Perishable product electronic label including time and temperature measurement
AssigneePaksense, Inc.
InventorsWayne K. Debord, James Hatchett, Thomas Jensen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic assembly may be contained in a label that performs time-temperature integration (TTI) and indicates that time and/or temperature levels have been reached that may compromise the quality, shelf life, or safety of the item to which the label is affixed. The label may be used on a wide variety of objects that require careful handling in terms of temperature and/or time elapsed before use. The labeling system includes circuitry that measures and calculates, and indicator(s) that signal that the time has come for discounted sale, and, later, that the time has come for disposal rather than sale.
Claims8
An electronics assembly for monitoring and alerting persons to the spoilage of perishable products, comprising:
- One or more oscillators or time-bases, and
- One or more batteries or energy cells, and
- An electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit comprising one or more environmental sensors coupled to a microcontroller,
- An extra-peripheral circuit coupled to an analog input of the microcontroller, the extra-peripheral circuit comprising data memory storage or timing peripheral circuitry, and
- One or more indicators, wherein:
- Each of said oscillators or time-bases and each of said monitoring and/or timing circuits is powered by said one or more batteries or energy cells, and each of said indicators is connected to said electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit, so that said assembly functions to perform time and/or time-temperature measurement and to provide alarm status at said one or more indicators when calculated alarm event times occur.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.