Deactivatable resonant marker for use in RF electronic article surveillance system
First Claim
1. A deactivatable marker for use in an electronic article surveillance system having a transmitter for producing an electromagnetic field within an interrogation zone and a receiver for detecting the marker when excited by the field, said marker including at least one inductive component, one capacitive element and a third component comprising a pair of conductive layers, at least one of which is metallic, said layers being separated at at least one location by only an insulative thin-film formed on the surface of the metallic layer, said components being coupled together to form a circuit resonant at at least one frequency, whereby deactivation of the marker may be effected by developing across the thin-film at least a predetermined potential to thereby breakdown the thin-film and to form a conductive path between the conductive layers which alters the resonant frequency of the circuit to prevent detection thereof by said receiver.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A deactivatable marker for use in an RF electronic article surveillance system is disclosed, which marker includes a resonant circuit having at least one inductive component and one capacitive component. The circuit further comprises a component having two conductive layers separated only by an insulative thin-film which breaks down when at least a predetermined potential is applied across it to form a conductive path which changes the resonant frequency of the circuit. The two conductive layers are preferably configured to form a spiral multi-turn inductor and capacitor pads on opposing surfaces of a dielectric sheet, and to be embossed at a localized area, thereby contacting the layers except for the presence of the insulating thin-film.
14 Citations
11 Claims
- 1. A deactivatable marker for use in an electronic article surveillance system having a transmitter for producing an electromagnetic field within an interrogation zone and a receiver for detecting the marker when excited by the field, said marker including at least one inductive component, one capacitive element and a third component comprising a pair of conductive layers, at least one of which is metallic, said layers being separated at at least one location by only an insulative thin-film formed on the surface of the metallic layer, said components being coupled together to form a circuit resonant at at least one frequency, whereby deactivation of the marker may be effected by developing across the thin-film at least a predetermined potential to thereby breakdown the thin-film and to form a conductive path between the conductive layers which alters the resonant frequency of the circuit to prevent detection thereof by said receiver.
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9. An electronic article surveillance system comprising
a transmitter for producing an electromagnetic field within an interrogation zone, a marker including at least one inductive component, one capacitive component and a third component comprising a pair of conductive layers, at least one of which is metallic, which layers are separated at at least one location by only an insulative thin-film formed on the surface of the metallic layer, said components being coupled together to form a circuit having at least one resonant frequency, a receiver for detecting oscillations at at least said one resonant frequency produced by the marker when excited by the field, and for producing an alarm signal in response thereto, and means for deactivating the marker to inhibit the detection thereof by the receiver, said means comprising means for applying at least a predetermined electrical potential across said thin-film to thereby breakdown the thin-film and create a conductive path between the conductive layers, which path alters the resonant frequency of the circuit and inhibts the detection by said receiver.
Specification