System and method for determination of required environmental conditions for transport and storage of goods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional transport management systems for perishable goods are prone to human error in maintaining optimal environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, leading to spoilage due to incorrect settings or power outages.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising boxes with indicator codes scanned by a vehicle-mounted device to determine and maintain average acceptable environmental conditions, using control circuitry connected to sensors and an environmental regulation system, which alerts users if conditions stray outside thresholds or if power is lost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If environmental conditions are manually set by driver/operator, then the system is simple to operate, but human error leads to incorrect temperature or humidity settings causing goods spoilage
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines and maintains environmental conditions without requiring manual input from the driver. The control circuitry reads indicator codes from boxes, computes average acceptable conditions, and autonomously controls the environmental regulation system, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating human error in manual settings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors environmental conditions using sensors and compares them against the computed average acceptable conditions from indicator codes. The control circuitry adjusts the environmental regulation system based on this feedback loop, ensuring conditions remain within acceptable ranges and preventing spoilage.
2Reliability
If driver/operator sets environmental conditions, then the device complexity is low, but power outages or forgotten settings ruin the goods
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by reading indicator codes from boxes before transport begins and computing the average acceptable environmental conditions in advance. This pre-computation allows the system to be ready to maintain conditions automatically from the start of transport without requiring manual setup during loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of setting temperature and humidity by driver with an automated electronic system. The control circuitry uses optical scanning of indicator codes and electronic computation to determine conditions, then uses electronic control to regulate the environmental system, substituting manual operation with automated electronic control.
3Productivity
If multiple boxes with different environmental requirements are transported together, then vehicle utilization is improved, but determining a single acceptable temperature range becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the environmental requirements of multiple different boxes by reading indicator codes from each box and computing an average acceptable temperature and humidity range. This consolidation allows boxes with different individual requirements to be transported together in a single vehicle while maintaining acceptable conditions for all goods.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes from individual box-specific temperature parameters to an averaged parameter set that represents the collective requirements. By computing average acceptable temperature and humidity from multiple indicator codes, the system transforms multiple different parameters into a single unified set of environmental conditions suitable for mixed cargo.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
AI summary
A system (100), for determination of required environmental conditions for transport and storage of goods, that comprises one or more boxes (102) to be placed in a vehicle (104). Each box (102) has an indicator code (106), on the exterior surface of the box (102), that comprises information related to environmental conditions required to be maintained. A scanning device (108) associated with the vehicle (104) and configured to read said indicator code (106) from each box (102). A control circuitry (110) is operationally connected to the scanning device (108) The control circuitry (110) is configured to compute the readings of the indicator codes (106) from each box (102) to determine the required environmental conditions to be maintained inside the vehicle (104).