Programmer for identification system
First Claim
1. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,a housing,means disposed on the housing for receiving the tag and for providing for the passage of signals between the housing and the tag when the tag is properly disposed on the housing,a keyboard disposed on the housing and having a plurality of keys each depressible to indicate an individual one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters and programmer functions, andmeans including a microprocessor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the keys in the keyboard for providing for the programming of the tag in accordance with the depression of the individual keys in the keyboard when the tag is disposed on the housing.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tag has a memory programmable to store alphanumeric indications in a pattern identifying an object associated with the tag. The stored indications are convertible to signals transmitted to a displaced reader in an individual pattern at first and second frequencies to identify the objects. The memory may be programmed, during the production of a first logic level in a signal on a program pin, (a) by the operation of keys on a keyboard in a programmer housing, each key representing an individual alphanumeric character, or (b) from an external source such as a typewriter keyboard used in conjunction with the programmer. The signal on the program pin has a second logic level to provide for bulk erasing all particular memory positions. A configuration signal has a first logic level providing for the alphanumeric coding of the memory and a second logic level providing for the selection, at particular memory positions, of individual capacitors to generate signals at the first and second frequencies. When the programming signal has the second logic level and the configuration signal has the first logic level, bulk information may be erased from the memory.
31 Citations
30 Claims
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1. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,
a housing, means disposed on the housing for receiving the tag and for providing for the passage of signals between the housing and the tag when the tag is properly disposed on the housing, a keyboard disposed on the housing and having a plurality of keys each depressible to indicate an individual one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters and programmer functions, and means including a microprocessor disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the keys in the keyboard for providing for the programming of the tag in accordance with the depression of the individual keys in the keyboard when the tag is disposed on the housing.
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5. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader, the tag having a plurality of different pads in a detent portion to control the operation of the tag in accordance with the energizing of such pads,
a housing, a keyboard disposed on the housing and having a plurality of keys each operable to select an individual one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters and programmer functions, detent means disposed in the housing for mating with the detent portion on the tag, the detent means on the housing having a plurality of different pins for producing an electrical continuity with the different pads in the detent portion on the tag to provide for the operation of the tag in accordance with the energizing of such pads, means for providing for the energizing of particular pads on the tag for a programming of the individual code in the programmable memory on the tag, and means responsive to the energizing of the particular pads on the tag and responsive to the operation of the individual keys in the keyboard for programming the individual code in the programmable memory in the tag.
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9. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,
a housing, detent means disposed on the housing for cooperating with the tag to provide for the programming of the individual code in the programmable memory o the tag when the tag is disposed on the detent means on the housing, a keyboard disposed on the housing and including a plurality of keys each operable to provide an indication of an individual one of a plurality of alphanumeric characters means for providing for the operation of individual ones of the keys to program, in the programmable memory on the tag, the individual code identified by the operated keys, means for providing for the programming of the individual code in the programmable memory on the tag from a source external to the housing and from the keys on the housing, and means for providing for the selection of an individual one of the keyboard and the external source to provide the programming in the programmable memory on the tag.
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13. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals in representation of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,
first and second lines, means for providing for the production on the first line of voltages of different magnitudes, means for providing for the production on the second line of signals having a first logic level to provide for the programming of the programmable memory on the tag at such times, a plurality of typewriter keys each operable to provide for the programming of an individual one of the indications in an alphanumeric code, and means responsive to the production of a voltage of a particular magnitude on the first line and the production on the second line of the voltage of the first logic level to provide for the programming of alphanumeric information in the programmable memory on the tag in accordance with the operation of the individual keys in the plurality.
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17. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,
means for providing a first voltage having a first logic level to obtain an adjustment of first and second frequencies for the signals to be transmitted in the sequence by the tag to the reader and having a second logic level to obtain the programming of information into the programmable memory on the tag, means for providing a second voltage having a first logic level to obtain the programming of information into the programmable memory on the tag or an adjustment in the first and second frequencies for the signals to be transmitted in the sequence by the tag to the reader and having a second logic level preventing the programming of the information or the adjustment in the first and second frequencies of the signals to be transmitted in the sequence by the tag to the reader, means responsive to the first levels in the first and second voltages for adjusting the first and second frequencies of the signals to be transmitted in the sequence by the tag to the reader, and means responsive to the second level in the first voltage and the first level in the second voltage for programming information into the programmable memory in the tag.
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22. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production at first and second frequencies of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader, the tag having a plurality of pads,
a housing for receiving the tag, detent means on the housing, the detent means having a plurality of pins which establish continuity with the pads on the tag when the housing receives the tag, means for introducing a first voltage through first ones of the pins in the plurality in the detent means on the housing and through first ones of the pads on the tag with a first logic level to provide for the programming of alphanumeric information in the programmable memory on the tag and with a second logic level, first means responsive to the first voltage of the first logic level on the first pads on the tag for providing for the programming of alphanumeric indications in the programmable memory on the tag, the tag having circuitry including a plurality of capacitors for providing for the adjustment, in accordance with the connection of the capacitors in the plurality in such circuitry, of the first and second frequencies for the signals to be transmitted by the tag to the reader in a sequential pattern identifying the individual code in the programmable memory on the tag, second means responsive to the production of the first voltage of the second logic level on the first pads on the tag for providing for the connection of the capacitors in the plurality in the circuitry to obtain the generation of the signals at the first and second frequencies by the tag to the reader, means for providing a second voltage having first and second logic levels, means responsive to the first voltage of the first logic level on the first pads on the tag and the second voltage of the first logic level on the second pads on the tag and the operation of the first means for selectively programming alphanumeric indications in the programmable memory on the tag and responsive to the first voltage of the second logic level in the first pads on the tag and the second voltage of the first logic level on the second pads on the tag for connecting individual on of the capacitors in the circuitry to obtain the transmission by the tag to the reader of the signals at the first and second frequencies, and means responsive to the second voltage of the second logic level for providing for the transmission by the tag to the reader of the signals at the first and second frequencies.
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26. In combination for programming a tag which is adapted to be provided with an individual code and to be disposed on an object for use with a reader displaced from the object to obtain an identification of the object by the reader in accordance with the individual code on the tag, the tag having a programmable memory for storing the individual code and for obtaining the production of a sequence of signals representative of such individual code upon an interrogation by the reader,
means for providing a first voltage having a first logic level to obtain a programming of individual ones of a plurality of alphanumeric characters into the programmable memory, a keyboard having a plurality of keys each operable to provide for the recording of an individual one of the plurality of alphanumeric characters in the programmable memory on the tag, means responsive to the first logic level in the first voltage and the operation of the individual keys in the keyboard for providing for the programming into the programmable memory of sequences of signals coding for the alphanumeric characters identified by such individual keys, means for introducing to the tag a second voltage having an individual one of first, second and third logic levels wherein the first logic level provides a high impedance for retaining, in the programmable memory in the tag, the indications of the alphanumeric characters previously recorded in such programmable memory, a second logic level for providing for the introduction of the individual indications of the alphanumeric characters into the programmable memory in the tag and a third logic level for reading the indications of the alphanumeric characters from the programmable memory in the tag, and means responsive to the second voltage of the third logic level for reading the indications of the alphanumeric indications from the programmable memory in the tag, the programming means being operative to obtain the introduction of the individual indications of the alphanumeric introductions into the programmable memory in the tag upon the occurrence of the second voltage of the second logic level.
Specification