HK1089814A - Perishable product electronic label - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic component can be included in a tag, which performs a check to determine whether the time and temperature limits that may jeopardize the quality, shelf life, or safety of the product to which the tag is attached have been reached.This label can be used on a wide range of objects that require careful handling in terms of temperature and/or lifespan.The labeling system includes circuits for measurement and calculation, as well as indicators that send signals indicating that it is time for discounted sales and that it is time for disposal instead of sale.This tag can take the form of a flexible, disposable tag, typically powered by a small battery 8.The method may include providing an oscillator or time base that can change with temperature, counting the period of the oscillator in a logic circuit to determine when one or more preset total period counts are reached, and emitting a signal when the total period count is reached.

Description

Perishable product electronic label

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods and apparatus for detecting the condition of perishable goods. More particularly, although not exclusively, these embodiments relate to spoilage detection in frozen food products such as meat.

The monitoring and control of the condition of fresh food products, which have been increased in shelf life (but not indefinitely) by freezing and refrigeration, poses a major problem in society. Consumers therefore demand that fresh food be conveniently packaged and made available throughout the year in stores and supermarkets, while at the same time expecting no risk of causing impaired appearance or taste, or more importantly health-hazardous spoilage, in the purchased food.

Because of the metabolic endogenous enzymes involved in a wide range of food ingredients including carbohydrates and amino acids, and the oxidation and quality degradation caused by the bacterial reproduction process, this may cause a reduction in the sensory and/or hygienic quality of the food which is ultimately discarded by the consumer. The relative importance of these various spoilage processes may vary with the product, the conditions of transportation and storage, the intended use, etc., but the consequences of bacterial growth often constitute an important cause. This is especially true for frozen fresh food products such as meat.

Background

In the body of the referenced patents and commercially available products, the inventors have only found chemical and visual means for monitoring the condition of deterioration. None of the known art known to the inventor discloses a similar method of providing the functionality of the present invention, nor does it disclose a device and method incorporating an electronic and algorithmic means by which to indicate the deterioration of perishable goods. The present invention utilizes electronic means to achieve timing and is preferably not chemical means.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention comprises improvements in a label for perishable items comprising an electronic circuit comprising means for performing time-temperature integration (TTI) and means for indicating that a time and/or temperature limit has been reached that may compromise the quality or shelf life of the item to which the label is affixed. The label can be used on a wide variety of items that require careful handling in terms of temperature and/or lifetime. This may include fresh or frozen food, meat or even pharmaceuticals, blood, and organs used for organ transplantation. Preferably, for food items, the tag system includes circuitry for measuring and calculating and an indicator for signaling when it is time to discount sales and then when it is time to discard rather than sell. The circuit optionally includes means, such as an "over temperature alarm" system, to measure, calculate and indicate when an over temperature has occurred with a temperature magnitude at which the item is immediately considered to be degraded or spoiled.

Consider the supply chain of the perishable food product industry, from the point of preparation and packaging, through distribution to retail locations to the point of purchase at cash registers, as an introduction to the problem solved by the present invention. Along the supply chain, perishable food products pass through various temperature environments and are processed under different amounts of transportation, storage, and on-shelf time. Spoilage of perishable food products may occur prior to purchase due to various handling factors, wherein the temperature of the perishable food products may become non-optimal and/or the time elapsed from packaging to the point of purchase may exceed a safe period.

There is a need for a means by which spoilage information can be conveyed to shippers, warehouse managers, carriers, retailers, and consumers of perishable goods so that informed judgments can be made regarding the freshness of the goods in the supply chain. The present invention provides such a means of monitoring spoilage by incorporating one or more electronic timers and/or one or more temperature sensing and TTI calculation devices into a portable, disposable label or similar type of packaging suitable for a particular merchandise application.

In alternative embodiments, there may be simpler or more complex calculations for determining deterioration and/or for indicating, for example, the percentage of deterioration to provide advance warning. The determination of deterioration in the various embodiments may be done entirely on a timer-only basis, or may be done using TTI techniques. An example of the present invention in which only timer and TTI functions are alternated is desired, the mode select input pin may be incorporated into an integrated circuit that is electronically clocked and controlled. The indication of exceeding a preset limit may be achieved by visual means, such as by means of an LED or Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or by audible means, such as by means of a piezoelectric sound element.

The invention may take the form of a preferably flexible, disposable tag, typically powered by a small battery. The label may comprise a label cover/housing that is affixed to the outer surface of the perishable merchandise package, typically with a suitable adhesive, or it may be placed in a visible pouch or affixed by some other means to the target merchandise to be monitored. The printed graphic on the top surface presents retail information such as unit pricing, weight, trademark, indicia, or other information.

An advantageous feature of the invention is that all of the circuitry can be incorporated into a custom integrated circuit, resulting in a smaller, simpler circuit configuration that requires less energy to operate than would otherwise be achievable. The reduced energy consumption allows for a reduced battery size, cost and weight.

One feature of the present invention can include a method of performing time-temperature integration entirely within an integrated circuit. Embodiments of such methods may include providing an oscillator or time base that may vary with temperature, counting cycles of the oscillator within a logic circuit to determine when one or more predetermined total cycle counts are reached, and signaling when the total cycle count is reached. Such a predetermined total cycle count may be fixed in the circuit, or may be selected from a set of constants by I/O control, or may be adjusted by program control at the time of manufacture. For example, there may be a preset count indicating that 75% of the life of the product has been reached, versus a second higher preset count to indicate that 100% of the life (spoilage) has been reached. Alternatively, for embodiments of the methods utilized in machine or equipment operation, there may be a predetermined number of counts to indicate dangerous situations of extended high temperature operation of varying degrees.

Thus, the improvements made possible in the present invention are considerable, and each has a high degree of value in contributing to the advantages, features and effectiveness of the present invention. Although the present invention is not immediately understandable to the human interests, industries to which the present invention can be applied include transportation and product distribution, pharmaceuticals, freshly roasted and raw food products, meat, dairy products, poultry, fish, and fresh produce. In each of these industries, human health and economic advantages can be realized directly by preventing deterioration of products. Likewise, industries that require machines or equipment to be maintained within specified temperature limits may also benefit from the apparatus and methods of the present invention.

In certain embodiments, the time-temperature monitoring of the present invention may be achieved by incorporating one or more additional sensors within the same device to simultaneously sense other environmental conditions. For example, a humidity sensor may detect a harmful limit of humidity in a package containing fresh produce, and an alarm condition may be initiated to alert a retailer or consumer. Other such sensors may detect physical orientation or tilt, acceleration or shock, atmospheric pressure or altitude. Sensors that detect the presence of compounds characteristic of gases or liquids produced by spoiled food may also be included in a similar manner.

The invention may also include a real-time clock, memory for storing measured data, and/or may exchange data via hard-wired connections, infrared, or via radio frequency modulation. These sensing, memory and communication circuit elements may be constructed from readily available components from companies such as dallas semiconductor/Maxim, national semiconductor, Sensirion or Jaztek.

The circuit may be constructed as a collection of surface mount components on a printed circuit board or may also be integrated into a circuit on a silicon substrate. The surprising advantages of miniaturization can be realized with current semiconductor design, layout and manufacturing techniques, whereby the electronic circuit of the present invention can be constructed on a silicon or other suitable substrate.

These aspects, related embodiments, advantages and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description of the invention and referenced drawings or by practice of the invention.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of a component of a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown separated by layers for identification.

FIG. 3a is a flow chart of the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3b is a flow chart of the operation of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the circuit of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a single-ended, three-stage ring oscillator circuit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a differential, three-stage ring oscillator circuit.

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a single stage of the differential ring oscillator circuit of figure 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a delay tuning circuit utilizing a temperature sensing device.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of a delay tuning circuit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternative embodiment of the present invention including an additional sensing circuit.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternative embodiment of the present invention including a serial peripheral device.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternative embodiment of the present invention including a hardwired interface.

Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternative embodiment of the present invention including a radio frequency interface.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternative embodiment of the present invention including an infrared interface.

Description of the main elements

1. 2 opening

3 green LED

4 Red LED

5 starting strip (projection)

6 printed circuit board

7 integrated circuit

8 cell

9 bottom layer

10 cover strip

21 adhesive surface

22 adhesive

23 cover

30 Oscillator

31 counter

32 end count 1(TC1)

33 end count 2(TC2)

34 end count 3(TC3)

35 clock Count (CNT)

36. 37 'D' type latch

38. 39 AND gate

40 program memory

43 thermistor sensor bridge

44 instrumentation amplifier

45 crystal

41 microcontroller

46 bypass capacitor

47 brace

50. 51, 52 single-ended phase shifter

53. 54, 55 resistor

56. 57, 58 capacitor

59. 60, 61 amplifier

62. 63, 64, 65 complementary CMOS driver transistor pairs

66 frequency control input

67 current limiting circuit

70 amplifier

71 digital-to-analog converter (DAC)

72 temperature sensor

73 flash buffer

74 DAC

75 programmed port

79 interface

80 tuning circuit

81 Current node

91 capacitor

99 analog sensor

100 instrumentation amplifier

101 sensing circuit

110 Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)

112 interface receiver

114 interface driver

120 radio transceiver

121 antenna

130 interface receiver

135 IR transmitter/monitor device

140 interface driver

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, there are shown several (but not limited to) embodiments of the present invention. A label according to one embodiment of the invention not only contains printed information but also an electronic circuit and an indicator intended to signal the status of the situation to those in the line of sight.

FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the present invention, a generally flat label for application to product packaging (not shown). The surface 23 is intended to be pre-printed and post-printed with the necessary text and graphics required for the product information, such as description of the content, pricing, bar codes and other important information. Surface 23 is made of paper, plastic or other printable material and has openings 1 and 2, and a Light Emitting Diode (LED) mounted below the surface can flash through openings 1 and 2 to alert those in the line of sight of a particular condition. In the present invention, this condition will typically be one of a number of possible conditions.

In alternative embodiments, there may be fewer or more LEDs and openings, and there may be diffusion and/or color filter stacks behind the openings. The actuation tab 5 is the tip of a strip of plastic insulator which comes out between the layers of the label when the strip is pulled out, thereby enabling the battery to access the circuit.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the components of a preferred embodiment of the invention embodied in a perishable product label, shown separated by layers for identification. The top printable cover 23 is shown with its openings 1 and 2. A contact adhesive 22 adheres the cover 23 to the printed circuit board 6. Similarly, the adhesive surface 21 on top of the bottom layer 9 adheres to the bottom of the printed circuit board 6. The removable cover strip 10 is shown partially peeled away from the backsheet 9. The circuit board 6 is shown with an integrated circuit 7, two LEDs 3 and 4, a battery 8 and an activation strip 5. Not depicted in fig. 2 is the manner in which thicker components, such as the integrated circuit 7 and battery 8, may avoid protruding as an unsightly protrusion on the top or bottom surface of the label. A solution may be achieved by embedding a die cut foam adhesive material, such as 3M 4432 or 4416 double sided adhesive foam tape, as an alternative to adhesive 21 and/or 22. By die cutting "wells" through the foam material to accommodate these thicker components, the entire label is ultimately of relatively uniform thickness across the top and bottom surfaces.

FIG. 3a is a flow chart of the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which operates by a method of time-temperature integral calculation. At the beginning 11 of the program flow diagram no action occurs until the battery activation tab is pulled at step 12, which causes the counter to start counting at step 13. Once the counter reaches the terminal count TC1 at condition 14, indicator A begins flashing at 1Hz at step 15. It will continue to flash until the counter reaches the end count 2 at condition 16. Once the end count TC2 is reached, indicator a will stop flashing and indicator B will start flashing 17. Indicator B will then continue to flash until the end count TC3 arrives at 18, 19 and the process stops at flowchart step 20.

FIG. 3b is a flow chart of the actions of an alternative embodiment of the present invention that operates on the basis of only one timer. At the beginning 110 of the program flow diagram, no action occurs until the battery activation tab is pulled at step 120, which causes the counter to start counting at step 130. Once the counter reaches its set point at condition 140, indicator a begins flashing at 1Hz at step 150. It will continue to flash until the counter reaches limit B at condition 170. Once limit B is reached, indicator a will stop flashing and indicator B will start flashing at step 180. Indicator B will then continue to flash until the battery runs out of energy at step 200 and the process stops at flowchart step 210. The duty cycle or on time of the LED can be varied and shortening the duty cycle of the LED to a slight percentage can extend battery life. The trade-off between battery life and light amplitude is subjective and depends on the type of LED and the type of battery used in the circuit.

Of course, it is within the scope of the present invention to include other program flow steps so that flashing of the LEDs occurs in a different order. The duty cycle or on-time of the LED can be varied and shortening the duty cycle of the LED can extend battery life. Other indicator types, for example, LCD types, may be substituted for the LEDs. An audible piezoelectric pager element may be incorporated. In tags according to embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of timers and a plurality of temperature sensors may be monitored.

To achieve lower energy requirements in the present invention, the eye's visual persistence property can be exploited by providing pulses that cause the LED to turn on and off at a rate higher than about 25Hz, which results in a lower total current draw for the same apparent brightness relative to when the LED is kept on for the same desired viewing period. The trade-off between battery life and light amplitude is also subjective and depends on the current limiting characteristics of the circuit and the type of LED and battery assembly used in the circuit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the circuit of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. It shows a battery 8 connected to the start switch 5 supplying Vbat voltage to the circuit. Oscillator 30 is astable, free-running, and provides a clock signal to counter 31. The logic level outputs of counter 31 include the termination count occurring at termination count 1 TC1 (signal 32), termination count 2 TC2 (signal 33), and termination count 3TC3 (signal 34), and the 1Hz clock count CNT (signal 35) for one low duty cycle. The function of the two D latches 36 and 37 is to register the end count of TC1 (signal 32) and TC2 (signal 33) so that LEDs 3 and 4 are enabled to flash.

The AND gates 38 AND 39 enable AND disable the flash based on the end count that has been registered. Note that TC2 (signal 33) disables green LED 3, while TC3 (signal 34) similarly disables red LED 4. Thus, no indicator is flashing until TC1 arrives. Between the occurrence of TC1 and TC2, the green LED 3 is flashing, and between TC2 and TC3, the red LED4 is flashing. In the preferred embodiment, no LED is flashing after TC3 occurs. However, the red LED may flash until the end of battery life, as a close alternative.

It is an object of the invention to control the oscillator to be a means of setting its fundamental frequency by the function of the tuning circuit 80. Interface 79 may be used to erase and write new values to tuning circuit 80. Likewise, the oscillator may be tuned in frequency relative to local temperature by the function of the temperature sensor 72. The details of these control means are further described below.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the circuitry of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. Upon closure of the start switch 5 by removal of the insulated pull-out 47, the battery 8 supplies power filtered by the bypass capacitor 46 to the microcontroller 41. The microcontroller 41 executes the program stored in the program memory 40 upon power-up. The instruction execution rate may be set by crystal 45 or the crystal may be eliminated by using, for example, an RC oscillator found inside many modern microcontroller products such as those provided by MicroChip, philips, hitachi and others. The green and red LEDs 3 and 4 are driven through output port pins on the microcontroller 41.

As for the temperature sensing means, the thermistor sensor bridge 43 is amplified by an instrumentation amplifier 44, from which instrumentation amplifier 44 the output signal is fed to the analog input of the microcontroller 41. With these described elements, changes in temperature affect the timing of events. Many temperature processing algorithms can be implemented and stored in the program memory 40 for execution by the microcontroller 41.

Through execution of the algorithm stored in program memory 40, the circuit of FIG. 5 may achieve functions similar to those achieved through discrete logic such as the circuit of FIG. 4 and in accordance with the flow chart of FIG. 3. The circuit of fig. 5 may also achieve temperature compensation of the clock frequency, emulation of the tuning circuit 80, or any other suitable algorithm as required for alternative modes of operation. As will be described below, there is a particular formula that closely simulates the proliferation of pathogens that cause spoilage in perishable products.

The ring oscillator shown in figure 6 illustrates a linear electronic circuit typically comprising three stages of single-ended phase shifters 50, 51 and 52 connected in a closed loop configuration. Each stage shifts the phase of the signal by 120 degrees. The phase delay of each stage is affected by the circuit load caused by resistors 53, 54 and 55 and capacitors 56, 57 and 58 in each respective stage.

The preferred type of ring oscillator is also three stages, but features a differential phase shifting circuit, as shown in FIG. 7. Each of the phase shifted amplifiers 59, 60 and 61 has cross-connected positive and negative inputs and feedback similar to the circuit depicted in fig. 6. The frequency control input 66 can be adjusted, which allows the phase in all three stages to be linearly adjusted in parallel. The frequency shift will occur in proportion to the differential voltage limit at the frequency control input 66. This makes this type of oscillator a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO).

In the schematic of fig. 8, a single differential stage of such a VCO is shown, comprising two complementary pairs of CMOS driver transistors 62, 63 and 64, 65. In this circuit, a frequency control input (Vcont)66 controls a current limit circuit 67 that limits the tail (tail) current of the stage to be proportional to the limit of the Vcont signal 66.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the time period of expiry (of the end count of the counter 31 in figure 4) associated with the rate of deterioration of a product with increasing temperature. To reflect the propagation of pathogens, the oscillator frequency of the preferred embodiment is based on [ f ]_osc＝ne^-(Ea/RT)]To be varied. The simulated reaction rate is either Arrhenius energy, where n is a constant, Ea is activation energy, R is a universal gas constant, and T is temperature in Kelvin (Kelvin) temperature. Changing the timing of the present invention to achieve the desired equation with different values of n can be achieved by one of the following: a) the rate at which the end count is reached can be influenced in either way by using a timing algorithm and/or a table contained in the program memory 40 and executed by the microcontroller 41 of the circuit shown in fig. 5, or b) by changing the clock frequency with temperature by changing the control voltage of the VCO.

Figure 9 depicts a schematic diagram of a delay tuning circuit suitable for controlling a VCO of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The current limiting circuit 67 is again depicted in fig. 9, with MOS transistors 80 adjusting the current and phase of each ring oscillator stage. The frequency control 66 of each stage may be connected in parallel to a current node 81, which current node 81 sinks the oscillator tail current according to the output of amplifier 70. Note that node 66 is shown as the output of amplifier 70. This node is suitable for connecting to Vcont in fig. 8.

Node 69 is a summing node that sums the signals from amplifier 70 and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 71. The temperature sensor 72 affects the output voltage of the amplifier 71. The flash memory 73 may be overwritten through the programming port 75, the programming port 75 being connectable to a programming device through the interface 79. The memory 73 outputs a binary value to the DAC 74, and the DAC 74 then outputs a proportional analog signal limit value.

The function of the circuit shown in fig. 9 is twofold. First, the temperature at sensor 72 is varied proportionally by varying the tail current of each stage of the oscillator to vary the oscillator frequency. Second, the flash register 73 provides a means to tune the frequency of the oscillator.

An alternative embodiment shown in fig. 10 provides a method of tuning the oscillator frequency. The circuit uses a flash buffer 73 to change the polarity of a fixed set of capacitors 91, the set of capacitors 91 combining to change the capacitive coupling between the frequency control signal 66 and circuit ground proportionally to its summed capacitance, thereby changing the oscillator frequency to achieve a calibrated frequency during manufacture.

When the output of a typical signal line (Q0-3) of memory register 73 is in a high state (logic level "1"), the charge stored on its respective capacitor is lower than when compared to when it is in the opposite low state (logic level "0").

The summed capacitive charge of all capacitors 91 is used to increase/decrease the loading of the oscillator 30 by varying the tail current. R_extIs another load setting component which is summed to the load at node 66 and which is intended to provide a coarse setting of the tail current in the circuit.

Also connected to the frequency control signal 66 is a CMOS transistor 80, the CMOS transistor 80 being driven to conduct load current, thereby changing the oscillator frequency. The temperature sensor 72 is amplified by an amplifier stage 71, the amplifier stage 71 driving a CMOS transistor 80.

The foregoing description of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. For example, the following elements may be modified to accomplish the same invention: different amplifier configurations may be substituted for amplifiers 70 and 71 in fig. 9; eliminating the flash memory buffer 73 and directly driving the I/O pins to facilitate direct tuning of the oscillator frequency can be achieved; in many other basic types commonly known in the art, the oscillator may be based on a crystal, may be silicon-based, or may be a ring oscillator, for example; the temperature sensor may be implemented with various switching functions to accommodate different reaction rates in the target product.

With respect to the circuit of fig. 5, microcontroller 41 may be incorporated into the circuitry of a custom integrated circuit as a functional component of a core. This allows for size and cost reductions through substrate area reductions, so that only those features required to accommodate the particular algorithm and I/O requirements of the application are implemented into the design of such circuits.

The temperature sensor may be made using other sensing technologies, such as thermistor, RTD or semiconductor junction types; various indicators may also be used, such as LCD, electronic ink technology (e-ink), or similar display product offerings. Many modifications and variations, in addition to those set forth, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a time and temperature measurement and calculation device as described above is depicted in FIGS. 11-15, wherein the device incorporates various additional sensing, data memory storage, timing and communication peripheral circuits.

The inclusion of additional sensing circuitry 101 including analog sensor 99 and second instrumentation amplifier 100 is shown in fig. 11. The sensor signal is amplified by instrumentation amplifier 100 and the resulting signal is input to the analog input ANI2 of the microcontroller. The circuit of fig. 11 can measure different environmental parameters depending on the type of sensor 99 being used. Examples of sensing types are as follows:

sensor type environmental parameter

Relative humidity

Azimuth tilt

Acceleration of shock and vibration

Detection of molecular component antigen and degeneration

Altitude of atmospheric pressure

The input of more than one such sensor signal is within the capabilities of the microcontroller 41.

The incorporation of a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) or other synchronous serial data exchange type device 110 is shown in fig. 12. Examples of device types are as follows:

SPI device type usage

Real-time stamping and communication of clock data

Flash data storage

Relative humidity

Azimuth tilt

Detection of molecular component antigen and degeneration

Acceleration of shock and vibration

Altitude of atmospheric pressure

Interfacing with more than one of these devices is also within the capabilities of the microcontroller 41. The asynchronous interface device achieving the same function can be achieved by connecting only one signal lead and one ground connection. Such Devices are commercially available from, for example, Dallas semiconductor or Analog Devices.

FIG. 13 shows a simple hardwired external data exchange interface that may be implemented using interface receiver 112 and interface driver 114. Either or both of these interface devices may be optionally incorporated into microcontroller 41.

In fig. 14, one embodiment is shown whereby an interface external to the wireless device is achieved through a radio transceiver 120 and antenna 121. It is also possible to combine one or both of the individual transmitter and receiver elements as an alternative to the transceiver 120 in order to provide one-way or two-way data communication.

Similarly, fig. 15 depicts an Infrared (IR) interface for communication, wherein IR transmitter/monitor device 135 transmits IR signals from interface driver 140 and monitors for IR signals to enter interface receiver 130. The interface driver 140 and the interface receiver 130 may be optionally incorporated into the microcontroller 41. The IR transmitter/monitor device 135 is optionally two separate elements.

It should be noted that the circuits of fig. 11 to 15 are according to the circuit depicted in fig. 5, but these figures respectively incorporate additional peripheral circuits as described above and are therefore referred to hereinafter as "additional peripheral circuits" (EPC). The microcontroller 41 in fig. 5, by its functional nature of elasticity, allows these EPCs to be combined. It would also be feasible to incorporate the EPC into other semi-custom or fully-custom integrated circuits that perform the time and temperature functions.

Thus, the result is that the circuits of FIGS. 11-15 can perform the functions described with respect to FIG. 5 involving time and temperature calculations. Moreover, FIG. 11 may perform these functions simultaneously as well as the processing, communication, and/or storage of additional data to and from one or more types of EPCs incorporated into the present invention as described with respect to FIGS. 11-15.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to specific apparatus means and embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details disclosed, but extends to all equivalents within the broad scope of the specification, drawings and claims.

Claims (61)

1. An electronic assembly for monitoring and alerting persons to the deterioration of perishable products, comprising:

one or more oscillators or time bases, and

one or more batteries or energy cells, and

an electronic timing circuit, and

one or more indicators, wherein:

each of the aforementioned oscillators or time bases and each of the aforementioned timing circuits are powered by the one or more batteries or energy batteries, and each of the aforementioned indicators is connected to the aforementioned electronic timing circuit such that the assembly acts to perform time measurements and provide an alarm state at the one or more indicators when a calculated alarm event time occurs.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the assembly is incorporated into a label.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the oscillator or time base is temperature dependent, and wherein the assembly is adapted to perform a time-temperature measurement and provide an alarm condition at the one or more indicators when a calculated alarm event time occurs.

4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the oscillator or time base is of fixed frequency.

5. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the oscillator or time base can be calibrated at the time of manufacture.

6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein said calibration is achieved using a memory register and capacitor summing technique.

7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the oscillator or time base comprises a device selected from the group consisting of: a ring-type resonant circuit, a silicon-based resonant circuit, and a resonant crystal.

8. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more audible alarms.

9. The assembly of claim 4, wherein the electronic timing circuit is capable of measuring temperature.

10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the electronic timing circuit comprises a microcontroller and stored program code.

11. The assembly of claim 10, including an environmental sensor, the environmental sensor being a temperature sensor.

12. The assembly of claim 10, further comprising one or more environmental sensors and an interface to the one or more environmental sensors.

13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein one or more of the environmental sensors are selected from the group consisting of: a humidity sensor, a sensor for monitoring physical orientation, an acceleration sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a molecular compound sensor, and combinations thereof.

14. The assembly of claim 10, further comprising one or more integrated circuit components, the one or more integrated circuit components communicating with the microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein one of said components is a real time clock.

16. The assembly of claim 10, further comprising circuitry to facilitate intercommunication of data with said microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the circuitry facilitates wireless radio frequency communication of data.

18. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the circuitry facilitates wireless infrared communication of data.

19. An assembly according to claim 1, characterised in that the electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit is incorporated into one or more integrated circuits.

20. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more indicators are LEDs.

21. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the one or more indicators are LCDs.

22. A label for monitoring and alerting persons to the deterioration of perishable products, characterized in that the label comprises an electronic assembly and an external label cover, the electronic assembly comprising:

one or more oscillators or time bases, and

one or more temperature sensing elements, and

one or more batteries or energy cells, and

an electronic timing circuit, and

one or more indicators, wherein:

each of the aforementioned oscillators or time bases and each of the aforementioned timing circuits are powered by the one or more batteries or energy batteries, and each of the aforementioned indicators is connected to the aforementioned electronic timing circuits such that the assembly acts to perform time measurements and provide an alarm state at the one or more indicators when a calculated alarm event time occurs.

23. The tag of claim 22, wherein the oscillator or time base is temperature dependent, and wherein the electronics assembly is adapted to perform a time-temperature measurement and provide an alarm condition at the one or more indicators when a calculated alarm event time occurs.

24. The tag of claim 22, wherein the oscillator or time base is of fixed frequency.

25. The tag of claim 22, wherein the oscillator or time base can be calibrated at the time of manufacture.

26. The tag of claim 25, wherein said calibration is achieved using a memory register and capacitor summing technique.

27. The tag of claim 22, wherein the oscillator or time base comprises a device selected from the group consisting of: a ring-type resonant circuit, a silicon-based resonant circuit, and a resonant crystal.

28. The tag of claim 22, further comprising one or more audible alarm devices.

29. The label of claim 22, wherein the electronic timing circuit is capable of measuring temperature.

30. The tag of claim 22, wherein said electronic timing circuit comprises a microcontroller and stored program code.

31. The label of claim 30, including an environmental sensor, the environmental sensor being a temperature sensor.

32. The tag of claim 30, further comprising one or more environmental sensors and an interface to the one or more environmental sensors.

33. The tag of claim 32, wherein one or more of said environmental sensors is selected from the group consisting of: a humidity sensor, a sensor for monitoring physical orientation, an acceleration sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a molecular compound sensor, and combinations thereof.

34. The assembly of claim 30, further comprising one or more integrated circuit components, the one or more integrated circuit components communicating with the microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

35. The assembly of claim 34, wherein one of said components is a real time clock.

36. The assembly of claim 30, further comprising circuitry to facilitate intercommunication of data with said microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

37. The assembly of claim 36, wherein the circuitry facilitates wireless radio frequency communication of data.

38. The assembly of claim 36, wherein the circuitry facilitates wireless infrared communication of data.

39. The assembly of claim 22, wherein the electronic timing circuit is incorporated into one or more integrated circuits.

40. The label of claim 22, wherein the one or more visual indicators are LEDs.

41. The label of claim 22, wherein the one or more visual indicators are LCDs.

42. A time-temperature integrator comprising an electronic circuit assembly, said circuit assembly comprising:

one or more oscillators or time bases, and

one or more temperature sensing elements, and

one or more batteries or energy cells, and

an electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit, and

one or more indicators, wherein:

each of the aforementioned oscillators or time bases and each of the aforementioned monitoring and/or timing circuits is powered by the one or more batteries or energy cells, and each of the aforementioned indicators is connected to the electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit such that the assembly acts to perform time and/or time-temperature measurements and to provide an alarm state at the one or more indicators when a calculated alarm event time occurs.

43. The assembly of claim 42, wherein the time-temperature measurement is accomplished by a device including the temperature-dependent oscillator or time base.

44. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the oscillator or time base can be calibrated at the time of manufacture.

45. The integrator of claim 44, wherein the calibration is achieved using a memory register and capacitor summing technique.

46. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the oscillator or time base comprises one of: a ring-type resonant circuit, a silicon-based resonant circuit, and a resonant crystal.

47. The integrator of claim 42, further comprising one or more audible alarms.

48. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit is capable of measuring temperature.

49. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the electronic monitoring and/or timing circuit comprises a microcontroller and stored program code.

50. The integrator of claim 42, comprising an ambient sensor, the ambient sensor being a temperature sensor.

51. The integrator of claim 42, further comprising one or more environmental sensors and an interface to the one or more environmental sensors.

52. The integrator of claim 51, wherein one or more of the environmental sensors are selected from the group consisting of: a humidity sensor, a sensor for monitoring physical orientation, an acceleration sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a molecular compound sensor, and combinations thereof.

53. The integrator of claim 42, further comprising one or more integrated circuit components, the one or more integrated circuit components communicating with the microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

54. The integrator of claim 53 wherein one of the elements is a real-time clock.

55. The integrator of claim 42, further comprising circuitry to facilitate intercommunication of data with the microcontroller via a unidirectional or bidirectional serial interface.

56. The integrator of claim 55, wherein the circuit facilitates wireless radio frequency communication of data.

57. The integrator of claim 55, wherein the circuitry facilitates wireless infrared communication of data.

58. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the electronic timing circuit is incorporated into one or more integrated circuits.

59. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the one or more visual indicators are LEDs.

60. The integrator of claim 42, wherein the one or more visual indicators are LCDs.

61. A method for performing time-temperature integration entirely within an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

providing an oscillator or time base that is variable with temperature;

counting cycles of the oscillator within a logic circuit to determine when one or more predetermined total cycle counts have been reached; and

these total cycle counts are signaled when they arrive.