Method for identifying transportation items, particularly luggage items

Abstract

A method of identifying transportation items which are physically different from one another, particularly for identifying automatically sortable passenger luggage in air, rail, or ocean travel, using electronically readable information associated with the transportation item. To be able to automatically identify transportation items, particularly luggage items, even when information storage media fitted to them cannot be read or can be read only imperfectly, it is proposed that, before or when the transportation item is surrendered to a transport and/or sorting system, special sensors be used to ascertain specific physical features of the respective transportation item and that these specific physical features be stored in a database as an electronic feature data record (signature) together with an identification code associated with the transportation item, the stored feature data records being compared with a subsequently produced feature data record for a transportation item as required, in order to identify the transportation item using its associated identification code when there is at least a sufficient match between the subsequently produced feature data record and one of the feature data records stored in the database.