US 12,393,911 B2
System and methods for tracking an item in a distributed environment
John J. O'Brien, Bella Vista, AR (US); Daniel W. Young, Rogers, AR (US); Richard Carl McSorley, Jr., Bentonville, AR (US); Christopher R. Heeney, Bella Vista, AR (US); Joseph Jurich, Jr., Molino, FL (US); Bruce W. Wilkinson, Rogers, AR (US); Todd D. Mattingly, Bentonville, AR (US); Donald R. High, Noel, MO (US); Robert L. Cantrell, Herndon, VA (US); and Brian G. McHale, Chadderton Oldham (GB)
Assigned to Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed by Walmart Apollo, LLC, Bentonville, AR (US)
Filed on Jul. 1, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/761,119.
Application 18/761,119 is a continuation of application No. 18/076,952, filed on Dec. 7, 2022, granted, now 12,051,042.
Application 18/076,952 is a continuation of application No. 16/361,058, filed on Mar. 21, 2019, granted, now 11,544,664, issued on Jan. 3, 2023.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/646,132, filed on Mar. 21, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0354700 A1, Oct. 24, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06Q 10/087 (2023.01); H04L 9/06 (2006.01); G06Q 10/10 (2023.01); H04L 9/00 (2022.01)
CPC G06Q 10/087 (2013.01) [H04L 9/0618 (2013.01); H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for tracking an item in a distributed environment, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first processor of a first node in a network and from a receiving machine at a destination location of a supply chain that receives an item, a destination identifier for the item;
retrieving, at the first processor of the first node in the network, a first cryptographically verifiable ledger represented by a first sequence of blocks that is stored in one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the first cryptographically verifiable ledger including a block added to the first cryptographically verifiable ledger by a second processor of a second node in the network, the second processor being associated with an assembly machine at an assembly location within an assembly chain that adds a component to the item, and the block containing a component identifier for the component and a hash of a previous block in the first sequence of blocks; and
adding, by the first processor of the first node, a new block to a second cryptographically verifiable ledger represented by a second sequence of blocks that is stored in the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the new block added to the second cryptographically verifiable ledger containing the destination identifier, the first sequence of blocks, and a hash of a previous block in the second sequence of blocks.