RFID material tracking method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of attaching an identification tag to an object, comprising:
- forming a shallow polypropylene cup;
placing the identification tag in the polypropylene cup;
welding the identification tag to the polypropylene cup ultrasonically; and
welding the polypropylene cup to the object ultrasonically.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for tracking items automatically is described. A passive RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag is used with a material tracking system capable of real-time pinpoint location and identification of thousands of items in production and storage areas. Passive RFID tags are attached to the item to be tracked, remote sensing antennas are placed at each remote location to be monitored, interrogators with several antenna inputs are connected to the sensing antennas to multiplex the antenna signals, and a host computer communicates with the interrogators to determine item locations to an exacting measure.
146 Citations
71 Claims
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1. A method of attaching an identification tag to an object, comprising:
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forming a shallow polypropylene cup;
placing the identification tag in the polypropylene cup;
welding the identification tag to the polypropylene cup ultrasonically; and
welding the polypropylene cup to the object ultrasonically. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of attaching an identification tag to an object, comprising:
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forming a shallow polypropylene cup;
welding the identification tag to the polypropylene cup ultrasonically;
welding the polypropylene cup to the object ultrasonically; and
associating the identification tag with manufacturer data regarding the object. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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12. A method of detecting the presence or absence of an identification tag at a location using a sensing antenna, comprising:
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exciting a tuned tank circuit in the antenna; and
determining if a dipped pulse stream is present at the excited tank circuit.
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21. A method of detecting the presence or absence of an identification tag, comprising:
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exciting a tuned tank circuit in a sensing antenna;
detecting a signal from the identification tag in response to exciting the tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna; and
decoding the detected signal to extract identification tag data carried in the detected signal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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28. A method of detecting the presence or absence of an identification tag, comprising:
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exciting a tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna;
decoding a detected signal, the detected signal responsive to exciting the tuned circuit and generated from the identification tag; and
storing information indicative of the presence or absence of an identification tag.
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39. A method of detecting the presence or absence of a plurality of identification tags, comprising:
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for each identification tag of the plurality of identification tags, associating a sensing antenna with the identification tag;
exciting a tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna;
detecting a signal from the identification tag in response to exciting the tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna; and
decoding the detected signal from the identification tag to extract data carried in the detected signal, wherein detecting the presence or absence of each identification tag is performed sequentially.
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51. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of detecting the presence or absence of an identification tag, the method comprising:
- method of, comprising;
exciting a tuned tank circuit in the antenna; and
determining if a dipped pulse stream is present at the excited tank circuit. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
- method of, comprising;
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60. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of detecting the presence or absence of a plurality of identification tags, the method comprising:
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for each identification tag of the plurality of identification tags, associating a sensing antenna with the identification tag;
exciting a tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna;
detecting a signal from the identification tag in response to exciting the tuned tank circuit in the sensing antenna; and
decoding the detected signal from the identification tag to extract data carried in the detected signal. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71)
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Specification