US 11,854,327 B1
Secure baggage claim system
Abdullah Jeluwi Alazemi, Safat (KW); Bedoor Faleh Almutairi, Safat (KW); Fatemah Mubarak Mohammed, Safat (KW); and Batool Abdulhameed Saleh, Safat (KW)
Assigned to KUWAIT UNIVERSITY, Safat (KW)
Filed by KUWAIT UNIVERSITY, Safat (KW)
Filed on Jan. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/151,415.
Int. Cl. G07C 9/29 (2020.01); G06K 7/10 (2006.01); B64F 1/36 (2017.01)
CPC G07C 9/29 (2020.01) [B64F 1/368 (2013.01); G06K 7/10366 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A secure baggage claim system, comprising:
a housing having a baggage entry opening and a baggage retrieval opening;
a vertically arranged carousel disposed within the housing, the vertically arranged carousel including a frame, a plurality of baggage carrying trays, and a drive system for selectively and controllably driving movement of the plurality of baggage carrying trays;
a primary RFID tag reader mounted external and adjacent to the baggage entry opening of the housing for reading a primary RFID tag secured to a baggage item to associate the baggage item with identification information corresponding to an individual, the baggage item being further associated with one of the plurality of baggage carrying trays selected to carry the piece of baggage;
a door releasably covering and sealing the baggage retrieval opening;
a locking mechanism mounted on the baggage retrieval door for releasably locking the baggage retrieval door;
an input device in communication with the locking mechanism, so that entry of authenticating information associated with the individual through the input device unlocks the baggage retrieval door for retrieval of the item of baggage corresponding to the individual;
wherein the drive system for selectively and controllably driving the movement of the plurality of baggage carrying trays comprises a chain drive system having:
a motor;
an upper sprocket rotatably mounted on an upper portion of the frame;
a lower sprocket rotatably mounted on a lower portion of the frame, the motor being coupled to at least one of the upper and lower sprockets to drive rotation thereof; and
a continuous endless chain rotatably coupling the upper and lower sprockets, each of the plurality of baggage carrying trays being secured to the continuous endless chain; and
wherein each of the plurality of baggage carrying trays comprises:
a tray frame; and
a plurality of horizontally arranged rollers, each of the rollers being rotatably mounted to the tray frame.