This invention relates in general to monitoring of containers during shipment and, more particularly, to monitoring of environmental conditions within a container.
It is desirable to be able to monitor items or containers during shipment. One known technique for tracking items or containers is to mount a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on each item or container to be tracked. These RFID tags can transmit wireless signals, and some tags can also receive wireless signals. Where the object being tracked is a container, there are situations in which it is desirable to be able to monitor one or more environmental conditions within the container, such as the temperature and/or humidity.
One of the broader forms of the invention relates to an apparatus with a support that includes: a base; a projection extending outwardly from the base in a selected direction and having a passageway therethrough, the passageway having first and second ends respectively adjacent and remote from the base; and a tag receiving portion provided on the base and configured to removably support a tag on the base adjacent the first end of the passageway.
Another of the broader forms of the invention involves an apparatus with a tag that includes: a housing having a wall portion with an opening therethrough and having thereon an annular surface portion extending around the opening; an annular gasket engaging the annular surface portion; and circuitry disposed within the housing, the circuitry including a sensor located in the region of the opening, and a transmitter that can transmit wireless signals.
Still another of the broader forms of the invention involves a method that includes: defining a passageway providing fluid communication between an interior and exterior of a container; supporting a tag on the exterior of the container in the region of an outer end of the passageway; and causing the tag to sense, at a location in the region of the outer end of the passageway, an environmental condition within the container.
A better understanding of the present invention will be realized from the detailed description that follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
The apparatus 10 has a support 16 that includes a base plate 18 and a retainer 19. In the disclosed embodiment, the base plate 18 and the retainer 19 are each made from stainless steel. However, either part could alternatively be made from any other suitable material. The base plate 18 has a circular opening 21 therethrough, with approximately the same diameter as the circular opening 14 through the container wall 12. The base plate 18 also has two smaller openings 22 and 23 provided near diagonally opposite corners thereof, and the openings 22 and 23 are each internally threaded. The base plate 18 has two flanges 26 and 27 along opposite sides thereof. The flanges 26 and 27 each extend outwardly in a direction away from the container wall 12, and are each angled slightly inwardly toward the other thereof. As viewed in
The retainer 19 is a stainless steel sheet bent to approximately a U-shape. The upper portions of the angled flanges 26 and 27 engage opposite edges of the retainer 19, in order to help maintain the retainer 19 on the base plate 18. The retainer 19 has on one side an outwardly projecting tab 31, with an opening 32 therethrough. When the retainer 19 is installed on the base plate 18, the opening 32 in the tab 31 is coaxially aligned with the opening 23 in the base plate 18. The retainer 19 has a U-shaped slit that defines a resilient leaf spring 34, for a purpose discussed in more detail later.
With reference to
The support 16 further includes a tubular fitting 46 with a cylindrical passageway 47 extending axially through it. In the disclosed embodiment, the fitting 46 is made of anodized aluminum, but it could alternatively be made of any other suitable material. The fitting 46 has external threads 51 thereon, and an outwardly-projecting annular flange 48 at one end. The end of the fitting 46 remote from the flange 48 has two flat surfaces 53 on diametrically opposite sides thereof, one of which is visible in
The apparatus 10 further includes three annular gaskets 61, 62 and 63, each of which encircles the threaded portion 51 of the fitting 46. The gasket 61 is disposed between the base plate 18 and the flange 48 on the fitting 46. The gasket 61 is a nylon washer in the disclosed embodiment, but could alternatively be made from any other suitable material. Since the base plate 18 is made from stainless steel and the fitting 46 is made from anodized aluminum, the gasket 61 serves to maintain a small spacing between the base plate 18 and the flange 48, in order to avoid corrosion that might otherwise occur as a result of physical contact between dissimilar metals.
The gasket 62 is disposed between the base plate 18 and the container wall 12. In the disclosed embodiment, the gasket 62 is made of Neoprene, but it could alternatively be made of any other suitable material. The gasket 63 is disposed between the nut 57 and the container wall 12, and is partially received within the annular recess 58 in the nut 57. The gasket 63 maintains a small spacing between the nut 57 and the container wall 12, in order to avoid corrosion that might otherwise occur as a result of physical contact between dissimilar metals. The gasket 63 is made of Neoprene in the disclosed embodiment, but could alternatively be made of any other suitable material. The gaskets 62 and 63 facilitate a fluid seal between the fitting 46 and the container wall 12, thereby leaving the passageway 47 as the only path of fluid communication through the opening 14 in the container wall.
The apparatus 10 further includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag 110. The tag 110 can be slidably inserted into and removed from the support 16, in directions indicated by the double-headed arrow 111 in
Turning in more detail to the tag 110, and with reference to
A sheet 173 of filter material is adhesively secured to the inner surface of the housing part 132, within the central opening through the gasket 172. The filter sheet 173 is positioned so as to extend across the opening 166 (
The inner side of the housing bottom part 132 has two posts 177 and 178 that project upwardly from locations along the peripheral edge of the shallow recess 171. The housing part 132 also has four bosses provided at angularly spaced locations around the recess 171, each boss having a threaded opening 181 therein. A sensor circuit board 183 has two openings 186 and 187 therein, which each receive the upper end of a respect one of the posts 177 and 178. As discussed above, the annular gasket 182 has an adhesive surface on the upper side thereof, and this surface engages and is adhesively secured to an annular surface on the underside of the sensor circuit board 183. The circuit board 183 has four holes 188 that are each aligned with a respect one of the threaded holes 181 in the bottom housing part 132. Four not-illustrated screws each extend through a respective one of the holes 188, and each threadedly engage a respective one of the holes 181, in order to removably hold the sensor circuit board 183 on the bottom housing part 132.
The circuitry on the sensor circuit board 183 includes a backup battery 192. The backup battery 192 keeps a small section of circuitry supplied with power when the main battery becomes discharged, and also during replacement of the main battery. The circuitry operated by the battery 192 includes a portion that maintains time and date information. An electrical connector 193 is mounted on the sensor circuit board 183. A ribbon cable 194 extends from the connector 193 to an electrical connector on the main circuit board 137 (
With reference to
An annular gasket 206 is provided within the recess 201, and extends around the sensing recess 203. The gasket 206 has a thickness greater than the depth of the recess 201. In the disclosed embodiment, the gasket 206 is made of PORONĀ® foam, and is secured by a suitable adhesive, such as an epoxy adhesive, to an annular surface that extends around the sensing recess 203 within the recess 201. As discussed above in association with
The beeper circuit board 138 can be used to generate sound that allows the tag 110 to be located when it is mounted on a container. For example, a person with a handheld device can cause the handheld device to transmit a wireless signal that uniquely identifies the tag 110, and that instructs the tag to use the beeper circuit board 138 to emit a beeping sound. The person can then walk toward the beeping sound and easily locate the tag 110.
As discussed above, the support 16 is designed for use with metallic containers. In particular, in the case of a metallic container, the tag 110 must be disposed outside the metal container in order to be able to reliably transmit and receive wireless signals, but must also be able to monitor conditions within the container. The passageway 47 in the fitting 46 gives the tag 110 access to the interior of a container, so that the tag can monitor interior conditions such as temperature and humidity. In contrast, in the case of non-metallic containers, a different approach can be used.
More specifically,
As the tag 110 is slid into the bracket 221, the tag engages the tongue 236 and moves it away from the position shown in
Although the bracket 221 of
The operation of the disclosed embodiments will now be briefly described. With reference to
In the embodiment of
The foregoing discussion uses terms relating to direction and orientation, such as upper, lower, inner, outer, and so forth. These terms are used for convenience and in relation to the particular views in the accompanying drawings, and are not intended to be considered limiting with respect to the scope of protection.
Although selected embodiments have been illustrated and described in detail, it should be understood that a variety of substitutions and alterations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined by the following claims.
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