Electrotextile RFID antenna
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- an electrotextile antenna that communicates with radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders, the electrotextile antenna comprising a conductive fabric including at least two different metals and that has a conductivity of between 1.0×
105 Siemens/meter and 5.0×
105 Siemens/meter, wherein the electrotextile antenna comprises conductive elements,wherein the conductive elements comprise;
two or more spatially separated conductive cell patches capactively coupled together;
a feed pad; and
one or more conductive feed lines connected to the feed pad, andwherein the one or more conductive feed lines are electrically coupled with the one or more conductive cell patches, creating a radiative pattern for reading RFID transponders in a corresponding interrogation zone; and
a substrate that the electrotextile antenna is disposed on, wherein the substrate is different from but connected to a printed circuit board such that a connection between the electrotextile antenna and the printed circuit board comprises electrically connecting a portion of the electrotextile antenna to a portion of the printed circuit board so that the electrotextile antenna can receive electrical signals via the printed circuit board.
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Abstract
A system for reading transponders may include a printed circuit board and an electrotextile antenna. The printed circuit board may include an RFID reading circuit, and the electrotextile antenna may be electrically connected to the printed circuit board via a connection. The electrotextile antenna may be composed of a material made by blending or coating textiles with a metal, and the electrotextile antenna may be configured to transmit and receive signals between the RFID reading circuit and RFID tags.
75 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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an electrotextile antenna that communicates with radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders, the electrotextile antenna comprising a conductive fabric including at least two different metals and that has a conductivity of between 1.0×
105 Siemens/meter and 5.0×
105 Siemens/meter, wherein the electrotextile antenna comprises conductive elements,wherein the conductive elements comprise; two or more spatially separated conductive cell patches capactively coupled together; a feed pad; and one or more conductive feed lines connected to the feed pad, and wherein the one or more conductive feed lines are electrically coupled with the one or more conductive cell patches, creating a radiative pattern for reading RFID transponders in a corresponding interrogation zone; and a substrate that the electrotextile antenna is disposed on, wherein the substrate is different from but connected to a printed circuit board such that a connection between the electrotextile antenna and the printed circuit board comprises electrically connecting a portion of the electrotextile antenna to a portion of the printed circuit board so that the electrotextile antenna can receive electrical signals via the printed circuit board. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for reading transponders, the system comprising:
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an RFID reading circuit; and an electrotextile antenna comprising conductive elements on a substrate, wherein the electrotextile antenna comprises a conductive, metalized fabric that comprises at least two metals and has a conductivity of between 1.0×
105 Siemens/meter and 5.0×
105 Siemens/meter, wherein the electrotextile antenna comprises conductive elements and communicates with the RFID reading circuit and RFID tags, wherein the electrotextile antenna is electrically connected to the RFID reading circuit for reading RFID transponders in a corresponding interrogation zone,wherein the electrotextile antenna is disposed on a substrate that is connected to a printed circuit board such that a connection between the electrotextile antenna and the printed circuit board comprises electrically connecting a portion of the electrotextile antenna to a portion of the printed circuit board so that the electrotextile antenna can receive electrical signals via the printed circuit board. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of manufacture of an electrotextile RFID antenna comprising:
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blending or coating portions of a flexible textile material with at least two metals, resulting in electrotextile material having a conductivity of between 1.0×
105 Siemens/meter and 5.0×
105 Siemens/meter;forming an electrotextile antenna thereby to communicate with RFID transponders, the electrotextile antenna formed on a substrate with the electrotextile material and comprising two or more conductive cell patches capactively coupled together and one or more conductive feed lines; electrically coupling the one or more conductive feed lines with the one or more conductive cell patches creating a radiative pattern on the antenna from the coupling that reads RFID transponders in a corresponding interrogation zone; and electrically connecting a portion of the electrotextile antenna to an RFID circuit so that the electrotextile antenna transmits interrogation signals generated by the RFID circuit to the RFID transponders and receives response signals from the RFID transponders when reading RFID transponders in the corresponding interrogation zone; and disposing the electrotextile antenna on a substrate different from but connected to a printed circuit board, connecting the electrotextile antenna and the printed circuit board by electrically connecting a portion of the electrotextile antenna to a portion of the printed circuit board so that the electrotextile antenna can receive electrical signals via the printed circuit board. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification