Biological Sample Storage System with External RFID Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for tracking boxes of biological samples in ultra-low temperature freezers are complex, requiring numerous printed circuit boards and cables, which leads to increased heat leakage and complexity in data and power transfer.
Innovation Solution
A cold-storage system that uses only 31 PC boards of two types and 6 cables, eliminating the need for special racks and wireless interactions, with data and power transferred via wired connections, and employing a relay circuit to reduce heat leakage and simplify the tracking process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional systems use numerous PC boards and cables for tracking sample boxes, then tracking functionality is achieved, but heat leakage increases and system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tracking functionality from the cold storage environment by using RFID tags that operate independently of internal electronics. The reader is positioned outside the cold zone, eliminating the need for numerous PC boards and cables inside the freezer, thus reducing heat leakage while maintaining tracking reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces RFID tags as intermediaries between the sample boxes and the tracking system. These passive tags can be read wirelessly without requiring power or electronics inside the cold storage area, reducing thermal burden while enabling reliable tracking
2Reliability
If conventional systems use special racks with electronics and wireless transfers, then tracking capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes electronics from the racks and shelves by using passive RFID tags on boxes that can be read by an external reader. This eliminates the need for complex wired or wireless communication infrastructure within the cold storage environment, significantly reducing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The RFID tags are passive and self-powered by the reader's electromagnetic field, requiring no batteries, circuits, or power management. This self-service approach eliminates complex electronics while maintaining tracking capability
3Reliability
If more wires and cables are used for data and power transfer, then communication reliability is improved, but heat leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical wired connections with wireless RFID communication. The external reader communicates with passive tags through electromagnetic fields, eliminating the need for physical cables that conduct heat into the cold environment while maintaining communication reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A storage system having racks and an outer container that receives the racks, each rack receiving a plurality of sample boxes, each box having a wireless ID tag. In certain embodiments, the storage system has reader electronics external to and distinct from the racks and that directly read the wireless ID tag of each box in at least one rack without relying on any reader electronics of any rack. In other embodiments, each rack has a set of rack reader electronics that read the wireless ID tag of each box in at least one rack, and the storage system has at least one removable reader access device removably connectable to the set of rack reader electronics of a rack in order to transmit the ID number of the wireless ID tag of each box in the rack outside of the outer container.