Appeal No. 2004-1339 Page 7
Application No. 09/488,079
Information read by a terminal 300 can be uploaded to a host computer so that a
central record of order fulfillment can be maintained.
It should be understood that the shipper's procedures may call for some of
the input information to be stored only in read protected section 136 of the label's
memory. For example, the shipping charge may be stored in read protected
section 136, with the carrier enabled to read the shipping charge information but
the recipient (shipper's customer) not so enabled. In that case, the shipper will
be free to bill the recipient a "shipping and handling" charge that is higher than
the actual shipping charge without fear that the recipient will raise the actual
charge as an objection to the billed "shipping and handling charge." As another
example, the value of the goods shipped may be stored in read protected section
136 so that especially valuable parcels cannot be readily identified by individuals
who may be inclined to steal them.
Once the parcel has been turned over to the carrier, the carrier may read
the label for such purposes as recording date and time of receipt, or verifying
manifest or waybill information or for receiving notice of C.O.D. and/or insurance
obligations. Additional information written into the label at this point may include
date, time and place of receipt, carrier's parcel identification number for tracking
purposes, routing information (such as airport or sorting codes), an indication
that shipping charges (including C.O.D., insurance, etc.), have been paid or that
the parcel has been cross-checked against a manifest, or information necessary
for the carrier to bill the sender.
An automated sorting system, comprising one or more terminals 300 or
the like, reads routing information through bar code scanner 308 or through
sensor 306, and directs the parcel into an appropriate bin for dispatch to the next
point en route. This process may occur at several points before the parcel is
delivered. At each sorting point, or at other points along the way, terminals can
be used to read parcel identification information from the label so as to track the
progress of the parcel through the carrier's system. At those same points or
others, the time, place and location of sorting or handling may be written into the
label, so that the parcel carries with it a record of its path through the system.
In one type of application of the integrated circuit label, the carrier
removes the label from the parcel at the destination, perhaps after a final read
and/or write operation for recording date, time and place of delivery, payment of
C.O.D. charges, name of individual recipient, and so forth. The label is returned
to the carrier's premises, where some or all of the information accumulated
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