OPERATION MONITORING AND ENHANCED HOST COMMUNICATIONS IN SYSTEMS EMPLOYING ELECTRONIC ARTICLE SURVEILLANCE AND RFID TAGS
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring electronic tag operation comprising the steps ofpassing an item through a read volume;
- identifying the item by reading a label on the item with a data reader and thereby obtaining identification data;
determining whether the item includes an EAS tag by attempting to sense an EAS tag using an EAS sense and deactivation system;
if an EAS tag has been sensed, (a) attempting to deactivate the EAS tag and (b) validating whether the EAS tag has been deactivated by attempting to re-sense the EAS tag after attempting to deactivate;
if the EAS tag has been re-sensed, repeating steps (a) and (b) for up to a given period or a given number of cycles;
assembling data of operation of the EAS system pertaining to sensing and attempting to deactivate the EAS tag, the operation data including the number of deactivation attempts;
correlating the EAS system operation data, including the number of deactivation attempts, to the item identified.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for monitoring operation and performance of electronic tags such as article surveillance (EAS) tags or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags such as by monitoring and reporting electronic tag readability and operator/system performance levels. The system includes an optical symbol reader and/or electronic tag sensor/deactivator that measures and reports values of reading, detection, or deactivation events during operation which may be indicative of electronic tag operability. The apparatus may further comprise a data accumulation device including memory storage to accumulate the measurement values for each set of electronic tags, and a programmed computing system to analyze the measured values and report on the results of the analysis.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring electronic tag operation comprising the steps of
passing an item through a read volume; -
identifying the item by reading a label on the item with a data reader and thereby obtaining identification data; determining whether the item includes an EAS tag by attempting to sense an EAS tag using an EAS sense and deactivation system; if an EAS tag has been sensed, (a) attempting to deactivate the EAS tag and (b) validating whether the EAS tag has been deactivated by attempting to re-sense the EAS tag after attempting to deactivate; if the EAS tag has been re-sensed, repeating steps (a) and (b) for up to a given period or a given number of cycles; assembling data of operation of the EAS system pertaining to sensing and attempting to deactivate the EAS tag, the operation data including the number of deactivation attempts; correlating the EAS system operation data, including the number of deactivation attempts, to the item identified. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of operating a data reading and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining item identification data by reading a label on an item being passed through a read volume of a data reader; (b) attempting to sense an EAS tag on the item; (c) if an EAS tag has been sensed, attempting to deactivate the EAS tag; (d) collecting EAS system operation data including the number of deactivation attempts with respect to the results of steps (b) and (c); and (e) correlating the collected operation data including the number of deactivation attempts collected to the item identified. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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12. (canceled)
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19. An apparatus for monitoring and reporting electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag readability in a combined data reader and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising
a data reader for reading a label on an item being passed through a read volume; means for measuring values of EAS tag detection and/or deactivation during operation for providing indication of EAS tag operability. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A system for monitoring electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag quality comprising:
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a combined system of a data reader and an EAS system for reading labels appended to an item and for sensing and deactivating EAS tags appended to the item; means within the combined system for identifying a defective EAS tag; means for indicating presence of the defective EAS tag; means within the combined system for tallying a number of defective EAS tags by type of item identified. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25-48. -48. (canceled)
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49. A method of monitoring electronic tag operation in a checkout system having a data reader, the method comprising the steps of:
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passing an item through a read volume; identifying the item by reading a label on the item and obtaining identification data; determining a location of the item relative to the data reader when the label is read; sensing an electronic tag on the item; and correlating the location of the item to the electronic tag sensing operation for use in analyzing system operation. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51)
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52. A method of operation of an electronic checkout system having a point of sale (POS) terminal coupled to a data reader and an EAS system, the method comprising:
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operating in an automatic activation mode whereby the EAS system is automatically activated in response to a signal from the data reader of good read of a product code; operating in a manual activation mode whereby the EAS system is manually activated by action of an operator; detecting a manual activation of the EAS system to deactivate an EAS tag; and storing an indication that a manual activation, as distinguished from an automatic activation, of the EAS system has been detected. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A host notification method for use in an electronic checkout system that includes an optical code data reader and an electronic article surveillance (EAS) system, the data reader and the EAS system coupled to an electronic point-of-sale (POS) terminal, the method comprising the steps of:
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using the data reader to read an identification tag on an item; upon successful read of an identification tag, automatically attempting deactivation permitting an operator to initiate a manual deactivation attempt; detecting a manual deactivation attempt of the EAS system as distinguished from an automatic deactivation attempt; determining whether manual deactivation attempt was successful; if the manual deactivation attempt was successful, transmitting an indication of the manual deactivation to the POS terminal or host system. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 62)
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60-61. -61. (canceled)
Specification