database of data concerning the pallets, the data concerning each pallet being accessible by the unique identifier of the pallet and comprising a material composition of the pallet, the material composition being a portion of the data concerning the pallet and identifying a structural material from which the pallet itself is made;
receiving, by a tracking circuit, the unique identifier of one of the pallets from the one of the pallets using a scanning device;
retrieving, by the tracking circuit, the material composition of the one of the pallets from the pallet database using the received unique identifier; and
returning, by the tracking circuit, the retrieved material composition in response to a request.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein the one of the pallets comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking device embedded in the one of the pallets, and the pallet tracking method further comprises:
transmitting, by the RFID tracking device, the unique identifier of the one of the pallets; and
receiving, by the scanning device, the transmitted unique identifier from the RFID tracking device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein:
the one of the pallets comprises the unique identifier embedded in the one of the pallets; and
the pallet tracking method further comprises scanning, by the scanning device, the embedded unique identifier using a line-of-sight scanner that scans reflected electromagnetic radiation off the embedded unique identifier in the visible or near visible spectrums.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein the data concerning the pallets comprises:
a first unique identifier whose material composition is a first plastic; and
a second unique identifier whose material composition is a second plastic different from the first plastic.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein the data concerning the pallets comprises:
a first unique identifier whose material composition is a first plastic composite; and
a second unique identifier whose material composition is a second plastic composite different from the first plastic composite.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein the data concerning each pallet further comprises a location of the pallet, and the pallet tracking method further comprises:
receiving, by the tracking circuit, the unique identifier and a present location of the one of the pallets from the one of the pallets using the scanning device; and
updating, by the tracking circuit, the location of the one of the pallets to the received present location in the pallet database using the received unique identifier.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The pallet tracking method of claim 16, wherein:
the data concerning each pallet further comprises a location history of the pallet; and
the pallet tracking method further comprises updating, by the tracking circuit, the location history of the one of the pallets in response to the received present location.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The pallet tracking method of claim 16, wherein the one of the pallets comprises a radio navigation-satellite service (RNSS) tracking device embedded in the one of the pallets, and the pallet tracking method further comprises:
transmitting, by the RNSS tracking device, the unique identifier and the present location of the one of the pallets; and
receiving, by the scanning device, the transmitted unique identifier and present location from the RNSS tracking device.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

An automated pallet sharing method for sharing the pallets with a plurality of custodians using the pallet tracking method of claim 11, wherein:
the plurality of custodians comprises a first custodian and a second custodian;
the data concerning each pallet further comprises an availability indicator and a custodian of the pallet from among the plurality of custodians; and
the pallet sharing method comprises:
receiving, by the tracking circuit, the unique identifier and a request to check in the one of the pallets on behalf of the first custodian from the one of the pallets using the scanning device when the pallet database indicates the one of the pallets is unavailable and the custodian of the one of the pallets is the first custodian;
updating, by the tracking circuit, the data concerning the one of the pallets to indicate the one of the pallets is available in the pallet database using the received unique identifier in response to the check-in request;
receiving, by the tracking circuit, the unique identifier and a request to check out the one of the pallets on behalf of the second custodian from the one of the pallets using the scanning device when the pallet database indicates the one of the pallets is available; and
updating, by the tracking circuit, the data concerning the one of the pallets to indicate the one of the pallets is unavailable and the custodian is the second custodian in the pallet database using the received unique identifier in response to the checkout request.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The pallet sharing method of claim 19, wherein:
the data concerning each pallet further comprises a custodial history of the pallet; and
the pallet sharing method further comprises updating, by the tracking circuit, the custodial history of the one of the pallets in response to at least one of the check-in request and the checkout request.