Coded tags encoded using different magnetic materials and systems of detecting coded tags

• US 10,163,053 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2017
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Doyle, Matthew S., Judd, Jeffrey N., Strand, Scott D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D
• Application Number:
  US15/399,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20180197064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• Field of Search: 235492, 235487, 235380, 235449
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06187 with magnetically detectable marking
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07345 by activating or deactivating at least a part of the circuit on the record carrier, e.g. ON/OFF switches
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/086 with markings consisting of randomly placed or oriented elements, the randomness of the elements being useable for generating a unique identifying signature of the record carrier, e.g. randomly placed magnetic fibers or magnetic particles in the body of a credit card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/12 the marking being sensed by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/082 using inductive or magnetic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2414 using inductive tags
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2434 Tag housing and attachment details
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2442 Tag materials and material properties thereof, e.g. magnetic material details
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/246 Check out systems combined with EAS, e.g. price information stored on EAS tag anti-theft systems in point of sale systems G07G3/003
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2468 Antenna in system and the related signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2482 EAS methods, e.g. description of flow chart of the detection procedure

Abstract

A coded tag includes a substrate. The coded tag includes a first magnetic material associated with the substrate. The first magnetic material has a first magnetic characteristic and encodes first information. The coded tag includes a second magnetic material associated with the substrate. The second magnetic material encodes second information and has a second magnetic characteristic that is different from the first magnetic characteristic.

Claims

1. A coded tag comprising:

a substrate;

a first magnetic material associated with the substrate, the first magnetic material having a first magnetic characteristic and encoding first information based on the first magnetic characteristic; and

a second magnetic material associated with the substrate, the second magnetic material encoding second information and having a second magnetic characteristic different from the first magnetic characteristic, the second information encoded based on the second magnetic characteristic.

2. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first magnetic material corresponds to a first magnetic ink applied over a first area of the substrate, and wherein the second magnetic material corresponds to a second magnetic ink applied over a second area of the substrate.

3. The coded tag of claim 2, wherein the first magnetic ink has a first resonant frequency at an applied magnetic field strength, and wherein the second magnetic ink has a second resonant frequency at the applied magnetic field strength.

4. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first information corresponds to a first alphanumeric character, and wherein the second information corresponds to a second alphanumeric character.

5. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a package label.

6. The coded tag of claim 5, wherein the package label includes a product code encoding a set of digits, and wherein the first magnetic material and the second magnetic material are printed as part of encoding elements of the product code.

7. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a first layer of packaging material and a second layer of packaging material.

8. The coded tag of claim 7, wherein the first layer includes the first magnetic material, and wherein the second layer includes the second magnetic material.

9. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first magnetic material has a first coercivity value, and wherein the second magnetic material has a second coercivity value different from the first coercivity value.

10. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first magnetic material includes one of a magnetite, an acicular magnetite, a ferric oxide, or a chromium dioxide, wherein the second magnetic material includes one of a magnetite, an acicular magnetite, a ferric oxide, or a chromium dioxide, and wherein the substrate includes one of tape, a tag, a ticket, a receipt, a sticker, fiat currency, a boarding pass, a passport, or an identification card.

11. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first magnetic material corresponds to a first magnetic ink, and wherein the second magnetic material corresponds to a second magnetic ink, the first magnetic ink having the first magnetic characteristic and encoding the first information, and the second magnetic ink having the second magnetic characteristic and encoding the second information.

12. The coded tag of claim 1, wherein the first magnetic material is associated with a first surface area of the substrate, and wherein the second magnetic material is associated with a second surface area of the substrate.

13. The coded tag of claim 12, wherein the first surface area is distinct from the second surface area.

14. A magnetic detector system comprising:

a transmitter configured to;

transmit a first magnetic detection signal at a first magnetic frequency; and

transmit a second magnetic detection signal at a second magnetic frequency; and

a detector configured to detect, based on a first response from a first magnetic material to the first magnetic detection signal and based on a second response from a second magnetic material to the second magnetic detection signal, a presence of the first magnetic material and the second magnetic material associated with a substrate of a coded tag, the first magnetic material having a first magnetic characteristic and encoding first information based on the first magnetic characteristic, and the second magnetic material having a second magnetic characteristic and encoding second information based on the second magnetic characteristic.

15. The magnetic detector system of claim 14, wherein the detector is further configured to generate a timestamp at a time associated with detection of the first magnetic material and the second magnetic material.

16. The magnetic detector system of claim 14, wherein the first magnetic material corresponds to a first magnetic ink and the second magnetic material corresponds to a second magnetic ink, and wherein the detector is further configured to:

identify a first alphanumeric value based on the first response from the first magnetic ink; and

identify a second alphanumeric value based on the second response from the second magnetic ink.

17. The magnetic detector system of claim 16, wherein the detector is further configured to send data indicating a presence of the substrate by communicating at least the first alphanumeric value and the second alphanumeric value to a security system.

18. The magnetic detector system of claim 17, wherein the security system corresponds to a security system of a retail establishment.

19. The magnetic detector system of claim 14, wherein the first magnetic material corresponds to a first magnetic ink and encodes first information, and wherein the second magnetic material corresponds to a second magnetic ink and encodes second information.

20. The magnetic detector system of claim 14, further comprising a memory storing a lookup table, wherein the detector is further configured to:

determine that the first response from the first magnetic material corresponds to first information stored in the lookup table; and

determine that the second response from the second magnetic material corresponds to second information stored in the lookup table.