RFID-Enabling System and Method for Containers
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An RF (“
- radio frequency”
)-enabling system for establishing an RF field within a container having a predetermined size in which items are placed, the RF-enabling module system comprising;
a base mounted in a selected location in relation to the container in which items are placed, the container having a container size and the base having a base size selected to be compatible with the container size so that the base and components thereof may interact with items placed within the container;
an enclosure having electrically-conductive walls located around items stored in the container;
a probe located on the base at a position that is within the electrically conductive walls of the enclosure and configured to establish a robust activating RF field within the container at a predetermined frequency range that does not include a resonant frequency of the container;
wherein the position of the probe antenna in relation to the electrically-conductive walls of the enclosure is selected so that reflected energy of the predetermined frequency range within the enclosure is in phase at the probe position to thereby optimize power transfer at the predetermined frequency range into the enclosure;
a transceiver reader unit located on the base configured to control the probe to establish the activating RF field within the container and to receive data signals produced within the container in response to the activating RF field, the reader unit being further configured to process the data signals; and
a communications unit located on the base configured to receive the processed data signals from the reader unit and communicate the processed data signals to a remote location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An RFID-enabling system and method include a probe antenna to introduce a robust EM field into a container to activate RFID tags within the container, regardless of the container'"'"'s resonant frequency. The probe reads the data of the activated RFID tags, and a processor and communications module transmit the RFID tag data to a remote processor. The RFID-enabling module may be used to retrofit existing medication drawers of a medication cabinet or may be used during the construction of a new cabinet. The RFID-enabling system includes auto tuning of the antenna to dynamically compensate for loading changes on the EM field.
4 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An RF (“
- radio frequency”
)-enabling system for establishing an RF field within a container having a predetermined size in which items are placed, the RF-enabling module system comprising;a base mounted in a selected location in relation to the container in which items are placed, the container having a container size and the base having a base size selected to be compatible with the container size so that the base and components thereof may interact with items placed within the container; an enclosure having electrically-conductive walls located around items stored in the container; a probe located on the base at a position that is within the electrically conductive walls of the enclosure and configured to establish a robust activating RF field within the container at a predetermined frequency range that does not include a resonant frequency of the container; wherein the position of the probe antenna in relation to the electrically-conductive walls of the enclosure is selected so that reflected energy of the predetermined frequency range within the enclosure is in phase at the probe position to thereby optimize power transfer at the predetermined frequency range into the enclosure; a transceiver reader unit located on the base configured to control the probe to establish the activating RF field within the container and to receive data signals produced within the container in response to the activating RF field, the reader unit being further configured to process the data signals; and a communications unit located on the base configured to receive the processed data signals from the reader unit and communicate the processed data signals to a remote location. - View Dependent Claims (3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 19, 22, 23, 24)
- radio frequency”
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2. (canceled)
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4. (canceled)
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5. (canceled)
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8. (canceled)
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11. A radio frequency identification (“
- RFID”
)-enabling system for establishing an RF (“
radio frequency”
) field within a container having a predetermined size in which items are placed, the RFID-enabling system comprising;a base mounted in a selected location in relation to the container in which items are placed, each item having an RFID tag with a unique data identification, the container having a container size and the base having a base size selected to be compatible with the container size so that the base and components thereof may interact with tagged items placed within the container; an enclosure having electrically-conductive walls located around items stored in the container; a probe located on the base and configured to establish a robust activating RF field within the electrically-conductive walls of the enclosure within a predetermined frequency range that does not include a resonant frequency of the container, the robust activating RF field selected to activate the RFID tags of the items placed in the container; a transceiver RFID reader unit located on the base configured to control the probe to establish the activating RF field and control the probe to receive RFID data signals from activated RFID devices in the container, and process the data signals; and a communications unit located on the base configured to receive the processed data signals from the reader unit and communicate the processed data signals to a remote location; wherein the position of the probe in relation to the electrically-conductive walls of the enclosure is selected so that reflected energy of the predetermined frequency range within the enclosure is in phase at the probe position to thereby optimize power transfer at the predetermined frequency range into the container; a data base located at the remote location, the data base containing information pertaining to the tagged items that is correlated with the data identifications of the tags respectively attached to the items; and a remote processor located at the remote location configured to receive the processed data signals, compare them to the data base, and provide information relating to the tagged items based on the comparison. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- RFID”
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15. A method for radio frequency identification (“
- RFID”
)-enabling a container to establish a radio frequency (“
RF”
) field within the container, the container having a predetermined size in which RFID tagged items are placed and a resonant frequency, the method comprising;forming an enclosure having electrically-conductive walls around the container and the tagged items in the container; mounting a base within the enclosure in a selected location in relation to a container in which RFID tagged items are placed, the container having a container size and the base having a base size selected to be compatible with the container size so that the base and components thereof may interact with RFID tags on the items placed within the container; exciting a probe mounted to the base within the enclosure to establish a robust activating RF field within the container within a predetermined frequency range that does not include the resonant frequency of the container; positioning the probe in relation to the electrically-conductive walls of the enclosure so that reflected energy of the predetermined frequency range within the enclosure is in phase at the probe position to thereby optimize power transfer at the predetermined frequency range into the container; receiving from the tunable probe unique RFID identification data signals from the RFID tags on the items in the container after they have been activated by the robust activating RF field; reading and processing the RFID data signals from the activated items in the container; and communicating the processed RFID data signals to a remote location. - View Dependent Claims (17, 21, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
- RFID”
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16. (canceled)
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18. (canceled)
Specification