Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
SYSTEM FOR PARCEL TRANSPORT AND TRACKING
OPERA _______________________ l'ED RESPONSIVE TO DATA BEARING RECORDS
DAN-022 CA
IECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a depository apparatus and system that operates to
control and record the receipt
and removal of deposit items in response to data bearing records. Exemplary
arrangements relate to systems that
facilitate the pickup and delivery of items.
BACKGROUND
Depositories that operate to accept deposit items from users have been
implemented in a number of
different business environments. Commonly depositories are implemented for
receiving items that are to be
provided to an owner of the depository. For example, depositories have been
implemented to receive financial
deposits, utility bill payments or other items of value which are to be
provided only to the bank, utility company or
other entity that operates the depository. Generally the depositories are
implemented so that once an item has been
deposited therein by the user, only an authorized representative of the
depository operator is enabled to access the
deposited items and remove them from the depository for further processing.
Various endeavors have been made to improve depositories and the processes
associated with the receipt and
removal of deposit items. However, depositories and depository systems may
benefit from improvements.
SUMMARY
The exemplary arrangements described herein relate to depositories and
associated systems that operate to
accept and make available deposit items such as parcels to authorized users
responsive at least in part to data read
from data bearing records. Each exemplary depository includes a body that
bounds an interior area which is
configured to hold deposit items. The exemplary interior area includes one or
more compailinents each of which is
accessible through a respective opening. Access through the opening to each
compartment interior area is controlled
by a respective door that is mounted in connection with the body and is
movable between open and closed positions.
An electronic lock is associated with each door. The lock is selectively
changeable between locked and unlocked
conditions. In the locked condition the lock is operative to hold the door in
the closed position preventing access to
the compartment.
The exemplary depository is in operative connection with at least one sensor
comprising a reading device.
The reading device is configured to read indicia on items such as parcels that
are positionable within the interior
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area. The exemplary embodiment further includes at least one input device. The
at least one input device is usable
to input data which enables authorized users to access the interior area of
the depository.
In the exemplary arrangement the depository includes control circuitry. The
control circuitry is in
operative connection with the at least one reading device, the at least one
input device, each of the locks and at least
one wireless communication device. Responsive to the receipt of user
identifying information from data bearing
records through the at least one input device, the control circuitry is
operative to cause an access determination to be
made that the received user identifying information corresponds to stored data
associated with an authorized user
that is authorized to access the interior area of the depository. Responsive
at least in part to the determination that
the data bearing record data corresponds to an authorized user, a lock
associated with at least one compartment is
changed from the locked condition to the unlocked condition such that the
authorized user can open the door and
access the compartment interior area.
The exemplary control circuitry is further operative to receive from the at
least one reading device item
indicia from a deposit item that is either being placed in or removed from the
interior area. The exemplary control
circuitry is further operative responsive to the at least one reading device
to determine an action status indicative of
whether the deposit item is removed from or placed into the interior area. An
item determination is made through
operation of the control circuitry concerning whether the item indicia that is
read from the deposit item corresponds
to stored data associated with a deposit item to be placed into or removed
from the interior area of the depository by
the authorized user.
Once the deposit item has been placed in or removed from the interior area of
the depository, the door is
closed and the control circuitry is operative to return the lock to the locked
condition. A system in operative
connection with the exemplary control circuitry is operative to track the
status of the deposit item. This may include
for example, tracking transport of the deposit item to another depository into
which the item can be deposited by the
authorized user who removed it from the first depository, so that the item may
then undergo further processing
activity. Alternatively, the system may enable a further authorized user to
access and remove a deposit item that had
been previously placed in the depository, and track the receipt of the deposit
item by an authorized user that is the
authorized recipient of the item. Depositories may include one or a plurality
of interior areas the access to each of
which is selectively controlled by a respective door and a respective lock.
Exemplary embodiments of the control circuitry associated with the depository
enable determining the
available space in the interior area. This enables evaluating whether the
depository or a compartment therein has
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space available to accept a further deposit item prior to a user who is
seeking to deposit an item being directed to the
depository. Other exemplary arrangements include one or more indicators which
operate responsive to the control
circuitry and the at least one reading device, to provide indications to users
that they have placed or removed proper
deposit items from the interior area. Other exemplary arrangements include the
ability for the depository to provide
.. audit information that includes identifying indicia associated with deposit
items currently positioned in the interior
area, as well as data regarding items previously placed in or removed from the
depository. Exemplary arrangements
may also capture and store images of users and deposit items to further
provide records of activities conducted at the
depository. Further exemplary arrangements provide information to item
carriers that transport items between
depositories and that pickup and deliver deposit items at customer locations.
Numerous other features and arrangements may be used in exemplary systems to
provide reliable, cost-
effective deposit and item tracking capabilities.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a depository of an exemplary embodiment with
access to the interior area
thereof closed, and a portable wireless device which may be used in
conjunction with operation of the depository.
Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but with the interior area of the
depository accessible from outside the
depository.
Figure 3 is a schematic view of exemplary control circuitry used in connection
with the depository.
Figure 4 is a schematic view of a network in which the exemplary depository
may be operative.
Figure 5 is a plan view of a portable wireless device that is usable by an
authorized user of the depository in
-- connection with obtaining access thereto for placing items into or removing
items from the interior area of the
depository.
Figure 6 is a schematic view of the circuitry associated with the device of
Figure 5 and an associated
system for producing data bearing records that can be associated with deposit
items.
Figure 7 is a plan view of the portable wireless device that may be used by an
authorized user to access the
interior area of a depository for purposes of taking deposit items therein for
transport.
Figure 8 is a schematic view of circuitry associated with the device of Figure
7, including the capabilities
for tracking the device and deposit items associated with the user thereof.
Figure 9 is a schematic view of types of data bearing records included in an
exemplary system related to
authorized users who transport deposit items between depositories.
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Figure 10 is a schematic view listing types of data bearing records included
in an exemplary system
associated with depositories related to authorized users who place deposit
items in depositories for subsequent
transport and/or who remove items from depositories for purposes of receiving
such items.
Figure 11 is a schematic view listing types of data bearing records included
in an exemplary system which
.. relate to entities that are the owners of the exemplary depositories.
Figures 12 through 27 are a schematic representation of logic flow carried out
by the control circuitry of the
exemplary depository, associated central system circuitry and devices operated
by authorized users who place
deposit items into and/or remove deposit items from the depositories.
Figures 28 through 30 are a schematic representation logic flow carried out by
the control circuitry of an
exemplary depository, associated central system circuitry and devices operated
by authorized users in connection
with removing a deposit item from a depository.
Figures 31 through 34 are a schematic representation of logic flow carried out
by the control circuitry of the
exemplary depository, associated central system circuitry and devices operated
by authorized users in connection
with delivery and payment associated with a deposit item placed in the
depository.
Figure 35 is a block schematic overview depicting the modules in association
with the controller and
sensor/actuator array.
Figure 36 is a perspective view of a repository embodiment according to
aspects of exemplary systems.
Figure 37 is an exploded perspective view of the repository depicted in Figure
36.
Figure 38 is perspective view of the repository shown in Figure 36, with a
parcel delivery chute door in a
partially opened position.
Figure 39 is a perspective view of the repository shown in Figure 36, with a
parcel delivery chute door in a
fully opened position.
Figure 40 is a block diagram representation of a controller board according to
an exemplary arrangement.
Figure 41 is a diagrammatic representation of a controller board
processor/memory and peripherals
.. interface.
Figure 42 is a block diagram representation of control, data, and address
messaging between a processor, a
peripherals interface and peripheral 1/0 devices.
Figure 43 is a block diagram of a controller board according to an exemplary
arrangement, showing various
peripherals, interface bus examples, power supply and a number of examples of
peripherals.
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Figure 44 is a detailed layout of an exemplary embodiment showing a controller
board with connections to
various peripherals, a connection to a delivery lock box and its associated
peripherals.
Figures 45-48 are views of an alternative item repository including a
plurality of selectively accessible
interior areas for housing delivery items.
Figure 49 is a schematic view of a system for the delivery of delivery items.
Figure 50 is a schematic view of system circuitry associated with a delivery
item system.
Figure 51 is a schematic view showing a plurality of geographic catchment
areas and associated parcel
repositories.
Figures 52-64 are a schematic representation of logic flow carried out by
exemplary system circuitry in
routing parcels for delivery.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, there is shown
therein an exemplary depository
generally indicated 10. A depository is alternatively referred to herein as a
repository. The exemplary depository
shown includes a body 12 which bounds an interior area 14 (see Figure 2). The
interior area 14 is accessible from
outside the body 12 through an opening 16. A door 18 is movably mounted in
operative connection with the body
through hinged connections. The door 18 is sized for closing the opening 16
when the door is in a closed position as
shown in Figure 1. The door 18 is movable to an open position shown in Figure
2 in which at least a portion of the
door is disposed from the opening 16 and the interior area 14 is accessible
from outside the body 12.
The exemplary depository 10 further includes at least one input device 20. In
the exemplary embodiment
the at least one input device includes a manually accessible input device that
is operatively accessible when the door
is in the closed position. In some exemplary embodiments the at least one
input device 20 includes a keypad
through which codes can be manually input. Further in exemplary arrangements
the at least one input device
includes a radio frequency (RF) input device such as a wireless transceiver
that is operative to communicate wireless
signals with a portable wireless device 22. In some exemplary arrangements the
RF input device may include a
wireless communication device that is operative to communicate signals via a
Bluetooth, NFC, cellular or other
wireless communication method.
In other exemplary embodiments input devices may include other types of
readers or devices that are
operative to receive or read indicia. Exemplary input devices may include
without limitation, card readers, token
readers, barcode readers, infrared readers or other types of devices that may
receive inputs that are usable to
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determine whether access to the depository should be provided. Of course it
should be understood that multiple
different types of input devices may be used in operative connection with a
single depository depending on the
access requirements thereto.
The exemplary depository further includes at least one electrically actuated
lock 24. In the exemplary
embodiment the lock is changeable between a locked condition in which the door
18 is held in a closed position, and
an unlocked condition in which the door is enabled to be moved from the closed
position to the open position. The
exemplary depository is in operative connection with at least one sensor which
comprises a reading device 26. In
the exemplary embodiment the at least one reading device may include one or a
plurality of image capture devices
including at least one camera. In other arrangements the reader may comprise a
portable wireless device. The at
least one reading device of the exemplary arrangement is usable to read
machine readable indicia 28 that is included
on deposit items 30. In exemplary arrangements the reading devices 26 are
operative to read indicia such as bar
codes (including without limitation two-dimensional bar codes and QR codes)
that are included on deposit items.
Further in exemplary arrangements the at least one reading device is operative
to capture information usable to make
a status determination that a deposit item is removed from or placed into the
interior area of the depository. It
should be understood however that although in the exemplary embodiment the
sensors comprising reading devices
operate to read visible indicia and capture images, in other arrangements
other types of reading devices that read
different types of signals or indicia may be utilized. This may include for
example, card readers, fingerprint readers
or other types of biometric readers including cameras or microphones, LEDAR
image capture devices and readers
that are capable of communicating using wireless signals such as the wireless
input devices previously discussed.
The exemplary depository 10 further includes at least one indicator 32. As
later discussed, the exemplary
at least one indicator may include an output device operative to provide an
indication as to whether a deposit item
that is being placed in or removed from the interior area of the depository is
a correct item to be removed by the
particular user who has accessed the depository. In other exemplary
arrangements the at least one indictor may
include an output device in operative connection with the depository, such as
an output device of a user's portable
wireless device. The exemplary depository further includes at least one sensor
that comprises a weight sensor 43.
The at least one weight sensor is usable to determine the weight of one or
more items that are within an interior area
of the depository. The exemplary depository further includes a wireless
communication device 34. The wireless
communication device which is alternatively referred to herein as a wireless
communication portal or a wireless
communication interface is operative to enable the control circuitry
associated with the depository to communicate
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with one or more local or remote systems or devices as later discussed. In
some arrangements the wireless
communications device may include a wireless input device 20. Exemplary
depository 10 further includes solar
panels 36. The exemplary solar panels 36 are in supported connection with the
door 18 and are suitable for
providing electrical power to the depository from exposure of the solar panels
to sunlight. In the exemplary
arrangement a manually engageable handle 38 is in operative connection with
the door 18 to facilitate the manual
opening and closing thereof by authorized users. Of course it should be
understood that these depository devices
and configurations are exemplary and in other embodiments other configurations
may be used.
As shown schematically in Figure 3 the exemplary depository is in operative
correction with control
circuitry 40. The exemplary control circuitry includes one or more circuits
which are operative to communicate
electrical signals and control the operation of the devices of the depository.
The control circuitry may be located
proximate to the depository or may have some portions remotely located
therefrom. In the exemplary arrangement
the control circuitry 40 includes at least one circuit including at least one
processor schematically indicated 42 and at
least one data store schematically indicated 44. In exemplary arrangements the
processor may include a processor
suitable for carrying out circuit executable instructions that are stored in
the one or more associated data stores. The
processor includes or is in operative connection with a non-volatile storage
medium including instructions that
include a basic input/output system (BIOS). For example, the processor may
correspond to one or more of a
combination of a CPU, FPGA, ASIC or any other integrated circuit or other type
of circuit that is capable of
processing data and instructions. The one or more data stores may correspond
to one or more of volatile or non-
volatile memories such as random access memory, flash memory, magnetic memory,
optical memory, solid state
memory or other devices that are operative to store computer executable
instructions and data. Processor executable
instructions may include instructions in any of a plurality of programming
languages and formats including, without
limitation, routines, subroutines, programs, scripts, threads of execution,
objects, methodologies and functions which
carry out the actions such as those described herein. Structures for
processors may include, correspond to and utilize
the principles described in the textbook entitled Microprocessor Architecture,
Programming and Applications with
the 8085 by Ramesh S. Gaonker (Prentice Hall 2002). Exemplary arrangements may
include processors made by
Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices or other suitable types of
processors. Of course it should be understood
that these processors are exemplary of many types of processors that may be
used.
The exemplary data stores used in connection with exemplary embodiments may
include one or more of
several types of mediums suitable for holding circuit executable instructions
and data. Such instructions and data
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may be non-transitory. These may include for example, magnetic media, optical
media, solid-state media or other
types of media such as RAM, ROM, PROM, flash memory, computer hard drives or
any other form of media
suitable for holding data and circuit executable instructions. Exemplary
control circuitry may include other
components such as hardware and/or software interfaces for communication with
devices within the depository or
for communication with external devices and systems. The exemplary control
circuitry 40 further includes a clock
46. The clock is operative to provide time functions in connection with
operation of the depository and associated
systems as later discussed.
As represented in Figure 3 the control circuitry 40 is in operative connection
with the at least one input
device 20, the lock 24 and the at least one sensor including the at least one
reading device 26. The control circuitry
40 is further in operative connection with the at least one indicator 32, the
at least one weight sensor 43 and the at
least one wireless communication device 34. In the exemplary arrangement the
devices of the depository and the
control circuitry are powered by a battery 48. The battery 48 is in operative
connection with the solar panels 36.
The control circuitry is operative to control the delivery of power to the
battery such that the battery maintains a
suitable power level for operating the depository during both light and
darkness. However other embodiments may
include other power sources, including the ability to connect to a suitable
available supply of household current or
other power for purposes of operating the depository.
While the exemplary depository includes a single interior area for holding
deposit items, other depositories
may have other configurations. Such other configurations may include a
plurality of interior areas or compartments,
each of which are accessible via a respective opening, each of which openings
has an associated closable door,
drawer or other closure member, each of which is referred to herein as a door
for brevity. Exemplary arrangements
of depositories including a plurality of interior areas are discussed
hereafter in this detailed description.
Figure 4 shows schematically an exemplary network 50 in which depository 10
may be operated. It should
be understood that this exemplary network arrangement is shown schematically
and in exemplary arrangements the
network may include a plurality of interconnected networks.
In the exemplary arrangement a plurality of depositories 10, 52, 54, 56 and 58
are in operative connection
with the network. In exemplary arrangements all these depositories may be
similar to depository 10 previously
discussed. The control circuitry associated with each of the depositories is
operative to communicate in the network
through the respective wireless communication device associated with the
depository which may be alternatively
referred to herein as a wireless transceiver. Of course it should be
understood that in other arrangements the
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depositories may be in operative connection with one or more networks via
other wired or wireless communication
methods. Further it should be understood that exemplary embodiments may
include a much larger number of
depositories than is represented in Figure 4.
The exemplary network 50 is in operative connection with central system
circuitry 60. The exemplary
central circuitry includes one or more processors and data stores of the types
previously discussed. In some
arrangements the central system circuitry 60 which is alternatively referred
to herein as central circuitry, may
include one or more servers with associated data stores 62 that perform the
functions hereinafter described.
Exemplary arrangements may include central system circuitry located at a
single location, or central system circuitry
in a distributed arrangement of control circuitry which operates in a cloud
environment, virtual server environment
or other suitable environment for performing the functions described herein.
Numerous different types of central
system circuitry arrangements may be utilized in connection with exemplary
embodiments.
The exemplary network further includes a plurality of portable wireless
devices that are operated by users
who wish to send deposit items to others or to receive deposit items from
others through the use of the depositories
and associated system. Devices 64, 66 and 68 in Figure 4 are representative of
devices associated with individuals
who send and/or receive deposit items.
In exemplary arrangements the devices may comprise portable wireless devices
associated with users who
are registered users of the system. In some exemplary arrangements the
registered users may have stored in at least
one data store associated with the central system circuitry, user identifying
data such as an ID token that uniquely
identifies the registered user, contact data associated with a device of the
registered user such as a communication
address such as a phone number or network address associated with a user's
portable wireless device, funds source
data that corresponds to a source of funds such as a credit or debit card
account or similar monetary account which
in exemplary arrangements may be credited or debited through operation of the
system, as well as other associated
data. Of course it should be understood that this data that is associated with
registered system users is exemplary
and in other arrangements other types of registered user information may be
utilized.
Figures 5 and 6 show an exemplary portable wireless device 64 that is used by
such users in the exemplary
network. Device 64 in some exemplary arrangements may include a portable smart
phone, tablet or other portable
wireless device which includes user input devices and user output devices such
as an associated touchscreen 70.
The exemplary device 64 may include other input devices such as a camera 72,
as well as an audio input device such
as a microphone 74 and an audio output device such as a speaker 76. A
biometric reader such as the camera, the
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microphone or other reader such as a fingerprint reader may also be included.
The exemplary device 64 further
includes at least one wireless communication device 78. The at least one
wireless communication device may
include a device suitable for Wi-Fi or cellular communications. The at least
one wireless communication device 78
may also include a local RF communication device for providing Bluetooth or
NFC communication. Of course
.. these devices are exemplary.
The exemplary device further includes control circuitry 80. The control
circuitry is similar to that
previously discussed and may include at least one processor 82 and at least
one data store like those previously
described. The exemplary control circuitry is in operative connection with the
component devices of the device 64
as shown. In addition to communicating in the network 50, the exemplary device
64 is also enabled to communicate
with other devices in other networks such as network 86. Network 86 may
include a printer 88 or other device that
is operative to produce data bearing records 90. Such data bearing records may
include labels bearing parcel
identifying indicia or other data suitable for use in connection with the
exemplary embodiments later discussed.
The exemplary network 50 is also in communication with the plurality of
portable wireless devices
associated with individuals who are item carriers that transport deposit items
between depositories. These portable
wireless devices schematically indicated 92, 94, 96, 98 and 100 may be used by
authorized and/or registered system
users to access depositories for purposes of placing deposit items therein or
removing deposit items therefrom.
Deposit items are alternatively referred to herein as delivery items or
parcels.
As represented in Figures 7 and 8 the exemplary portable wireless devices such
as device 92, that is
operated as a carrier contact device by an individual user who is an item
carrier that transports deposit items, may
include mobile phone devices including an input output device such as a
touchscreen 102. Exemplary device 92
may further include a camera 104, as well as a microphone 106 and a speaker
108. It may also include other types of
biometric readers and other devices. The exemplary device 92 further includes
at least one wireless communication
device 110. The at least one wireless communication device 110 may include a
Wi-Fi interface, cellular phone
interface, Bluetooth, NFC or other wireless interface of the types previously
discussed. Further in the exemplary
arrangement device 92 includes a wireless communication interface suitable for
providing tracking of the device via
a global positioning system (GPS). The GPS capability enables tracking the
device as well as the item carrier user
and deposit items associated therewith in a manner that is later discussed.
Alternatively, cellular tracking systems or
other tracking systems may be used. The exemplary device further includes
control circuitry 112. The control
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
circuitry 112 includes at least one processor and at least one data store of
the types previously described. The
control circuitry 112 enables operation of the device 92 in the manner later
discussed.
The exemplary network 50 is also in operative connection with portable
wireless devices which are
operated by entities that are owners of respective depositories or other
entities having responsibility for depositories,
which are also referred to as owners herein. Such owners are registered system
users in the exemplary arrangement.
These portable wireless devices schematically represented 114, 116 may be
similar in exemplary embodiments to
wireless device 64 previously discussed. However such devices may further
include circuit executable instructions
that additionally provide capabilities for the owner of the depository to
receive payments from the operator of the
system for the use of their depositories in connection with the storage and
transport of deposit items. In exemplary
arrangements such payments are made for the receipt, storage or delivery of
deposit items that are placed into the
depository by third parties for purposes of having the deposit items
transported to an entity other than the entity
associated with the particular depository into which the item is deposited or
received into the repository for purposes
or pick up by another delivery item recipient.
It should be understood that the network configuration 50 and the devices in
operative connection therewith
are exemplary. Numerous other types of devices, network configurations and
arrangements may be utilized in
connection with exemplary embodiments. Further while the exemplary devices
operated by users of the system
have been generally described as portable wireless devices, it should be
understood that other types of stationary or
portable computer devices may be operated in connection with the system to
carry out the functions described
herein.
In exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry 60 is operative to
include in at least one or more
associated data stores 62, data records related to devices that are utilized
in connection with the exemplary system.
For example in exemplary arrangements the data stores include identifying data
regarding each depository and its
respective location. Data stores may include data regarding registered system
users of the types previously
discussed. The stored data regarding depositories in exemplary embodiments
also includes data regarding the entity
that is the owner of the depository, and restrictions that the entity who is
the owner of the depository may have
placed on the use thereof. For example in some arrangements the owner of the
depository may restrict use solely to
receiving therein or having removed therefrom deposit items that are received
or sent by the owner of the
depository. Other depository owners may establish rules which allow other
entities to provide deposit items into the
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depository for transport elsewhere, or to receive items in the depository that
can be taken from the depository by the
authorized recipient entities.
Other exemplary rules that may be established in connection with depositories
may include only having the
depository available to be accessed by certain transport users, such as users
who have achieved a certain security
level or performance rating. This may include for example transport users for
deposit items who have achieved
above a certain rating based on background checks and/or measured metrics for
performance, reliability and
dependability. Other rules associated with depositories may include
restrictions on days of the week and/or times
during particular days when entities other than the depository owner are
permitted to access the depository.
Numerous different restrictions may be set for depositories by depository
owners or the central system circuitry
operator for purposes of operating the depository in connection with the
system.
In addition stored data regarding depositories may include information related
to security features or other
features associated with the depository. For example in order to provide
secure communication between the central
circuitry and each depository, the depository and the central circuity may
have respective public and private key
pairs and digital certificates that enable secure communication between the
central circuitry and the control circuity
of the respective depository. This enables the control circuity of the
depository and the central circuitry to identify
the system originating messages and to be assured of the origin of received
messages. In addition the central
circuitry and the control circuitry of each depository may include respective
programming that enables the sending
of instructions or other messages which enable the operation or performance of
certain functions. For example the
control circuitry of the respective depository may include programming from
the central system that is operative to
cause the locking or unlocking of the respective lock of the depository in
response to the receipt of certain messages
and/or data by the depository from the central system. Further in exemplary
arrangements the central system may be
operative to cause the control circuitry of a respective depository to operate
the plurality of reading devices therein
for purposes of determining the amount of space that is currently available in
the interior area of the depository.
Such functionality may enable the central circuitry to determine the ability
of the particular depository to accept
therein a deposit item having a particular size that may be available for
deposit into the depository.
Further in exemplary embodiments the central circuitry may operate in
accordance with its programming to
maintain data corresponding to the indicia associated with deposit items that
are currently positioned in the interior
area of each depository. Further, in exemplary arrangements the central system
may communicate with a respective
depository so as to cause the control circuity thereof to deliver to the
central circuity, data corresponding to
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activities that have been conducted at the depository. This may include not
only the indicia usable to identify
deposit items currently therein, but also historical record data related to
deposit items placed into the depository
and/or deposit items removed therefrom, and data associated with the users and
times associated with each
respective activity that has occurred. In exemplary arrangements each
depository may also operate to have its
.. control circuitry store images associated with activities that occur at the
depository. This may include images of
each user who places a deposit item into or removes a deposit item from the
interior area of the depository. Such
image data may also include item identifying indicia included on each item
that is placed in or removed from the
depository by the authorized user as well as other data associated with each
event or activity that has occurred.
Instructions communicated from the central circuitry may be operative to cause
the control circuitry of a respective
depository to send image data corresponding to the captured images associated
with the activities that have occurred
at the depository. This may further enable documenting the deposit or removal
of deposit items as well as facilitate
resolving any discrepancies which may occur. Of course these functions and
capabilities, and stored record data of
the central circuitry and each depository is exemplary, and in other
embodiments other approaches may be used.
Further in exemplary embodiments the central system circuitry 60 is operative
to include in the at least one
data store 62 information regarding the devices and authorized and/or
registered users who utilize the depositories
included in the system. For example in an exemplary embodiment the central
circuitry is operative to include the
information shown in Figure 9 for the devices such as devices 92, 94, 96, 98
and 100 that are operated by the
authorized users who access the depositories and transport deposit items. In
the exemplary arrangements each of the
authorized and/or registered users has included in the data store associated
with their portable wireless device,
identifying data that is usable in conjunction with the depositories to
indicate that the user of the device is an
authorized and/or registered user. Such data may include for example, ID token
information which can be utilized
to identify the user as an authorized and/or registered user. Such token
information may include digital information
that can be correlated through operation of the central circuitry with the
identity of the particular individual that is
associated with operation of the particular device. In addition such token
information may include other types of
data which can be used for identification purposes. Such other types of data
may include for example, user
biometric data such as fingerprint data, iris scan data or other data that
comprises record data that is uniquely
associated with the user.
Further in other exemplary arrangements stored data regarding users may
include other record data which
may be utilized in connection with operation of the system. For example in
systems that utilize card data for
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purposes of accessing depositories, the record data maintained by the central
circuitry may include the data
corresponding to the respective user's card data and other associated data for
the respective user. This enables the
system to compare the data received through the at least one input device of a
depository, to stored data so as to
identify the person seeking access to the depository as an authorized user who
is appropriately authorized to have
access thereto. Of course the approaches described in connection with the
authorized users are exemplary, and in
other embodiments other approaches may be used.
Further as described in connection with Figure 9, the record data associated
with devices operated by users
who transport items may include information regarding payments to such users.
In the exemplary system the users
who transport items between the depositories are paid for the transport
services. The payment for services may be
based on certain information regarding the particular depository item that is
transported such as, the size of the item,
the weight of the item, the distance and timing associated with such transport
and other factors. The exemplary data
that is stored by the central circuitry further includes data regarding
payments that are made to the individuals who
perform the transport services. Such payment data may also include data such
as account data associated with a
funds source of the user which enables the making of the payments to the user
for the services provided.
Alternatively such funds source data may be associated with an account that
can be credited for amounts payable or
refundable. This may include for example, information regarding a PayPal
account, a Venmo account, a bank
account, an electronic stored value account or other accounts into which
appropriate payments to such users may be
made.
Further in the exemplary arrangement the central circuitry is operative to
include data regarding the
activities that are performed by each respective user who is an item carrier
that transports deposit items in
connection with the system. Such data may include contact data for the mobile
wireless carrier contact device of the
item carrier such as a communication address of the carrier contract device.
Such data may include metrics which
include information on the timeliness and reliability of the particular
individual. For example as later discussed,
transport activities associated with particular deposit items are assigned by
the system to the particular authorized
user, and the activity is reserved to the user for a particular time. In cases
where the particular user that is initially
assigned to the activity does not perform the activity within the allotted
time, the system is operative to reassign the
activity to another item carrier user. Such events where an activity is not
performed by a user is considered
significant to the user's performance. Likewise in situations where an
authorized user has taken longer than would
normally be expected to accomplish the transport of the deposit item to a
depository destination, such factors would
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also be significant in terms of the user's associated metrics. Losses of items
and cases of misdirected deposit items
are also significant metrics. These and other metrics are recorded through
operation of the central system circuitry
with regard to each authorized item carrier transport user.
Further the exemplary central system circuitry is operative to apply ratings
to each authorized user based on
the metrics that are associated with the user's performance. Such user ratings
may be utilized in connection with
screening authorized users for purposes of accessing certain depositories
and/or handling certain types or values of
deposit items. Such ratings may also be utilized in connection with
determining the rate that is paid to the user for
the transport activities that are performed. Of course these categories that
are represented in Figure 9 are exemplary
and in other embodiments other or additional information regarding such users
may be stored and evaluated through
operation of the central circuitry.
Figure 10 shows exemplary records and data items that may be associated with
shipper and recipient users
and their associated devices that place items into depositories for purposes
of requesting deliveries to other
depositories and/or that receive items from depositories. In the exemplary
network arrangement this data would be
associated with devices 64, 66 and 68 of registered users. As is the case in
connection with individuals and devices
that provide transport services, the data associated with these devices
include ID tokens or other identifying record
information that can be utilized to reliably identify the user or device is
one that is authorized to access the
depository. As the individuals that provide the functions of providing deposit
items to be transported to the
depositories will generally be required to pay for the transport services, the
central circuitry includes data for such
users that include a fund source such as account data for assessing charges
associated with payments for shipments.
This may include credit card accounts, bank accounts, PayPal accounts or other
suitable accounts from which
payments may be made.
Further in the exemplary system individuals in this category may choose to
travel an extended distance to a
depository in order to receive a deposit item that would otherwise be handled
by an item carrier user that is paid to
transport the item to a destination depository substantially closer to the
recipient or to a designated delivery address
that is not a depository. In the exemplary system if the recipient chooses to
conduct a substantial portion of the
transport by taking the item from a depository that is remotely located from
the destination that the person arranging
for shipment has paid to have the item delivered to, then the central
circuitry is operative to compensate the recipient
for the transport activity associated with picking up the item from the remote
destination. As such the exemplary
central circuitry includes data regarding account information which can be
credited for pickup amounts to which the
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
authorized user receiving an item may be entitled. This account information
may include account information for
accounts which can be credited with value to the recipient for transport and
pick up of deposit items. Of course it
should be understood that the data types shown for this category of authorized
user and their associated devices in
Figure 10 is merely exemplary of some items of information which may be
included in records of the central
circuitry.
Figure 11 shows exemplary record data that is associated with owners of
depositories and their associated
devices. The data shown in Figure 11 would generally be associated with the
devices 114, 116 that were previously
discussed in connection with the exemplary network 50. Similar to other
devices, the devices associated with
depository owners would include the identifying information which identifies
the user as an authorized or registered
shipper or recipient user. In addition in the exemplary arrangement the
records associated with the depository owner
includes data regarding the restrictions on the depositories such as those
previously discussed. The exemplary
central circuitry is operative to associate the depository owner with the
respective depository that is owned by the
depository owner and to cause the restrictions set by the owner for the
depository to be applicable to the records
associated with the depository in the one or more data stores of the central
circuitry.
Further in some exemplary arrangements the depository owners are entities that
engage in sending deposit
items for transport and receiving deposit items. As such the data associated
with the depository owners includes a
funds source such as account information corresponding to accounts which can
be assessed for charges associated
with transport of deposit items to remote depository destinations. Further in
exemplary arrangements the central
circuitry is operative to compensate depository owners for deposit items that
are placed in the depository of the
depository owner by other authorized user individuals for purposes of
transport to other depositories. In the
exemplary arrangement the depository owner is compensated for the use of their
depository by such third parties.
The exemplary system is operative to include in the data associated with the
depository owners, account information
concerning accounts that are credited through operation of the central
circuitry for the use of the depository by other
authorized entities.
Of course the types of record data shown as maintained by the central
circuitry for the different types of
devices and users associated with the system are exemplary. Additional types
of information will generally be
stored in association with the various types of devices and users to
facilitate operation of the system and to provide
record-keeping and tracking for the activities that are carried out in
connection therewith. Further as can be
appreciated, the central circuitry is operative to store data associated with
the whereabouts of deposit items that are
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
moving through the system at all times, and to track the status of
depositories, and individuals who provide transport
for the items, such that the whereabouts of each deposit item throughout the
term of its inclusion in the system can
be determined at all times. In exemplary arrangements the central circuitry is
operative to estimate arrival times for
depository items at destination depositories and makes such data available to
users responsible for sending the items
and recipients. Further historical information on each deposit item is also
maintained for a programmed time. To
assure that any errors or loss situations can be tracked, investigated and
remedied, tracking and image data can be
accessed through the central system circuitry and in some arrangements
obtained from each of the respective
depositories.
A schematic representation of the logic flow that is carried out through
operation of the central system
circuitry, the depositories and the portable wireless devices of entities that
provide, transport and receive deposit
items, is shown in Figures 12 through 27. This exemplary logic flow of each of
the devices involved is exemplary
and is described in connection with an example that is intended to be
representative of the operation of the various
devices. Deposit items are alternatively referred to herein as delivery items
or parcels. Of course numerous other
features and operations may be utilized in connection with exemplary
embodiments.
The example of the logic flow commences with an authorized user of the system
who wishes to have a
deposit item transported to a remote destination operating their respective
portable wireless device such as wireless
device 64. In the exemplary logic flow the entity wishing to have the deposit
item transported may be referred to as
a shipper for purposes of simplicity in connection with this particular
example.
As represented in a step 118 the individual wishing to have a deposit item
transported operates their
associated device such as device 64 to provide inputs which indicate that they
wish to have an item transported. In a
next step 120 the user operates the device to provide inputs which are usable
to identify the user as an authorized
and/or registered user of the system. In a next step 122 the user is operative
to provide inputs to their device which
indicates the payment method that will be utilized to make payment for the
transport of the deposit item. In
exemplary arrangements this may include selection from a menu to indicate the
type of payment or account that the
user wishes to utilize in connection with the deposit item. The user may also
be required to provide information or
respond to certain questions regarding the item. These questions may include
providing information regarding
whether the item is flammable or otherwise hazardous. The individual may also
be required to indicate whether the
item contains perishable or fragile material. The user may also be required to
provide information regarding the
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dimensions of the item, the weight of the item and/or the value of the item.
Of course these queries are merely
exemplary.
In a step 124 the user operates the device to indicate a delivery item
originating address which corresponds
to the origin for the transport of the deposit item. This may include the
user's business address or other address. In
some arrangements the originating address may include a business address
associated with the particular depository
into which the deposit item will eventually be placed for purposes of
initiating the transport activity. In a step 126
the user inputs to the device the address information for the delivery item
destination location which corresponds to
a point or area of delivery of the particular deposit item. This may include
an address associated with a remote
depository that is associated with the entity that will receive the deposit
item. Alternatively in other arrangements
the delivery address may include an address or area associated with an entity
that does not have a dedicated
depository. In such cases the delivery address may include information
regarding an authorized user of the system
that is enabled to access a depository that is located in proximity to them
for purposes of receiving the deposit item
to be transported. In other arrangements the delivery location may be a
commercial or residential address which is
the address of the recipient.
In the exemplary arrangement the user wishing to arrange for transport of an
item may wish to pay an
incentive fee in order to have the item delivered more promptly or in
accordance with other requirements. In the
exemplary arrangement the programming associated with the user device enables
the user arranging for transport to
apply an incentive for particular delivery parameters or timing that is
associated with the particular deposit item.
This is represented in a step 128. This may be a payment for delivery within a
set time such as within one day, for
.. example. Of course if the user does not wish to apply an incentive, the
programming associated with the device will
cause the standard rates and/or parameters set through operation of the
central circuitry to apply.
The exemplary programming associated with the user's device may include the
capability to capture
images of the deposit item such that the size of the deposit item can be
assessed. In some exemplary arrangements
the user device may require the user to input dimensions of the deposit item
and/or the weight thereof via a touch
screen or other input device. This is represented in a step 130. Assessing the
size of the deposit item is useful for
purposes of enabling the central system circuitry to determine depositories
where sufficient space is available in the
interior area for purposes of receiving the deposit item therein at the
present time. This may be done in the manner
previously discussed using the reading devices that are included in the
respective depositories. The size as well as
weight can also be factors in determining the charges for transport of the
deposit item.
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In some exemplary arrangements the user may have circuit executable
instructions on their mobile device
or other computer that guides a user to provide the necessary information for
shipment. In other arrangements the
central circuitry may provide an online portal which the user may access to
receive the prompts to input necessary
information, and to which the information may be supplied.
In the exemplary arrangement, once the information has been input by the user
to the device, the
information regarding the request to transport the deposit item is submitted
to the central system circuitry as at least
one transport request message represented in a step 132. The central circuitry
is then operative to verify the
identifying information associated with the user that has submitted the
request. This is represented in a step 134.
This may include comparing user identifying data stored in the user device
such as an ID token that is included in
the at least one transport request message, with stored data associated with
authorized users by the central circuitry.
The central circuitry is also operative to verify that the user who has
submitted the request has indicated a suitable
funds source which provides a payment method associated with the central
system in order to make payment for the
transport of the deposit item. The central system circuitry may also analyze
the delivery item size data and/or
weight data included in the at least one transport request message to
determine if the delivery item is suitable or
transport through the system. This is represented in a step 136.
The central circuitry then operates to assign a parcel ID to the particular
deposit item as represented in step
138. The parcel ID is alternatively referred to herein as a delivery item
identifier. The data provided by the user
regarding the originating location and destination location for the transport
of the deposit item is also stored in at
least one data store associated with the central circuitry as represented in
step 140. The central circuitry is then
operative responsive to the originating location information to resolve an
originating depository that is considered
the most suitable for receipt of the deposit item. This is represented in a
step 142. Generally the originating
depository will be the depository located in closest geographical proximity to
the user wishing to have the deposit
item transported. However, in order to assure that space for the deposit item
is available in the nearest depository,
the central circuitry operates as represented at a step 144 to determine if
the delivery item is of a suitable size and/or
weight to be transported and communicate with the initially selected
depository to verify that sufficient space is
available to accept a deposit item of the size that was determined at step
130. If such space is not available, the
central circuitry operates to determine an alternative available originating
depository that has the space available to
receive the deposit item therein. The central system circuitry is operative to
evaluate at least one of the size and/or
the weight of the deposit item to determine if it is within at least one size
or weight limit. If the deposit item is not
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
suitable for transit due to size, weight or space factors the request is
flagged to be declined or be processed in a
manner that provides special handling.
As represented in a step 146, once the originating depository for receiving
the deposit item is resolved, the
central circuitry operates to generate a one-time code to be input by the
authorized user for purposes of accessing the
depository. The one-time code is alternatively referred to herein as an item
depositor access code. The central
circuitry is operative to correlate stored data corresponding to at least two
of the authorized user identifying data, the
delivery item identifier and the depository which receives the item from the
user and/or a respective interior area
thereof, in the at least one data store. In a step 148 the central circuitry
is then operative to send the originating
depository location information and the code data to the user's device. In
exemplary arrangements the depository
identifying data for the originating depository may include GPS coordinates,
address data or other information that
can be used to locate the depository.
As represented at step 150 the user's device is operative to receive the data
from the central circuitry. In
situations where the transaction is not accepted due to an invalid funds
source or a parcel size or weight outside a set
limit, the user is notified the transaction is denied, or alternatively the
user is provided with instructions to obtain
special handling. If the transaction may proceed the user may then operate
their device in the manner represented in
Figure 6 to produce a data bearing record which includes data representative
of the origin and destination address as
well as indicia corresponding to the delivery item identifier which uniquely
identifies the deposit item. The delivery
item identifier is alternatively referred to herein as a parcel identifier.
This is represented by a step 152. In the
exemplary arrangements the delivery item identifier may be encoded in
identifying indicia that may include a
machine readable bar code, a QR code or other suitable machine readable
indicia which comprises record data
which can be read for purposes of identifying the deposit item. As represented
in a step 154 in the exemplary
arrangement the user may operate their device in association with a label
printer to produce a label which is then
applied to the deposit item. In the exemplary arrangement the label that is
applied to the deposit item is externally
visible such that the machine readable indicia thereon that corresponds to the
delivery item identifier can be read
through operation of the reading devices such as a reader included in the
depository or a user's portable wireless
device. The label may also include human readable indicia so that the
particular deposit item can be visually
identified by item carrier users or other users who access the depository. Of
course it should be understood that in
other exemplary arrangements other types of indicia may be utilized for
purposes of providing identifying indicia.
Such indicia may include for example, programmable RHO tags, QR codes, a
signature or other manually made
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
indicia, an image of the deposit item, or other indicia that may be placed in
operative connection with a deposit item
for purposes of enabling the identification of the item through operation of
the system.
As represented in a step 156 the user seeking to have the deposit item
transported may utilize their device
to guide their travel to the GPS location or other location as identified to
the device, so that the user may place the
item into the originating depository. In the exemplary arrangement the user
operates their device to cause data
corresponding to a data bearing record which identifies the user, to the at
least one input device on the depository.
This is represented by a step 158. In the exemplary arrangement the user
device is operative to send user identifying
data such as the user token data to the RF input device included in the
depository. The depository receives the user
identifying data as represented in step 160. The control circuitry of the
exemplary depository is operative to enable
the keypad of the exemplary embodiment to receive a manually input code
therethrough from the user as represented
at step 162. The input code may correspond to the one-time depositor access
code. Alternatively, in some
arrangements the one time access code may be delivered wirelessly from the
user's device to the RF input device.
Further in some arrangements user identifying data and the one time code may
be replaced by a single code string or
object. As represented at step 164 the control circuitry of the depository is
operative to wirelessly transmit at least
one message including data corresponding to the received user identifying data
and the one-time code as well as
depository identifying data to the central circuitry. This may be done in a
suitably encrypted manner or using other
suitable security techniques to assure that the data is not compromised.
The central system circuitry is operative to receive the data from the
depository as represented at a step
166. The central circuitry then operates as represented at step 168 to verify
that the received user identifying
information corresponds to the authorized user, and that the one-time code
corresponds to the code provided to the
user in connection with the request to transport the deposit item. In the
exemplary arrangement the central circuitry
is operative to assign to the user an item depositor access code that can be
utilized only on one occasion for purposes
of opening the central system assigned interior area of the depository. This
prevents the authorized user from
opening other depositories or other interior areas of the same depository, or
opening the depository on multiple
occasions using the provided code. Of course it should be understood that this
approach is exemplary and in other
arrangements other approaches may be used.
Responsive to the central circuitry making a determination based on stored
data that the data received by
the depository from the user is the appropriate data for the user accessing
the depository in connection with
receiving the deposit item, the central circuitry is operative to send one or
more messages to the depository as
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
represented in step 170. The messages include instructions and/or data which
are operative to cause the repository
control circuitry of the depository to unlock the lock which holds the
designated depository door in the closed
position. At a step 172 the control circuitry of the depository operates to
verify that the received message data
corresponds to an authorized message from the central circuitry to unlock the
lock. This may be done by an analysis
of the received message data including decryption of the instructions and
other data included in the message which
verifies the instructions as appropriately authorized by the central
circuitry.
If the control circuitry of the depository determines that the message data
from the central circuitry is
genuine, the circuitry operates to cause the lock associated with the
appropriate door and compartment to be
changed from the locked condition to the unlocked condition. This is
represented at a step 174. The exemplary
control circuitry then operates to detect the opening of the depository door.
In some arrangements the control
circuitry causes the plurality of reading devices to operate to capture images
including the indicia corresponding to
the delivery item identifier included on the depository item as represented at
step 176. The control circuitry also
operates to capture images showing the user as well as the deposit item as it
is being placed into the interior area of
the depository. These images are stored in the data store associated with the
control circuitry of the depository along
with time data to indicate when the activity occurred. In other exemplary
arrangements the user may be instructed
to operate their portable wireless device to have a camera thereon capture an
image of the item identifying indicia on
the deposit item, identifying indicia on the depository, or both. This is
represented by a step 178.
Further in exemplary arrangements data from the at least one weight sensor may
be captured to verify
placement of the item in the depository and/or to detect the weight of the
item. The additional weight added to the
depository may be used to verify that the weight indicated for the item by the
shipper is accurate. If the item is
substantially heavier than specified in the at least one transport request
message, the person requesting the shipment
may be assessed an additional charge. Sensors such as image capture devices
such as cameras or LIDAR sensors
may be used to capture data that is used to determine the size of the item.
This may be done so that the central
system circuitry can verify that the parcel size is consistent with the parcel
size data included in the at least one
transport request message. Image sensors, sonic sensors or other sensors may
operate to capture other properties
such as color, sound absorption, reflectivity of light or sound waves, or
other types of signals as well as
combinations thereof. Further the weight, size and/or other property (or a
combination of properties) associated
with the item may be used by the central system circuitry as an additional
identifying feature and tracking identifier
for the item. Of course these approaches are exemplary.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
In the exemplary arrangement the control circuitry associated with the
depository is operative to send at
least one message including data corresponding to the indicia read, detected
and/or sensed from the deposit item to
the central circuitry as represented at step 180. The central circuitry
receives the data as represented at step 182 and
verifies that the received data and read indicia corresponds to the
identifying information associated with the deposit
item and the authorized user who is authorized to place the deposit item in
the depository. This is represented by
step 184. The central circuitry is then operative to send one or more messages
to the depository indicating that the
deposit item is acceptable into the depository. This is represented by a step
186. It should be understood however
that if the central circuitry determines that received data or the indicia
associated with the deposit item is incorrect
and/or does not correspond with the authorized user who has accessed the
depository, the central circuitry will send
at least one message including data which is indicative of this discrepancy to
the depository.
In the exemplary logic flow as represented at step 188 the wireless
communication portal of the depository
receives the data indicative of whether the deposit item and its receipt into
the depository is acceptable. The control
circuitry of the exemplary depository then operates to provide an indication
if the acceptance of the deposit item is
authorized. This is represented by a step 190. In the exemplary arrangement,
the control circuitry of the depository
is operative to cause operation of the at least one indicator 32 to provide an
indication as to whether the acceptance
of the deposit item is authorized. For example in an exemplary arrangement the
indicator may be operated to
provide a green color light output when the deposit item is acceptable and a
red color light output when the deposit
item is not acceptable. In addition an audio annunciator output or other
indicator output may be output by the
depository to indicate the acceptability or unacceptability of the deposit. In
other arrangements an indication of the
.. acceptability of the deposit item may be sent to the user's mobile device
so as to cause at least one output from an
output device thereof. In other arrangements the door of the depository may be
spring loaded so that the door at
least partially opens responsive to the deposit item being acceptable. Of
course these outputs are exemplary and in
other arrangements other types of outputs may be provided.
Further in exemplary arrangements at least one message indicative of a
determination as to the acceptability
or unacceptability of the deposit item or the associated circumstances may be
sent by the central system circuitry to
the portable device of the authorized user. Such information may be sent in
the form of a text message or other
suitable output to indicate to the user the acceptability or unacceptability
of the deposit item or activity. Such
approaches may be useful in some exemplary systems for purposes of preventing
users from making mistakes in
placing incorrect deposit items into depositories. Such features may be
particularly helpful in situations where an
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authorized user may be handling multiple deposit items, some of which may be
intended for placement in a
particular depository while others are not. Of course these approaches are
exemplary and in other embodiments
other approaches may be used.
In the exemplary arrangement the control circuitry associated with the
depository is operative in a step 192
to evaluate the image data captured by the reading devices and/or the weight
sensors to make an action status
determination. The action status determination includes evaluating the image
data and/or weight data for purposes
of detetinining whether the deposit item has been placed in or removed from
the interior area of the depository. In
alternative arrangements the user may be prompted to provide at least one
input to their mobile wireless device to
indicate the deposit item has been placed in the interior area. The wireless
device sends at least one message
indicative of the input. In this exemplary logic flow the determination of
action status by the control circuitry is
indicative that the deposit item has been placed in the depository. After the
action status determination that the
deposit item has been received, the control circuitry of the depository senses
for the door of the depository being
closed. This is done through appropriate switches, detectors or the reading
devices in operative connection with the
control circuitry and is represented in a step 194. In some exemplary
arrangements the repository control circuitry
will cause at least one output device of the depository to provide outputs
which instruct the user to close the
depository door in the event that such action is not taken within a calculated
time of the deposit item being received.
In other exemplary arrangements the user's portable wireless device may
receive messages from the central circuitry
that are caused to be sent responsive to messages from the depository in the
event that the user is detected as not
taking appropriate steps towards closure of the door after the deposit item
has been deposited in the interior area.
Once the depository door is in the closed position, the control circuitry
operates to cause the lock to be
changed to the locked condition as represented in a step 196. The control
circuitry of the depository then operates to
send one or more item received messages to the central circuitry indicating
that the interior area of the depository
has been made accessible responsive at least in part to the item depositor
access code, token data and/or other input
data and the deposit item has been received in the depository as indicated at
step 198. Responsive to receiving the at
least one item received message from the depository and/or from the user's
mobile wireless device, the central
circuitry is operative to update the record data stored in its associated data
store to reflect the status of the deposit
item as being within the particular depository as represented at step 200. The
central circuitry may also operate to
determine the remaining available volume of space in the compartment or
interior area in which the deposit item has
been placed.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The central circuitry then operates to take the actions necessary to arrange
for the deposit item to be
transported from the originating depository into which it has been received,
to a depository associated with the
destination location for the item. In some circumstances the central circuitry
is enabled to arrange for a single
authorized user of the system to transport the deposit item from the
originating depository into which it is received
to another depository which is a destination depository that corresponds to
the delivery item destination, such as a
final destination address for the deposit item. In other arrangements the
system is operative to arrange for delivery
to a recipient address rather than a depository. However, in many situations
the central circuitry must arrange for
the transport of the deposit item to an intermediate location which
corresponds to a destination depository which is
only part way to the delivery item destination. This occurs because the
individuals available to transport the deposit
item are available only to transport the item to the intermediate destination.
The central circuitry will then later
arrange for a different authorized user to transport the item from the
intermediate destination to the depository at the
final destination depository for the deposit item. Of course it should be
understood while this example indicates that
the deposit item is transported through a destination depository at one
intermediate destination, other exemplary
deposit item transport situations will involve transport through multiple
intermediate destinations. This is
particularly true when the transport of the deposit item is over a long
distance. In some exemplary arrangements the
incentive payments which the system user arranging for the transport can make,
will help to reduce the number of
intermediate depository destinations and result in delivery of the deposit
item to the final destination more quickly.
As represented at step 202 an authorized system user that is willing to
transport deposit items may operate
their portable wireless device, such as carrier contact device 92, to indicate
their availability to transport deposit
items by initiating operation of an application on the device. Such system
users are alternatively referred to herein
as item carriers. In the exemplary arrangement the device application requires
that the user sign onto the carrier
contact device and provide appropriate carrier contact device data such as a
telephone number or email address and
user identifying information which identifies the particular user to the
central circuitry, as represented at step 204. In
exemplary arrangements the item carrier contact device data and other user
identifying information as well as
credentials such as token data for the item carrier that may be stored in the
user device and in the central circuitry,
will have been previously established through a registration process
applicable to authorized users. In the exemplary
arrangement the circuit executable instructions associated with the user's
device 92 also require that the user provide
location information such as through GPS data associated with the current
carrier contact device location to the
central system circuitry through at least one driver data message. This is
represented at step 206.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
In the exemplary system a user may choose to transport deposit items based on
planned travel for other
purposes. This may include for example, the user having a daily commute to a
job that is substantially remote from
where they reside. Alternatively a user may have planned travel for personal
or other purposes to a destination, and
is willing to transport deposit items in the course of their personal travel.
Alternatively a user may be willing to
perform transport services of deposit items to any local location to receive
compensation for the transport services.
As represented in step 208 the user inputs to the carrier contact device their
available delivery location such as, for
example destination information related to their current travel plans, or if
the user is willing to travel to any location
within a set distance range for purposes of making deliveries of deposit
items. In some arrangements the user may
also indicate that they have specialized capabilities such as handling fragile
or perishable items, handling
.. refrigerated items, handling large and/or heavy items, having secure
compartments for items and/or being bonded or
insured for handling high value or legally controlled items. As represented at
step 210 the control circuitry
associated with the user's portable wireless carrier contact device is
operative to send the data regarding the
available item carrier transport user in at least one driver data message to
the central circuitry for purposes of
determining if the item carrier user will receive transport job assignments
which will result in compensation being
paid to the user.
As represented at step 212 the central circuitry receives the data from the
item carrier contract device and
conducts an analysis of the received data as represented at step 214. The
central circuitry is also operative to recover
the stored data regarding the rating information associated with the user as
represented in step 216. The central
circuitry is then operative to compare the data associated with the available
transport user received driver data
messages to the data associated with available transport jobs that need to be
conducted. This is represented at step
218. Of course as can be appreciated, this activity is carried out by the
central circuitry for each authorized item
carrier transport user that indicates availability to participate in providing
transport services for deposit items at the
current time. The central circuitry is enabled to match available authorized
item carriers with transport jobs in a
manner that causes the deposit items to be moved to either a respective final
delivery address, a final delivery
depository destination of the deposit item, or an intermediate delivery
depository location at a depository that causes
the deposit item to move closer to its final delivery destination.
circuitry operates to match the authorized transport item carrier current
location and the associated item
carrier available delivery location data to originating depository,
destination depository and deposit item delivery
requirements. The central circuitry is then operative to determine the
destination depository which is the endpoint
26
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
destination for the available item carrier as represented in step 222. In
other arrangements the end point for the
delivery may be the address of the recipient. In this particular example the
endpoint destination for the initial item
carrier is an intermediate destination depository that is not the final
destination for the particular deposit item. The
central circuitry is then operative to calculate the rate information for the
transport user as represented in step 224.
In an exemplary arrangement this calculation reflects an amount that the item
carrier will receive for taking the
deposit item from the current depository in which it is located, transporting
it to the designated intermediate
destination depository, and placing the deposit item in the intermediate
destination depository for subsequent
transport towards its final destination. In some exemplary arrangements the
central circuitry may operate to
determine multiple parcels that can be transported together by the item
carrier as a bundle to a destination.
As represented in step 226 the central circuitry operates to send one or more
opportunity messages to the
carrier contact device which is the portable wireless device of the item
carrier. The messages include the originating
depository for pickup, parcel route for transport of the deposit item (or a
bundle of items), end point destination
depository (or end point delivery address) and monetary rate to be paid to the
item carrier for transport of the deposit
item. The messages may also provide an indication of the size and weight of
the deposit items. The exemplary
messages may also include data to indicate to the item carrier how far the
transport job will require the item carrier
to go off their currently indicated planned travel mute to the input
destination at the originating depository and/or at
the destination depository. In operation of the exemplary system the carrier
contact device receives the data
regarding the transport assignment in at least one opportunity message as
represented by a step 226. The control
circuitry of the carrier contact device is then operative responsive to the
received data in the at least one opportunity
message to provide one or more outputs to the item carrier user indicative of
the available transport assignment. The
output data is then available for review by the item carrier user as
represented at step 228. If the item carrier user
finds the transport assignment details to be acceptable, the user operates the
carrier contact device to provide one or
more inputs as represented at step 230 which indicates that the user accepts
the transport assignment. The carrier
contact device then operates in accordance with its programming to send one or
more item transport acceptance
messages to the central circuitry as represented at step 232, indicative of
the user acceptance and willingness to
transport the delivery item from the delivery depository to the destination
depository (or other end point location) in
accordance with any other conditions specified in the at least one opportunity
message.
The central circuitry receives the at least one item transport acceptance
message data from the user's carrier
contact device indicating acceptance of the transport assignment as
represented at step 234. The central circuitry
27
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
then operates to reserve the transport assignment for the item carrier as
represented at a step 236. In the exemplary
embodiment the central circuitry operates in accordance with its programming
to reserve the transport assignment
for the particular item carrier user only for a limited period of time. This
helps to assure that the deposit item is
transported in a commercially prompt manner. In the event that the item
carrier to which the transport assignment
has been reserved does not act to obtain the deposit item from the depository
within the time period for which the
transport assignment has been reserved, the central circuitry operates in
accordance with its programming to
reassign the transport assignment to a different designated authorized item
carrier. As can be appreciated such a
reassignment would generally require analysis of available transport carrier
information and may change the route or
other information to which the deposit item is next transported. Of course
these approaches are exemplary and in
other embodiments other approaches to be used.
Also in an exemplary embodiment a transport item carrier may send transport
acceptance messages to
accept a plurality of opportunity messages corresponding to transport
assignments associated with the item carrier's
planned or available delivery location travel. This may include a plurality of
different deposit items, each of which
may have a respective different pickup originating depository or shipment
location and delivery destination
depository or delivery location. The communication between the user device and
the central circuitry enables
storing the data related to each deposit item and transport job on the user
carrier contact device to facilitate the
activities that the item carrier is to perform in a proper manner and
sequence.
In the exemplary arrangement once the transport assignment has been reserved
for the authorized transport
user by the central circuitry responsive to the at least one item transport
acceptance message, the central circuitry
operates in a step 238 to generate the one-time designated carrier access code
that will enable the authorized user to
access the originating depository in which the deposit item is currently
located. At step 240 the central circuitry
then operates to send the at least one transport assignment message to the
carrier contact device. The at least one
transport assignment message includes data corresponding to one-time
designated carrier access code and location
data for the originating depository to the item carrier. The user's carrier
contact device operates to receive the data
such as in the at least one transport assignment message represented at step
242. The exemplary central circuitry is
operative to correlate the stored data corresponding to at least two of the
item carrier identifying information, the
delivery item identifier, and the depository from which the item carrier will
receive the item and/or a respective
interior area thereof, in the at least one data store such that they are
stored in correlated relation. The exemplary
central circuitry is further operative to store in correlated relation the
stored data regarding the one time carrier
28
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
access code and at least one of the item carrier identifying information, the
delivery item identifier, and the
depository/interior area in which the delivery item is housed. The contact
device then operates in accordance with
its programming to guide the item carrier such as through the use of GPS data,
to the originating depository location
at which the deposit item is to be picked up.
Once the item carrier has arrived at the originating depository, the carrier
contact device is operated by the
item carrier to wirelessly send their user identifying information from the
carrier contract device to the at least one
input device of the depository. In the exemplary arrangement as represented at
step 244, the user's wireless token
data is sent from the carrier contact device of the user item carrier to the
RF input device such as the wireless portal
associated with the depository. The control circuitry of the depository is
operative to receive user identifying data as
represented at step 246, and is also operative to enable the keypad of the
depository to receive an input access code
which may correspond to the one-time design carrier access code as represented
at step 248. In other arrangements
the designated carrier access code may be received through other input devices
of the depository, such as for
example, the wireless portal. The control circuitry is then operative
responsive at least in part to receipt of the input
access code to send at least one repository access request message as
represented at step 250. The at least one
repository access request message includes data corresponding to the user
identification data, the input access code
value and depository identifying data to the central circuitry. The central
circuitry operates to receive the data in the
at least one repository access request message from the depository as
represented at step 252 and makes an
authorized access determination responsive to verifying based on the stored
data that the user identifying data
corresponds to the authorized user who is to receive the deposit item, and
that the input access code value
corresponds to the designated access code appropriate for accessing the
depository. In some arrangements the
central circuitry is also operative to carry out the authorized access
determination responsive to the identifying data
for the depository receiving the input access code value and/or the user
identification data corresponding to the
origination depository for the transport of the deposit item. The authorized
access determination is represented by
step 254.
Responsive to the authorized access determination that the user identifying
data and the one-time
designated access code received at the originating depository is appropriate
for accessing the deposit item, the
central circuitry then is operative to send at least one repository access
approval message to the originating
depository as represented at step 256 to enable the interior area holding the
deposit item in the depository to be
accessed. As represented step 258 the control circuitry of the originating
depository is operative to receive and
29
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
verify the genuineness of the message data from the central circuitry.
Responsive at least in part to receipt and
verification of the at least one depository access approval message, the
control circuitry is operative to cause the
lock to be changed to the unlocked condition as represented at step 260. The
deposit item in the interior area of the
depository thereby becomes accessible to the item carrier. The exemplary
control circuitry associated with the
originating depository is then operative to detect the opening of the door and
to operate the sensors comprising
reading devices to capture the indicia such as machine readable bar code for
example, included on the deposit item
that is removed from the interior area of the depository as represented by
step 262. Alternatively in some
arrangements the item carrier may capture an image of the item identifying
indicia using their portable wireless
device. The exemplary control circuitry is also operative to capture a
plurality of images including the user and the
deposit item, and to store the image data along with time data in the data
store associated with the depository control
circuitry. The weight sensor is also operative to indicate the change in
weight associated with the removed item.
This is represented by step 264.
The exemplary control circuitry and/or portable wireless device is then
operative to send at least one parcel
removal message to the central system circuitry, at step 266. The at least one
parcel removal message includes
parcel removal data corresponding to the identifying indicia read by the at
least one sensor from the deposit item and
the weight data. In other exemplary arrangements the parcel removal data may
include other data that can be
detected or read by one or more readers/sensors of the originating depository
and/or through operation of the item
carrier's portable wireless device. The central circuitry receives the parcel
removal data in the at least one parcel
removal message at step 268 and is operative at step 270 to verify that the
parcel removal data corresponding to the
read indicia corresponds to the deposit item identifying data for the delivery
item that is to be taken by the identified
item carrier that has accessed the depository based on the correlated stored
data. The central circuitry may also
verify that the weight removed and/or the size and/or other property of the
item removed corresponds to removal of
the proper delivery item. The central circuitry then operates at step 272 to
send one or more correct parcel removal
messages to the originating depository, that indicate that the deposit item
identification indicia and user indicia is
appropriate. Alternatively or in addition the at least one correct parcel
removal messages may be sent to the carrier
contact device. The control circuitry of the depository may receive the
message data from the central circuitry as
represented at step 274 and is operative to provide an indication to the user
that the removal activity is appropriate as
represented at step 276. As previously discussed this indication may be given
through visual and/or audible
indication output by one or more output devices such as indicators on the
depository. Alternatively such indications
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
may be provided as outputs from the carrier contact device. Of course if the
deposit item removal activity or user
data is not appropriate, then negative indication outputs are provided either
through the depository indicators and/or
through messages that are sent by the central circuitry to the user's portable
wireless carrier contact device.
The control circuitry of the exemplary originating depository is then
operative responsive to the captured
image data from the sensors such as reading devices, and/or the detected
change in weight, to make a determination
of the action status that has been carried out by the item carrier with regard
to the identified deposit item.
Alternatively or in addition the determination may be carried out responsive
at least in part to a wireless message
from the carrier contact device responsive to an input from the user
indicating that they have removed the parcel.
This determination which is represented by step 278, is an action
determination that the deposit item has been
removed from the interior area of the depository. The control circuitry
associated with the originating depository
then senses for detection that the depository door has been closed as
represented in step 280. As previously
discussed the control circuitry of the depository either alone or through
communication with the central circuitry,
may operate to prompt the user to close the depository door in the event that
closure is not detected within a
programmed time. The control circuitry then operates to cause the lock to be
changed to the locked condition once
the door is closed as represented by step 282. The control circuitry then
operates to send one or more delivery item
parcel removal messages to the central circuitry indicating that the deposit
item has been removed and taken from
the depository by the item carrier as represented by step 284. As can be
appreciated this process may be carried out
for multiple parcels that are to be transported by the item carrier.
Responsive to the central circuitry receiving the one or more delivery item
parcel removal messages from
the depository and/or the carrier contact device that the deposit item has
been taken by the item carrier, the
exemplary central circuitry operates as indicated at step 286 to update the
status data for the deposit item in the
associated data store to indicate that the deposit item is with the authorized
item carrier. In some exemplary
arrangements the central circuitry then operates to cause at least one pick up
request confirmation message to be sent
to the portable wireless carrier contact device of the item carrier who has
taken the deposit item to confirm that they
have the item. This is represented by step 288. The portable wireless carrier
contact device of the item carrier
operates in accordance with its programming to cause one or more outputs that
prompt the item carrier to confirm
that they have received possession of the deposit item. This is represented at
step 290. As represented at step 292,
the user's portable wireless carrier contact device operates responsive to at
least one confirmation input from the
item carrier to send one or more wireless delivery item possession
confirmation messages to the central circuitry to
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
confirm that the user received possession the deposit item. Of course it
should be understood that in other
exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may omit the confirmation
steps 286 through 292. This is
particularly true in situations where the user indicates that they have the
item by providing an input to their carrier
contact device indicating they have taken the item and/or the user scans the
parcel identifying indicia using the
camera on the device, which results in wireless messages to the central system
circuitry.
Responsive to the central circuitry receiving the delivery item possession
confirmation messages from the
user's portable wireless carrier contact device at step 294, or in some
arrangements more directly responsive to one
or more parcel removal messages, the central circuitry operates to recover
from memory or otherwise resolve the
destination depository for the item carrier to deliver the deposit item. This
is represented at step 296. The
.. exemplary central circuitry further operates to generate a one-time access
delivery code to be input by the item
carrier to the destination depository into which the item carrier is to place
the deposit item. This is represented by
step 298. The exemplary central system circuitry is further operative to store
in colielated relation the data
corresponding to at least two of the delivery item identifier, the item
carrier identifying information, the one time
access code, and the depository/interior area into which the delivery item is
to be placed. The exemplary central
.. circuitry is next operative to send at least one item transport delivery
message including data corresponding to the
one-time item carrier access code and the location information for the
destination depository to the user's portable
wireless carrier contact device. This is represented by step 300. The
exemplary central circuitry continues to
monitor the location of the portable wireless carrier contact device of the
item carrier through GPS as the deposit
item is transported toward the destination depository. This is represented by
step 302.
As represented by step 304, in the exemplary system the portable wireless
device of the transport user is
operative to receive in the at least one item transport delivery message the
data regarding the depository location and
the one-time item carrier access delivery code. The portable wireless carrier
contact device operates in accordance
with its programming to direct the item carrier through use of the GPS data or
other location data to the destination
depository or other location at which the deposit item is to be deposited.
This is represented by step 306. Upon
arrival at the destination depository the item carrier operates their portable
wireless device to cause the user
identifying data including the user ID token to be sent from the user's device
to the RF input device of the
depository. This is represented by step 308.
The control circuitry associated with the destination depository is operative
to receive the wireless user
identifying information as represented by step 310. The control circuitry is
also operative to enable receipt through
32
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
the keypad or in some arrangements the wireless portal of the destination
depository, of the input access code value
corresponding to the one-time item carrier access delivery code from the item
carrier. This is represented by step
312. The control circuitry associated with the destination depository is
operative to send the received user
identifying data, the input access code value, and depository identifying data
to the central circuitry in at least one
repository access message as represented by step 314. The exemplary central
circuitry is operative to receive the
data in the at least one repository access message as represented by step 316,
and operates to verify that the received
user data corresponds to the item carrier and that the input access code value
corresponds to the one-time item
carrier access delivery code as represented in step 318. The exemplary central
circuitry is then operative to send at
least one repository access approval message to the depository which includes
data indicative that the received user
.. data and the code data are appropriate based on the corrected stored data,
and that the central system circuitry
determined interior area of the destination depository should be unlocked so
as to make the designated interior area
of the destination repository accessible. This is represented by step 320.
The control circuitry of the exemplary destination depository is operative to
receive the repository access
approval message data from the central circuitry as represented by step 322.
Responsive to the at least one
repository message from the central circuitry being received and verified, the
control circuitry associated with the
destination depository is operative to cause the lock thereof to be changed to
the unlocked condition as represented
in step 324. As a result the designated interior area of the destination
repository is externally accessible so that the
delivery item may be placed therein by the item carrier. Responsive to
detecting that the depository door has been
opened, the exemplary control circuitry is operative to cause the reading
devices to capture the machine readable
indicia including the identifying indicia on the deposit item being placed in
the designated interior area of the
destination depository as represented by step 326. Alternatively the item
carrier may use their portable wireless
device to capture an image of the parcel identifying indicia and/or the
depository to document placement of the item.
The control circuitry is also operative to cause images horn the reading
devices and the change in weight detected
by the at least one weight sensor to be captured and stored in the at least
one data store along with the data
corresponding to the captured identifying indicia on the deposit item, to
document the accessing of the depository
and the placement of the deposit item therein. This is represented by step
328.
The exemplary control circuitry associated with the destination depository is
next operative to send at least
one parcel insertion message which is alternatively referred to herein as a
parcel placement message, to the central
system circuitry as represented in step 330. The exemplary at least one parcel
insertion message includes data
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
corresponding to the indicia read and/or sensed from the deposit item
including the machine readable indicia.
Alternatively in some arrangements the parcel insertion message may be sent by
the carrier contact device
responsive to using the device to read the parcel identifier and receiving at
least one input indicative of placement in
the depository. The central circuitry receives the data included in the at
least one parcel insertion message at step
332 and verifies that the indicia read and/or sensed from the deposit item
(size, weight or other information or
properties) corresponds to the correlated stored data for deposit item to be
deposited in the destination depository.
This includes verifying that the read machine readable indicia read from the
deposit item placed in the destination
depository corresponds to the delivery item identifier. The central circuitry
also verifies that the identifying data
associated with the user corresponds to the user that is authorized to place
the delivery item into the depository.
This is represented by step 334. The central circuitry is then operative to
send one or more correct parcel placement
verification messages to the control circuitry of the destination depository
to indicate that the received identifying
indicia on the deposit item is correct. Alternatively or in addition the at
least one correct parcel verification message
may be sent to the carrier contact device. This is represented by step 336.
The exemplary control circuitry of the
depository receives the at least one correct parcel placement verification
messages from the central circuitry as
represented in step 338 and provides one or more outputs to the user to
indicate that the indicia read and/or sensed
from the deposit item is appropriate as represented in step 340. The at least
one output may be provided by at least
one output device of the destination depository and/or through an output
device of the carrier contact device. The
exemplary control circuitry associated with the depository may then be
operative to analyze the captured image data
and/or weight data to determine the action status associated with the deposit
item. As represented in step 342 the
control circuitry is operative to determine an action status that the deposit
item has been received into the interior
area of the depository.
In other exemplary arrangements the control circuitry associated with the
depository may operate in an
alternative manner to provide the authorized user with access to the interior
area so that the deposit item may be
placed therein. In such alternative arrangements the control circuitry may
operate to receive the user identifying
data wirelessly from the mobile wireless device associated with the user in a
manner like that previously discussed.
This may be done for example through a wireless input device such as a
wireless transceiver in operative connection
with the control circuitry that is operative to control access to the
depository. Further in this alternative
arrangement, a camera of the portable wireless device associated with the item
carrier may be utilized as the reading
device which is operative to read the item identifying indicia on the deposit
item. The mobile carrier contact device
34
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
may then operate to wirelessly communicate the item identifying indicia to the
control circuitry. This may be done
through the same or a different wireless communication path as the user
identifying information. The control
circuitry may then operate in accordance with its circuit executable
instructions to make a determination based on
the correlated stored data that the user identifying information corresponds
to an authorized user, as well as a
determination that the read item indicia corresponds to a deposit item that is
authorized to be placed within the
depository. The control circuitry may then operate in accordance with its
programmed circuit executable
instructions to cause the corresponding lock associated with the depository
door to be changeable to the unlocked
condition responsive at least in part to the user identification
determination, the determination that the deposit item
indicia corresponds to previously stored data indicative that the item is
authorized to be placed in the respective
interior area of the depository, or both. Further in some alternative
exemplary arrangements, the control circuitry
may operate responsive at least in part to the read item identifying indicia,
which may include additional information
about the item, to operate to cause the corresponding lock to be able to be
placed in the unlocked condition. For
example in some exemplary arrangements the item indicia included on the
deposit item may correspond to a
destination repository or a location in which the deposit item is to be
delivered. In some exemplary arrangements
the control circuitry may operate to determine if the item indicia includes
data corresponding to the GPS determined
location and/or identifying information for the depository in which the item
is sought to be positioned. Responsive
at least in part to the determination, the control circuitry is operative to
enable the depository lock associated with
the interior area in which the item is authorized to be placed, to be
changeable to the unlocked condition. Further
although in the exemplary arrangements the data regarding item carrier contact
information and/or one-time access
code, the delivery item identifier or other information may be received from a
carrier contact device through an
input device such as a wireless portal that is located at the particular
depository, in other arrangements such
information may be received through at least one wireless transceiver located
remotely from the depository. For
example, in such arrangements location data, such as GPS data associated with
the location of the carrier contact
device, may be provided to the central system circuitry in the messages from
the carrier contact device. Such
location data may be usable by the central system circuitry to determine that
the carrier contact device is in
proximity to a particular depository. Thus in such alternative arrangements it
is not necessary for the local circuitry
associated with the particular depository to receive the messages from the
carrier contact device for purposes of
assuring that the carrier contact device is in proximity to the depository and
the item carrier is positioned to place the
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
delivery item in or remove the delivery item from the depository. Of course it
should be understood that these
approaches are exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches may be
used.
The exemplary control circuitry then operates in accordance with its
programming after the deposit item is
placed in the interior area to sense for closure of the depository door. This
is represented by step 344. As
previously discussed the exemplary control circuitry may provide different
forms of prompts to the user in the event
that the depository door is not sensed as closed within a programmed time.
Responsive to detecting the closure of
the depository door the control circuitry of the destination repository
operates to change the condition of the lock to
the locked condition as represented by step 346. The exemplary control
circuitry is then operative to send one or
more delivery completion messages from the depository to the central system
circuitry to indicate that the deposit
item is within the designated interior area of the depository as represented
by step 348. Alternatively or in addition a
delivery completion message may be sent by the carrier contact device
responsive to at least one input thereto by the
item carrier. The exemplary central circuitry responsive to receiving the
delivery completion messages, operates to
update the status related to the deposit item in its associated data store to
indicate that the deposit item is located
within the particular destination depository. This is represented by step 350.
In situations where the delivery completion message is not sent from the
carrier contact device, the
exemplary central circuitry is next operative to send one or more delivery
confirmation request messages to the
portable wireless carrier contact device of the item carrier requesting
confirmation that the deposit item has been
placed in the destination depository. This is represented by step 352. The
portable wireless carrier contact device of
the item carrier operates responsive to the received messages to provide
outputs which prompt the user to confion
the placement of the deposit item in the destination depository. This is
represented by step 354. Responsive to
receipt of at least one input from the item carrier the portable wireless
carrier contact device is operative at step 356
to provide one or more delivery confirmation response messages to the central
circuitry confirming that the user has
placed the deposit item in the interior area of the destination depository. In
other exemplary arrangements the
confirmation steps 352 through 356 are not carried out.
The central circuitry of the exemplary embodiment is operative responsive to
at least in part receipt of the
delivery confirmation response messages from the transport user at step 358 or
more directly responsive at least in
part to the at least one delivery completion message, to determine that the
item carrier has completed the transport
assignment and to calculate a payment that is due to the item carrier as
represented at step 360. The exemplary
central circuitry is then operative to credit the item carrier for a payment
amount corresponding to the payment that
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
is due as represented at step 362. This may include crediting an account
associated with the item carrier for the
amount payable. Alternatively it may include a financial transfer to an
account associated with the item carrier.
Various payment folins may be accomplished depending on the arrangement that
has been set up by the central
system circuity for making payment to the particular item carrier. The
exemplary central circuitry then operates to
send one or more messages to the carrier contact device of the item carrier
indicating the payment as represented at
step 364. The item carrier receives the notice of the payment through the
portable wireless carrier contact device
which outputs appropriate messages to the item carrier user as represented at
step 366. Of course it should be
understood that these steps are representative of only some exemplary payment
transactions that may be carried out
responsive to operation of the central circuitry.
In this example the initial item carrier was available only to transport the
deposit item to a destination
depository at an intermediate destination, and not to the final destination
depository for the deposit item. Therefore
responsive to the determination that the deposit item has arrived at the
intermediate destination depository, the
exemplary central circuity is operative to determine a next destination
depository for the deposit item. This is
represented by step 368. As previously discussed the central circuitry will
try to have the deposit item reach its final
destination depository with a minimum number of intermediate destinations.
However if it is not possible with the
available item carriers to move the deposit item to its final destination with
the next transport assignment, the
exemplary control circuity will cause the deposit item to be moved to another
intermediate destination depository
that is closer to its final destination. However for purposes of this example
the next transport assignment will result
in the deposit item reaching its final destination depository. Of course it
should be understood that in other
arrangements delivery may be made to a recipient's address rather than to a
destination repository.
The exemplary central circuitry conducts a similar analysis to that previously
discussed with regard to
available item carriers for purposes of determining the next transport
assignment which can be made for the deposit
item. The central circuitry conducts an analysis of the available item carrier
information at step 370. The central
circuitry also reviews the rating data and other information for the available
item carriers as represented at step 372.
.. As represented at step 374 a comparative analysis is done of the available
item carrier data to pending transport jobs
to produce a match as represented at step 376. The exemplary central circuitry
will then operate to determine the
destination depository endpoint (or delivery location endpoint) for the
deposit item delivery to be made by the
available item carrier as represented at step 378. In this example the next
destination will be the destination
depository which is the final delivery destination for the deposit item.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The exemplary central circuitry is further operative to calculate the rate
information to be paid for the
transport by the available item carrier. This is represented at step 380. In
some exemplary arrangements the central
circuitry may operate to provide item carriers with incentives to transport
particular deposit items. For example, if
an item is not moving toward the final destination at an acceptable rate, the
central circuitry may offer a premium to
an available item carrier to transport the item. Of course this approach is
exemplary.
The exemplary central circuitry is then operative at step 382 to send one or
more opportunity messages to
the portable wireless carrier contact device of the selected item carrier
which describes the transport job that is
available. In the exemplary arrangement the data included in the at least one
opportunity message includes
information regarding the pickup originating depository, deposit item parcel,
transport route, endpoint destination
depository and monetary amount or rate to be paid to the available item
carrier. Of course in some cases additional
or different information may be provided. Further in some arrangements an item
carrier may be offered an
opportunity to transport multiple parcels to the same destination or to
multiple destinations along a common route.
The portable wireless carrier contact device of the item carrier receives the
at least one opportunity message as
represented by step 384. The portable wireless carrier contact device of the
item carrier operates responsive at least
in part to the received data included in the at least one opportunity message
to provide at least one an output which
indicates the details of the available transport job which the item carrier
can then review as represented at step 386.
If the item carrier wishes to accept the transport job, the item carrier
provides one or more inputs to their portable
wireless carrier contact device as represented at step 388, and the carrier
contact device operates to send one or more
item transport acceptance messages indicating a willingness to accept the
transport job as represented at step 390.
As represented by step 392 the central circuitry operates to receive the item
transport acceptance messages
including data indicating that the item carrier is willing to perform the
transport job, and reserves the transport
assignment for the item carrier as represented at step 394. The central
circuitry operates to generate a one-time
designated carrier access code for the item carrier as represented at step
396. The central system circuitry operates
to store the correlated data corresponding to at least two of the authorized
user identifying data for the user who has
accepted the item transport assignment, the delivery item identifying data,
the one time access code, and the interior
area/depository where the item will be placed in a manner like that previously
discussed. The central circuitry
operates to send at least one transport assignment message including data
corresponding to the one-time designated
carrier access code and the location data for the originating depository to
the user's portable wireless carrier contact
device as represented by step 398.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The portable wireless carrier contact device of the item carrier receives the
access code and location
information in the at least one transport assignment message as represented by
step 400. The portable wireless
carrier contact device operates in accordance with its programming and the
originating depository location
information to guide the user to the depository as represented by step 402. As
in the previous example the carrier
contact device may be tracked via GPS, cell phone data or other methodology.
Once arriving at the depository the
item carrier operates the portable wireless carrier contact device to send the
wireless identifying information such as
the ID token data that identifies the item carrier, to the RF input device of
the originating depository as represented
by step 404. The control circuitry of the depository receives the item carrier
user identifying information as
represented at step 406. The circuitry associated with the originating
depository also receives an input access code
that may correspond to the one-time designated carrier access code from the
item carrier as represented by step 408.
The depository control circuitry is then operative to send at least one
depository access request message including
data corresponding to the user identifying information, the one-time
designated carrier code and the depository
identifying information, to the central circuitry as represented by step 410.
The central circuitry receives the data included in the at least one
depository access request message from
.. the depository at step 412 and operates using the stored data to verify the
user identifying information corresponding
to the authorized item carrier and that the input access code corresponds to
the one-time designated carrier access
code as represented at step 414. The central circuitry is operative to send
one or more depository access approval
messages to the depository indicating that the received item carrier
identifying information and designated carrier
access code is appropriate for accessing the interior area of the originating
depository. This is represented by step
.. 416. The control circuitry associated with the depository receives the at
least one depository access approval
message from the central circuitry indicating that the depository is to be
opened and verifies the authenticity of the
message as represented at step 418. The control circuitry associated with the
depository is operative responsive at
least in part to the at least one depository access approval message to cause
the lock controlling access to the interior
area or compartment space where the deposit item is housed to be enabled to be
changed to the unlocked condition
as represented at step 420. The control circuitry is further operative to
operate at least one sensor to sense and/or
capture the machine readable deposit item identifying indicia on the deposit
item, image and/or size or other
property data and the change in detected weight as the item is removed from
the interior area of the originating
depository as represented by step 422. Alternatively the item carrier may
operate their portable wireless device to
capture one or more images of the item identifying indicia and the device
sends the image data and/or parcel
39
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
identifying indicia to the central circuitry. The exemplary control circuitry
also captures and stores images
associated with accessing the depository including the item carrier user and
the removal of the deposit item as
represented by step 424. The control circuity also associates time data with
the captured images. The control
circuitry is then operative to send at least one parcel removal message
including data corresponding to the deposit
identifying indicia, size, other property data and/or weight information to
the central circuitry as represented by step
426. Alternatively or in addition one or more parcel removal messages may be
sent by the carrier contact device.
The central circuitry is operative to receive the data included in the at
least one parcel removal message as
represented by step 428 and verify that the indicia read from the deposit
item, size property data and/or weight data
corresponds to the deposit item to be taken by the user whose identifying data
has been received as represented at
step 430. This may include verifying that machine readable indicia read from
the deposit item coliesponds to the
deposit item identifier. The central circuitry is then operative to send one
or more correct parcel verification
messages to the depository indicating that the information received related to
the deposit item and the user is collect.
Alternatively or in addition the one or more correct parcel verification
messages may be sent to the carrier contact
device. This is represented by step 432.
The depository is operative to receive the data included in the at least one
correct parcel verification
messages from the central circuitry as represented by step 434 and to provide
an indication to the user from an
output device that the identifying indicia for the deposit item being removed
is correct as represented at step 436.
Alternatively or in addition the central circuitry may operate to send the
confirmation message to the item carrier's
portable wireless device. Of course as previously discussed, if the indicia,
size, property and/or weight associated
with the deposit item and/or the user data is incorrect, a warning indication
is output from an output device of the
depository and/or the user's portable wireless carrier contact device to
indicate the error. The control circuitry
associated with the exemplary depository is then operative to determine from
the sensors of the originating
repository which comprise reading devices and/or messages from the carrier
contact device, the action status
associated with the deposit item. In this case the action status corresponds
to the deposit item being removed as
indicated at step 438. The exemplary control circuitry of the depository then
operates to sense the closure of the
depository door as represented by step 440 and to change the condition of the
lock to the locked condition as
represented at step 442. The depository control circuitry is then operative to
send one or more delivery item parcel
removal messages to the central circuitry which are indicative of and give a
notification that the deposit item has
been taken as represented by step 444.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The exemplary central circuitry is then operative to update data in at least
one data store to update the status
of the deposit item to indicate that the deposit item is with the item carrier
as represented by step 446. In some
arrangements the central circuitry may also cause one or more confirmation
request messages to be sent to the
transport user's portable wireless carrier contact device requesting
confirmation that the item carrier has possession
of the deposit item. This is represented by step 448. The portable wireless
device of the transport user operates to
receive these confirmation request messages and to provide outputs to the item
carrier indicating the request for
confirmation. This is represented by step 450. Responsive to the item carrier
providing inputs which confirm the
item carrier has possession of the deposit item, the portable wireless carrier
contact device sends one or more
confirmation response messages to the central circuitry confirming possession
of the deposit item by the user. This
is represented by step 452.
Responsive to the central circuitry receiving the at least one confirmation
response message from the item
carrier's portable wireless carrier contract device at step 454 and/or the
parcel removal messages, the central
circuitry is operative to recover data corresponding to the destination
depository for the deposit item at step 456 and
to generate the one-time item carrier access delivery code usable by the item
carrier to access the depository at the
destination as represented at step 458. The central circuitry is then
operative to send at least one item transport
delivery message including data corresponding to the one-time code and the
location of the destination depository to
the carrier contact device at step 460. The central system circuitry further
operates to store the correlated data
corresponding to at least two of the authorized item carrier identifying
information, the one time access code, the
deposit item identifying data, and the interior area/destination repository
data in the at least one data store.
The portable wireless carrier contact device of the item carrier receives the
data including the one-time
code and the depository location in the at least item transport delivery
message at step 462. The user operates the
portable wireless carrier contact device to be guided to the destination
depository through GPS or other location
finding methods as represented by step 464. The central circuitry of the
exemplary arrangement tracks the item
carrier through GPS tracking as represented by step 466. Upon arrival at the
destination depository the item carrier
operates their portable wireless carrier contact device to provide their user
identification data such as the ID token to
the RF input device of the depository as represented at step 468. The control
circuitry is operative to receive the
user identifying data as represented at step 470. The keypad or the wireless
portal of the depository is also operative
to receive an input access code corresponding to the one-time item carrier
access delivery code from the item carrier
as represented at step 472. The control circuitry of the depository is
operative to send data corresponding to the user
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
identifying data, the input access code corresponding to the one-time item
carrier access delivery code and
depository identifying data to the central circuitry in at least one
depository access request message as represented at
step 474.
The central circuitry receives the data included in the at least one deposit
access request message from the
destination depository as represented at step 476 and operates using the
stored data to verify the user identifying data
and the input access code as corresponding to the one-time item carrier access
delivery code as authorized at step
478. The central circuitry is operative to send one or more access approval
messages to the depository indicating
that the received data is appropriate as represented by step 480, and the
control circuitry of the depository is
operative to verify the received message data at step 482. Responsive to the
received at least one access approval
message indicating that the user data and the code data is authorized, the
control circuitry of the depository is
operative to cause the lock controlling access to the interior area or
compartment space where the central system
circuitry has determined the deposit item should be placed to be changed to
the unlocked condition as represented by
step 484. The control circuitry operates the sensors comprising reading
devices to capture the indicia on the deposit
item, size, property and/or weight data for the deposit item that is being
placed in the interior area of the destination
depository as represented by step 486. Alternatively the item carrier may
capture the item indicia of the parcel
placed in the interior area and send such images and/or data corresponding to
the indicia to the central circuitry. The
control circuitry also operates the sensors comprising reading devices to
capture images including the item carrier
access to the depository and the placement of the deposit item therein, and to
store the image data along with
associated time data in the data store of the control circuitry. This is
represented by step 488.
The control circuitry associated with the depository is operative to send at
least one parcel placement
message including data corresponding to the indicia read and/or sensed from
the deposit item to the central circuitry
as represented by step 490. Alternatively or in addition at least one parcel
placement message may be sent by the
carrier contact device. The central circuitry receives the identifying indicia
at step 492 and is operative in a step 494
to verify that the identifying indicia, size, property and/or weight
information corresponds to the appropriate deposit
item and that the user identifying data corresponds to the appropriate user.
The exemplary central circuitry is also
operative to verify that the read machine readable indicia from the deposit
item corresponds to the delivery item
identifier. The central circuitry is operative to send one or more messages
verifying the correctness of the input data
and deposit item as represented at step 496. The at least one correct parcel
verification messages may alternatively
or in addition be sent to the carrier contact device. The control circuitry of
the depository receives the one or more
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
messages as represented by step 498 and provides one or more outputs through
the indicators or other output devices
of the depository that the deposit information is correct as represented by
step 500.
The control circuitry associated with the depository is operative to determine
the action status of the deposit
item from the data captured by the reading devices. As represented in step 502
the action status determination
indicates that the deposit item has been received into the depository. The
control circuitry operates to sense the
closing of the depository door in a step 504, and responsive to sensing the
door closure changes the lock to the
locked condition as represented by step 506. The control circuitry of the
depository then operates to send one or
more deposit item received messages to the central circuitry to indicate that
the deposit item is located within the
depository. This is represented by step 508. Responsive to receiving the
messages indicating that the deposit item is
within the depository the central circuitry is operative to update the stored
record data regarding the deposit item in
the data store to indicate that the deposit item is within the particular
destination depository as represented by step
510.
In some arrangements, the exemplary central circuitry then operates to cause
one or more confirmation
request messages to be sent to the portable wireless carrier contact device of
the item carrier requesting confirmation
that the deposit item has been placed in the depository. This is represented
by step 512. The portable wireless
carrier contact device of the item carrier receives the messages and provides
outputs to the user indicating the
request for confirmation. This is represented by step 514. Responsive to
inputs by the user to their portable wireless
carrier contact device confirming the placement of the deposit item in the
depository, the portable wireless carrier
contact device is operative to send one or more delivery confirmation response
messages as represented at step 516.
Responsive to the central circuitry receiving the at least one delivery
confirmation message that the deposit
item has been placed in the depository at step 518, the central circuitry is
operative to calculate the payment that is
due the item carrier for transport of the depository item. This is represented
by step 520. The central circuitry is
then operative to credit the transport user a payment amount for the transport
services provided as represented at
step 522. One or more messages are sent to the carrier contact device at step
524 which are received by the user's
portable wireless carrier contact device and which provide outputs to the item
carrier indicating the payment made
for the transport of the deposit item as represented at step 526.
Responsive to the determination by the central circuitry that the deposit item
has been delivered to the
indicated final destination depository, the central circuitry is then
operative to determine the deposit item recipient to
be notified of the delivery. The recipient data including recipient contact
data may be included in the at least one
43
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
transport request message associated with the receipt of the deposit item.
Alternatively in some arrangements the
delivery item delivery location data may correspond to recipient data. The
recipient data for registered users
including contact data for the user's device may be stored in a data store in
operative connection with the central
system circuitry. The determination of the recipient data is represented by
step 528. In exemplary arrangements the
recipient of the deposit item may be the owner of the depository into which
the deposit item has been placed as the
final destination. Alternatively the recipient to be notified may be a
registered user of the system that is not the
owner of the depository in which the item has been placed, which necessitates
notification and providing access for
the intended recipient.
An example where the recipient of the deposit item is the owner of the
depository is represented by the
.. logic flow included in Figures 28 through 30. Responsive to the central
circuitry determining that the depository
owner is the recipient of the deposit item to be notified in step 528, the
central circuitry operates to produce and at
least one notification message to the depository owner at step 530. The
central circuitry is also operative to generate
a one-time recipient access code for accessing the depository to retrieve the
deposit item at step 532. The central
circuitry then operates to send at least one recipient notification message
including data corresponding to the one-
time recipient access code to the portable wireless device or other contact
device of the depository owner as
represented at step 534. The central system circuitry further operates to
store in correlated relation the data
corresponding to at least two of the identifying data for the deposit item
recipient, the one-time code, the deposit
item identifier, and the interior area/depository in which the deposit item is
stored. The depository owner then
travels to the depository and inputs their identifying data wirelessly to the
RF input device of the depository as
represented by step 536. This identifying data may include an ID token
assigned through a registration process of
the central system circuitry. The control circuitry of the depository receives
the wireless messages including the
identifying data at step 538 and also operates to receive the one-time
recipient access code through the keypad,
wireless portal or other input device at step 540. The control circuitry of
the depository is then operative to send at
least one depository access request message including data corresponding to
the identification data, the input
recipient access code and the depository identifier to the central circuitry
at step 542.
The central circuitry operates to receive the data in the at least one
depository access request message at
step 544 and uses the stored data to verify at step 546 that the received user
identifying data and recipient access
code data correspond to the data for authorized access to the interior area of
the destination depository housing the
deposit item. The central circuitry then operates to send one or more
depository access approval messages to the
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
depository as indicated at step 548. The control circuitry of the depository
receives and verifies the message data at
step 550 and changes the condition of the lock on the depository to the
unlocked condition as represented by step
552. The exemplary control circuitry of the depository operates to capture
through sensors and/or input devices the
deposit identifying indicia on the deposit item, size, property and/or weight
data associated with the deposit item
.. being removed from the depository as represented by step 554 and also
captures images of the recipient depository
user and the deposit item which are stored in the data store of the depository
control circuitry along with time data as
represented at step 556. Alternatively or in addition the user may operate
their mobile wireless device to capture
images of the item identifying indicia using a camera thereof and send it to
the central circuitry.
The exemplary control circuitry associated with the depository is operative to
send at least one parcel
removal message including data corresponding to the deposit item identifying
indicia, size, property and/or weight
data to the central circuitry as represented at step 558. The central
circuitry receives the data at step 560 and at step
562 verifies that the indicia, size, property and/or weight data sent
regarding the deposit item and the user
identifying data, corresponds to the authorized removal of the deposit item
from the depository. Alternatively or in
addition the central circuitry receives the parcel identifying indicia and/or
other images or data from the recipient's
portable wireless device. In the exemplary arrangement the central circuitry
is operative to determine that machine
readable indicia read from the removed deposit item corresponds to the deposit
item identifier. The central circuitry
is operative at step 564 to send one or more correct parcel removal messages
to the depository indicating that the
received infoimation is appropriate. The control circuitry of the depository
receives the one or more correct parcel
removal messages at step 566 and provides an indication through the one or
more indicators or other output devices
of the depository that the deposit item removal data is appropriate at step
568. Alternatively or in addition the at
least one correct parcel removal message may be sent to the recipient device.
The exemplary control circuitry associated with the depository is then
operative to determine from the
captured image data, size, property and/or weight data the action status of
the deposit item. This is done in a step
570 in which the action status that the deposit item has been removed from the
depository is determined. The
.. control circuitry then operates to sense the closing of the depository door
in step 572 and causes the condition of the
lock to be changed to the locked condition in a step 574. The control
circuitry of the depository then operates to
send one or more parcel removed messages to the central circuitry to indicate
that the deposit item has been removed
from the depository at step 576.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The exemplary central circuitry then operates to update the status data
included in one or more data stores
of the central circuitry to indicate the deposit item has been removed from
the depository as represented in step 578.
In some arrangements the central circuitry operates to send one or more
recipient confirmation request messages to
the portable wireless device or other device of the recipient depository owner
to confirm that they have taken the
deposit item as represented by step 580. The portable wireless device or other
device of the recipient depository
owner receives the receipt confirmation request messages and provides outputs
indicating that the confirmation is
requested. This is represented by a step 582. Responsive to the depository
owner providing one or more inputs to
their portable wireless or other recipient device confirming receipt of the
deposit item, the recipient device operates
to send one or more recipient confirmation response messages to the central
circuitry as represented by step 584.
The central circuitry receives the at least one recipient confittnation
response message from the depository
owner at step 586. Responsive to receiving the confirmation that the deposit
item has been received by the intended
recipient, the central circuitry operates to send one or more messages to the
user device of the shipper user who is
responsible for causing transport of the deposit item to the recipient. This
is represented by step 588. Receipt of the
information by the shipper who is the originator of the deposit item is
represented by step 590. The exemplary
central circuitry is also operative at step 592 to calculate the charge
associated with the transport of the deposit item
and to assess the charge to the shipper entity that requested the transport.
The entity requesting the transport is
notified of the charge through one or more messages which are sent at step 594
and which are received by the user
who is the shipper through their portable wireless device at step 596. In the
exemplary arrangement the charges are
assessed to the funds source in the manner as designated by the user
requesting transport at the time that the request
was input to the system. Of course these approaches are exemplary and in other
embodiments other approaches may
be used. For example in other arrangements the charges may be assessed to a
recipient.
The alternative exemplary logic flow when the recipient of the deposit item is
not the owner of the
destination depository is represented in Figures 31 to 34. In this exemplary
arrangement from step 528 the central
circuitry is operative to determine the deposit item recipient to be notified
as represented in step 598. The recipient
and/or recipient contact data may be included in the transport request
message. The recipient and/or recipient
contact data may alternatively be resolved by the central circuitry from the
delivery item destination location or
other data included in the request for transport based on stored registered
user data in the at least one data store for
the recipient. If the recipient is not a registered system user the central
control circuitry my require additional
information from the shipper user as part of the transport request such as an
invoice number or other data that can be
46
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
used to confirm the identity of the recipient. The central circuitry is
further operative to determine the one-time
recipient access code to be used to access the interior area depository in
which the deposit item is held at step 600.
The central circuitry is also operative to determine data stored in the
associated data store which corresponds to the
applicable requirements associated with the depository which houses the
deposit item as represented at step 602.
This may include restrictions placed on operation of the depository by the
depository owner, such as limited times
for access or other requirements which restrict use of the depository by
entities other than the depository owner.
The central system circuitry further operates to store in correlated relation
the data corresponding to at least two of
the deposit item recipient, the one-time code, the deposit item identifier,
and the interior area/depository in which
the deposit item is stored.
The exemplary central circuitry is operative to send data corresponding to the
notification and recipient
access code and other applicable requirements to the portable wireless device
(or other device) of the recipient in at
least one notification message as represented by step 604. The notification
message may include user identifying
data for the recipient that is usable in connection with obtaining the deposit
item if the recipient is not a registered
system user who has an ID token. In some situations the identifying data may
include an ID token or other
identifying data that was provided to the recipient during a registration
process that is required to participate in the
system. The portable wireless device is operative to provide outputs to the
recipient of the information needed to
access the depository to retrieve the deposit item. As can be appreciated, in
some arrangements the information sent
to the recipient may include GPS or other location data that facilitates the
recipient traveling to the depository to
obtain the deposit item.
In an exemplary arrangement the recipient upon being in proximity with the
depository operates their
portable wireless device to provide the user identifying data wirelessly to
the RF input device of the depository as
represented by step 606. The depository receives the identifying data as
represented by step 608 and also receives
the one-time recipient access code through the keypad, or wireless portal or
other input device as represented by step
610. In some cases the recipient user may also be required to input other
identifying data. The control circuitry is
operative to cause data corresponding to the received user identifying data,
the code data and depository identifying
data to be sent to the central circuitry in at least one depository access
request message as represented by step 612.
The central circuitry receives the data in the at least one depository access
request message as represented at step
614 and operates using the stored data to verify the received user identifying
data and the recipient access code data
as represented at step 616. The central circuitry is then operative in a
manner like that previously discussed to send
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one or more depository access approval messages to the depository indicating
that the activity is authorized and that
the depository interior area housing the deposit item should be unlocked. This
is represented by step 618.
The control circuitry associated with the depository is operative to receive
and verify the at least one
depository access approval message from the central circuitry as represented
by step 620. Responsive at least in part
to the receipt of the messages the control circuitry is operative to unlock
the lock to the interior area housing the
deposit item as represented by step 622 and to cause the sensors comprising
reading devices to capture the size,
properties and/or weight associated with the item and the machine readable
indicia on the deposit item removed
from the interior area of the depository as represented by step 624.
Alternatively or in addition the recipient may be
prompted to capture item identifying indicia from the parcel or other image
data through use of the camera on their
.. portable wireless device and transmit messages to the control circuitry or
this central circuitry including such image
data and/or indicia. The control circuitry is also operative to capture images
of the recipient user and the deposit
item, and store the images and size, property and/or weight data in the data
store associated with the control circuitry
along with time data as represented by step 626.
The control circuitry associated with the depository is operative to send data
corresponding to the indicia
.. read and/or sensed from the deposit item such as size, property and/or
weight data to the central circuitry in at least
one parcel removal message as represented by step 628. The central circuitry
receives the data from the depository
and/or the recipient device as represented by step 630 and operates to verify
that the received indicia and weight data
corresponds to the appropriate depository item and the user identifying data
received corresponds to the authorized
recipient as represented by step 632. In an exemplary arrangement the central
circuitry is operative to verify that the
machine readable indicia read from the removed deposit item corresponds to the
delivery item identifier. The
central circuitry is operative to send one or more correct parcel verification
messages to the depository indicating
that the information related to removal of the deposit item is correct. Such
messages may additionally or
alternatively be sent to the recipient device. This is represented by step
634. The control circuitry of the depository
is operative to receive the correct parcel verification messages from the
central circuitry as represented by step 636
and to provide one or more outputs through the indicators or other output
devices on the depository that the deposit
item information is correct as represented by step 638.
The control circuitry of the depository is then operative to analyze the
captured image data, size property
and/or weight data to determine the action status associated with the deposit
item as represented by step 640. In this
situation the control circuitry is operative to determine that the deposit
item has been removed from the depository.
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The control circuitry is also operative to sense for closure of the depository
door as represented by step 642, and
responsive to sensing the closure thereof, to cause the lock to be returned to
the locked condition as represented by
step 644. The control circuity of the depository is operative to send one or
more delivery completion messages to
the central circuitry indicating that the deposit item has been removed from
the depository as represented by step
646. The central circuitry is operative to receive the delivery completion
messages from the depository and update
the status data in the data store related to the deposit item to indicate that
the deposit item has been removed from
the depository as represented in step 648.
In a manner like that previously discussed, in some arrangements the central
circuitry is further operative to
cause one or more receipt confirmation request messages to be sent to the
portable wireless device of the recipient.
This is represented by step 650. The messages request confirmation that the
deposit item has been received by the
recipient. The portable wireless device of the recipient is operative
responsive to the messages to provide outputs
requesting such confirmation as represented by step 652. The recipient then
provides one or more inputs to their
portable wireless device confirming receipt of the deposit item as represented
by step 654. The recipient wireless
device operates responsive to the recipient inputs to send at least one
receipt confirmation response message to the
central circuitry. The central circuitry is operative to receive the at least
one receipt confirmation from the recipient
at step 656, and to send a notification message to the user device of the
shipper user that requested the transport of
the deposit item to indicate that the item has been received at step 658. The
portable wireless device of the shipper
user that requested the transport receives one or more delivery indication
messages as represented by step 660.
The exemplary central circuitry is also operative to calculate the charge to
be assessed to the shipper user
requesting transport of the deposit item for the transport thereof. This is
represented by step 662. The charge for
transport is assessed to the shipper user in the manner designated at the time
of requesting shipment, and the user is
notified of the charge as represented at step 664. The user receives the
charge notifications through their portable
wireless device as represented by step 667.
Further in this exemplary arrangement because the deposit item was delivered
to the recipient through the
depository that is owned by a depository owner other than the recipient, the
depository owner receives a payment for
the associated use of their depository in connection with the delivery of the
deposit item. In the exemplary
arrangement the central circuitry is operative to calculate a payment that is
due the depository owner as represented
in a step 668. In some exemplary arrangements the central circuitry is
operative to send one or more messages to
the portable wireless device or other system device operated by the depository
owner to indicate the receipt of the
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payments for the use of the depository. Alternatively in other exemplary
arrangements, the central circuitry may
operate to credit an account of the depository owner for such use of the
depository by offsetting the amount of
credits against charges to the depository owner for acceptance, transport
and/or delivery of deposit items. Of course
it should be understood that these approaches are exemplary and in other
embodiments other approaches may be
used.
It should be understood that while the examples provided discuss users dealing
with a single depository
item, in exemplary systems numerous different deposit items will be handled by
each authorized user. This may be
particularly true of item carrier users that simultaneously handle a plurality
of deposit items that are being
transported as a bundle or group between different depositories. The exemplary
embodiments help to assure that the
.. proper depository items are removed and deposited in the proper depository
for purposes of transporting the item to
the proper destination. The ability of the exemplary arrangements to provide
an indication of any incorrect actions
and to track the whereabouts of deposit items within the system at all times
facilitates the prompt and reliable
transport and delivery of such depository items.
Further the exemplary arrangements provide advantages for transport of items
between depositories by
.. enabling the transport to be made by individuals who often are otherwise
commuting or otherwise traveling to
locations where item transport can be conducted as an ancillary activity that
generates revenue for the users. Such
transport can also be made in incremental steps as previously discussed based
on the available transport users. The
ability to utilize such user resources can also provide more options for
transport of items, while reducing costs
compared to scheduled transport systems.
As previously discussed in other exemplary arrangements item carriers may
deliver deposit items to
recipient addresses rather than to an item depository as a final destination.
In such arrangements the item carrier
may use their carrier contact device for purposes of documenting the delivery
to the recipient. This may include for
example, using the carrier contact device as a reader to capture images of the
deposit item, including the identifying
indicia on the parcel, showing the parcel placed at the delivery location.
Alternatively or in addition an item carrier
may utilize the carrier contact device and the camera thereon to capture
images that show the recipient facility or the
individual to whom the item is delivered. In still other exemplary
arrangements the item carrier device may be
operated by the item carrier to receive audio or audiovisual acknowledgments
from the recipient to document the
delivery of the parcel. Exemplary carrier contact devices may also include
circuit executable instructions that enable
the item carrier to capture a "signature" of the parcel recipient through
signature capture via recipient finger contact
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
with the touchscreen of the carrier contact device or through other types of
inputs which the recipient has agreed
correspond to their legal signature. Messages including the parcel identifying
indicia, and delivery documentation
are transmitted to the central system circuitry from the carrier contact
device. In some arrangements the data sent
may also include position data, such as GPS data, which is indicative of the
location and time at which such
documentation was captured. Such information may be imbedded in metadata of
captured images for example. The
exemplary central system circuitry is operative to store in at least one data
store the delivery documentation in
connection with the other data related to the delivery item. Such record
information related to the delivery of the
parcel may be stored in at least one data store in connection with the central
circuitry for a programmed period of
time so that the delivery thereof to the recipient can be audited and
documented in the event that questions arise as to
the delivery or disposition of the particular parcel. Of course these
approaches are exemplary and in other
arrangements other approaches may be used.
Similar approaches may be used in some exemplary arrangements to have an item
carrier pickup deposit
items at an originating shipper address. The item carrier may operate their
mobile device to capture the item
identifying information and other item and shipper information to document
acceptance of the item for transport.
In exemplary arrangements the central system or other connected systems may be
further operative to
assure that the depositories operate properly and that malfunctions or
anomalies are detected and corrected
promptly. For example in exemplary arrangements the central system may operate
to receive information from the
control circuitry associated with each depository that is indicative of
conditions or statuses associated with the
devices that are included as part of the depository or that are in operative
connection therewith. In some exemplary
arrangements the control circuitry of each depository may be operative to
automatically report condition and/or
status information on a periodic basis to the central circuitry. Alternatively
or in addition the central circuitry may
be operative to periodically poll the control circuitry of each depository,
which polling messages are operative to
cause sending of information by the depository, and the receipt of the
condition or status information by the central
circuitry. Various combinations of such techniques and alternative
arrangements for obtaining condition and status
information associated with depositories may be provided in exemplary
arrangements.
The control circuitry of depositories in some exemplary arrangements may be
operative in accordance with
circuit executable instructions to monitor signals associated with the devices
included in or connected to the
depository. This may include sensors which are operative to detect errors or
malfunctions. For example, the control
circuitry may operate to detect situations where sensors such as cameras or
other image capture devices associated
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with the depository are no longer operative to send image signals or have
degraded clarity so as to indicate a loss of
image capture capability. Other signals may be operative to detect a
malfunction of other sensors, such as switches
that are operative to determine the status of the depository door or other
component monitored by the switch. In
other exemplary arrangements conditions associated with the lock or locks
associated with the depository door may
.. be monitored for purposes of detecting a malfunction or possible efforts at
tampering. In some exemplary
arrangements the circuitry may operate to monitor the operation of the one or
more sensors, such as property sensors
of the types previously discussed. Property sensors such as weight sensors,
size sensors, image sensors, and other
sensor types are monitored to determine if a sensor has malfunctioned or has
decreased sensitivity. Other sensors
may operate to detect abnormal conditions such as high or low temperatures
which may indicate a problem or a
.. malfunction. Other sensors may operate to detect smoke or other particulate
matter which may indicate combustion
or other possible problems. Additional sensors may be operative to detect the
temperature of the control circuitry, a
power supply and/or a battery or other element in connection therewith, for
purposes of determining a possible
malfunction.
In other exemplary arrangements conditions associated with sensors or devices
may be monitored to
.. determine malfunctions or other conditions indicative of problems or a
probable future problem. For example, if the
depository is located in an environment that needs to be illuminated such as
during evening hours, sensors may be
operative to monitor for the presence of a level of ambient lighting that
operates to illuminate the area of the
depository for security masons. The absence of a sufficient level of ambient
illumination may be detected as an
unacceptable condition which needs to be remedied by the replacement of bulbs
or other illumination devices in the
area of the depository. Further in exemplary arrangements the circuitry may be
in operative connection with sensors
that are operative to detect the power draw associated with the operation of
depository devices. For example the
control circuitry may be operative to detect the power draw associated with
the electrical actuation needed for
locking or unlocking the lock of the depository. The values associated with
the power required for such activity
may be stored and monitored over time so that changes indicative of a
developing problem due to changes can be
determined. Alternatively or in addition, conditions associated with the
available power capabilities provided by a
battery and/or solar cells may be monitored to identify circumstances or
trends which indicate that the battery and/or
solar power source has failed or is exhibiting conditions which correspond to
probable upcoming failure. In some
exemplary arrangements such data may be stored and monitored over time. Such
data may be analyzed to determine
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trends which are indicative of the particular component nearing an end-of-life
condition or a probable future
malfunction.
In other exemplary arrangements the control circuitry may operate to monitor
connectivity associated with
wireless communications or other communication channels for purposes of
verifying that the depository is
maintaining the required communications capability with the central system.
The inability to maintain such
communications capability over a period of time may indicate problems
associated with the control circuitry and/or
the network in which the depository is connected. Further in exemplary
arrangements the depository may include
sensors which may sense conditions that are indicative of a criminal attack on
the depository. These may include for
example conductivity integrity sensors which are positioned in the walls, a
bottom and/or one or more doors of the
depository and which are operative to detect holes, cutting action or other
attempts to access the depository interior.
In other exemplary arrangements seismic sensors may be included in
depositories for purposes of detecting
circumstances under which a depository may be moved or may be subject to
impacts for purposes of attempting to
steal or breach the depository. Still in other exemplary arrangements sensors
may be provided in or adjacent to the
depository for purposes of determining external conditions such as fire,
smoke, heat, flood or other conditions which
are problematic to the operation of the depository unit. Of course these
conditions which may be monitored and
analyzed are exemplary, and in other embodiments other conditions may be
detected and approaches may be used.
In exemplary arrangements the control circuitry associated with the depository
may operate to analyze
signals or conditions, and send messages to notify the central system
circuitry of the particular condition. In some
exemplary arrangements the depository control circuitry may be configured to
operate so that detection of the
condition may be automatically notified to the central system circuitry as
soon as it is detected. This may include
categories of urgent conditions such as circumstances which correspond to
criminal attacks that attempt to access the
interior of the depository. In other circumstances data corresponding to other
less urgent conditions may be stored
as status data in one or more data stores associated with the depository
control circuitry. Such status condition
information may be sent individually or in combination with other status
information to the central system circuitry
when the depository is polled or otherwise requested to submit status data. Of
course these approaches are
exemplary and in other embodiments other approaches may be used.
In some exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may be operative
to include data
corresponding to acceptable operating parameters and ranges for the operation
of components included in
depositories. Such stored data may correspond to a model, template or other
arrangement of information that
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provides suitable ranges for detected readings, parameters or conditions when
a depository is operating properly. In
exemplary arrangements communications between the central system circuitry and
the control circuitry of each
depository may be operative to determine the information from the depository
necessary to compare the status
information associated with the depository to the stored data. The central
circuitry may operate in accordance with
its programmed instructions to identify anomalies or irregularities in the
data from the depository and to determine
the condition or conditions indicated by this data. Further in exemplary
arrangements the central circuitry may be
operative to identify the remedial actions that are necessary in response to
the data that is received from a
depository.
In exemplary arrangements in response to determining abnormal conditions,
problems, malfunctions or
developing conditions at a depository, the central system circuitry may
operate in accordance with its programmed
circuit instructions to take programmed actions in response to such
determinations. Such programmed actions may
include for example, sending one or more messages to other systems to indicate
the need for repair, servicing or
other actions associated with the particular depository. In other
circumstances such actions may include notifying
appropriate authorities of the condition at a depository. For example if the
detected condition includes an attempted
theft, breach of the depository or fire condition, the central system
circuitry may operate to notify appropriate police
or fire authorities in the area where the depository is located. In other
circumstances the central system circuitry
may operate in accordance with its programming to communicate with other
systems to schedule a service call or
other remedial or preventive maintenance at the particular depository to
correct conditions and/or to replace parts
that may be reaching the predicted end of useful life. Of course these
approaches are exemplary and in other
embodiments other approaches may be used.
In still other exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may be
operative to communicate with
the depository to attempt remote correction of problematic conditions which
are detected. For example, in
circumstances where the depository or device included therein may not be
operating in a proper manner, the
exemplary system may operate to download to the control circuitry of the
depository, circuit executable instructions
that may correct or reduce the effect of the problem. This may include for
example, downloading to the control
circuitry of the depository a substitute script to be executed by the control
circuitry for purposes of controlling a
particular device. The central system may cause the download of instructions
that cause the control circuitry of the
depository to execute the substitute script and report the results to the
central system. The results reported may
indicate further steps that can be taken by the central system through
detecting signals from the control circuitry and
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downloading further scripts or other instructions for purposes of remotely
determining the problem and/or making
corrections. In other arrangements the central system may operate to cause the
control circuitry of a depository or
devices connected thereto to reboot or otherwise initialize in an attempt to
address problems or correct anomalies.
Of course it should be understood that these approaches are exemplary and in
other embodiments numerous other
approaches may be used.
As illustrated in Figure 35 there is provided an exemplary parcel transaction
monitor 3501, for a monitored-
access parcel depository, which is alternatively referred to herein as a
repository or a lock box. Deposit items and
delivery items are alternatively referred to herein as parcels or packages.
The exemplary repository (not shown),
includes control circuitry including at least one controller 3502 with
sensor/actuator arrays 3503 and 3504
respectively. The control circuitry is operable to monitor parcel transactions
for at least one of parcel delivery or
parcel extraction transactions in relation to said repository, and providing
for at least one of:
= An incipient transaction detection module 3505 for prospectively
detecting an incipient parcel
transaction in relation to the repository of an at least one of a possible
parcel for delivery transaction, or a possible
parcel carrier intent on a repository parcel transaction;
= A parcel transaction characterization module 3506 for differentially
characterizing a parcel
transaction; or,
= A parcel-inventory and transaction-recording module 3507 for sensing a
change in repository
parcel inventory resulting from a repository parcel transaction.
These exemplary modules are adapted to variously employ elements and functions
of said controller and
array for the respective operations thereof, and the elements and functions of
the controller and array may be
variously shared between the modules in the execution of their respective
operations.
An incipient transaction detection module 3505 is comprised of a controller
3502 and sensor/actuator
arrays 3504/3503 for use with a controlled-access parcel repository which
includes an at least one sensor for
detecting proximity (which may involve physical contact with the repository or
something more distant) of a
possible parcel for delivery or a possible parcel carrier intent on a
repository parcel transaction.
By way of example, this module may employ for this purpose, the controller
with ones or combinations of
sensors/actuators of said array, including:
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
= Accelerometers, or similar repository movement or contact detectors,
(e.g. even something as
simple as a contact switch ¨ such as a button or a keyboard, or the operation
of a parcel repository access door or
chute);
= Ultrasonic, photoelectric, infra-red, exogenous motion or presence
detectors; or,
= Proximity or estimated time of arrival by radio-frequency ¨ e.g. by
tracking a parcel or its carrier
location using a GPS signal through a smart phone or other communications
device (geo fencing, geo location etc.),
or more locally by detecting an RFID or NFC device signal, a Bluetooth device
or the like.
The proximity detection module may, on detection of such proximity, and
presupposing thereby a possible
parcel for delivery or a possible parcel carrier intent on a repository parcel
transaction, be operable to further actuate
one or both of the other modules. Accordingly therefore in aspects of
exemplary arrangements the incipient
transaction detection module may further operate an at least one actuator for:
= actuating a parcel transaction characterization module of said controlled-
access parcel repository
for differentially characterizing a parcel transaction.
= actuating a parcel-inventory and transaction-recording module for sensing
a change in repository
parcel inventory resulting from a repository parcel transaction.
In this way the transaction detection module may power-up other repository
modules which may have been
turned off or in a hibernating mode in the absence of a prospective parcel
transaction (as a power conservation
measure or to prepare such modules for use, in order to expedite the impending
parcel transaction).
In an aspect of an exemplary arrangement a parcel transaction characterization
module is comprised of a
controller and sensor/actuator array for use with a controlled-access parcel
repository, and including at least one
automated sensor operable to facilitate at least one of package or item
carrier identification sensing of a
corresponding at least one of a possible package or possible carrier
presenting at said repository, wherein said
module differentiates sensed identification sensor input thereof to
correspondingly:
= facilitate an impending pre-authorized transaction corresponding to said
identification; or,
= call for a real-time ad hoc user-mediated authorization for an impending
transaction, and facilitate
a call-responsive ad hoc user-mediated authorization for said impending
transaction; or,
= decline (by default, in the absence of at least one of the two above
mentioned "authorizations" to
actively facilitate an otherwise unauthorized impending transaction.
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Sensed identification sensor may be a controller and array associated camera
(which may include a facial
recognition facility) or scanner (e.g. bar code, or QR code or the like), a
voice or other acoustic input recognition
sensor, an RFID, Bluetooth or other parcel transaction identifier for input
into said module to differentiate between
and selectively facilitate the above operations.
In the instance of an impending pre-authorized transaction coliesponding to
said sensed identification
input, this module may employ a controller/array associated communications
module 3508 to signal specifics of the
impending transaction to, for example, the repositories owner/user and/or the
parcel carrier or carrier service.
In calling for a real-time ad hoc user-mediated authorization for an impending
transaction the parcel
transaction characterization module may actuate a communications module (which
the controller includes or
provides access to), to contact a user with a request for authorization of the
impending parcel transaction ¨ and
subject to a user's authorizing response thereto, to facilitate the impending
transaction as an authorized one.
In an instance of an identified pre-authorized transaction, or an instance
wherein a real-time ad hoc user-
mediated authorization is received in response to a call therefore, the parcel
transaction characterization module may
signal a latching actuator, as elaborated below in relation to an
accessibility control according to an aspect of an
exemplary arrangement.
Where the module operates otherwise than in facilitating an authorized
transaction, it may be operable to
notify a user (e.g. through said communications module as aforesaid) of an
unauthorized characterization status of
the presumed parcel transaction.
In another aspect of an exemplary arrangement there is provided a parcel-
inventory and transaction-
recording module, for use with a controlled-access parcel repository including
an at least one sensor for sensing a
change in package inventory resulting from a repository parcel transaction.
Parcel sizes may be employed (scanned or otherwise sensed as for example by
photo-detectors adapted to
detect the presence of parcels through interruption of a light beam), or
recorded images of the parcels may be stored
for these purposes, but an exemplary operation senses parcel weights, by way
of a weight (e.g. load) sensor that
measures the accumulated parcel weight secured within the interior of the
repository. The load or other inventory
sensor communicates with a controller-associated memory to log changes in the
sensed weight in association with
changes in the parcel inventory. In an exemplary arrangement, such a memory
correlates parcel transaction
identifications with the particular weight change (and time for embodiments
where the controller includes a clock
facility for such a purpose) associated with the sensed change in the
repository's parcel inventory.
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In an exemplary arrangement, there is provided an accessibility control, for a
controlled-access parcel
repository, and comprised of at least one controller with a sensor/actuator
array operable to selectively control
access to said parcel repository, and comprised of at least one controller
with a sensor/actuator array operable to
facilitate controlled-access parcel transactions for at least one of parcel
delivery or parcel extraction transactions in
relation to said repository, and providing a parcel transaction
characterization module for facilitating selective
locking and unlocking operations of a repository lock actuator, in association
with authorized parcel transactions
characterized by said parcel transaction characterization module. A latching
mechanism may be operated by an
actuator through the controller operation by the parcel transaction
characterization module.
The accessibility control may be used in association with any controlled
access repository, including by
way of example only, a building's vestibule, a parcel through-wall passage
portal, a garage door, a storage shed, a
chest or lock box or other such providing restricted access to an interior
space serving to secure parcels reposing
therein. Repositories of exemplary arrangements may, in addition to a secured
access thereto, may also provide an
unsecured access for facilitating parcel deliveries ¨ see for example the
provision of a one-way chute in the
repository embodiment depicted in Figures 36 through 39, which may provide for
delivery of parcels
notwithstanding the authorization status associated with any given delivery.
In such cases, the accessibility control
may be used to selectively facilitate authorized access to restricted areas of
the repository in question.
The accessibility control herein may further provide for at least one of the
incipient transaction detection
module or the parcel-inventory and transaction-recording modules mentioned
elsewhere herein.
In general, including in conjunction with modules 3505 ¨ 3507, communications
module 3508 may be
operated through controller 3505 to communicate sensor-related signals to
parties variously involved in a parcel
transaction; and to receive authorization and to control signals from such
parties, to operate actuators associated with
actuator array 3504. Cellular, Wi-Fi, land line, internet, or other
communications channels may be employed in this
connection Other exemplary aspects of the controller and array features
relating to an exemplary arrangement are
disclosed in relation to the embodiments of Figures 40 through 44 described
elsewhere herein.
Referring now also to Figures 36 through 39 there is illustrated various views
of an example of a parcel
repository related to aspects of exemplary arrangements.
In accordance with an aspect of an exemplary arrangement, there is provided a
parcel repository
comprising a free-standing parcel repository 3601, defining an enclosure
comprised, in part, by a top panel 3602a
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
adapted to cooperate with the enclosure's sides, back and bottom panel
assembly 3602b, and a molded cabinet face
frame 3602c.
This repository includes a one-way delivery chute 3603, providing an access
portal for introduction and
passage of a parcel delivery into said repository, but further including a
gate for interfering with removal through
that chute, of parcels secured within a secured storage bay portion of the
repository. External portions of the chute
which will be considered a door for purposes of this disclosure, include a
delivery chute front panel 3603a, and a
hinge 3603b for facilitating opening and closing of the panel as well as
operation of the chute 3603 more generally.
This repository further includes a selectively securable (e.g.
locked/unlocked) parcel storage bay 3604
having a hinged storage bay door hinge 3604a and a corresponding hinge 3604b
to facilitate the opening and closing
thereof. Storage bay 3604 corresponds to an interior area of the repository.
Hinges 3603b and 3604b and mounted on respective portions of frame portion of
the cabinet face 3602c.
This repository arrangement (by way of example) provides for two delivery
modalities: one facilitated
through one-way delivery chute 3603; and the other directly into storage bay
3604 through selectively secured
hinged door 3604a. However, of these two distinct delivery modalities, only
the hinged door 3604a is adapted to
facilitate withdrawal of parcels from the storage bay 3604. This arrangement
flexibly facilitates parcel deliveries to
be made without necessarily requiring any particular pre-authorization or real-
time authorization, but necessitates
authorized access to storage bay 3604 in order to remove delivered parcels
from the secured storage bay 3604.
Repository 3601 also provides for an inner-delivery chute front interior panel
3603c for supporting parcels
for delivery during parcel introduction through delivery chute 3603 on its way
into storage bay 3604. Chute 3603 is
opened for a delivery transaction, by drawing a recessed handle 3603i forward
and downwardly, rotating front panel
3603a and attached hunt interior panel 3603c outwardly together, around hinge
3603b. Pivot anchors 3603f
(secured to front interior panel 3603c), in turn draw outwardly and downwardly
through pivot pins 3603k, pulling
tray 3603h to rotate by the pivot pins 3603k which are connected to connecting
arms 3603e to anchor 3603j on the
tray. Tray 3603h rotates in response to this action, around tray pivots 3603g
that connect tray 3603h to enclosure
side and back and bottom panel assembly 3602b ¨ and into a position that
provides a generally coplanar delivery
chute surface alignment with front interior panel 3603c. That co-planar
alignment facilitates the transfer of a parcel
from the panel 3603c onto the receiving surface 3603d of tray 3603h.
With a parcel positioned on the receiving surface 3603d of tray 3603h, the
return of front panel 3603a
towards its upright and ultimately re-closed position, rotates tray 3603h from
the coplanar alignment mentioned
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above, into an inclined orientation, which induces the parcel to slide along
and ultimately off of supporting tray
3603h, to release the parcel into the repository's interior area, where
delivered parcels accumulate in storage bay
3604, in supported relation on parcel repository bay floor 3608.
In the illustrated embodiment, parcel delivery transactions made through the
chute are not restricted by the
operation of the accessibility control.
Parcel bay floor 3608 is connected with a load sensor 3607, which is operable
to sense increases/decreases
in the accumulated weight of delivered parcels stored within storage bay 3604
on bay floor 3608, as parcels are
added by delivery transactions, or removed during pickup transactions to and
from repository 3601.
Controller 3609 is connected to an array of sensors and actuators, including
latch actuator 3604c an
acoustic transducer 3610, an on-board camera/scanner (not shown), and load
sensor 3607. Controller 3609 also
includes a power management connection for selectively powering the repository
operations using a utility line
voltage source (not shown) or battery power from battery 3606, or other power
sources (not shown, but including by
way of example, solar panels). The exemplary controller 3609 is also in
operative connection with a wireless
antenna 3605 to provide wireless communications.
The on-board camera provides for video and/or still pictures, as well as for
bar-code/QR-code scan sensing.
The acoustic transducer 3610 provides for audio signaling, and optionally for
audio pick-up (sound sensing). Load
sensor 3607 senses weight changes reflecting changes in parcel inventory
secured within repository 3601 interior
area ¨ and may further associate weight changes with particular parcel
transactions. Latch actuator 3604c facilitates
locking and unlocking operations of door 3604a to provide selective access to
storage bay 3604.
Referring now to Figures 40 through 44, there are illustrated examples of
aspects of exemplary
arrangements relating to a delivery lock box (i.e. repository) controller (or
controller module) for operating a
delivery lock box, and comprises a controller operable for controlling lock
box peripherals of arrays thereof to
provide discrete modular functional ities variously related to unattended-
delivery lock box convenience as well as
operational and forensic security, but more particularly to providing
combinations of modular functions variously
cooperating for providing augmented, and in some embodiments, real-time remote
user interface access for such
operational/forensic security. In accordance with an exemplary arrangement
there is provided discrete modular
functionalities variously related to unattended-delivery lock box convenience
as well as operational and forensic
security, as well as providing combinations of modular functions cooperating
variously for providing augmented,
and in some embodiments, real-time remote user interface access for such
operational/forensic security. More
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
particularly, exemplary arrangements include a (e.g. package) delivery lock
box controller module for operating a
delivery lock box having a controller operable for controlling lock box
peripherals including one or more of: a lock
box communications module; a camera and image recording module; a proximity
detection sensor module; a lock
box motion/shock detection sensor module; and/or a remote lock actuator
module.
The lock box communications module is adapted to facilitate RF (radio
frequency) communication of lock
box peripherals data to a lock box user, and may additionally variously
facilitate lock box peripheral control by the
user.
The camera and image recording module is adapted to be selectively operable
for pre-determinedly
capturing and recording at least one image of at least a portion of the lock
boxes surroundings. In an aspect of the
present arrangement, the camera may also serve a scanner/reader function.
The proximity detection sensor module may serve in the detection of a
triggering presence within a range
proximal to the lock box and signaling (buzzer or other acoustical device, or
RF e.g. through the lock box
communications module) a proximity notification of such presence.
The lock box motion/shock detection sensor module, operable for detecting a
triggering lock box motion or
shock and signaling (buzzer or other acoustic or illumination device, or RF
signaling e.g. through the lock box
communications module) a motion/shock detection notification.
The remote lock actuator module operable by an authorized remote user to
operate the lock actuator
module's lock actuator.
A controller module in the context of exemplary arrangements can be, for
example, a chip, an expansion
card, or a stand-alone device that interfaces with one or more peripheral
devices. Preferably, the controller module
comprises a single board implementation comprising a central processing unit
(processor) that processes data,
memory that holds the programs and data to be processed (although memory may
alternatively be located off-
board), and I/O (input/output) devices as interfaces that communicate with
diverse peripheral devices.
Figure 40 schematically depicts an embodiment of a control module 4001
according to an exemplary
arrangement, comprising a printed circuit board 4002, a processor 4003, a
memory 4004, an I/O processor interface
4005, and on-board I/O devices 4006 and I/O pin socket 4007 for connection to
off-board I/O devices (not shown).
In accordance with the exemplary arrangement, computer buses of one form or
another facilitate data
transactions between the processor, memory and these peripherals.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
Referring now to Figure 41, a block schematic representation is provided to
illustrate a generalized
relationship between processor 4003, memory 4004, and a plurality of interface
devices 4005a, 4005b and 4005c
associated with respective peripherals 4007a, 4007b and 4007c. Memory bus
4008, address bus 4009 and control
bus 4010 are also illustrated in an intermediary relationship with the
processor 4003, the interface devices 4005a-c.
The control bus is used by the processor for communicating with other devices,
while the address bus
carries the information about the device with which the processor is
communicating and the data bus carries the
actual data being processed, and the control bus carries commands from the
processor and returns status signals
from the devices. Where an address bus is used to specify a physical address ¨
such that when a processor or direct
memory access (DMA) enabled device needs to read or write to a memory
location, the address bus specifies that
memory location on the address bus, but the data value to be read or written
to or from that address, is sent on the
data bus. The memory bus typically connects the main memory to the memory
controller and is often designed to
connect directly to DRAM chips.
Referring now to Figure 42 there is depicted a function block diagram
depicting processor 4003
interactions with interface 4005, through the data bus 4008, the address bus
4009, and in the case of the control bus
4010 as I/O read and I/O write transactions 4010a and 4010b. Interface 4005 in
turn, transacts with I/0 devices such
as devices 4006 or peripherals 4007a-c, through an I/O bus 4011 including data
validation and acceptance
transactions 4012 and 4013.
Referring now to Figure 43, an exemplary embodiment of the controller module
is illustrated.
A main controller board 4002a, includes a general purpose I/O pin socket 4007,
servicing: door
lock/position sensors 4007d, for lock and door position sensors associated
with a delivery lock box locker door(s);
internal lighting control 4007e; external proximity sensor(s) 4007f; and, a
motion detector (accelerometer) 4007g.
Controller board 4002a further includes a PWM (pulse width modulation) output
4014 for controlling
analog circuits with a microprocessor's digital outputs ¨ in this instance, a
transaction interaction buzzer 4007h and a
theft alarm 4007i.
Also provided on controller board 4002a, is a DSPI serial interface connection
4015 which is a fully
configurable SPI master/slave device, facilitating the microcontroller's
communication with serial peripheral
devices ¨ in this case an SD memory card 4019.
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
Controller board 4002a also provides for a universal asynchronous
receiver/transmitter (UART) to serial
peripheral interface (SPI) interface connection 4016, which is used for
communication between SPI slave devices
(from a processor) and a UART port ¨ in this instance providing for a Wi-
Fi/Bluetooth radio peripheral 4020.
MIPI/USB interface connector 4017 enables USB connectivity to any image sensor
which is compliant
with Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Camera Serial Interface
standard ¨ connected in this case to
camera/jpeg encoder 4021.
Controller board 4002a also supports an i.MX6 processor 4018. Processor 4018
facilitates high-
performance scalable multimedia processing, and includes integrated power
management based on an ARM Cortex-
A9 processor supporting HD 1080p encode and decode operation and having
integrated I/0 for MIPI CSI-2 camera,
Gigabit Ethernet, multiple USB and PCI I/O. Power management is facilitated in
conjunction with processor 4018,
by way of power controller 4022, to control a hybrid power system based on
solar cells 4023 and lithium batteries
4024.
Referring now to Figure 44, an alternative embodiment depicting a controller
board housing 4051, housing
a controller board 4051a. Controller board 4051a can be designed to support a
generic application processor,
however, processor 4052 in this depicted embodiment is a PICO-IMX6 including
an ARM Cortex-A9 NXP i.MX6,
Small Footprint, System-on-Module (SoM) having WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth v.
4.1 communication interfaces
providing a compact form factor optimized for free-standing applications with
IoT connectedness. Alternative
embodiments may employ other processors, such as ARM core processors, or ARM
Cortex processors, such as for
example, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410e which is an ARM Cortex A53 processor.
Processor 4052 provides I2C bus connections 4053, 4054 and 4055. The PC bus is
a serial, half-duplex -
I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit), synchronous, multi-master, multi-slave, packet
switched, single-ended, serial
computer bus for attaching lower-speed peripheral ICs to processors and
microcontrollers in short-distance, intra-
board communications.
Connection 4053 is connected to GPIO expanders 4053a which are TCA5416A I/O
expanders for the two-
line bidirectional (I2C) bus and are designed to provide general-purpose
remote I/O expansion through the I2C
interface. Expanders 4053a are in turn connected to a Bluetooth WiFi pairing
button 4043b; an FET switch 4053c
which is adapted to be connected through enclosure 405 lto a connector 405 lb
and corresponding delivery lock box
connector 4051c, to delivery lock box external LED lights 4053e; an FET switch
4053d which is adapted to be
connected through connectors 4051b and 4051c, to delivery lock box door locks
actuators 4053f; and through
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
connectors 405 lb and 40451c to delivery lock box open door sensors (door
"open" contact) 4053g. Connector
4053h connects to delivery lock box internal LED lighting, and is co-operable
with sensors 4053g.
Connection 4054 supports both an accelerometer 4054a and a motion detection
module 4054b.
Accelerometer 4054a is provided by an LSM303 breakout board which combines a
magnetometer/compass
module with a triple-axis accelerometer in a compact navigation subsystem, and
its two pin I2C interface can be
shared by other I2C devices, in this case including module 4054b.
Motion detection module 4054b provides a motion sensor connection using an
LTC2451 16-bit, analog-to-
digital converter which also communicates through the I2C interface 4054. It
includes an integrated oscillator that
does not require any external components and employs a delta-sigma modulator
as a converter core and provides
single-cycle settling time for multiplexed applications. The LTC2451 includes
input sampling scheme that reduces
the average input sampling current several orders of magnitude lower than
conventional AI converters. The
LTC2451 is capable of up to 60 conversions per second and, due to the very
large oversampling ratio, has extremely
relaxed antialiasing requirements. It connects through pin connector 4054c to
motion sensor 4054d.
Connection 4055 connects processor 4052 to a separate, delivery lock box fuel
gauge circuit board 4055a
carrying an LTC2943 module which measures battery charge state, battery
voltage, battery current for battery bank
4055b, as well as its own temperature in standalone applications. A precision
coulomb counter integrates current
through a sensing resistor between the battery's positive terminal and the
load or charger. Voltage, current and
temperature are measured with an internal 14-bit No Latency ATM ADC and the
measurements are stored in
internal registers accessible via the onboard PC/SMBus Interface. The LTC2943
is programmable for setting high
and low thresholds for all four measured quantities. If a programmed threshold
is exceeded, the device
communicates an alert by setting a flag in the internal status register. The
LTC2943 requires only a single low value
sensing resistor to set the measured current range.
Processor 4052 further includes a PWM (pulse width modulation) output 4056 for
controlling analog
circuits with a microprocessor's digital outputs ¨ in this instance, a buzzer
speaker or other audio transducer 4056a.
An SD card connector 4057 and a Wi-Fi Bluetooth connector 4058 are also
provided. Bluetooth connector 4058 is
connected to an active antenna power module 4058a. Connector 4058b provides
for the connection of a Wi-
Fi/Bluetooth antenna.
The SD card connector 4057 is interconnected with an SD card slot 4057a,
mounted on controller board
4051a. An SD card (Secure Digital Card), not shown, is inserted into slot
4057a to provide reliable data storage in a
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
small form factor for, inter alia, digital camera images, etc. SD cards
contain an internal controller interface that
handles all internal flash memory operations and data transfer between the
processor 4052 and the card is done in
512 byte block, clock serial mode ¨ using a selected one of two bus protocols
defined for SD cards, (the default
native SD mode or a slower SPI mode).
Processor 4052 also provides for a UART connection 4059, communicating with a
Debug TTL UART
4059a.
GPIO connection 4060 on processor 4052, supports an LT3651 automatic lithium
ion battery charger
circuit 4060a which functions as a solar charge controller (in conjunction
with power supply module 4060b), charge
regulator and battery regulator to limit the rate at which electric current is
added to or drawn from battery bank
4055b electric batteries. Circuit 4060a prevents overcharging and may protect
against overvoltage, which can reduce
battery performance or lifespan, and may pose a safety risk. It may also
prevent completely draining ("deep
discharging") a battery, or perform controlled discharges, depending on the
battery technology, to protect battery
life. Connector 4060c provides for the connection of solar panels or external
DC power supplies.
Processor 4052 provides a camera Serial Interface (CSI) 4061 conforming to
MIPI Alliance specifications
that provide for an interface between a camera and host processor 4052.
Interface 4061 connects to a MIPI
connection 4061a which in turn is connected to an 0V5645 high performance, 5-
megapixel system-on-chip (SOC)
4061b. This sensor's single MIPI port replaces both a bandwidth-limited DVP
interface and a costly embedded
JPEG compressor, with attendant savings on silicon footprint and cost.
USB host connector 4062 connects to a USB to SATA bridge 4062a. Bridge 4062a
is a TUSB9261
ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller based USB 3.0 to serial ATA bridge. It
provides the necessary hardware and
firmware to implement a USB attached SCSI protocol (UASP)-compliant mass
storage device suitable for bridging
hard disk drives (HDD), solid state disk drives (SSD), optical drives, and
other compatible SATA 1.5-Gbps or
SATA 3.0-Gbps devices to a USB 3.0 bus. Bridge 4062a connects in turn to
SATA/PWR connector 4062b.
Serial Peripheral Interface bus (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication
interface 4063a for connecting
to an analog to digital converter 4063a. Converter 4063a is an ADS1148 device
providing 16-bit analog-to-digital
converter that includes many integrated features to reduce system cost and
component count for sensor measurement
applications ¨ including a low-noise, programmable gain amplifier (PGA), a
precision delta-sigma (AE) ADC with a
single-cycle settling digital filter, and an internal oscillator and a built-
in, low-drift voltage reference, and two
matched programmable excitation current sources (1DACs).
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
GPIO interface 4064 connects though FET switches 4064a to control LED lights
connected through
connectors 4053e and 4053h.
Referring now to the drawings in general: One aspect of an exemplary
arrangement provides for a delivery
lock box controller module, housed for example in a housing 4051, and adapted
for operating a delivery lock box
(not shown). This aspect of the exemplary arrangement comprises a controller
(such as controller board 4051a and
processor 4052), that is operable for controlling lock box peripherals. In
particular, the module according to this
aspect of the exemplary arrangement provides for a remote lock actuator module
that is operable by an authorized
remote user. The remote lock actuator module comprises processor 4052 and I2C
bus connection 4053, GPIO
expanders 4053a, FET switch 4053d and enclosure connector 405 lb. With
enclosure connector 405 lb engaged with
delivery lock box connector 4051c, processor 4052 may be instructed by an
authorized user, to operate lock box
door lock actuators 4053f to in turn permit access to the lock box interior
and thereby facilitate introduction or
removal of lock box contents. Preferably, the operation of the lock box door
lock actuators 4053f is attended by the
operation of lock box external LED lights 4053e by processor 4052 acting
across the connection of connectors
405 lb and 4051c, and by way of FET switch 4053c, GPIO expanders 4053a and I2C
bus connection 4053 of
processor 4052. This arrangement can draw a delivery agent's attention to the
lock box and aid in the delivery
agent's completion of the user-authorized lock box transaction This can be
important since it is often desirable for
the lock box installation to be discretely placed, and/or to have it fit
unobtrusively into the local decor. Note too,
however, that external LED lights 4053e can be operated by processor 4052
independently of the operation of door
lock actuators 4053f. This facility for independent operation of external LED
lights 4053e permits them to be used
simply as a local source of augmented lighting; or as a flashing light source
in the case of an emergency or security
threat without occasioning the concurrent release of the locks. Moreover lock
box internal LED operation through
connector 4053h is also independent of the operation of external LED lights
4053e, and operate instead in
cooperation with open door sensor 4053g with its connections through
connectors 405 lb and 4051c, GPIO
expanders 4053a, I2C bus connections 4053 to processor 4052. This represents a
power saving in circumstances
where illumination of the lock box interior is not required and is an
important consideration for lock box
installations that function without recourse to the electrical grid.
The lock box controller module comprising controller board 4051a and processor
4052 may make
provision for a camera and image recording module ¨ as for example by way of
camera 4046 lb, MIPI interface
4061a, and camera serial interface 4061. This arrangement is preferably
selectively operable to (optionally pre-
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
determinedly) capture and record at least one image of at least a portion of
said lock boxes surroundings. The
recording may be captured using an off-board storage drive, using USB host
connector 4062, USB to SATA bridge
4062a, and USB host connector 4062b, under the direction of processor 4052.
Alternatively, the recording may be
captured on an SD card (not shown) using SD card connector 4057 and SSD card
slot 4057a. An authorized user
.. may trigger processor 4052 to activate the camera or the camera and the
recorder to selectively capture images. In
one embodiment processor 4052 operates camera 4061b more or less continuously,
and records captured images on
a memory device as mentioned above, but in a short term first-in-first out
over-writing buffer file. Subject then to
the occurrence of a pre-determined triggering event, the buffer file is
transferred to an archive file, preserving
images recorded in advance of the triggering event and appending recordings of
images subsequently captured and
recorded to the archive file, for a predetermined time or condition.
Thereafter, the camera 406 lb reverts to said
more or less continuous operation and recording later images into the over-
write buffer as aforesaid.
The lock box controller module comprising controller board 4051a and processor
4052 may also make
provision for a proximity detection sensor module comprising motion sensor
4054d, pin connector 4054c, motion
detection module 4054b and VC bus connection 4054 for detecting a triggering
presence within a range proximal to
.. the lock box, and signaling (e.g. by but not limited to a buzzer or other
acoustical device, or flashing external LEDs
as mentioned above), a proximity notification of such presence. This signaling
may aid in directing legitimate
approaches to the lock box, or deter illegitimate interest in same, and in
either case, place the authorized user on
alert to the motion in proximity to the lock box.
Similarly, the lock box controller module comprising controller board 4051a
and processor 4052 may also
.. make provision, through accelerometer 4054a and VC bus connection 4054, for
a lock box motion/shock detection
sensor module, operable for detecting a triggering lock box motion or shock
and signaling (again, for example, via
buzzer or other acoustic or illumination device) a motion/shock detection
notification to the user. Preferably, this
notification is of a loud and insistent character that will assertively deter
any attendant theft attempt or vandalism.
In an exemplary embodiment, the controller board 4051a and processor 4052
provide for a lock box
communications module, in this case by way of a System-on-Module (SoM) having
built in Wi-Fi 802.11ac and
Bluetooth v. 4.1 radios and communication interfaces providing a compact form
factor optimized for free-standing
applications with local RF networks as well as providing for IoT (intemet of
things) connectedness. Processor 4052
is thereby adapted to facilitate RF communication of lock box peripherals data
to a lock box user ¨ using in this
particular case, SPI connector 4063, A/D converter 4063a as well as Bluetooth
connector 4058 and active antenna
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
power module 4058a with its connections through connectors 4051b and 4051c to
antenna 4058b. In operation,
control module 4001 with a communications module (e.g., associated with
processor 4052 as per the above)
comprises a lock box Bluetooth/Wi-Fi communications module which provides for
Bluetooth-mediated
configuration of Wi-Fi network connections between the lock box communications
module and an available (e.g.
local) user-selected Wi-Fi network. More particularly, the Bluetooth facility
may be operable to link with a user
phone and in tu-n enable a user phone to connect/configure the lockbox to a
user selected local Wi-Fi network.
Controller module 4001 may also be operable such that a "proximity
notification" includes remotely
communicating a "detected presence" to a user's communication device (or some
other user proxy), through the
communications module. (Note that in general, communications to the user
device are typically mediated via Wi-Fi
or other local RF networks as well as through cellular, internet, landlines,
microwave and all the various
modems/gateways or the like that may be variously associated with those
networks). In an exemplary embodiment,
for example, the control module 4001 further comprises a cellular data modem
(not shown) operable to provide an
alternative user notification to a user in the event that WiFi functionality
is not used or not available for this purpose.
Similarly, controller module 4001 may be operable to convey motion/shock
detection notifications by
remotely communicating a detected motion/shock notification to a user's
communication device, substantially as
described in the preceding paragraph.
The operation of the exemplary camera and image recording module is
selectively predetermined to
provide continuous operation and recording and this is facilitated by one or
both of an on-board recording storage or
to Wi-Fi connected storage. (Either or both such storage facilities can be
FIFO (first-in-first out) over write in order
to facilitate currency of recordings in the absence of unlimited storage
capacity). Controller module 4001 may also
be employed such that the camera and image recording module is additionally or
alternatively selectively
predetermined to be intermittently operated ¨ subject, for example, to a
detected-event-triggered operation. In one
exemplary arrangement for example, controller module 4001 may be operable such
that a proximity notification
comprises triggering the camera and image recording module to record and/or
communicate to a user's
communication device (or user proxy), that at least one image associated with
the proximity notification. Similarly,
the control module 4001 may be operated such that the motion/shock detection
notification comprises triggering said
camera and image recording module to record and/or communicate to a user's
communication device (or user
proxy), of an at least one image associated with the motion/shock detectim In
an exemplary arrangement, the
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
intermittent operation of the camera and image recording module is coextensive
with ongoing detection of a
detected trigger event.
In exemplary embodiments where the control module 4001 operates image storage
as a first-in-first out
overwrite storage buffer, the camera and image recording module is further
operable in response to a detected
trigger event, to save the associated at least one image from the first-in-
first out overwrite storage buffer to a long
term storage archival location, and preferably so that when a detected trigger
event so operates the camera and
image recording module, that module saves associated images from the buffer,
beginning from a predetermined time
preceding detection of the detected event. Moreover, in an exemplary
arrangement when a detected trigger event so
operates the camera and image recording module, it is operated so as to save
associated images for a predetermined
time following termination of detection of the detected event.
In the depicted exemplary embodiment control module 4001 is further operable
to manage a hybrid power
source power supply module 4060b provided from a primary power source selected
from at least one of a solar
power source and a line power source; and, a secondary battery power reserve
source (battery bank supply 4055b),
with the hybrid power source being operable to variously power the delivery
lock box operations, and employs
delivery box fuel gauge circuit board 4055a in that connection. The control
module 4001 also operates power
supply module 4060b, using battery charger circuit 4060a to charge the
secondary (battery bank 4055b) source from
the primary source(s).
The control module 4001 may further comprise a cellular data modem to provide
an alternative user
notification to a user, (collateral with Wi-Fi functions, or as an alternative
if Wi-Fi is not available).
In an aspect of an exemplary arrangement, there is also provided a weigh scale
peripheral connection 4066.
The connection to processor 4052 can be variously facilitated ¨ e.g., through
a general input output interface. The
weigh scale peripheral may be used to signal the arrival/presence of a package
within a repository enclosure ¨ and
also in conjunction with the parcel inventory module, to track arrival and
withdrawal of one or more parcels from
the parcel inventory secured within the repository.
Figures 45 ¨48 show an alternative arrangement of a delivery item repository
670. Repository 670 is
configured to be utilized in a system which includes a plurality of
repositories of the same or similar configuration,
such as one of the repository configurations previously discussed herein. The
exemplary system is usable to
transport delivery items which are also referred to as parcels, from a
respective originating repository to a respective
destination repository so as to achieve transport of the parcel from one
geographic location to another. Exemplary
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Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
arrangements may facilitate small-scale parcel delivery operations in which
item carriers exchange parcels through
controlled transfers which occur through intermediate destination repositories
under the control of one or more
servers or other central system circuitry in a manner like that previously
discussed.
The exemplary systems facilitate the use of crowd sourced item carrier
participation. Such item carriers
.. may operate to transport parcels between originating repositories and
destination repositories. In other exemplary
arrangements item carriers may further operate to carry out pickup and
delivery activities at points of parcel
shipment origination or endpoints of parcel transport that do not include
repositories. Exemplary arrangements may
provide for a parcel delivery system which is configured to transport parcels
that are provided from and delivered to
diverse locations and at different times by a plurality of different shipper
and recipient system user types.
In exemplary arrangements the system may include a plurality of geographically
dispersed repositories
such as repository 670. Repository 670 includes a body having a plurality of
separated compartment interior areas
each of which bound a respective enclosed compartment space that is suitable
for holding one or more parcels. Each
of the interior areas is selectively accessible by authorized users who are
enabled to unlock compartment associated
locks and open closure members such as respective doors that are movable to
provide access to respective
.. compartment interior areas. Each respective repository may be operated as
an originating repository as well as an
intermediate or final destination repository. Thus the exemplary system
provides for a fully connected physical
topography of repositories.
In exemplary arrangements each of the plurality of repositories is in
operative connection with central
system circuitry like that previously discussed which is alternatively
referred to herein as control circuitry. The
exemplary central system circuitry operates as a control grid to manage item
carrier authorizations and assignments.
The central system circuitry also performs monitoring of the pickups of
parcels from originating repositories and the
delivery of parcels into the destination repositories. Further in exemplary
arrangements the monitoring functions of
the central system circuitry may operate to assure that parcel items are
delivered in accordance with required
schedules and/or other handling requirements that may be associated with
particular parcels.
Further in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry which controls
the acceptance, transport
and delivery of parcels, provides useful aspects compared to other parcel
distribution methods. This is achieved in
some arrangements due to the handling, transport and sorting of a relatively
small number of parcels by each
authorized shipping user and item carrier user of the system. For example in
exemplary arrangements, each item
carrier will generally be involved in handling less than 10 parcels
simultaneously at any given time.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The use of crowd sourced item carriers receiving parcels from originating
depositories and transporting
parcels through intermediate destination repositories, facilitates the
transport and delivery of parcels. As item
carriers act to provide parcel transport generally in coordination with their
other activities such as commuting or
other travel, the ability to move parcels to a final destination repository is
facilitated even though item carriers may
only be willing to carry parcels a portion of the overall parcel transport
path. Further the exemplary arrangements
provide for item carrier compensation for transport of parcels, which
compensation may be readily obtained by the
item carrier in connection with their normal commuting or travel activities
The exemplary parcel repository 670 shown in Figures 45 ¨48 is configured to
operate as a free standing
device and perform the functions associated with an originating depository and
a destination repository concurrently
for a plurality of parcels. The exemplary repository 670 includes a body which
is alternatively referred to herein as
a housing 672. The housing is supported on a base 674. The base 674 includes a
forward extending portion 676.
The forward extending portion of the exemplary arrangement includes a front to
rearward upwardly sloped face 678.
The exemplary repository housing 672 further includes a top or cap 680. The
exemplary top includes a
roof panel 682. Roof panel 682 is sloped downward from front to rear of the
housing 672. The top 680 further
includes a forward extending cornice 684. Cornice 684 extends forward beyond
the front of the central position of
the housing 672. Cornice 684 has a sloped face 686 that is sloped toward the
rear of the housing further downward
along the face 686.
The exemplary face 686 includes a recess 688. Recess 688 includes a lens 690.
The exemplary lens 690 is
translucent to enable illumination of the front of the housing by one or more
lamps that are positioned within the
housing. The cornice 684 further includes a port or opening 692 therein. An
electronics housing 694 extends in the
opening 692. The electronics housing 694 is configured to hold control
circuitry 696 which may be of the type
previously discussed, as well as at least one sensor or input device 698 such
as a camera or scanner and a wireless
portal.
The exemplary housing 672 includes a pair of side panels 700, 702 and a back
panel 704. Panels 700, 702
and 704 bound a partitioned housing interior that includes a plurality of
separated interior areas. Locker doors 706,
708, 710, 712 714, 716, 718, 720, 722 and 724 are each movably mounted in
operative supported connection with
the housing 762 through respective hinges 726. Each of the locker doors
selectively controls access to a respective
interior area within the housing 672. In the exemplary arrangement each of the
doors is changeable between a
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locked condition and an unlocked condition responsive to a respective
electrically actuated lock in a manner similar
to that used in the previously described repository arrangements.
The exemplary repository 670 is in operative connection with control circuitry
which may function in a
manner similar to that described in connection with repository 10. In addition
repository 670 may include suitable
power sources, sensors, input and output devices cameras, microphones and
wireless portals that operate in ways
like those discussed in connection with the previously described repositories.
In some exemplary arrangements the
repository 670 may operate responsive entirely to wireless communication with
remote central system circuitry and
local portable wireless devices. For example user identifying information,
access codes and other data that is
required to be communicated to the control circuitry of repository 670 may be
received via a wireless portal, rather
than keypads, touchscreens or other types of manually actuatable input
devices. Further in exemplary arrangements
may provide outputs wirelessly that can be perceived by system users adjacent
to the repository through their
portable wireless devices. In this manner the exemplary repository avoids
having externally accessible components
that may be subject to vandalism or tampering. Of course it should be
understood that these approaches are
exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches may be used.
It should be understood that the number of separate enclosed compartment
spaces within repository 760 is
exemplary, and other repositories may have different numbers of separately
accessible interior areas. The
exemplary repository 670 also includes a pair of smaller sized interior areas
corresponding to doors 720, 722
compared to the other interior areas, and a single large interior area
corresponding to door 714. Other parcel
repositories used in connection with exemplary systems may have different
numbers and sizes of compartments and
compartment spaces so as to accommodate the sizes of parcels being handled
through operation of the repository.
Other exemplary repositories may be comprised of separate housings that are
positioned in adjacent relation so as to
provide larger numbers of compartments with interior areas for the acceptance
and release of parcels. Such multiple
repositories may be controlled responsive to common control circuitry and a
single user interface, or may be
separately controlled and operable independent of an adjacent repository.
Further, the exemplary repository is
configured to be positioned in a location that is readily accessible to ground
transportation routes. Such
configuration facilitates access to the repository by shipper users, item
carriers and parcel recipients.
Figure 49 shows a system 728 of an exemplary arrangement and the flow of
parcels which may occur
between repositories in such a system. The exemplary system includes
repository 670 as well as a plurality of other
repositories schematically indicated 730, 732, 734, 736, and 738. In the
exemplary arrangement the repositories
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included in the system may be similar to repository 760 or the other
repositories described herein. In alternative
arrangements other repository configurations may be used. It should be
understood that the exemplary system
further includes central system circuitry which may be similar to the central
system circuitry previously discussed.
As represented by arrows T, parcels may be moved between repositories in the
system by item carriers. As
represented in Figure 49 parcels that are input to the exemplary system at
repository 670 that are required to be
delivered at remote final destination repository 734 may be transported in
numerous different ways depending on the
available item carriers. For example, in some situations a parcel may be
transported by an item carrier directly from
the originating repository 670 to the final destination repository 734, as
represented by Arrow 740. Such a direct
transport from the originating repository to the final destination repository
may be the result of the fortuitous
availability of an item carrier who is available to make such direct
transport. Alternatively such a direct route for the
parcel may be the result of the shipping user paying an incentive fee for
prompt delivery or other circumstances.
In alternative circumstances a parcel that is received in originating
repository 670 that is determined by the
central system circuitry as required to move to repository 734 as the final
destination repository, may be moved by
item carriers to one or more intermediate destination repositories before
reaching the final destination repository.
For example a parcel may be moved from the originating repository 670 to
intermediate destination repository 730
by an initial item carrier as represented by Arrow 742. The parcel may then be
moved from repository 730 to
interim destination repository 732 by another item carrier as represented by
Arrow 744. Finally the parcel may be
moved from repository 732 to the final destination repository 734 by another
item carrier as represented by Arrow
746. Of course as can be appreciated from the other arrows shown in Figure 49,
the parcel may take a more direct
path to the final destination repository 734 as a result of the availability
of other item carriers that can transport the
parcel along the more direct path.
As can be appreciated, the exemplary system 728 may also be operated
responsive to the central system
circuitry to achieve parcel deliveries to a final destination repository in a
more rapid manner than might otherwise
occur based on the availability of item carriers. For example the programming
associated with the central system
circuitry may provide for the consolidation of multiple parcel transport jobs
that can be offered to a single item
carrier as an incentive to complete the parcel transports more quickly. For
example the exemplary central system
circuitry may operate to accommodate transport of a collection or bundle of
parcels to an intermediate destination
repository that may not be on the most direct path to a final system
repository for some of the parcels. However, by
moving the parcels to an interim destination repository that is closer to the
final destination repository more quickly
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via transport consolidation, the system may achieve delivery at the final
destination repository more quickly than
might otherwise occur. Further the central system circuitry may take advantage
of item carriers who have extended
time or delivery location availability compared to other item carriers to
achieve movement of more parcels to
interim destination repository locations, from which delivery at the final
destination repositories may be more
rapidly achieved. As can be appreciated these results may be based on the
central system circuitry evaluating factors
such as available item carriers and carrier locations during different dates
and times, as well as other factors that are
usable to predict and optimize parcel transport.
Of course as can be appreciated, from a shipper user perspective, the
operation of the exemplary system
728 achieves the delivery of delivery items such as parcels from an initial
originating location such as a first
repository to a final location such as a destination repository. As a result,
conceptually the shipment may be
considered to have a universal origin as represented schematically as 748, and
a universal destination as represented
schematically as 750. Although a given parcel may be transported under the
control of the central system circuitry
through numerous different intermediate parcel repositories by different item
carriers, such system activity does not
involve the shipper user or the delivery item parcel recipient.
Of course it should be understood that exemplary systems may be implemented in
various network
topographies such as a peer to peer network communications environment between
devices included in the system.
Alternatively, the network topography may include a centralized dedicated
network adapted to cooperatively link the
various system components. Of course other arrangements may include
combinations of different system and
network topographies to achieve communications between the different system
components.
As can be appreciated from the prior discussion in connection with repository
10, the exemplary system
728 may provide for communication through central system circuitry with
numerous different types of authorized
and/or registered system users who carry out different roles in connection
with the system. For example in
exemplary arrangements network communication may be provided with the wireless
carrier contact devices of item
carriers to determine transport availability and to provide transport
assignments. Further in exemplary arrangements
such carrier contact devices may be utilized for purposes of tracking parcels
in transport via GPS or other location
monitoring systems. In addition camera or other reader equipped carrier
contact devices may be utilized for
purposes of scanning machine-readable indicia on parcels, determining size
information of parcels or carrying out
other actions. Similarly such wireless devices may include wireless portals
which enable communication wirelessly
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with repositories so as to communicate information necessary to access
selected interior areas for purposes of
receiving or depositing parcels.
Further as can be appreciated, in exemplary arrangements the network
commtmications between the
repositories and the central system circuitry may be operative to communicate
status and operational information of
the types previously discussed. Such information may facilitate the quick
repair of any repository malfunctions and
the avoidance of future malfunctions for which symptoms can be detected in
advance. Similarly such
communications may achieve capturing and retaining documentation regarding
parcel receipt, transport and delivery
such as by the capture of sensor data and other data associated therewith.
This may include for example the capture
and retention of image data and other data that is usable to document and
verify activities related to various parcels.
Of course these functions and capabilities are exemplary and in other
arrangements different or alternative
approaches may be used.
Figure 50 schematically represents components utilized in connection with an
exemplary system such as
system 728. In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry 752
comprises at least one processor 754 in
operative connection with at least one data store 756. As previously
discussed, although in this exemplary
arrangement the central system circuitry may be represented as a central
server or other computer device, in other
exemplary arrangements distributed processing and control of the system may be
provided in a cloud environment
or in a virtual environment within one or more shared platforms.
The exemplary central system circuitry 752 is in operative connection with one
or more interfaces
schematically indicated 758. The interfaces 758 provide communications
connectivity to other system components
which communicate in the system. One or more communication interfaces 760 are
provided to enable
communication of the central system circuitry 752 in the different wired
and/or wireless networks to which the
components included in the system are connected. Of course it should be
understood that in various embodiments
numerous different types of communications interfaces may be used.
The plurality of parcel repositories are in operative connection with the
system through the network and
send communications through an interface 760. Such repositories are
represented schematically by a repository 762.
Repository 762 may include components similar to repository 760 or the other
repositories that have been previously
discussed. As schematically shown, each repository includes a plurality of
connected components as represented
schematically by sensors 764 and actuators 766.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
The exemplary system further includes carrier contact devices which are
utilized by item carriers in a
manner like that previously discussed. Such wireless carrier contact devices
such as smart phones are represented
by device 768. Such carrier contact devices include control circuitry therein.
The control circuitry may include for
example a scanner and/or code reader circuitry 770. The exemplary carrier
contact device may also include a
tracking application such as a GPS circuitry 772. Interface circuitry suitable
for communicating with the central
system circuitry 774 may also be included in the exemplary item carrier
contact device. Of course it should be
understood that these device components are exemplary and other arrangements
other or additional components may
be used.
As schematically indicated, in the exemplary system devices operated by
shipper users as schematically
represented 776, may also be in operative connection with the central system
circuitry through interfaces 760.
Shipper user devices 776 may operate in a manner like that previously
discussed to provide communications which
enable parcel delivery items to the transported through the system and
delivered into the interior area of an
originating repository. As can be appreciated numerous different types of
shipper user devices and systems may be
operative to communicate in the system. The exemplary system further includes
one or more administrator devices
schematically indicated 778. Such administrator devices may be utilized for
purposes of monitoring operation of
other devices in the system, providing the mechanism for adding and removing
authorized/registered users of the
system, receiving alerts or problems identified through operation of system
components, generating reports and
other information, and providing other oversight and monitoring functions. Of
course it should be understood that
this schematic representation of system components is merely a high level
representation of those system
components that are included in an exemplary arrangement.
As has been previously described in detailed examples, the exemplary system
enables a shipper user to
utilize the system to ship a parcel from an originating location to a
destination location through operation of the
shipper user device 776. The shipper user device may be operative to provide
to the system information regarding
the shipment such as for example the ID token associated with the shipper that
is recognized by being registered or
otherwise authorized to participate in the system. With regard to the
particular shipment, the shipping user device
may provide information regarding the delivery item and its transport
including the originating and destination
locations, scheduling requirements (if applicable), item dimensions, weight
characteristics and markings, and other
information such as a funds source for payment for the shipment.
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The exemplary central system circuitry 752 may operate in accordance with the
information received from
the shipper device to determine an originating repository and a final
destination repository for the particular parcel.
The exemplary central system circuitry may also carry out other functions such
as checking for space availability in
the originating repository. The central system circuitry may also provide
other information like that previously
discussed, that enables the shipper user to apply a label including machine-
readable indicia to the parcel that
includes a delivery item identifier or other information which is usable to
identify the particular parcel in the system.
The central system circuitry may also provide to the shipper user device,
location information regarding the
designated originating depository, an item depositor access code and other
information that enables the shipper user
to place the parcel in a designated interior area of the originating
repository.
The exemplary system circuitry also operates to evaluate available item
carriers, current item carrier
locations and available location destinations for item transport. The central
system circuitry may operate in a
manner like that discussed to optimize parcel transport or to consolidate
movement of multiple parcels to facilitate
the receipt of such parcels at each final destination repository. Central
system circuitry may also present opportunity
messages to item carriers and assigned transport jobs to such item carriers.
The central system circuitry may also
monitor such item carriers to assure that performance of transport jobs is
timely commenced, and if not, may
reassign transport jobs to other item carriers.
The exemplary arrangements further enable the central system circuitry to
monitor repositories for purposes
of determining the placement and removal of parcels into selected interior
areas by providing access to authorized
users such as shipper users, item carriers, and final parcel recipients. The
central system circuitry operates in
coordination with the control circuitry of the repositories to monitor the
placement, and taking of each parcel
between each originating repository and destination repository. Further the
exemplary system tracks the parcel and
assures the desired movement of the parcel to its final destination
repository. In some arrangements the system
further operates to provide the recipient of each parcel with notification of
the receipt of the parcel at the final
destination repository. In such arrangements, the system provides selective
controlled access to enable the recipient
to remove the parcel from the interior area of the final destination
repository, and documents the taking thereof so as
to assure that the parcel has been properly delivered. Further in exemplary
arrangements the charges and credits
associated with the transport of items are provided through the central system
circuitry to assure that parcel
transports are paid for and that participants in the system are credited as
appropriate for their activities. Of course it
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should be understood that the functions, activities and approaches described
herein are exemplary and in other
arrangements other approaches may be used.
Further as previously discussed in some exemplary arrangements the central
circuitry may be operated so
that item carriers deliver parcels to the destination address of the
recipient. In such arrangements the central
circuitry may be operative to determine a common route which may be followed
by an item carrier to deliver
multiple parcels to the recipient addresses. In such arrangements an item
carrier may collect the parcels from one or
more compartments within the interior area of a repository responsive to the
central system giving access thereto.
The user may then utilize their portable wireless device to document the
taking of the parcels from the repository for
delivery. Further in some exemplary arrangements the central circuitry may be
operative to cause the placement of
multiple parcels that will be transported together into a group or bundle that
is collected via placement in a single
compartment. This may be done to facilitate the ability of the item carrier to
obtain the items to be transported by
the item carrier in a shorter period of time. In such arrangements the central
system may provide the item carrier
with the destination address of each parcel. The item carrier may then
document the delivery of each parcel at the
respective destination address through operation of their mobile wireless
device in a manner like that previously
discussed. Of course these approaches are exemplary and other arrangements
other approaches may be used.
In some exemplary arrangements the control circuitry associated with the
parcel repositories is operative to
maintain information concerning the available compartment volume in each
enclosed compartment space. This
capability enables the control circuitry to determine where a partici lar
parcel may be placed within the
compartments of a particular repository. Further in exemplary arrangements the
ability to determine the available
volume in compartments enables the control circuitry to determine if a
plurality of parcels which may be
subsequently transported together as a group or bundle by an item carrier, can
be placed together in a single
compartment. This capability may facilitate the ability of the item carrier to
obtain the parcels from the repository
so that they can be more readily accessed and transported to a destination
repository or other destination.
In some exemplary systems the at least one data store associated with the
central system circuitry includes
data corresponding to information that is accessible to item carrier contact
devices and that can be used to facilitate
the placement of parcels into and the removal of parcels from repositories.
Such additional data is used in
exemplary arrangements to assist item carriers in locating repositories and
also in carrying out the necessary
processes to access and carry out the necessary parcel transactions at each
repository. Such additional data may also
be usable by item carriers to locate areas at customer addresses where
shipments may originate or be delivered.
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In some exemplary arrangements the pickup, transportation and delivery of
parcels is facilitated by having
assigned geographic catchment areas associated with partici la parcel
repositories. In exemplary arrangements a
catchment area is a defined geographic region. In arrangements where parcels
are picked up from entities
originating shipments from initial pickup addresses and/or parcels are
delivered to parcel recipients at final delivery
addresses by item carriers, each catchment area may define an area that is
associated with a particular parcel
repository. For example in some arrangements parcels that are picked up from
parcel shipment initiating addresses
located in a catchment area are generally initially transported by an item
carrier to a specific repository that is
associated with that catchment area. Likewise if a final delivery address of a
parcel recipient is located within a
catchment area, the parcel is generally transported to the repository
associated with that catchment area before it is
.. taken by an item carrier to the final delivery address of the recipient.
In other exemplary arrangements where shippers take their parcels to a
repository to initiate a shipment, the
catchment area in which the address of the shipper is located may determine
the repository to which the shipper is
directed. Likewise in arrangements where the recipient receives the parcel
directly from a repository, the catchment
area in which the parcel recipient's address is located may be used to
determine the repository to which the parcel is
directed. This helps to assure that the parcel is delivered to a repository
that is in reasonably close proximity to the
recipient's address. While in some exemplary arrangements one geographic
catchment area may be used for
defining a region for both pickup and delivery addresses (and/or shipper and
recipient addresses) for items going to
and from a particular repository, in other arrangements a single repository
may have one catchment area associated
with parcel pickups and a different catchment area associated with parcel
deliveries. Further in other exemplary
arrangements one repository may be used only for incoming parcels that will be
transported to other repositories,
while another repository may be used only for outgoing "last mile" parcels
that will be delivered directly from the
repository to the final delivery addresses of the parcel recipients by an item
carrier. Numerous different
arrangements may be utilized depending on the requirements and desired
operation of the particular system.
Figure 51 represents a plurality of catchment areas 780, 782, 784, 786, 788,
790, 792, 794, 796, 798 and
800. Each of the catchment areas represents a defined geographic area. Such
areas may be bounded by streets,
geographic features, political boundaries or boundaries which have been set by
the system operator. It should be
appreciated that the catchment areas shown may be a subset of catchment areas
and may have other catchment areas
in surrounding relation thereto if the operator of the system provides parcel
pickups and/or deliveries in adjacent
geographical areas.
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A plurality of parcel repositories, 802, 804, 806, 808, 810, 812, 814, 816,
818, 820 and 822 are each located
within a respective catchment area. For example, repository 806 is located in
catchment area 784. As previously
discussed, in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry includes
data corresponding to each catchment
area and the particular repository that is located in the respective catchment
area. In the at least one data store
associated with the central system circuitry, the data corresponding to each
repository is associated with the one
respective catchment area in which it is located. Further in exemplary
arrangements the central system circuitry
includes data and circuit executable instructions that enable the
determination of the respective catchment area in
which shippers or initial pickup addresses are located, as well as the
respective catchment area associated with
recipient and final delivery address information. Further in exemplary
arrangements the at least one data store
includes for parcels that are to be transported from an initial pickup address
to a final delivery address, data to
determine the respective catchment area and the respective parcel repository
associated with the catchment area. In
exemplary arrangements the data corresponding to the initial pickup address
and the final delivery address are stored
in association with the parcel identifier, which is alternatively referred to
herein as a parcel ID, and/or other data that
uniquely identifies the particular parcel. Of course it should be understood
that this approach is exemplary and in
other arrangements other approaches may be used.
As can be appreciated from Figure 51, because each catchment area has a number
of other immediately
adjacent catchment areas, there can be situations where it is faster and more
cost-effective to provide for parcel
routing through a repository other than the particular repository that is
associated with the catchment area in which
the initial pickup address or final delivery address is located. For example
if a parcel is going to be delivered at a
final delivery address represented 824, the parcel would normally be routed
through operation of the central system
circuitry, which is alternatively referred to herein as control circuitry, to
a final repository 806 that is located in
catchment area 784. However, because of other parcels that are being
transported and are planned for delivery at
about the same time, it may be faster and/or more cost-effective to have the
parcel that is going to be delivered at the
final delivery address indicated 824, to be transported through repository
802, 804 or 808. These situations can arise
because other parcels that are being transported through those repositories
may have final delivery addresses in the
respective catchment areas that are physically closer to the final delivery
address 824 than other parcels that are
currently planned for delivery in catchment area 784. This results because as
represented in Figure 51, catchment
areas 780, 782 and 786 all include geographic locations that are in relatively
close proximity to final delivery
address 824 in catchment area 784.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
While in the exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry is generally
operative to cause parcels to
be routed to the particular repository that is associated with the catchment
area in which the final delivery address
associated with the respective parcel is located, exception situations can be
determined through operation of the
central system circuitry. This can be accomplished in exemplary arrangements
in a manner like that discussed in US
.. Patent Application 63/081,627 filed September 22, 2020.
In exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry that is in operative
connection with each of the
plurality of parcel repositories, is operative to control the transport and
delivery of the parcels. The exemplary
system circuitry is operative to assure that parcels are delivered in a timely
and cost effective manner. As previously
discussed, in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry is in
operative connection with at least one data
store. The at least one data store includes data corresponding to a final
delivery address or location for each
respective parcel that is currently being transported in system. In exemplary
arrangements the parcel final delivery
address for each parcel is associated with parcel identifying information,
which in the exemplary arrangement
includes the respective parcel identifier. Further in exemplary arrangements,
the at least one data store in operative
connection with the central system circuitry includes data corresponding to a
current parcel location for each
respective parcel. In exemplary arrangements the data corresponding to the
current parcel location is indicative of a
current physical location of the parcel. This may include in some situations,
data corresponding to a particular
repository in which the parcel is currently positioned. In other situations
the current parcel location data may
correspond to the parcel being in possession of an item carrier and in transit
between repositories, or in transit
between a shipper address and a repository, or in transit between a repository
and the final delivery address. In
exemplary arrangements the current location data is associated in the at least
one data store with the parcel identifier.
Of course this location data is exemplary and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
Further in exemplary arrangements the at least one data store includes data
corresponding to each
respective parcel repository. The stored data further includes data
corresponding to the geographical catchment
areas as previously discussed. The central system circuitry further includes
stored data regarding each respective
catchment area and the associated relation with the respective parcel
repository that is located within the respective
catchment area.
Also as previously discussed, in exemplary arrangements the at least one data
store includes data
corresponding to item carriers. The stored data may include data of the type
previously mentioned herein that is
associated with each particular item carrier, as well as data associated with
the respective carrier's carrier contact
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device. This may include for example, contact data for the carrier contact
device such as an email address or phone
number used for communication with the item carrier contact device. This may
also include for example, carrier
identifying data such as identifying data associated with the item carrier.
This may include biometric data that can
be used to uniquely identify a particular item carrier. Alternatively such
identifying data may include identifying
data such as a token identifier that is stored in at least one data store of
the carrier's contact device.
Further in exemplary arrangements the stored data in the at least one data
store includes data corresponding
to a parcel carrying capacity of each respective item carrier. The parcel
carrying capacity data associated with the
item carrier data is indicative of the parcel carrying capabilities of the
respective item carrier. In some exemplary
arrangements the carrier capacity data includes data corresponding to a
quantity of parcels that the particular item
carrier is capable of transporting at one time. In other exemplary
arrangements the item carrier capacity data may
include data corresponding to a volume of space that the item carrier has
available in their vehicle for transporting
parcels. In other exemplary arrangements the carrier capacity data may include
weight data corresponding to a
maximum weight of parcels that the item carrier is capable of transporting at
one time. Additional information may
be stored in the at least one data store regarding item carriers including
information about special transport
capabilities. This may include capabilities to transport items in secure
compartments, authority to access certain
security areas, capabilities to transport items that require refrigerated or
other special conditions, and/or other
capabilities that may be provided by the particular item carrier.
In some exemplary arrangements the at least one data store that is in
operative connection with the central
system circuitry may also include other types of data. Such data may include
data corresponding to transport
assignments that have been made to item carriers. Such data regarding
transport assignments may include
information regarding particular item carriers, the parcels currently being
transported and the repository to which the
parcels will be delivered when the transport assignment is completed. In
exemplary arrangements the at least one
data store includes data regarding currently uncompleted item carrier parcel
transport assignments. As previously
discussed, in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may be
operative to track transport activities by
item carriers in performing uncompleted transport assignments. Further in
exemplary arrangements the central
system circuitry may be operative to store data regarding times associated
with uncompleted transport assignments.
This may include for example, information regarding when the parcels involved
in the uncompleted transport
assignment are scheduled to arrive at a particular destination repository. Of
course this approach is exemplary and
in other arrangements other approaches may be used.
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In exemplary arrangements the at least one data store in operative connection
with the central system
circuitry includes other stored data corresponding to values that are used in
connection with controlling the making
of transport assignments to item carriers for purposes of transporting items.
For example, in exemplary
arrangements the at least one data store includes data corresponding to at
least one set time window that is used in
connection with making offers of transport assignments to item carriers. For
example in situations where transport
assignments are offered to one or more item carriers, the central system
circuitry may wait for a time corresponding
to a particular set time window for receipt from a carrier of acceptance of an
offer to perform a transport assignment.
After the expiration of the time window without the receipt of an acceptance
message to perform the transport
assignment by one of the item carriers to which the transport assignment has
been offered, the central system
circuitry may take steps to offer the transport assignment to one or more
other item carriers, and/or may offer
alternative transport assignments. The stored data regarding time windows for
acceptance of transport assignments
may be set by the system operator or determined by the central system
circuitry based on stored parameters for item
carriers or other information. Of course it should be understood that this
stored data is exemplary and other
arrangements different or other types of stored data may be used.
Figures 52 ¨ 64 schematically represent the logic flow carried out in an
exemplary arrangement by the
central system circuitry for purposes of transporting parcels between
repositories to achieve the timely and cost-
effective transport of parcels in the system. Of course it should be
understood that the logic flow is represented at a
high level and that additional steps and instructions are carried out in
connection with the logic flow. Further
exemplary systems may also include other features and capabilities like those
previously discussed in connection
with the transport and delivery of parcels.
As represented beginning in Figure 52, the exemplary central system circuitry
is operative to carry out the
routing of each of the parcels in the system so that the parcel is transported
from the originating address of a shipper
of the parcel to the final delivery address of the parcel recipient. Of course
in some exemplary arrangements, the
shipper commences the shipment by placing the parcel in a repository. Further
in some exemplary arrangements the
final delivery address for the parcel may be associated with a repository from
which the recipient may obtain the
parcel. The exemplary logic flow may operate in systems of these types for
purposes of effectively transporting
parcels between repositories in a timely and cost-effective way based on
available item carriers who are willing to
transport the parcels between parcel repositories.
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In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry operates to select a
particular parcel for analysis
as represented by step 826. The selection of a particular parcel may involve
the selection of a parcel identifier that is
associated with a parcel the further transport of which is to be determined.
The central system circuitry is operative
responsive to the stored location data in the at least one data store to
determine the current repository in which the
selected parcel is located. This is represented by step 828.
In some exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry is operative to
store data that is associated
with parcels that are currently being transported by item carriers between
repositories. Thus in some exemplary
arrangements the stored data regarding the current parcel location may
indicate that the parcel is currently in the
possession of an item carrier. Such information may also include information
about a destination repository to
which the parcel will be delivered upon the completion of the transport
assignment. In exemplary arrangements the
central system circuitry may schedule transport assignments so the time of
arrival of parcels at a destination
repository is generally set. Alternatively or in addition the circuitry may
track the location of the item carrier and/or
the parcels so that the system can determine when it is expected that the
parcel will arrive at the particular
destination repository. In exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry
may operate in accordance with its
circuit executable instructions to make a determination that a parcel will
arrive in the destination repository of the
currently uncompleted transport assignment before another item carrier would
remove the parcel from the repository
to transport the parcel therefrom. Responsive to making such a determination,
the central system circuitry may be
operative in accordance with its circuit executable instructions to consider
the parcel as currently at the destination
repository of the currently uncompleted transport assignment. In this way the
parcel can be considered for purposes
of further transport in step 828, as already located at the destination
repository of the transport assignment. Further
in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may further operate to
treat parcels that are subject to
uncompleted transport assignments as being currently located in the
destination repository of the transport
assignment for purposes of determining whether such parcels are to be included
in groups which are alternatively
referred to as bundles of parcels that are further transported from the
destination repository in a manner like that
later discussed. Of course it should be understood that these approaches are
exemplary and in other arrangements
other approaches may be used.
In the exemplary arrangement after the central system circuitry has determined
that a parcel is currently
located in a partici la repository as represented by step 828, the circuitry
is operative to determine the destination
repository of the particular parcel as represented by step 830. In exemplary
arrangements this determination is made
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responsive to the stored data regarding the final delivery address associated
with the parcel identifier of the
particular parcel in the at least one data store, as well as the stored data
regarding the repositories and the associated
catchment areas in which final delivery addresses for parcels are located. As
represented by step 832 the central
system circuitry is further operative to determine whether the particular
parcel is located at the final destination
repository from which the parcel will be directly delivered either to the
recipient or to its respective final delivery
address. If the particular parcel is already at its final destination
repository to which it needs to be transported as
determined in step 832, the parcel is removed from the analysis as represented
by step 834, and the central system
circuitry is operative to select another parcel for analysis.
If in step 832 it is determined that the parcel is not at its final
destination repository, the central system
circuitry is operative to determine if the particular parcel is part of a
plurality of parcels that are included in a
shipment. In exemplary arrangements the at least one data store is operative
to include data regarding a plurality of
parcels that are being transported from a common shipper to a common recipient
as a single shipment. This includes
in exemplary arrangements associating the data corresponding to parcel
identifiers for all the parcels included in the
shipment with one another such that the parcels will not be separated during
transport. This helps to assure that all
parcels in a particular shipment are delivered to the recipient together. As
represented by a step 836 the central
system circuitry is operative to review the stored data for purposes of
determining if the data regarding the particular
parcel is associated with other parcels and make a determination if the parcel
is associated with other parcels so as to
indicate that the parcel is part of a multi-parcel shipment. A determination
is then made as represented by step 838
concerning whether the parcel is part of a common shipment. If it is
determined in step 838 that the parcel is part of
a common shipment, all the parcels that are included in the shipment are
handled together as represented by step
840.
The exemplary central system circuitry is then operative in accordance with
its stored circuit executable
instructions to evaluate the particular parcel, or the plurality of parcels
that are going to be transported with the
particular parcel as a shipment, to determine if an item carrier who may be
available to transport the parcel has
additional capacity available to handle the particular parcel along with any
other parcels that are included, as part of
the common shipment. In exemplary arrangements, the central system circuitry
may operate in response to stored
data to determine that item carriers will have at least a minimum threshold of
item carrying capacity with regard to a
particular shipment. This may include a particular number of parcels that can
be transported together by an item
carrier as part of a transport assignment. Further in other exemplary
arrangements the central system circuitry may
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
operate to determine particular properties or requirements associated with a
parcel or a shipment based on data
stored in the at least one data store. This may include for example a maximum
weight or a maximum volume that
may be handled by item carriers as part of a single transport assignment. Of
course other stored data may be
evaluated for purposes of determining the parcels to be included in a group of
parcels for transport and the item
carriers to which the transport assignment may be offered.
As represented by a step 842 the central system circuitry is operative to make
a determination based on the
stored data concerning an item carrier to which the transport assignment may
eventually be offered, whether the
item carrier will have available capacity to handle additional parcels as part
of the transport assignment. If it is
determined in step 842 that an item carrier would have no additional capacity
beyond the parcel or parcels that are
included in the group of parcels which have been currently identified for
transport, then a transport assignment offer
to one or more item carriers is made in a manner like that later discussed.
If it is determined in step 842 that an item carrier would have additional
parcel transport capacity available,
then the exemplary system circuitry operates to make a determination of
additional parcels that are located in the
current repository that may be transported as part of a group or bundle with
the particular parcel for which the
transport analysis is currently being conducted. In the exemplary arrangement
the central system circuitry is
operative responsive to the stored data regarding current locations associated
with other parcels and data
corresponding to parcel final delivery addresses, to identify any other
parcels that are currently located in the same
repository with the particular parcel for which the analysis is being
conducted, and which have a final destination
repository that is the same as the final destination repository of the
particular parcel currently being analyzed. This
analysis is represented by step 844. The central system circuitry is then
operative as represented by step 846 to
determine if there are parcels in the current repository that have the same
final destination repository as the
particular parcel currently subject to analysis. If there are no such parcels
then the central system circuitry operates
is later described to identify further parcels that may be combined with the
particular parcel in a group for transport.
If in step 846 it is determined that there are other parcels in the current
repository where the particular
parcel under consideration is located, that have the same final destination
repository as the particular parcel, the
central system circuitry then operates to add one of such parcels to the group
that will be made the subject of a
transport assignment offer to transport the group of parcels to the
destination repository. This is represented by a
step 848. The central system circuitry then operates to determine based on
stored data, if after adding the additional
parcel an item carrier would still have additional capacity available to
transport additional parcels. This
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determination is represented by step 850. If it is determined that an item
carrier would have no additional parcel
carrying capability, the central system circuitry operates in a manner like
that later discussed to present a transport
assignment offer to at least one item carrier. However if in step 850 it is
determined that the carrier would have
additional carrying capacity available to transport further parcels, then the
central system circuitry proceeds in the
logic flow to make a determination as to whether there are any additional
parcels located in the current repository
that have the same fmal destination repository as the particular parcel that
is currently subject to analysis. This
determination is represented by step 852.
If in step 852 it is determined that additional parcels that have not already
been added to the group, are
located in the same repository as the parcel under consideration and that have
the same final destination repository,
the central system circuitry operates to add an additional parcel in this
category to the group. This logic is repeated
as represented by steps 848, 850 and 852 until either the available capacity
of an item carrier is reached or until all
such parcels have been added to the group. Of course these steps are exemplary
and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
In the exemplary arrangement if the central system circuitry determines that
all the parcels that are located
within the current repository with the particular parcel for which the
analysis is being conducted and which have the
same final destination repository as the particular parcel, can be included in
the group of parcels for transport by a
single item carrier, and the item carrier would still have additional parcel
transport capability available, the
exemplary central system circuitry is operative to determine other parcels
that can be included in the group that is
transported with the particular parcel. In an exemplary arrangement the
central system circuitry is operative
responsive to the parcel location data, and the data corresponding to the
final delivery addresses of parcels, to
determine the final destination repositories of other parcels that are located
in the same repository as the particular
parcel currently subject to analysis. The central system circuitry is then
operative to determine if the final
destination repository for the particular parcel subject to analysis is
geographically closer to the respective final
destination repositories of other parcels that are currently located in the
repository with the particular parcel. Based
on this determination the central system circuitry is operative to identify
those parcels for which movement to the
final destination repository of the particular parcel, would result in the
other respective parcel being moved
geographically closer to its respective final destination repository. Based on
this analysis the central system
circuitry is operative to identify those parcels that may be included in the
group with the particular parcel for
transport to the final destination repository of the particular parcel. Of
course it should be understood that in other
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exemplary arrangements additional considerations and factors may be considered
by the central system circuitry in
determining those parcels that may be included in the group for transport with
the particular parcel. This is
represented by a step 856.
In a step 858 it is determined whether additional parcels have been identified
in the current repository that
may be included in the group with the particular parcel currently subject to
analysis for purposes of moving the
parcels to the fmal destination repository for the particular parcel, which
will place at least one other parcel
geographically closer to its own respective final destination repository. If
no such parcels are identified as
determined in step 858, the exemplary central system circuitry is operative to
proceed with the logic flow to make a
transport assignment offer as later discussed.
However if in step 858 it is deteunined that there is at least one parcel
which the central system circuitry
has determined can be included in the group with the particular parcel, the
exemplary logic flow proceeds to a step
862 which adds one further such parcel to the group that will be transported
with the particular parcel. After the
addition of the parcel, the exemplary logic flow at a step 862 determines if a
carrier would have additional carrying
capacity to accept further parcels. If not the logic proceeds towards making a
transport assignment offer to one or
more item carriers. However if in step 862 it is determined that an item
carrier would have additional parcel
transport capacity, a determination is made as to whether there are additional
parcels that the central system circuitry
has determined would benefit by being added to the group and transported to
the final destination repository of the
particular parcel. This is represented by step 864. If there are such
additional parcels remaining, the logic flow
returns to step 862 to add one more parcel in this category to the group. This
process is repeated until either the
capacity of an item carrier is reached or alternatively all the parcels which
the circuitry has determined would
benefit in delivery by being transported with the particular parcel to the
final destination repository of the particular
parcel, have been included in the group.
Once the parcels that are to be included in the group or bundle that are to be
transported together with the
particular parcel to the final destination repository of the particular parcel
have been determined by the central
system circuitry, the central system circuitry then operates in accordance
with its circuit executable instructions to
identify potential item carriers who may carry out the transport of the group
from the current repository to the final
destination repository of the particular parcel. This is represented by a step
866. In exemplary arrangements the
central system circuitry is operative responsive to the stored data regarding
item carriers to make a determination of
one or more item carriers to which the transport assignment may be offered.
This selection of potential item carriers
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may be done in a manner like that previously discussed utilizing the stored
data in the at least one data store
regarding the respective item carriers. This data may include for example,
data stored in the at least one data store
regarding particular hours and geographies of availability of a respective
item carrier. Further in some exemplary
arrangements the selection may be based on data corresponding to particular
transport capabilities associated with
the particular item carrier and the requirements associated with the parcels
that are included in the group. This may
include for example, stored data regarding the ability of an item carrier to
transport parcels while maintaining certain
temperature conditions, within devices or containers that provide secure
transport, or in vehicles that have a
sufficient amount of volume for large parcels. Further in exemplary
arrangements the selection of potential item
carriers may be based on data corresponding to prior performance of the
particular item carrier. Numerous different
items of data may be utilized by the central system circuitry in the selection
of one or more item carriers to which to
offer the transport assignment.
Once the one or more potential item carriers have been identified, the central
system circuitry then operates
in accordance with its circuit executable instructions and the stored data
regarding item carriers to determine the
contact data for the carrier contact devices of the respective item carriers.
This is represented by a step 868. In the
exemplary arrangement the central circuitry is operative to determine from the
stored data the respective phone
number, email address or other contact data for the carrier contact device of
the one or more potential item carriers
to which a transport offer to transport the group of parcels is to be
presented. The central system circuitry is then
operative to cause at least one transport assignment offer message to be sent
to the respective carrier contact device
of each of the selected potential item carriers. This is represented by step
870. In the exemplary arrangement the at
least one transport assignment offer message includes an offer to transport
the group of parcels from the current
repository in which the particular parcel subject to the analysis is located
along with the other parcels located therein
which are included in the group, to the final destination repository of the
particular parcel. In exemplary
arrangements the offer may also include requirement information such as when
the particular transport assignment
needs to be commenced and/or completed. The at least one transport assignment
offer message may also include
additional information such as the number, type or character of parcels
included in the group. The at least one
transport assignment offer message may also include information concerning the
weight, volume or other
information if applicable, to one or more of the particular parcels in the
group.
After the at least one transport assignment offer message has been sent to the
at least one carrier contact
device of the at least one item carrier, the central system circuitry operates
to monitor for receipt of a transport
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assignment offer acceptance message that is responsive to the at least one
transport assignment offer message. This
is represented by a step 872. In the exemplary arrangement the central system
circuitry operates responsive at least
in part to the system clock to monitor for receipt of a transport assignment
offer acceptance message within a set
time window after the at least one transport assignment offer message has been
sent. The time window in
exemplary arrangements corresponds to stored data that has been stored in the
at least one data store. As
represented by a step 874, if at least one transport offer acceptance message
is received within the set time window,
the exemplary circuitry operates to reserve the transport assignment to the
accepting item carrier in a manner like
that later discussed. However if as represented in step 876 the set time
window expires without receipt of at least
one responsive transport assignment offer acceptance message, the central
system circuitry may operate to determine
an alternative transport assignment that will facilitate the movement of the
particular parcel towards its respective
final destination repository.
Of course it should be understood that in some exemplary arrangements
additional steps may be taken by
the central system circuitry in accordance with its associated circuit
executable instructions before operating to
determine an alternative transport assignment that includes the particular
parcel. This may include in some
.. exemplary arrangements, sending at least one further transport assignment
offer message to the potential item
carriers. Such further at least one transport assignment offer message may
include additional information or
provisions which may result in the transport assignment being accepted by one
of the potential item carriers because
the assignment is more desirable. This may include a greater amount of
compensation payable to accept the
transport assignment offer than was originally offered. Alternatively or in
addition, if the conditions permit the
timing for the transport assignment to be relaxed, the at least one further
transport assignment offer message may
include a longer period of time for the item carrier to commence and/or
complete the transport assignment.
Alternatively, the at least one further transport assignment offer message may
also be sent to additional potential
item carriers that may not have been identified in the initial analysis for
selecting potential item carriers in step 866.
This may include item carriers that were not initially selected because of
performance criteria or indicated transport
availability information. Alternatively such additional item carriers may be
offered the transport assignment may
have been previously unavailable to accept the transport assignment due to
being involved in performance of
another transport assignment at the time of the initial offer. In exemplary
arrangements if more favorable terms or if
additional potential item carriers are determined through operation of the
central system circuitry, the circuitry will
operate to generally repeat the steps previously described to offer the
transport assignment, and wait during a set
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
time window for receipt of a transport assignment acceptance message. Of
course these approaches are exemplary
and in other arrangements other steps and approaches may be utilized.
If in the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry determines that
the potential item carriers have
not accepted a transport assignment to move the particular parcel under
analysis from the current repository to its
final destination repository, the central system circuitry then proceeds to
determine an alternative transport
assignment that may be issued to move the particular parcel toward its
respective final destination repository. As
represented by a step 878 the central system circuitry operates to clear the
particular group of parcels that was
previously determined for the transport assignment which was not accepted. In
exemplary step 878 the identity of
the parcels that were included in the prior group is cleared, except that
parcels included in a common shipment with
the particular parcel remain associated with the parcel to be shipped together
as part of any transport assignment.
The exemplary central system circuitry then operates to select an intermediate
repository to which the
particular parcel may be transported so as to be closer to its respective
final destination repository. This is
represented by step 880. In the exemplary arrangement the central system
circuitry is operative to determine an
intermediate repository that is geographically intermediate of the current
repository where the particular parcel
subject to consideration is currently located, and the final destination
repository of the particular parcel. In the
exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry is operative to initially
identify an intermediate repository that is
both geographically intermediate of the current repository and the destination
repository and yet is geographically as
close to the destination repository as possible based on available parcel
repositories. Of course this approach is
exemplary and in other arrangements the central system circuitry may operate
in accordance with its programming
to select an initial intermediate repository based on other criteria and
factors which will facilitate the movement of
the particular parcel toward its respective final destination repository.
In the exemplary logic flow of the central system circuitry, after selection
of an intermediate repository a
determination is made as to whether a prior selection of the same intermediate
repository has previously been made.
This is represented by step 882. The step is included to assure that in the
logic flow the circuitry does not attempt to
offer multiple transport assignments of the particular parcel to the same
intermediate repository. If in the step 882 is
determined that the intermediate repository selected in step 880 had
previously been selected, the exemplary system
circuitry operates as represented in step 884 to remove that intermediate
repository from the analysis, and the
circuitry operates to select an alternative intermediate repository. Again in
the selection of a further intermediate
repository the system circuitry may operate in accordance with its stored
circuit executable instructions to select an
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intermediate repository based on the repository being a distance somewhat
closer to the current repository than the
last preceding selected intermediate repository. Alternatively, other or
additional criteria may be utilized for
purposes of making the further selection of intermediate repositories.
In the exemplary logic flow if in the step 882 it is determined that a
transport assignment offer to the
selected intermediate repository is to be made, the exemplary central system
circuitry is operative to determine
parcels that may be included in a group or bundle of parcels that is to be
transported with the particular parcel from
the current repository to the selected intermediate repository. The selection
of the parcels in this group or bundle is
represented by step 886. In an exemplary arrangement the parcels initially
identified to be eligible to be included in
the transport assignment include parcels that are currently located in the
same repository as the parcel that is subject
to analysis, and that which have as their respective final destination
repository, the intermediate repository that has
been selected for the second transport assignment offer related to the
particular parcel. Such parcels are identified
by the system circuitry responsive at least in part to the stored data. Of
course it should be understood that this
approach is exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches for
identifying parcels for transport with the
particular parcel may be used.
As represented by a step 888 the central system circuitry is operative to make
a determination concerning
whether there are one or more parcels in the current repository, that have the
intermediate repository as their final
destination repository. If there are no such parcels in the current
repository, then the central system circuitry
operates in a manner like that later discussed to identify additional parcels
that may be included in the transport
assignment as part of a group for transport with the particular parcel. In
situations where there are such parcels
which have the intermediate repository as their respective final destination
repository, the central system circuitry
then operates to add a parcel in such category to the group of parcels that
will be included in the transport
assignment. This is represented by step 890.
After one additional parcel has been added to the group or bundle in step 890,
the central system circuitry
then operates to make a determination as to whether an item carrier will have
additional capacity to carry additional
parcels. This is represented by step 892. If no further capacity is available,
the central system circuitry will operate
as later discussed to make a second transport assignment offer related to the
particular parcel and other parcels that
have been bundled in the group therewith, for transport to the intermediate
repository.
If in step 892 it is determined based on stored data regarding item carrier
capacity, that an item carrier will
have additional item carrying capability available, then the circuitry
operates as represented by step 894 to determine
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if there are additional parcels remaining that have not already been bundled
in the group, which are located in the
current repository and which have the intemiediate repository for the parcel
that is subject to analysis as their
respective fmal destination repository. If there are additional parcels of
this type remaining, such parcels are added
to the group as represented by steps 890, 892 and 894 until the capacity of an
item carrier is reached or all such
parcels have been bundled into the group.
If all the parcels currently located in the current repository with the
particular parcel subject to
consideration, and which have the intermediate repository as their respective
final destination repository, have been
included in the group to be transported with the particular parcel, and it is
determined that an item carrier would still
have available capacity to transport more parcels, the exemplary central
system circuitry may operate to determine
additional parcels that are located in the current repository that may be
added to the transport assignment with the
current group. The selection of such additional parcels is represented by step
896. In the exemplary arrangement
the central circuitry operates in accordance with its circuit executable
instructions to identify parcels located in the
same current repository with the particular parcel that is subject to
consideration, and which have a respective fmal
destination repository to which the intermediate repository is geographically
closer. As a result such parcels may
benefit from being transported to the intermediate repository as such parcels
will then be closer to their respective
final destination repositories. As can be appreciated in exemplary
arrangements such parcels would include the
parcels previously identified that have the same final destination repository
as the parcel that is subject to
consideration. Of course as can be appreciated, the central system circuitry
may operate to identify parcels that may
be included for bundling with the group for transport based on additional
criteria. This may include for example
time factors or other considerations that result in a determination that
certain parcels will have their transport
facilitated by being moved at the present time to the inteimediate repository.
Numerous different approaches may
be taken in making such bundling determinations.
The central system circuitry then operates as represented by step 898 to
determine if there is at least one
parcel in the current repository that satisfies the selected criteria for
additional parcels that is applied in step 896. In
the exemplary arrangement if there are no such parcels, the central system
circuitry will then operate to proceed with
the steps necessary to make a transport assignment second offer related to the
particular parcel and the other parcels
that have been bundled therewith in a group for transport to the intermediate
repository in a manner like that later
discussed. If however such parcels have been identified in step 896, the
central system circuitry then operates to add
one such selected parcel to the group as represented by a step 900. After the
additional parcel has been added, a
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determination is made as represented by step 902 concerning whether an item
carrier would have carrying capacity
available to add additional parcels. If in step 902 is determined that no
additional parcel carrying capacity would be
available, the central system circuitry operates in the manner later discussed
to cause at least one transport
assignment second offer message to be issued.
If additional transport capability of an item carrier is determined to be
available in step 902, then a
determination is made as to whether there are additional selected parcels from
step 896 that have not yet been added
to the group that will be bundled together for purposes of the transport
offer. This is represented by a step 904. If
additional parcels remain, then such parcels are added to the group one at a
time as represented by steps 900, 902
and 904 until either the carrying capacity of an item carrier is reached or
all the parcels identified in step 896 have
been added to the group that will be the subject of the transport assignment
second offer. Of course it should be
understood that these steps are exemplary and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
Once the group of parcels has been determined that will be included in the
transport assignment second
offer related to the particular parcel that is currently subject to analysis,
the central system circuitry then operates in
a manner like that previously discussed to select potential item carriers.
This is represented by step 906. The
potential item carriers may be determined based on stored data or other
information which indicates that such item
carriers are suitable to carry out the transport of the parcels included in
the group between the current repository
where the parcels are currently located and the selected intermediate
repository. Further the potential item carriers
may be selected based on stored data corresponding to the particular item
carrier's transport capabilities and the
stored data related to the requirements for transport of the parcels that are
included in the bundle which makes up the
current group.
After determining potential item carriers as represented in step 906, the
central system circuitry is then
operative as represented in step 908 to determine the carrier contact data for
the carrier contact devices associated
with the selected potential item carriers. Contact data is determined based on
stored data associated with the
respective item carrier contact devices in a manner like that previously
discussed. The central system circuitry is
then operative to send at least one transport assignment second offer message
to each of the carrier contact devices
of the selected item carriers. This is represented by step 910. As can be
appreciated the at least one transport
assignment second offer message corresponds to an offer to transport the
particular parcel and the other parcels in
the group that have been bundled therewith from the current repository to the
selected intermediate repository. As
with the prior transport assignment offer message, the at least one message
may include information regarding the
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current repository, the intermediate repository which is the destination of
the transport assignment, the parcels
included in the transport assignment, timing requirements for pickup and/or
delivery of the parcels, and other
requirements associated with the parcel transport assignment.
After the at least one transport assignment second offer message has been
sent, the central system circuitry
then operates in accordance with its programmed circuit executable
instructions to monitor for receipt of at least one
transport assignment second offer acceptance message in response to the at
least one offer message. This is
represented by step 912. Similar to the logic flow previously described, if at
least one transport assignment second
offer acceptance message is received from an accepting carrier contact device
of an accepting item carrier, the
central system circuitry then operates to reserve the transport assignment for
the accepting item carrier in a manner
like that later discussed. This is represented by step 914. However in the
exemplary arrangement if a transport
assignment second offer acceptance message is not received before expiration
of a set time window, the exemplary
system circuitry determines that the transport assignment offer has not been
accepted and further steps are taken to
transport the particular parcel. This is represented by step 916. In exemplary
arrangements the set time window
may be based on stored data that has been set by the system operator or
through operation of the central system
circuitry. Further in exemplary arrangements the set time window after the
dispatch of the at least one transport
assignment second offer message may be the same as that used in connection
with monitoring for receipt of the
initial transport assignment offer message. Alternatively the set time window
that is utilized in step 916 may be a
different time value.
In the event that no transport assignment second offer acceptance message is
received within the set time
window, the exemplary system circuitry may proceed to develop further
transport assignment offers in an effort to
move the particular parcel that is subject to consideration toward its
respective destination repository in a manner
like that later discussed. However, in exemplary arrangements the central
circuitry may operate in a manner like
that previously discussed to take additional steps to try to have the
potential item carriers to which the transport
assignment has been previously offered to accept the assignment under
different terms or conditions. These will
generally be more favorable payment or time conditions like those previously
discussed in connection with a failure
to have the initial transport assignment accepted. Alternatively or in
addition the transport assignment second offer
may be sent to potential item carriers who did not receive the second
transport assignment offer initially. Numerous
additional steps may be taken by the central circuitry to have the transport
assignment to the initially selected
intermediate repository accepted by an item carrier.
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
In the exemplary arrangement if the transport assignment second offer is not
accepted by item carrier, the
central system circuitry then operates as represented by step 918 to clear the
current group of parcels that were
planned to be transported together as a bundle to the first intermediate
repository. The circuitry then operates to
make a determination as to whether there are further repositories that are
geographically intermediate of the current
repository where the particular parcel subject to consideration is located,
and the final destination repository of the
particular parcel, that would be suitable for a transport assignment that
would move the particular parcel toward its
respective final destination repository. This is represented by a step 920.
This determination may be based on
numerous different factors and considerations that are analyzed through
operation of the central system circuitry in
accordance with its circuit executable instructions. If it is determined that
there are additional inteimediate
repositories to which the particular parcel could be moved to achieve suitable
movement toward its respective final
destination repository, then the central system circuitry returns in the logic
flow to the selection of a further
intermediate repository. If however in step 920 it is determined that there
are currently no further intermediate
repositories to which a transport assignment could be made that meet the
criteria applied by the central system
circuitry for offering a further transport assignment, the central system
circuitry operates to defer further attempts at
a transport assignment for the particular parcel for a period of time. This is
represented by a step 922. The deferral
of further attempts at a transport assignment for the particular parcel may
extend for a set time window as
established by the central system circuitry. Alternatively, a further attempt
to transport the particular parcel may be
made in a next iterative analysis that is done by the system for the next
transport movement of each particular parcel.
Numerous different approaches may be taken based on the programming of the
particular system circuitry.
Further as can be appreciated, a deferral of attempting to make a transport
assignment of the particular
parcel may result in the system circuitry not having to arrange for a specific
transport of the particular parcel from
the current repository. This is because the particular parcel may be included
in a group of parcels that is bundled for
transport with another parcel prior to the time that the central system
circuitry would iteratively again consider a
next transport movement for the particular parcel. As a result, when the
central system circuitry again conducts an
analysis of possible transport assignments for the particular parcel, the
particular parcel may be in a different
repository, or may already be subject to a delivery assignment to deliver the
parcel to its respective final delivery
address. The fact that in the exemplary arrangement the parcels are considered
for bundling in a group with other
parcels helps to assure that parcels are continuously moving toward the
respective final destination repositories and
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final delivery addresses. Of course it should be understood that this approach
is exemplary and in other
arrangements other approaches may be used.
As can be appreciated in the exemplary arrangement if the transport assignment
second offer is not
accepted by an item carrier, the exemplary system circuitry returns to the
logic flow at step 880 where a further
intermediate repository is determined. In the exemplary arrangement the
exemplary system circuitry is operative in
accordance with its circuit executable instructions to select a second
intermediate repository based on a
determination of an intermediate repository location that is geographically
intermediate of the current repository and
the final repository, but that is closer to the current repository than the
intermediate repository for which the
transport assignment second offer was not accepted. Of course it should be
understood that this approach for
selecting the second intermediate repository and other repositories is
exemplary and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
In the exemplary arrangement once the second intermediate repository has been
determined, the logic flow
repeats to determine those parcels which may be grouped in a bundle with the
particular parcel for transport to the
second intermediate repository. The system circuitry then identifies potential
item carriers and operates to cause at
least one transport assignment third offer message to be sent to the selected
potential item carriers. The logic flow is
carried out to monitor for at least one transport assignment third offer
acceptance message from a selected item
carrier during a set time window. If at least one transport assignment third
offer acceptance message is not received
within the set time window, then the central system circuitry may operate to
attempt to take additional steps to have
the transport assignment third offer accepted by item carrier, or may return
in the logic flow to identify a third
intermediate repository.
The exemplary logic flow may then be carried out to identify a group of
parcels to be included in a bundle
with the particular parcel in a transport assignment between the current
repository and the third intermediate
repository. Potential item carriers may be identified in a manner like that
previously discussed and at least one
transport assignment fourth offer message sent to the potential item carriers
to offer the transport assignment
between the current repository and the third intermediate repository. Again,
the central system circuitry may operate
to monitor for acceptance of the transport assignment fourth offer for a set
period of time, and may take further steps
in the event that the transport offer assignment is not accepted.
As can be appreciated in exemplary arrangements different set time windows for
receipt of transport
assignment offer acceptance messages, different conditions for transport
assignments, different selection criteria for
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potential item carriers or other criteria associated with the offering of
transport assignments may be applied
responsive to the programmed instructions associated with the central system
circuitry as additional transport
assignment offers are determined and presented. This may include the central
system circuitry operating in
accordance with its programmed circuit executable instructions to identify
circumstances that may be an impediment
to having the transport assignment accepted by item carriers and adjusting the
transport assignment offer messages
in a manner that is calculated to increase the chances for acceptance of the
transport offer by an item carrier.
Further in exemplary arrangements the central system circuitry may also
consider other factors including
time periods during which a particular parcel subject to analysis is required
by the system operator to reach its
respective final delivery address. The central system circuitry may operate in
accordance with its programmed
instructions to modify the terms of the transport assignment, the item
carriers to which the transport assignment is
presented and/or the criteria used for selection of the group of parcels to be
transport together, based on time or other
requirements which necessitate more rapid movement of the particular parcel.
This may include increasing the
payments to potential item carriers for parcel transport and/or offering
transport assignments that include lesser
numbers of parcels or only the particular parcel, in order to assure that
delivery is made in accordance with required
delivery parameters. Alternatively or in addition, transport assignments may
be issued to a group of selected
potential item carriers and/or parcel repository service personnel who are
retained by the system operator for
purposes of assisting in the movement of parcels on an urgent basis to assure
that parcels reach their required
destinations in accordance with applicable system operation requirements. Of
course these approaches are
exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches may be used.
In exemplary arrangements when an item carrier has accepted a transport
assignment offer, the exemplary
central system circuitry operates to carry out the logic flow that begins on
Figure 60. In the exemplary arrangement
the central system circuitry operates in accordance with its stored circuit
executable instructions responsive at least
in part to receipt of the at least one transport assignment offer acceptance
message, to reserve the transport
assignment to the accepting carrier as represented by step 924. In the
exemplary arrangement the central system
circuitry operates as previously discussed to create at least one data record
which indicates that the accepting item
carrier will have the transport of the parcels included in the assignment
reserved to the item carrier for a set time. If
for some reason the accepting item carrier does not take steps to pick up the
parcels from the current repository
within a set time, the central system circuitry determines that the item
carrier will not perfolin the assignment and
steps are taken to reassign the transport assignment to another item carrier.
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As represented by step 926 the central system circuity is operative to update
the stored data in the at least
one data store concerning the parcels that are included in the group that is
the subject of the transport assignment. In
exemplary arrangements the circuitry is operative to update the data
associated with the parcel identifiers to indicate
that each parcel that will be transported is no longer subject to being
included in groups of parcels to be included in
other transport assignments. In exemplary arrangements the at least one data
store is also operative to include data
which indicates that each parcel is subject to a transport assignment that has
been reserved to the accepting item
carrier, but has not yet been picked up from the current repository by the
item carrier. Of course it should be
understood that these steps are exemplary and other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
The central system circuitry then operates as represented by a step 928 to
generate at least one code that
.. will enable the accepting item carrier to access the repository where the
parcels are currently located. In exemplary
arrangements the generated code may be a one time access code like that
previously discussed, which will enable the
accepting item carrier to access one or more interior areas of the current
repository in order to access the parcels that
are the subject of the transport assignment. The central system circuitry is
then operative responsive to the stored
data regarding the contact data for the accepting item carrier contact device,
to communicate the code to the carrier
.. contact device of the accepting item carrier. This may be done in a secure
manner in ways like those previously
discussed.
Of course it should be understood that different or additional communications
may also be carried out
between the central system circuitry and the accepting item carrier contact
device. Such communications may
include for example, sending an acknowledgment message to the accepting item
carrier contact device that the
assignment has been made to the accepting item carrier. Additional
communications may include determining the
current GPS location of the item carrier contact device and providing
directions or other information that may be
used to guide the accepting item carrier to the repository where the parcels
are located. Alternatively or in addition
in situations where one or more of the parcels included in the transport
assignment require special handling, such as
a large volume of space, refrigerated storage, a locked secure transport
compartment or other transport or access
requirements, messages may be exchanged with the accepting item carrier
contact device to confirm that the
accepting item carrier can provide the required capabilities. Further messages
exchanged with the accepting item
carrier may also include confirming with the item carrier the timing that is
required for the pickup, transport and
delivery of the group of parcels in the transport assignment. Of course these
additional communications are
exemplary and in other arrangements other messages and steps may be carried
out.
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In the exemplary arrangement after the accepting item carrier contact device
has received the code from the
central system circuitry, the circuitry waits for the carrier to arrive at the
current repository where the parcels to be
transported are located. The item carrier then takes actions to input to the
at least one input device of the repository
the one time code, the carrier's token identifier and/or other information
that identifies the item carrier as the
accepting item carrier who is authorized to access the repository. This is
represented by step 930. In exemplary
arrangements the code and the token identifier may be received by the
repository control circuitry through at least
one wireless transceiver or other communication device that is in operative
connection with control circuitry. In
other exemplary arrangements the token identifier may be received through
wireless communication while the code
may be received through another input device. This may include for example
receipt of the code through a keypad
that is located on the parcel repository. Other input devices that are
included on the repository and which may
receive the code or other inputs may include a camera which may be used for
reading an output such as a QR code
that includes or corresponds to the identifying code, from a display of the
accepting carrier contact device.
Alternatively or in addition a camera associated with the repository, a
biometric reader or other input devices may
receive inputs that are usable to identify the accepting item carrier and/or
the accepting item carrier contact device.
Of course these approaches for authenticating the accepting item carrier are
exemplary and other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
The central system circuitry then operates as represented by step 932 to
verify that the inputs that have been
provided by the accepting item carrier at the repository where the parcels to
be transported are currently located,
corresponds to the accepting item carrier and/or accepting carrier contact
device. This may be done in a manner like
that previously discussed by comparing the input token identifier data which
identifies the item carrier with stored
data store in the at least one data store. In addition the central system
circuitry is operative to compare the input
code value with the code data that was sent to the accepting item carrier
contact device. Further in exemplary
arrangements the central system circuitry may operate to compare biometric
data and/or other data that is input by
the carrier with stored data to verify that the accepting item carrier is
present at the parcel repository and is in
position to pick up the parcels in the group that will be transported as part
of the transport assignment.
As represented by step 934 the central system circuitry then operates to
communicate at least one message
with the accepting carrier's carrier contact device and the repository control
circuitry of the repository. The at least
one message may include data corresponding to a confirmation that the
accepting item carrier input data has been
accepted and that access to the parcels will be provided to the item carrier.
Such messages may be operative to
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cause at least one output through the display of the carrier contact device to
inform the carrier that the access request
has been accepted. In other exemplary arrangements the central system
circuitry may be operative to cause devices
of the repository to operate so as to capture data regarding the access that
will be made to the repository by the item
carrier. This may include causing the repository control circuitry to operate
input devices such as cameras and/or
other reading devices to capture the images of activities and data related to
the parcel removal activities. Further in
exemplary arrangements the at least one message may be operative to cause the
central system circuitry to operate to
cause the condition of one or more of the locks of the repository to be
changed from the locked condition to the
unlocked condition. Numerous different types of messages may be exchanged
between the central system circuitry,
the accepting carrier contact device and the control circuitry of the current
repository to acknowledge the
verification of the input identification data and to make the parcels in the
transport assignment accessible to the
accepting item carrier.
In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry may be operative
when the repository is of the
type that has multiple interior areas each of which are controlled by
respective doors and locks, to provide for the
controlled removal of parcels so that the transfer of each parcel from the
repository to the accepting item carrier is
controlled and documented as correct. Of course it should be understood that
this may be done in multiple different
ways depending on the nature of the repository and the parcels involved in the
transport assignment. In the
exemplary arrangement described, the central system circuitry is operative to
make a first one of the parcels
included in the transport assignment accessible to the accepting item carrier.
This may be done by the central
system circuitry communicating with the repository control circuitry to cause
the lock controlling access to the
interior area where the parcel is positioned accessible to the item carrier.
This may be done by the communications
with the central system circuitry causing the particular lock to be changed
from the locked condition to the unlocked
condition. This is represented by a step 936.
In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry then communicates
messages to cause the item
carrier to be prompted to remove the initial parcel from the interior area
where it is currently positioned. In
exemplary arrangements the user may be prompted to remove the particular
parcel from the interior area by the
central system circuitry communicating with the accepting item carrier contact
device. Outputs from the display of
the carrier contact device may instruct the user to remove the particular
parcel and to provide at least one input to the
carrier contact device which identifies the parcel. In exemplary arrangements
the user may be instructed to read
machine-readable indicia from the parcel after it has been removed from the
interior area of the repository using the
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reader of the carrier contact device which in exemplary arrangements
corresponds to at least one camera of the
device. However in other arrangements where the repository includes a display
and reading devices, the user may
be prompted through the display of the repository to access the particular
parcel in an indicated interior area. The
display of the repository may also operate responsive to communication with
the central system circuitry to have the
user move or position the parcel so that the parcel identifying indicia
thereon can be read through operation of a
reading device of the repository. Alternatively in other arrangements the
display of the repository may prompt the
user to read the parcel identifying indicia from the parcel using the reading
device such as the camera of the
accepting carrier contact device. The steps associated with prompting the
removal of the particular parcel from the
interior area of the repository and reading the parcel identifying indicia
therefrom is represented by a step 938. The
sensing of removal of a parcel may in some arrangements be detected by one or
more sensors such as weight
sensors, photo sensors or imaging sensors of the repository. Of course the
approaches described herein are
exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches may be used.
The parcel identifying indicia read from the parcel that has been removed by
the item carrier is
communicated in one or more messages between the repository and/or the
accepting carrier contact device and
received by the central system circuitry as represented by step 940. The
central system circuitry is then operative to
compare the parcel identifying indicia that has been read to the stored data
related to the parcel identifier
corresponding to the parcel that the item carrier has been instructed to
remove from the repository and include as
part of the transport assignment. This is represented by step 942.
As represented by step 944 the central system circuitry is then operative to
make a determination that the
read parcel identifying indicia corresponds to the proper parcel that the item
carrier has been instructed to remove
from the repository. In the event an error is determined in step 944, the
central system circuitry then operates to
execute steps as appropriate to correct the error as represented by step 946.
In exemplary arrangements where for
example, the item carrier has removed an incorrect parcel from the repository,
the error correction steps may include
communications with the repository control circuitry and/or the item carrier
contact device to instruct the carrier to
place the parcel back in the repository and to remove the correct parcel. Of
course the steps for error recovery will
depend on the particular type of error that has occurred and numerous
different approaches may be utilized
depending on the situation and the type of repository and parcel involved.
In exemplary arrangements in situations where the accepting item carrier has
removed the correct parcel as
indicated by the read parcel identifying indicia, the central system circuitry
operates to communicate with the carrier
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contact device and/or the repository control circuitry to provide the carrier
with an indication that the correct parcel
has been removed. This is represented by step 948. This may include outputting
one or more messages through the
display of the carrier contact device and/or providing an output from the
display or other output device of the
repository.
The central system circuitry then operates to determine the parcels included
in the group to be transported
and the parcels that have been properly removed by the accepting item carrier.
This is represented by step 950. In a
step 952 a determination is made as to whether all the parcels that are to be
included in the group of parcels that are
subject to the transport assignment have been removed and are now in the
possession of the item carrier. If more
parcels are to be removed, the central system circuitry then operates to
determine another parcel in the group that
.. needs to be removed from the repository and documented as in the possession
of the accepting item carrier. The
determination as to the next parcel to be removed is represented by step 954.
The central system circuitry then
operates to return the logic flow to make the next parcel available to the
item carrier so that it can be removed and
documented as in the possession of the item carrier by reading the parcel
identifying indicia associated therewith.
The logic flow is repeated until all the parcels in the group that are subject
to the transport assignment have been
removed from the repository and are in the possession of the accepting item
carrier. Of course it should be
understood that these steps are exemplary and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry then operates to
communicate with the accepting
item carrier contact device to confirm that the item carrier is in possession
of all the parcels that are included in the
group to be transported. This is represented by step 956. Such communications
may include numerous different
messages between the central system circuitry and the carrier contact device
which help to assure that the accepting
carrier has received all the parcels from the repository, has the parcels in
their possession and is ready to commence
the transport of the parcels toward the destination repository. Responsive to
receiving one or more messages
indicative that the accepting item carrier has the parcels in step 956, the
central system circuitry is then operative to
update the data in the at least one data store regarding the parcels that are
included in the transport assignment as
represented by step 958. In the exemplary arrangement the central system
circuitry is operative to update the data to
indicate that the parcels corresponding to the parcel identifiers for parcels
included in the transport assignment, are
in the possession of the accepting item carrier and are subject to an
uncompleted transport assignment to the
destination repository. The central system circuitry may further update the
data to include an indication that the
parcels included in the transport assignment are scheduled to arrive at the
destination repository within the time
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parameters associated with the transport assignment. Of course it should be
understood that these approaches are
exemplary and in other arrangements additional or different steps may be
carried out.
As represented by step 960 the central system circuitry is then operative to
track the transport of the parcels
by the accepting item carrier. In exemplary arrangements the central system
circuitry is operative to communicate
with the accepting carrier contact device to track the whereabouts of the
carrier via GPS signals. This enables the
central system circuitry to determine the location of the parcels and track
their movement toward the destination
repository.
As represented by step 962 the central system circuitry is operative to
generate further code data that will
enable the accepting item carrier to access the destination repository once
the parcels have been transported. This
may include a one time access code of the type previously discussed or other
suitable access data or credentials that
may be utilized to access the interior area or interior areas of the
destination repository so that the parcels may be
placed therein. The central system circuitry is then operative to securely
send the generated code to the accepting
carrier contact device.
Once the item carrier has arrived at the destination repository, the item
carrier provides the carrier token
identifier, one-time code or other code data, biometric identifier or other
required input data as necessary to access
the destination repository. The repository control circuitry and/or the
accepting item carrier contact device are
operative to communicate with the central system circuitry such that the
circuitry receives such data as represented
by step 964. Such communications may be like those previously discussed in
connection with making the parcels
accessible to the item carrier from the repository in which the parcels were
originally located. The central system
circuitry then operates as represented by step 966 to determine that the
identifying data that is received from the
destination repository and/or the accepting carrier contact device is valid
and corresponds to the authorized item
carrier. The central system circuitry then operates as represented by step 967
to communicate one or more messages
with the accepting item carrier contact device and the destination parcel
repository to indicate that the destination
parcel repository will provide access to the accepting item carrier by
changing the condition of one or more of the
.. locks which control access to the interior areas from the locked condition
to the unlocked condition. Of course it
should be understood that the particular messages that are exchange may depend
on the type of repository and/or the
character of the parcels that are involved in the transport assignment.
In the exemplary arrangement the logic flow described will be applicable to a
repository that includes a
plurality of interior areas that are controlled by respective doors and locks,
and in which the parcels in the group
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which are the subject of the transport assignment will be placed in different
interior areas. This may be done for
example to achieve sorting of the parcels into separate interior areas so that
they may be more readily taken by
subsequent item carriers. This may include for example groups of parcels that
will be subject to a "last mile" parcel
transport assignment to deliver the respective parcels to the respective final
delivery addresses. Other parcels may
be included in interior areas with other parcels that will be moved from the
repository together toward the respective
final destination repository or repositories of the parcels. As can be
appreciated, the central system circuitry may
operate to utilize the plurality of interior areas of the parcel repository to
accomplish sorting of the parcels so as to
facilitate the further transport thereof by the system and item carriers who
subsequently transport the parcels.
As represented by step 968 the central system circuitry is operative to prompt
the accepting item carrier to
input the parcel identifier associated with the particular parcel that is
included in the transport assignment. This may
be done in a manner like that previously discussed by prompting reading of the
machine-readable indicia on the
parcel using the camera or other reading device of the carrier contact device.
Alternatively the item carrier may be
prompted to read the parcel identifier through a display of the repository. In
some arrangements a reading device of
the repository may be utilized for purposes of reading the parcel identifier.
Responsive to the parcel identifying data
having been read, the central system circuitry receives the parcel identifier
data as represented by step 970. The
central system circuitry then operates to determine the particular interior
area of the repository in which the
particular parcel is to be placed. Responsive to making this determination the
central system circuitry is operative to
make the selected interior area accessible to the item carrier so that the
parcel may be placed therein. In exemplary
arrangements this is done by changing the condition of the lock associated
with the door for the selected interior area
from the locked condition to the unlocked condition. This is represented by
step 972.
In exemplary arrangements the at least one input device associated with the
repository may be operative to
sense the placement of the particular parcel in the interior area. This may be
done through one or more different
types of sensors such as optical sensors, cameras, weight sensors or other
sensors. In exemplary arrangements the
repository control circuitry may be operative to send one or more signals to
the central system circuitry to indicate
that the parcel has been placed in the respective interior area. This is
represented by step 974. In alternative
arrangements the accepting carrier contact device may receive messages which
prompt the user to capture images of
the parcel included in the respective interior area of the repository and to
transmit such image data to the central
system circuitry. Of course these approaches to documenting the placement of
the particular parcel within the
interior area of the repository are exemplary and in other arrangements other
approaches may be used.
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The central system circuitry is then operative in accordance with its circuit
executable instructions
responsive to receipt of the messages indicating that the particular parcel
associated with the read parcel identifying
indicia has been placed in the particular interior area of the repository to
update the stored data regarding the
particular parcel identifier. This is represented by step 976. In exemplary
arrangements the central system circuitry
is operative to update the stored data to indicate that the parcel associated
with the parcel identifier is located in the
destination repository, and in some arrangements within a particular interior
area or compartment of the particular
repository. This then facilitates the further transport of the particular
parcel through subsequent item carrier
transport assignments.
The central system circuitry then operates to determine the parcels included
in the transport assignment and
.. those that have been placed within the interior area of the destination
repository. This is represented by step 978. In
a step 980 the central system circuitry is operative to determine if all of
the parcels that are included in the group for
the transport assignment have been placed in the destination repository. If it
is determined in step 980 that there are
more parcels in the transport assignment that need to be placed within the
repository, the logic flow returns to cause
another one of the parcels to be identified and placed in the appropriate
interior area of the destination repository.
This logic flow is repeated in the exemplary arrangement until all the parcels
that are included in the transport
assignment are indicated to be located in the destination repository. Of
course it should be understood that this logic
flow is exemplary and in other arrangements other approaches may be used.
Once all of the parcels are indicated to have been placed within the
destination repository, the exemplary
central system circuitry communicates with the accepting item carrier contact
device and/or the destination
repository to confirm that all the parcels that were included in the transport
assignment have been placed in the
repository. In the exemplary arrangement the central system circuitry prompts
the accepting item carrier through
outputs from the display of the item carrier contact device and/or a display
of the destination repository to provide
inputs to confirm that all of the parcels included in the transport assignment
have been placed in the repository. This
is represented by step 982. The accepting item carrier then provides one or
more inputs to the item carrier contact
device and/or at least one input device of the destination repository
responsive to the prompts.
As represented by a step 984 the central system circuitry is operative to
receive the one or more messages
from the item carrier contact device and/or the repository control circuitry
responsive to the inputs provided by the
item carrier. If as represented by a step 986 the received messages indicate
that not all the parcels included in the
transport assignment have been placed in the repository or there is some other
discrepancy, the central system
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circuitry operates to carry out one or more error recovery routines as
represented by step 988. The nature of the
error recovery routines carried out in step 988 will depend on the nature of
the discrepancy. For example if the item
carrier is in possession of an additional parcel that was not prompted to be
placed within an interior area of the
destination repository, the central system circuitry may instruct the item
carrier to read the parcel identifying indicia
from the extra parcel and the circuitry makes a determination as to how to
instruct the carrier to handle the particular
parcel. Of course these approaches are exemplary and different error recovery
routines may be executed depending
on the character of the indicated discrepancy.
If in the step 986 the accepting item carrier has indicated that all the
parcels have been placed in the
destination repository and there are no discrepancies, the central system
circuitry then operates to take the steps
associated with the completion of the transport assignment. In exemplary
arrangements this may include sending
further messages to the item carrier contact device acknowledging performance
of the transport assignment and
indicating that payment for the transport assignment will be made. In
exemplary arrangements the central system
circuitry operates as represented by step 990 to credit the item carrier
account for the amount of the payment due for
the item transport. In some arrangements the central system circuitry will
also debit the appropriate accounts of the
.. shipper entities for the transport activity related to the parcels. Further
in exemplary arrangements the central
system circuitry will operate as represented in step 992 to modify the data
stored in the at least one data store to
record the actions associated with the transport assignment and the placement
of the parcels in the destination
repository. This may include indicating completion of the transport
assignment, archiving information and time data
as well as image data regarding the parcel transport. The storage of such data
in the at least one data store may be
useful in situations where parcels are lost or unaccounted for, or a
subsequent discrepancy is later uncovered. Of
course it should be understood that these approaches are exemplary and in
other arrangements other approaches may
be used.
Thus the exemplary embodiments described herein achieve improved operation,
eliminate difficulties
encountered in the use of prior devices and systems, and attain the useful
results described herein.
In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity,
clarity and understanding. However,
no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom because such terms are
used for descriptive purposes and are
intended to be broadly construed. Moreover the descriptions and illustrations
herein are by way of examples and the
inventive features are not limited to the exact features shown and described.
107
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
Further in the following claims any feature described as a means for
performing a function shall be
construed as encompassing any means known to those skilled in the art as being
capable of carrying out the recited
function and shall not be deemed limited to the particular means shown or
described for performing the recited
function in the foregoing description or mere equivalents thereof.
It should be understood that features and/or relationships associated with one
embodiment can be combined
with features and/or relationships from another embodiment. That is, various
features and/or relationships from
various embodiments can be combined in further embodiments. The inventive
scope of the disclosure is not limited
to only the embodiments shown or described herein.
The term "non-transitory" with regard to a computer readable medium is
intended to exclude only the
subject matter of a transitory signal, per se, where the medium itself is
transitory. The term "non-transitory" is not
intended to exclude any other form of computer readable media, including but
not limited to media comprising data
that is only temporarily stored or stored in a transitory fashion. Should the
law change to allow computer readable
medium itself to be transitory signals, then this exclusion is no longer valid
or binding.
Having described the features, discoveries and principles of the exemplary
embodiments, the manner in
which they are constructed and operated, and the advantages and useful results
attained, the new and useful
structures, devices, elements, arrangements, parts, combinations, systems,
equipment, operations, methods,
processes and relationships are set forth in the appended claims.
108
Date Regue/Date Received 2022-07-21
