US 7,746,228 B2Granted

Passive container tracking device, system, and method

OwnerTim R. Sensenig, Bary Bertiger +1inventors

InventorsTim R. Sensenig, Bary Bertiger, Bernard Asher

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Abstract

A passive identification system for shipping containers. The shipping containers contain passive identification devices that are interrogated by separate on-board location trackers (OBLT) located in places where shipping containers are expected to pass in proximity to during the shipping and transport process. The OBLTs contain an active transmitter and GPS device. After the OBLT interrogates the passive identification device on a shipping container, the OBLT generates a geo-word comprised of the container identification, the GPS location of the OBLT, and a time stamp, and transmits the geo-word to a receiving station for tracking and/or security purposes. The receiving station has manifest information regarding the shipping containers stored in memory. In this manner, the receiving station can compare the geo-word to the expected shipping locations and expected times for the shipping container to determine if the shipping container is lost, misplaced, or off-schedule.

Claims46

Dependent claims

A receiving station for tracking a shipping container, comprising:

a control system coupled to a database;
a communication interface coupled to the control system, wherein the control system is adapted to receive shipping container tracking messages over a communication network via the communication interface;
wherein the control system is adapted to:
receive an itinerary for a shipping container having an identification indicia;
store the itinerary of shipping containers in the database associated with the shipping container's identification indicia;
receive shipping container tracking messages comprising identification indicia of shipping containers over the communication network;
store the shipping container tracking messages in the database according to their respective identification indicia;
search through the database to determine when a shipping container tracking message was last received over the communication network for each of the shipping containers according to their identification indicia;
and
determine if a shipping container is lost based on whether the shipping container tracking message for a shipping container was received according to the stored itinerary for the shipping container.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/452,068Filed 12 Jun 2006
Published: US 2007/0285240 A113 Dec 2007
Granted: 29 Jun 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G08B 13/2462
Specific applications combined with EAS: asset location systems combined with EAS
G06Q 10/08
Administration; Management: logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
G06Q 10/083
Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management: shipping
G06Q 10/087
Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management: inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling,…

Family

US 2007/0285240 A1Pre-grant publication · published 13 Dec 2007
US 7,746,228 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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