1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shipping containers and systems for returning lost objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of identification tags and reward offers is the most well-known and prevalent technique for returning lost items to their owners. For example, tags may be placed on luggage, cell phones, computer equipment, or any item capable of being lost, and making it possible for the finder to locate the owner to arrange for return and possible reward by the owner to the finder. Techniques for tagging items to identify their owners are well-known and described in the prior art.
However, known techniques have not been broadly adopted in the marketplace. Impediments to the broad adoption of such “lost-and-found” techniques include the problem of making it economic and convenient for: a) an object finder to return the item to its owner and/or b) to provide a reward for the finder for returning the item. Furthermore, techniques disclosed in the prior art often require numerous processing steps that delay the return of the item to the owner after it has been found. An additional problem is that existing apparatuses and systems for enabling a finder to return an item to its owner compromise the anonymity of the finder.
Specifically, conventional techniques typically specify that the finder must return the object to a specific location. For example, Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,367 suggests that a lost object must be returned to a “package delivery service or return location” before the owner is subsequently identified by reading an RFID tag. That patent suggests that after the item owner is identified, the system “may print address label or overnight package delivery service label.” Importantly, the item finder must go to a specified return location or return the item to a package delivery service before the owner is identified and the object can be routed to its final destination. This ordering of steps and the technology employed add expense and inconvenience to the process.
Expense, inconvenience, and additional time are required by such an RFID system because an RFID reader is required before the owner can be identified. Thus, either there must be many RFID readers distributed across a variety of locations that are readily available to the finders, or the identification of the owner and subsequent labeling of the found item and sending the item to the owner must be performed at a central logistics location, thus both adding an expensive processing step and delaying the return of the item to its owner.
Another example is Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,577 which suggests that the object be returned to a location using an RFID reader capable of reading an RFID tag on an object, with example locations including “a law enforcement agency, as a component of a traffic control signal, at a pawnbroker's facility, or at a flea market.” Again, these systems require that an item finder travel to a location which can process the found item. This is an inconvenience which can delay the return of the item, delay discovery that the item has been found, and add expense and inconvenience to the overall process of returning a lost item to its owner.
Other prior art discloses lost-and-found systems for identifying owners, but the art is non-specific about particular apparatuses and systems for returning the item, thus leaving an outstanding problem as to how to do so economically and conveniently. Examples of such systems include Feld, U.S. Pat. App. No. US20040124239A1, Stanton, U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,577, Herbert, U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,192, Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,367, Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,116, McNutt, U.S. Pat. No. 7210625, Elledge, U.S. Pat. No. 7,230,534, Stanton, U.S. Pat. App. No. US20060028343A1, Stanton, U.S. Pat. App. No. US20050035860A1, Frankel, U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,611, Takahashi, U.S. Patent App. No. US20040002998A1, Wyssen, U.S. Pat. App. No. US20010053981A1, Klein, U.S. Pat. App. No. W02002084615A1, and Martin, U.S. Pat. App. No. US20060282325A1.
Additionally, a service provided by www.imhonest.com allows an object finder to schedule a courier pickup of the found item or drop the item off at any UPS Store. The www.imhonest.com system increases expense and inconvenience because it requires that the object finder either: a) return the found object to a specific location (any UPS Store® location) or b) schedule a courier pickup. The former alternative requires that the finder make a special trip to return the item, while the latter alternative typically requires that the finder be present when the courier arrives to pick up the item. Furthermore, the latter alternative of a courier pickup is an additional expense to the overall lost-and-found process.
Separate to these interactions required to retrieve a found object from its finder in order to facilitate its return, www.imhonest.com mails a reward to the item finder. Thus, yet another disadvantage is that the www.imhonest.com system requires two outbound mailings from www.imhonest.com: one pickup or drop-off for the item and another mailing for the reward. Additionally, to accommodate routing/addressing of a found item to its owner, the courier pickup alternative requires the execution of additional process steps that add cost, inconvenience, and delay; specifically, at least one of the following steps must occur: a) the finder must learn the item owner's address and then address the package for shipping, b) the processes of couriers such as Federal Express and UPS must be configured to enable couriers to selectively distribute a preaddressed shipping container to the item finder upon pickup of the item, or c) an item must be shipped after pickup from the item finder to an intermediate lost-and-found logistics facility whereby the item can be subsequently addressed to its final destination. Each of these alternatives creates significant inconvenience and cost. Alternative a) also has the disadvantage of compromising the anonymity of the item finder to the item owner.
Also, a problem exists that an incentive is often necessary in order to encourage an item finder to return the item to its owner, and notwithstanding www.imhonest.com, the prior art is not specific about the logistics required to provide such an incentive to a finder. Incentive systems in lost-and-found have not become prevalent in the marketplace in part because it has not been shown how to economically and conveniently provide the incentive to the finder.
These problems are significant and have delayed the widespread and broad adoption of a general lost-and-found system. Past systems for returning items and providing an incentive to finders for returning items have been unnecessarily costly and inconvenient. The various embodiments of the invention disclosed herein provide substantial improvements and address these problems.
There exists a need for a more economical and convenient system for returning lost items to their owners. There also exists a need for an economical and convenient system for providing an incentive to an item finder as a reward for returning the item, while protecting against fraudulent distribution of such an incentive.
Moreover, simple systems for locating and/or retrieving objects which can be incorporated into a conventional express courier, postal, or other commercial data processing or communications infrastructure would likewise enhance efficiency while also achieving a cost economy as a result of integration with existing hardware and/or software.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a shipping container used for returning a lost object to its owner comprising: a) a protective interior to contain and protect a found item, b) at least one portion of the shipping container which communicates the address of the item finder and/or contains a reward to the finder for finding the object, c) at least one portion of the shipping container which communicates a forwarding address, and d) an insignia or other indicator of a guarantee of payment to a courier in exchange for shipping the container. A “shipping container” is one or more storing means which can be sent as a package simultaneously. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least one portion of the shipping container which communicates the address of the item finder and/or contains a reward to the finder for finding the object is separable from the shipping container. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the separable portion of the envelope is removed which communicates the address of the item finder and/or contains a reward to the finder for finding the object, the address identifying information of the owner is visibly exposed while being otherwise concealed so as to avoid confusion of the courier service. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shipping container also includes directions for the item finder and/or contractual terms of use of the shipping container and/or lost-and-found service.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a system for returning a lost item to its owner using a shipping container comprising: a) a protective interior to contain and protect a found item, b) at least one portion of the shipping container which communicates the address of the item finder and/or contains a reward to the finder for finding the object, c) at least one portion of the shipping container which communicates a forwarding address, and d) an insignia or other indicator of a guarantee of payment to a courier in exchange for shipping the container. A tag and/or label is affixed to an item which contains directions for contacting a lost-and-found service and unique identifying information. The unique identifying information on the tag and/or label is captured in a database with records for a plurality of tags and/or labels, wherein a tag and/or label and its unique identifying information corresponds to one or more records in the database containing a variety of information about the item and/or its owner.
Upon finding an item, the person and/or entity finding the item (the “item finder”) contacts a lost-and-found service provider, and the lost-and-found service provider requests the address of the item finder and the unique identifying information on the tag and/or label. A “lost-and-found service provider” and/or “lost-and-found service” is any person, organization, and/or entity that facilitates the return of an item to its proper possessor.
Upon receiving the address of the item finder and the unique identifying information on the tag and/or label, the lost-and-found service identifies the item and its owner using the aforementioned database and sends a shipping container to the item finder, the shipping container having the aforementioned characteristics and with size and protective characteristics appropriate to the size and fragility of the item being returned. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, upon receiving the shipping container from the lost-and-found service provider, the item finder places the found item in an internal portion of the shipping container, seals the shipping container, removes a separable portion of the shipping container which contains the item finder's address and/or a reward for the finder, and returns the shipping container to the courier service.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a determination is made by a lost-and-found service provider before the shipping container is sent to the item finder as to the forwarding address for the shipping container. A forwarding address is the address to which the shipping container should be sent after the shipping container is sent to an item finder. Criteria for the determination of the forwarding address may include but are not limited to, individually or in any combination: whether the address of the item owner has been confirmed, whether the item owner has chosen to claim the lost item, whether the item owner has been successfully contacted, whether the item owner has authorized payment of an incentive to the item finder, whether the item is insured for loss via the lost-and-found service, whether the item owner has authorized payment of any other fees, and/or whether there exists some payment means for any fees required by the lost-and-found service provider. Via this determination of the forwarding address, the item can be sent directly from the item finder to the item owner if the lost-and-found service provider has successfully confirmed the owner's address and a source of payment, if necessary, or the item can be sent in the shipping container from the item finder to the lost-and-found service provider and/or other destination for subsequent processing.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, upon contact of the item owner after an item is found, the unique identifying information on the found item is provided to the item owner by which the item owner can obtain information about the status of the item from the lost-and-found service provider. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, unique identifying information is generated by software and a computer system and is provided to the item owner, thus enabling the owner to obtain information about the status of the item from the lost-and-found service provider.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the item owner is provided unique tracking information contained on the found item and/or a shipping container used to ship the found item, wherein said tracking information can be used with a courier such as Federal Express, UPS, or U.S. Postal Service to identify the shipping status and/or location of an item in transit. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the item owner is provided with the name of the courier for which the tracking identifying information may be used.
The apparatus and method in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention described herein have the advantages that: a) the item finder does not need to travel to a specified location in order to return the item, b) the item finder can remain anonymous to the item owner, thus mitigating privacy concerns, c) the lost-and-found service provider reduces cost by delivering both the reward for the finder and the means of returning the found item in one shipment, d) the finder does not have to arrange to meet a scheduled courier service, thus reducing cost and inconvenience, e) the finder can use existing courier infrastructure and services with limited adaptation for a variety of necessary transactions including providing the reward and shipping a found item back to the item owner, and f) in many cases the found item can be shipped directly to the item owner rather than requiring one or more additional processing steps such as shipping to an intermediate lost-and-found facility and/or storage of the item in an inventory.
The various embodiments of the lost-and-found system and methods in accordance with the aspects of the present invention solve the problems associated with the techniques of the prior art. The lost-and-found system and methods in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention have significant advantages to facilitate acceptance in the marketplace.
The present invention will be described in greater detail with respect to the preferred embodiments with reference to the drawing figures so as to exemplify the present invention. Various alternatives, refinements, and substitutions should become readily apparent to persons skilled in the art based on the principles of the invention illustrated herein.
Referring first to
The envelope 100 also has a separable portion 200 which is attached at points of separation 102 and 110. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, these points of separation 102 and 110 are created by perforating the paper of which the envelope 100 is constructed.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the envelope 100 is configured such that removing the separable portion 200 at the point of separation 110 makes accessible the protective interior 312 of the envelope 100 and also creates a foldable flap 308. On the interior side of the foldable flap 308 is adhesive means 310, of which many are known to those skilled in the art. After placing the found item within the protective interior 312, the foldable flap 308 may be folded over the opening to the protective interior 312 to seal the envelope 100.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the envelope 100 contains protective material and/or mechanisms 314 of which a variety of means is known to those skilled in the art. The protective material and/or mechanisms 314 may be removable from the envelope 100 as illustrated by 314, or may be attached and/or configured within the protective interior 312. By way of example, the protective material 314 may contain many sealed air bubbles 316 which have protective properties. In the present example, the envelope 100 contains air bubbles 316 that are both attached to the protective interior 312 of the envelope 100 itself, and also includes a removable protective sheet 314 which an item finder can use to further protect an item before inserting it into the envelope. This example illustrates a preferred embodiment for providing an item finder with packing materials, such as bubble wrap or packing paper, to protect a found object, but many methods and means can be contemplated by those skilled in the art.
Referring now to
Referring now to
As described previously, a variety of means known to those skilled in the art can protect the item in the protective interior of the box 600. These include, but are not limited to, use of rigid materials in the construction of the box 600; use of a variety of attached and/or removable protective packing materials such as those illustrated by the bubble wrap 314 and structurally rigid collapsible cardboard 400, which may or may not be sent to the item finder in the box 600 to be used in packing the found item; and/or attachment of protective material such as bubble wrap 314 to the interior surfaces of the box 600.
It may be desirable for the envelope 100 and/or box 600 to be collapsible in order to minimize shipping costs in providing the shipping container to the item finder while also providing sufficient size and/or protection for the item when it is subsequently shipped to the forwarding address.
The collapsible box 700 shown in
The ability to collapse and expand the box 700 is created by folds 718 at each corner at one end of the box 700 and sides configured to contract inward. There are many means of creating collapsible boxes 700 as are well-known to those skilled in the art, and companies such as Magellan Packaging manufacture a variety of boxes 700 of well-known construction that have this collapsing and expanding capability.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one or more breakable seals 720 keep the box 700 collapsed until the seal is broken by the item finder in order to later insert the found item into the protective interior through the open end of the box 700 adjacent to the point of separation 702.
As shown in
The item finder may break the one or more seals 720 in order to expand the collapsible box 700. After inserting the found item via the opening to the box 700 on the right side as shown, the item finder may fold the bottom foldable flap 719 upwardly and then fold the top foldable flap 719 downwardly over the opening on the right side of the box 700 and use the adhesive means 716 to seal top foldable flap against the bottom foldable flap to close the box 700. In a preferred embodiment, the foldable flaps 719 are constructed of a rigid material in order to provide structural integrity to the box 700 after it is expanded and sealed.
The shipping container 900 is collapsible and expandable in order to minimize shipping costs when sent to the item finder while accommodating the size and protective requirements of the found item when it is subsequently shipped to the item owner. In the present example, folds 718 at each corner of the box and in the side walls enable the box 900 to collapse and expand.
The shipping container 900 preferably includes payment means for a courier 912, lost-and-found service provider insignia 910, tracking information 907, and forwarding address 906 to which the found item will be sent after it is packed by the item finder. Additionally, it preferably includes one or more breakable seals 920 which keep the box 900 from expanding when it is being shipped to the item finder.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shipping container 900 has an opening on the right side as shown in
After inserting the found item via the opening to the shipping container 900 on the right side as shown, the item finder may fold the foldable flap 914 over the opening on the right side of the shipping container 900 and use the adhesive means 916 to seal the box 900. In a preferred embodiment, the foldable flap 914 is constructed of a rigid material in order to provide structural integrity to the shipping container 900 after it is expanded and sealed. It is necessary for the foldable flap 914 to be sufficiently large that it can be folded over the right side of the shipping container 900 as shown and sealed using the adhesive means 916.
Importantly, the item finder address is not included on the shipping container 900, as shown in
Referring now to
In a step 1006, the tagged and/or labeled item is lost by an owner or possessor. In a step 1008 the item is subsequently found by another party.
In a step 1010, using the directions on the tag and/or label, the finder of the item (“item finder”) contacts a lost-and-found service provider and provides in a step 1012 information to the lost-and-found service such as the identifying information from the tag and/or label, the address of the finder in order to facilitate subsequent steps, and information about the found item such as its size, weight, type, etc. This information can be used in a step 1018 to ensure that the lost-and-found service properly selects and customizes an appropriate shipping container in step 1018 to facilitate the return of the item.
In a step 1014, the identifying information provided by the finder in step 1012 is used specifically to identify item information and item owner information from the database 1004, preferably including item owner address and item owner contact information. This information retrieved in step 1014 may also include information about insurance on the item against loss or theft. Preferably, insurance information retrieved about the item includes one or more of the following: whether or not the item is insured, the terms of the theft or loss insurance, whether the insurance will pay any incentive to the finder for the return of the item, and/or whether the insurance will pay any shipping and/or other fees for the return of the item.
In a step 1015, the lost-and-found service provider contacts the item owner and/or insurer if the item is insured against loss or theft. In this step, the lost-and-found service preferably seeks to achieve one or more of the following: a) notify the owner and/or insurer, if applicable, that the item has been found and thus does not necessarily need to be replaced, b) obtain payment means in order to pay the lost-and-found service provider for processing and fees related to returning the item such as, by way of example: shipping fees, incentive fees for the finder, processing fees, deductible payments, etc., c) verify the proper return address for the item, and/or d) determine whether or not the item owner and/or insurer wants the item returned, thus potentially incurring costs associated with return, or whether the owner and/or insurer prefer that the item be discarded. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, upon contact of the item owner in step 1015 after an item is found, the unique identifying information on the found item is provided to the item owner by which the item owner can obtain information about the status of the item from the lost-and-found service provider. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, unique identifying information is generated by software and a computer system and is provided to the item owner, thus enabling the owner to obtain information about the status of the item from the lost-and-found service provider.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, upon contact of the item owner in step 1015 after an item is found, the item owner is provided unique tracking information contained on the found item and/or a shipping container used to ship the found item, wherein said tracking information can be used with a courier such as Federal Express, UPS, or U.S. Postal Service to identify the shipping status and/or location of an item in transit. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the item owner is provided with the name of the courier for which the tracking identifying information may be used.
In a step 1016, the lost-and-found service provider must determine the proper forwarding address to which the item will be sent, and thus the address which must be printed and/or otherwise affixed to the shipping container 1020 as determined in step 1018.
Referring now to
The goals of the determination step 1018 in
In a step 3002, information including but not limited to information about the found item, its owner, and any insurance that reimburses the owner against loss of the item is identified as described previously in
If the answer is no, in a step 3008 a determination is made such that any fees associated with returning the item to its owner, such as incentive fees for the item finder, shipping fees, deductibles, and/or processing fees, are guaranteed to be paid to the lost-and-found service provider and/or other entities in exchange for returning the item to the item owner. If the answer is yes, in step 3006 the forwarding address is determined to be the address of the item owner.
If the answer to the determination made in step 3008 is no, in a step 3010 a determination is made as to whether the item owner and/or insurer has indicated an “acceptable direct shipping alternative” to having the item returned to the item owner. An “acceptable direct shipping alternative” is an alternative destination for which fees required by the lost-and-found service provider, if any, have been paid and/or to which the lost-and-found service provider has agreed to ship the item directly using the shipping container 1020. By way of example, a lost-and-found service provider may agree to waive fees on any shipping and/or processing of a found item in exchange for rights to auction the item and profit from some percentage of the auction proceeds from sale of the item at auction. In a step 3010, should an item owner and/or insurer agree to auction a found item rather than return it to its owner, and should an auction facility appropriate for auctioning the item be an acceptable direct shipping alternative destination per the lost-and-found service, in a step 3012 the lost-and-found service provider may ship the lost item directly to an auction service.
In step 3010, if the item owner and/or insurer has not chosen an acceptable direct shipping alternative destination, then in a step 3014 the forwarding address is to an associated facility of the lost-and-found service provider. The associated facility of a lost-and-found service provider is any facility that assists in the shipping and/or other processing of a lost and/or found item. Shipping the item to an associated facility of a lost-and-found service provider enables said provider to perform additional processing steps, by way of example, including but not limited to: a) trying to obtain payment of any required fees from the item owner and/or insurer, b) disposing of the item, c) recycling the item, d) auctioning the item, e) forwarding the item to its owner, f) donating the item to a public service and/or community organization such as a police station, and/or g) otherwise processing the item.
The method illustrated in
Referring again to
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shipping container is sent to the item finder and/or item owner containing one or more labels or tags which can be affixed to an item such that if the item is lost and subsequently found, the affixed label or tag may be used to facilitate the return of the item to the item owner. This embodiment of the present invention has the benefit of enabling the lost-and-found service provider to sell additional lost-and-found service provider labels or tags to item finders and/or item owners for whom the value of the lost-and-found service may be readily apparent. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the item finder or item owner using a said label or tag must pay the lost-and-found service provider to activate the label or tag before the lost-and-found service provider will facilitate the return of an item marked with said label or tag, if said item is lost and returned. In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a label or tag is provided on both the removable portion 200 of the shipping container 100 and in the protective interior 312 such that when the shipping container 100 is sent to the item finder, the item finder may receive a label or tag, and when the shipping container 100 is forwarded to the item owner, the item owner may also receive a label or tag.
In a step 1022 shown in
In one embodiment, the server computer 1208 implements one or more embodiments of the methods described in reference to
In one embodiment, the computer having software 1300 is configurable to implement one or more embodiments of the methods described in reference to
The aforementioned system has a great many advantages over known systems. These advantages include but are not limited to:
While the foregoing description has been with reference to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in these embodiments may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention can only be ascertained with reference to the appended claims.
This application relates to U.S. Provisional Patent Applications No. 61/011,590 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NOTIFYING AN OWNER ABOUT A FOUND ITEM IN A LOST-AND-FOUND SERVICE, 61/011,591 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled SYSTEM FOR MANAGING EXCEPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A LOST-AND-FOUND SERVICE, 61/011,594 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING INCENTIVES IN A LOST-AND-FOUND SYSTEM, 61/011,595 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled LOST AND FOUND COMBINED LABEL AND REGISTRATION, 61/011,617 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled CALL CENTER AND FULFILLMENT CENTER FOR A LOST-AND-FOUND SYSTEM, 61/011,620 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INSURANCE ASSOCIATED WITH A LOST-AND-FOUND SERVICE, and 61/011,676 filed on Jan. 18, 2008, entitled ENVELOPE AND SYSTEM FOR RETURNING LOST ITEMS, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61011590 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011591 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011594 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011595 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011617 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011620 | Jan 2008 | US | |
61011676 | Jan 2008 | US |