Detection Device

• US 20090212910A1
• Filed: 10/26/2005
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VERMOP Salmon GmbH (Freudenberg & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: VERMOP Salmon GmbH (Freudenberg & Company KG)
• Inventors: Schneider, Lutz
• Granted Patent: US 8,207,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10336 the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10346 the antenna being of the far field type, e.g. HF types or dipoles

Abstract

The invention relates to a detection device for piece goods, in particular textiles. Starting from the marking of textiles with RFID tags that can be read out by means of a reader, as is known from the prior art, a detection device for textiles is produced within the scope of the present invention, in which electromagnetic fields of different orientation are generated by means of at least two antennas arranged at a defined angle to each other, and this ensures that the electronic markings of the piece goods disposed in a counting cage may be reliably read out independently of their relative arrangement in the space.

Claims

1. Detection device for piece goods, preferably textiles and/or textile articles, comprising an antenna device for inductive coupling of an operating voltage into at least one electronic marking which are in each case captively connected to the piece goods to be counted, and a reading unit for acquiring the signals sent by the electronic markings, as well as a counter connected downstream of the reader for determining the respective number of piece goods by evaluation of the signals of the electronic markings received by means of the reader, wherein the antenna device for generating two respective electromagnetic fields of different orientations that are preferably orthogonal to each other comprises at least two separate antennas which are arranged at a defined angle, preferably a right angle, to each other.

2. Detection device according to claim 1, wherein each antenna of the antenna device comprises an electrical conductor, said conductor being shaped such that it forms at least approximately a closed frame.

3. Detection device according to claim 1, wherein an at least partially closed counting cage for receiving the piece goods to be counted is assigned to said detection device, the antenna device overlapping said counting cage on at least two sides.

4. Detection device according to claim 3, wherein the cuboidal counting cage comprises a floor plate and four side walls and is open towards the top.

5. Detection device according to claim 1, wherein a counting cage which hangs so as to be moveable and which is open on two opposite sides is assigned to said detection device.

6. Detection device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna device assigned to said detection device comprises at least two, preferably four, diagonal antennas, each having at least one, preferably two, diagonal sections, said diagonal antennas each being assigned to one, preferably two, side walls of the counting cage, and the orientation of the diagonal sections extending in each case from a corner of the counting cage to the respective diagonally remote counting cage corner of these side walls.

7. Detection device according to claim 6, wherein at least one diagonal section of a diagonal antenna is assigned to each side wall, said opposite diagonal sections of opposite side walls being aligned in parallel to one another and being combined to form one diagonal antenna, said diagonal sections of the diagonal antennas being connected by two transverse members that are preferably arranged in the region of opposite edges of the cuboidal counting cage.

8. Detection device according to claim 7, wherein the four diagonal antennas assigned to the counting cage are arranged such that two diagonal sections, which preferably intersect at an angle of at least approximately 90 degrees, are assigned to each side wall.

9. Detection device according to claim 3, wherein the antenna device assigned to the counting cage comprises six further frame antennas, each frame antenna being assigned to a limiting surface of the counting cage, i.e. the 4 side walls, the floor plate and the open top surface of the counting cage, in such a manner that each frame antenna at least substantially surrounds the respective limiting surface.

10. Detection device according to claim 9, wherein at least one separate electronic tuning means is assigned to each antenna of the antenna device.

11. Detection device according to claim 9, wherein the antennas of the antenna device comprise transmitting and receiving antennas, a receiving antenna being assigned to each transmitting antenna such that together they form a transmitting/receiving antenna pair.

12. Detection device according to claim 11, wherein the antennas can be independently supplied with power by means of a multiplexer.

13. Detection device according to claim 12, wherein the antennas can be electrically separated by means of at least one switching element in each case.

14. Detection device according to claim 12, wherein a separate input and output channel of the multiplexer is assigned to each transmitting and receiving antenna pair.

15. Detection device according to claim 12, wherein said detection device comprises a central control unit, by means of which the transmitting antennas controlled via the multiplexer can be supplied with power one after the other and the counting results detected by means of the receiving antennas are determined one after the other.

16. Detection device according to claim 14, wherein duplicate recognition is assigned to the central control unit, which, by evaluating the signals of the electronic markings received by the reader, in particular the individual identification assigned to each electronic marking, recognises any possible repeat counts of the receiving antennas evaluated one after the other and reduces the counting result by the number of these duplicates.

17. Detection device according to claim 12 wherein the antennas of the antenna device are each connected to the multiplexer via a coaxial cable with insertion of a balun in each case.

18. Detection device according to claim 12, wherein said detection device comprises a data processing means having a storage member which, in its function as a data logger, records and stores the measurement results for a predeterminable period.

19. Detection device according to claim 18, wherein in addition to the antenna device, said detection device comprises further sensors, in particular at least one moisture meter and/or at least one temperature detecting device, which are each also data-connected with the data processing means.

20. Detection device according to claim 18, wherein the transmitting power used by each of the transmitting antennas can be detected and stored for each measurement by means of the data collection device.

21. Detection device according to claim 3, wherein the counting cage and the antenna device each have a fixed part and a detachable part, the fixed part of said counting cage being connected to the fixed part of said antenna device and the detachable part of said counting cage being connected to the detachable part of said antenna device, respectively.

22. Detection device according to claim 11, wherein the receiving antennas of the antenna device are each connected to a receiving amplifier.

23. Detection device according to claim 22, wherein the central control device controls the receiving amplifier as a function of the input level of the transmitting/receiving antennas.

24. Detection device according to claim 1, wherein the piece goods to be counted, in particular mops, are each provided with at least one RFID tag as an electronic marking, each RFID tag being captively received in a sealed receiving pocket of the piece good.