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US 8,542,099 B2Granted
Systems and processes for tracking items
OwnerThomas J. Pizzutoinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and processes for tracking the status of an item are disclosed. Systems and processes for decommissioning identifying information from pharmaceutical product containers are disclosed.
Claims21
A system for tracking the status and destroying a pharmaceutical product container, wherein said pharmaceutical product container comprises one or more data carriers affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, said one or more data carriers selected from the group consisting of:
- a radio frequency identification tag, a linear bar code, and a two-dimensional bar code;
- said system comprising:
- a) a controlled access portal for receiving said pharmaceutical product container;
- b) an interrogation zone comprising
- i) one or more readers for obtaining identification information from the one or more data carriers affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, said one or more readers being selected from the group consisting of:
- a radio frequency identification reader, and an optical recognition scanner;
- and
- ii) components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone so that the one or more data carriers comes into sufficient proximity to the one or more readers to acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers;
- c) one or more destruction devices;
- d) a transporter for advancing said pharmaceutical product container from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices;
- e) a controller operatively coupled to said interrogation zone and to said transporter, and
- f) a sensor;
- wherein:
- said controlled access portal is maintained in a closed/no access position after the pharmaceutical product container is placed in said controlled access portal until the pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter;
- said components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone are configured to be deactivated after the one or more readers acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers and before the pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter;
- said controller is configured to receive said identification information from said interrogation zone and to record the status of said pharmaceutical product container after said pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter;
- and
- said sensor being configured to detect an action or condition selected from the group consisting of:
- said pharmaceutical product container exiting said interrogation zone,
- said interrogation zone no longer containing said pharmaceutical product container,
- said transporter advancing said pharmaceutical product container from the interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices;
- and
- waste stream material exiting said one or more destruction devices.
20 more elements
System for tracking the status and destroying a pharmaceutical product container, wherein the pharmaceutical product container comprises one or more data carriers affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, said one or more data carriers selected from the group consisting of:
- a radio frequency identification tag, a linear bar code and a two-dimensional bar code, the system comprising:
- a vehicle and
- a device for tracking the status and destroying pharmaceutical product containers, said device comprising:
- a portal for receiving a pharmaceutical product container;
- an interrogation zone comprising
- one or more readers for obtaining identification information from the data carrier affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, wherein said one or more readers is a radio frequency identification reader or an optical recognition scanner and
- components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone so that the one or more data carriers comes into sufficient proximity to the one or more readers to acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers;
- one or more destruction devices;
- a transporter for delivering said pharmaceutical product container from said interrogation zone to said controlled access receptacle and/or one or more destruction devices;
- and
- a controller operatively coupled to said interrogation zone and to said transporter, wherein said controller is configured to receive said identification information from said interrogation zone and configured to record the status of said pharmaceutical product container after said pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone by said transporter;
- wherein:
- said components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone are configured to be deactivated after the one or more readers acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers and before the pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter, and
- said system can accommodate multiple pharmaceutical product containers having multiple different shapes and/or dimensions
- and wherein said vehicle contains said device.
12 more elements
A process for decommissioning identifying information associated with an empty distributed pharmaceutical product container, wherein
- the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container comprises one or more data carriers affixed to the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container, said one or more data carriers selected from the group consisting of:
- a linear bar code and a two-dimensional bar code, and
- the identifying information associated with the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container is logged in a remote, centralized database that lists identification information associated with multiple distributed pharmaceutical product containers,
- the process comprising the steps of:
- obtaining the identifying information from the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container which has been identified as having identifying information to be decommissioned, wherein the identifying information is obtained using an optical recognition scanner,
- rendering the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container unfit for use,
- electronically recording data indicating that the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container which has been identified as having identifying information to be decommissioned has been rendered unfit for use,
- and
- conveying by electronic transmission information indicating that the empty distributed pharmaceutical product container bearing the identifying information is no longer in use and has been rendered unfit for use in order for the remote centralized database to be updated to reflect that the identifying information is decommissioned.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.