Pneumatic tube carrier tracking system

Abstract

A system and method provides for a pneumatic tube carrier tracking system having a system control module that captures and presents tracking information associated with sending and receiving carriers. The pneumatic tube carrier tracking system comprises sending and receiving stations connected by pneumatic tubing, and which are configured to securely send carriers, with receiving users optionally being restricted from unauthorized access of carriers. The sending and receiving stations have identifying tag readers configured to scan identifier tags to read carrier delivery, carrier receipt and receiving user information. Destination and intended recipient information are entered at the sending station when sending a carrier and are transmitted to a system control module, which routably delivers and secures the carriers in response the destination and intended recipient information.

1 . A method for sending and tracking a carrier in a pneumatic tube carrier tracking system, the method comprising:
 accepting at least one carrier;   capturing delivery information associated with the carrier at a sending station;   transmitting the delivery information to a system control module;   transporting the at least one carrier through a pneumatic tube system;   routing the at least one carrier through the pneumatic tube system in response to the delivery information; and   tracking the at least one carrier by capturing at least one identifier associated with the at least one carrier via at least one sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one identifier is associated with at least one of a carrier contents ID, a carrier ID, a sending user ID, a sending station ID, and a receiving station ID. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing at least one of an optically scannable identifier tag and a Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tag. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing delivery information via a handheld device. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing delivery information via a touch screen. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing delivery information via a card reader. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising capturing delivery information via a scanner. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing the delivery information in at least one system control module;   interpreting the delivery information stored in the system control module; and   controlling the operations of the pneumatic tube system by the system control module according to the delivery information.