What the filing covers
Cargo handoff protocol with cryptographic chain-of-custody records bound to physical compartment access events. I filed this because a delivery status needs to connect with physical access to the cargo. Arrival, notification and compartment opening are separate events. This work binds cryptographic chain-of-custody records to compartment access during a handoff. I focus on the connection between the recorded handoff and the place where the cargo is held.
Why it matters now
A recipient asking about a delivery can be asking about several different moments. A vehicle's arrival does not answer when its cargo compartment was accessed. A completion message and an access event carry different information. Connecting the handoff record to physical access makes that distinction useful during later review.
A real-world example
Imagine a recipient asking when a delivery compartment was opened. The vehicle's arrival is already known, but that leaves the access question unresolved. A handoff record tied to the compartment access event addresses the moment the recipient is asking about. It connects the account of the delivery with the physical compartment.
I focus on that connection because cargo changes hands through physical activity. A notification can announce a status, while the compartment access marks a different event in the handoff. Recording the access gives the review a point of reference within that sequence.
Now consider someone comparing the handoff account with the order of access events. They need to distinguish arrival from access and access from a general completion message. Cryptographic chain-of-custody records organize the handling account around those events. The useful question is what happened at the compartment during the handoff.
Where it applies
This work applies to autonomous delivery, cargo transport and robotaxi service operations. In each setting, a cargo handoff involves a physical place that holds the item. I connect the custody record to access to that place rather than rely only on a delivery-status label.
For an operator, I would begin by separating the moments that get called delivery. When did the vehicle arrive? What compartment access belongs to the handoff? Which record describes that event? Those questions make the physical exchange easier to examine.
A broader vehicle-operations recorder connects authority, conditions and actions across a visit. This work concentrates on the cargo compartment and the handoff. Shared-site coordination can help organize the setting, while the access-linked record addresses the exchange taking place there.
Status
U.S. provisional patent application, filed April 29, 2026; Status: Patent Pending; Sole inventor: Ross D. Blankenship; Assignee: Wins Parking LLC.
Provisional applications establish a priority date; they are not examined.