Dispensing system for applying DNA taggants used in combinations to tag articles

Inventors

Zografos, Antonios • Clotilde, Laurie M.

Abstract

A dispersant system comprises a plurality of taggant vessels, each having a taggant that corresponds to a position in a tag string and a computer controller convert the tag string into a selection of a taggant set while computer-controlled valves allow or block a flow of taggants to a manifold output tube. From the output tube, a mix of the taggants flow to form a dispersant formed according to the tag string. A nozzle disperses the dispersant onto an object to be tagged, possibly atomized with air. The taggant can comprise a DNA taggant comprising a static portion and a dynamic portion that is unique to each tag string position. Tag strings for adjacent lots might have a low Hamming distances to reduce cross-contamination and/or have redundancy for error detection and correction and selected so that consumption of taggants evens out over the plurality of taggant vessels.

Core Innovation

A dispersant system includes a plurality of taggant vessels in which a taggant vessel holds a taggant distinct from other taggants of other taggant vessels. A computer controller determines a tag string and converts the tag string into a selection of a taggant set corresponding to selected taggant vessels, and each taggant vessel corresponds to a position in the tag string. The controller logic allows or blocks flow of a first taggant based on whether the character at the corresponding position has a first value or a second value.

The system further includes a manifold, a plurality of computer-controlled valves coupled to the computer controller, and a manifold output tube coupled to the manifold. The controller controls the valves to allow or block taggant flows to the manifold according to the taggant set, and the manifold output tube outputs a mix of the taggants that form a dispersant according to the tag string. A nozzle disperses the dispersant onto an object to be tagged.

In implementations described in the document, the taggant is a DNA taggant that includes a common static portion and unique dynamic/identifier portions so that taggants associated with different vessels can be distinguished. The document also describes using ethanol as a carrier for the DNA taggants and mixing the dispersant at the nozzle with an atomizing air stream. To reduce cross-contamination, flushing or clearing of the manifold output tube and nozzle between tag-string changes is described.

The document additionally describes tag-string selection strategies across lots in which adjacent tag strings are selected based on low Hamming distance, Gray-code-like sequencing, and redundancy for error correction and/or error detection. It also describes balancing consumption of taggants across the plurality of taggant vessels by selecting tag strings in a way that even consumption is achieved, and integration in bag-filling lines.

Claims Coverage

The document provides two independent claims: one directed to a dispersant system and one directed to a method. Each independent claim contains a central mapping of a tag string to a selected set of taggant vessels and computer-controlled allowing or blocking of taggant flow to form and disperse a dispersant based on the tag string, with position-based character/value logic driving valve control.

Across the independent claims, the inventive core is the controller logic that converts a tag string into a selection of taggant vessels by mapping each vessel to a tag-string position and using character-value logic to allow or block taggant flow through valves to a manifold. The manifold output tube produces a mix forming a dispersant according to the tag string, which is then dispersed onto an object via a nozzle.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications