{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_substrate_denial72_20260805","research_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_light_screen_20260805","cell_id":"search_space_pruning__accounting_auditing","search_lanes":{"direct_problem_and_intervention":{"queries":["inventory audit sealed containers weight test count parts sampling standard auditor inventory quantities","inventory auditing counting by weight sealed boxes parts tolerance"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"],"no_result_note":null},"synonyms_and_historical_terms":{"queries":["piece counting by weight inventory audit parts count scale tare average piece weight","gravimetric test procedure packages labeled by count audit lot tare weight"],"source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3"],"no_result_note":null},"products_practices_and_standards":{"queries":["site:pcaobus.org AS 2510 inventory test counts sampling quantities audit","site:nist.gov Handbook 133 gravimetric test procedure packages labeled by count audit lot tare weight","mechanical checkweigher underweight overweight sorting reject conveyor three way"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null},"component_combination":{"queries":["site:patents.google.com/patent mechanical balance checkweigher underweight overweight acceptable sorting counterweight stops","site:patents.google.com/patent weight sorter three categories underweight standard overweight mechanical","inventory audit weight screening random sample destructive package count"],"source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC4"],"no_result_note":null}},"sources":[{"source_id":"SRC1","title":"AS 2510: Auditing Inventories","publisher":"Public Company Accounting Oversight Board","url":"https://pcaobus.org/oversight/standards/auditing-standards/details/AS2510","source_type":"OFFICIAL_STANDARD","claims_supported":["Auditors ordinarily observe inventory counts and use observation, tests, and inquiries to assess quantity representations.","Statistical sampling can make an annual count of every item unnecessary only when the auditor finds the method reliable, reasonable, statistically valid, properly applied, and reasonable in its results.","Accounting records alone are insufficient when the auditor has not otherwise obtained satisfaction; some physical counts must be made or observed."]},{"source_id":"SRC2","title":"NIST Handbook 133 (2026), Chapter 4: Test Procedures—Packages Labeled by Count, Linear Measure, Area, Thickness, and Combinations of Quantities","publisher":"National Institute of Standards and Technology","url":"https://www.nist.gov/document/2026-hb-133-chapter-4","source_type":"OFFICIAL_GUIDANCE","claims_supported":["A gravimetric procedure may test products sold by count when item density does not vary excessively; otherwise sampled packages must be opened and counted.","For packages labeled with more than 50 items, an audit procedure uses the weight of a counted subset, gross package weights, tare, and random sampling to estimate count without opening every sampled package.","The procedure specifies scale-sensitivity criteria, including criteria for mechanical scales, and directs actual counting when the scale or item-weight consistency is inadequate.","Its violation procedure uses gravimetry to minimize packages opened but requires opened tare samples and distinguishes an audit indication from a compliance determination."]},{"source_id":"SRC3","title":"Parts Counting Solutions","publisher":"Avery Weigh-Tronix","url":"https://www.averyweigh-tronix.com/counting/","source_type":"FIRST_PARTY_PRODUCT","claims_supported":["Commercial counting scales derive bulk quantities from measured piece weight.","The manufacturer markets the practice for inventory management and standardized small parts such as screws, bolts, and electronic components.","The manufacturer states that counting scales speed inventory work relative to manual counting."]},{"source_id":"SRC4","title":"US3167171A: Checkweigher Reject Mechanism","publisher":"Google Patents (United States patent publication)","url":"https://patents.google.com/patent/US3167171","source_type":"OTHER","claims_supported":["The 1965 patent describes conventional checkweighing of packages against an acceptable weight range.","It describes separating underweight and overweight packages from correct-weight packages into three physical rows.","Its particular implementation uses checkweigher signals, electromagnets, carriers, and a powered conveyor rather than a passive audit balance and holdout mechanism."]}],"problem_evidence":{"status":"PARTLY_SUPPORTED","finding":"The burden and feasibility issue is visible: official guidance already uses gravimetric auditing to avoid opening every sampled count-labeled package, commercial suppliers market weight-based counting as faster than manual inventory counting, and audit standards permit validated sampling while retaining physical-count requirements. The retained sources do not establish how often arbitrary auditor selection misses physically impossible sealed-tote claims or the materiality of that failure mode.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"closest_prior_art":[{"name":"NIST Handbook 133 gravimetric audit procedure for packages labeled by count","source_ids":["SRC2"],"overlap":"Uses random samples, tare and unit-weight evidence, gross package weights, instrument-sensitivity checks, and fallback opening/counting to reduce destructive package opening while auditing count claims.","remaining_difference":"It is a calculation-based regulatory package-sampling procedure, not a passive fixture that screens every sealed inventory tote against SKU-specific lower and upper hard bounds, physically retains both violation classes, and diverts an in-band holdout."},{"name":"Commercial inventory counting scales","source_ids":["SRC3"],"overlap":"Use calibrated piece weight and gross/net weight to accelerate inventory counts of nominally identical small parts.","remaining_difference":"They estimate or display counts and may use software; they do not merely prune an immediate destructive-audit queue through passive three-lane routing with an in-band destructive holdout."},{"name":"Three-way checkweigher reject mechanism","source_ids":["SRC4"],"overlap":"Physically separates correct-weight, underweight, and overweight packages into three rows after checkweighing.","remaining_difference":"It addresses production-line package control and depends on powered conveyors and electromagnetic signals; it does not encode claimed inventory-count bounds in a passive balance or preserve a mechanically selected audit holdout."}],"prior_art_disposition":"ADJACENT_PRIOR_ART","contrastive_claim_remaining":"For a single standardized tote and nonhazardous SKU, a passive balance can embody independently calibrated tare-plus-unit-mass lower and upper bounds, route every bound violation to destructive reconciliation, defer only in-band totes, and mechanically retain a prespecified in-band holdout—without calculating a count or treating in-band status as audit verification. The retained prior art establishes each major neighboring practice but not this complete audit-specific passive combination.","contrastive_claim_falsifier":"The contrast is falsified by a preexisting source showing the same integrated combination, or empirically if blind ground-truth trials show any calibrated out-of-bound tote entering the deferred in-band lane, the passive holdout failing its prespecified selection rule, or no useful interval surviving normal tare and part-mass variation.","gates":{"adequate_source_search":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The bounded screen covered the proposal directly, historical gravimetric and checkweighing terminology, current audit and package-testing standards, commercial counting products, and combinations of weighing, three-way sorting, sampling, and destructive-count reduction. Exactly four opened sources from four publishers were retained, including official and first-party sources.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"supported_problem":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"The problem is partly supported: official and first-party sources confirm that physical counting is required in audit contexts, that validated sampling may replace universal counting, and that gravimetric methods reduce opening or manual-count effort when unit weights are sufficiently stable.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2","SRC3"]},"distinct_testable_claim":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"Although gravimetric count auditing, inventory counting scales, and three-way checkweigher routing are established neighbors, the passive audit-specific integration with hard two-sided count bounds, exception retention, and a mechanical in-band holdout remains distinct and produces observable lane assignments.","source_ids":["SRC2","SRC3","SRC4"]},"bounded_next_test":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"A one-SKU, one-tote bench trial is bounded and decisive: blind correct, under-count, over-count, and equal-mass-substitution totes can all be routed, then opened for ground truth. Reference checks, item-weight variability criteria, confusion counts, and holdout-selection frequency provide explicit stop or continuation evidence.","source_ids":["SRC2","SRC4"]},"no_obvious_safety_or_authority_stop":{"status":"PASS","rationale":"An inert, nonhazardous, segregated bench pilot with custodian permission, ergonomic controls, calibration checks, complete ground-truth opening, and no ledger effect has no obvious categorical stop. Any later audit use remains under the engagement lead's authority and cannot displace required physical counts or evidence without validation.","source_ids":["SRC1","SRC2"]}},"screen_survival":true,"world_novelty_boundary":"This bounded public-web screen found adjacent prior art but cannot establish world novelty, patentability, non-obviousness, freedom to operate, market size, expert acceptance, audit admissibility across jurisdictions, or realized operational value."}