Flexible curtain antenna for reading RFID tags
First Claim
1. A curtain antenna capable of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object passing through the antenna, comprising:
- a horizontal mounting structure; and
a plurality of panels containing an antenna and hanging from said mounting structure and capable of moving in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure;
said at least one of said plurality of panels is capable of communicating with the wireless communication device and moving about the object as it passes through said plurality of panels.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible curtain antenna comprised of one or more panels containing at least one conductor antenna. The conductors in the panels are coupled to a transmission device, such as an interrogation reader, to form an antenna. The panels are attached to a mounting structure. The curtain antenna is designed so that objects can pass through the panels. As objects containing wireless communication devices pass through the panels, the panels come into close proximity to the wireless communication devices on the objects. The interrogation reader uses the panels as antennas to establish communication with the wireless communication devices on the objects to retrieve information about the objects. This information can be further communicated to a reporting system and/or a remote system using either a wired or wireless connection.
32 Citations
142 Claims
-
1. A curtain antenna capable of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object passing through the antenna, comprising:
-
a horizontal mounting structure; and
a plurality of panels containing an antenna and hanging from said mounting structure and capable of moving in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure;
said at least one of said plurality of panels is capable of communicating with the wireless communication device and moving about the object as it passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 122, 123)
-
-
14. A curtain antenna capable of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object passing through the antenna, comprising:
-
a mounting structure;
a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to said mounting structure wherein each of said plurality of wedge-shaped panels contain an antenna and are interlocked with each other in their resting position; and
wherein at least one of said plurality of panels is capable of communicating with the wireless communication device and moving about the object as it passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. An interrogation system for interrogating a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
an antenna, comprising a plurality of panels hanging from a horizontal mounting structure, said plurality of panels capable of moving in any direction in a conical area relative to said horizontal mounting structure; and
an interrogation reader coupled to said antenna to allow at least one of said plurality of panels to communicate with the wireless communication device and move about the object as it passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
-
50. An interrogation system for interrogating a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
an antenna, comprising a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to a mounting structure wherein each of said wedge-shaped panels contain an antenna and interlock with each other in their resting position; and
an interrogation reader coupled to said antenna to allow at least one of said plurality of panels to communicate with the wireless communication device and move about the object as it passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
-
-
74. A communication system, comprising:
-
an antenna, comprising a plurality of panels hanging from a mounting structure and capable of moving in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure;
a transportation device containing at least one object containing a wireless communication device; and
an interrogation reader coupled to said antenna to allow at least one of said plurality of panels to communicate with the wireless communication device on said at least one object and move about the object as said transportation device passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
-
-
86. A communication system, comprising:
-
an antenna, comprising a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to a mounting structure wherein said wedge-shaped panels each contain an antenna and interlock with each other;
a transportation device containing at least one object containing a wireless communication device; and
an interrogation reader coupled to said antenna to allow at least one of said plurality of panels to communicate with the wireless communication device on said at least one object and move about the object as said transportation device passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
-
-
98. A communication system, comprising:
-
an antenna, comprising a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to said mounting structure wherein each of said plurality of wedge-shaped panels contain an antenna and are interlocked with each other in their resting position;
an object containing a wireless communication device; and
an interrogation reader coupled to said antenna to allow at least one of said plurality of panels to communicate with the wireless communication device on the object and move about the object as said antenna moves through the object.
-
-
99. A method of constructing a curtain antenna that is capable of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object that passes through the antenna, comprising the steps of:
-
placing an antenna inside each of a plurality of panels; and
attaching said plurality of panels to a horizontal mounting structure so that said panels hang down from said mounting structure and so that each of said plurality of panels is capable of moving in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure. - View Dependent Claims (100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106)
-
-
107. A method of constructing a curtain antenna that is capable of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object that passes through the antenna, comprising the steps of:
-
placing an antenna inside each of a plurality of wedge-shaped panels; and
attaching said wedge-shaped plurality of panels to a mounting structure so that said panels interlock with each other in their resting position so that each of said plurality of wedge-shaped panels is capable of moving about the object as it passes through said mounting structure. - View Dependent Claims (108, 109, 110, 111)
-
-
112. A method of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
passing the object through an antenna comprised of a plurality of panels hanging from a horizontal mounting structure wherein said plurality of panels are capable of moving about the object in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure; and
interrogating the wireless communication device on the object as the object passes through said plurality of panels. - View Dependent Claims (113, 114, 115, 116, 117)
-
-
118. A method of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
passing the object through an antenna comprised of a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to a mounting structure that interlock with each other in their resting position wherein said panels are capable of moving about the object as the object passes through said plurality of wedge-shaped panels; and
interrogating the wireless communication device on the object as the object passes through said plurality of wedge-shaped panels. - View Dependent Claims (119, 120, 121, 124, 125, 126)
-
-
127. A method of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
passing an antenna that is comprised of a plurality of panels hanging from a horizontal mounting structure through the object wherein said plurality of panels are capable of moving about the object in any direction in a conical area relative to said mounting structure; and
interrogating the wireless communication device on the object as said plurality of panels moves through the object. - View Dependent Claims (128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134)
-
-
135. A method of communicating with a wireless communication device on an object, comprising:
-
passing an antenna that is comprised of a plurality of wedge-shaped panels attached to a mounting structure that interlock with each other in their resting position wherein said plurality of wedge-shaped panels are capable of moving about the object as the object passes through said plurality of wedge-shaped panels; and
interrogating the wireless communication device on the object as said plurality of panels moves through the object. - View Dependent Claims (136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142)
-
Specification