Electronic band tag and method of storing ID information therein
First Claim
1. An electronic band tag comprising:
- a band of material;
a plurality of conductive wires supported within the band so that the conductive wires are insulated from one another; and
an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the wires to convert a coded pattern of open and closed circuits of the wires into a unique tag ID, the electronic circuit transmitting at least one wireless signal including the unique tag ID wherein the electronic circuit includes a first transmitter for transmitting a substantially line-of-sight signal including the unique tag ID and a second transmitter for transmitting a substantially non-line-of-sight signal also including the unique tag ID.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic band tag includes a plurality of conductive wires supported within a band of material wherein each of the wires provide either an open circuit or a closed circuit to form a coded pattern of open and closed circuits. After an electrical discontinuity has been formed in at least one of the wires, the coded pattern of the wires is converted into a unique tag ID. The band tag utilizes both the radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) parts of the electromagnetic spectrum to enable a system including multiple tags to locate subjects (i.e. objects and persons) within a tracking environment. Each band tag includes a battery-operated, microprocessor-based electronic circuit for each subject to be located. Each band tag automatically transmits digitized infrared light signals to provide a fine determination of its subject'"'"'s location. Each band tag transmits RF and IR signals upon actuation of a page request/alert push button switch on its electronic circuit. An RF signal is also generated at a timed interval as a "heartbeat" pulse. This pulse informs a host computer that the band tag is both present and fully functional. The IR and RF signals are modulated or encoded with the unique tag, identification data, page request or alert notification data, and battery condition data. The band tags are particularly useful in hospital systems which determine and monitor the location of patients and/or critical equipment.
427 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An electronic band tag comprising:
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a band of material; a plurality of conductive wires supported within the band so that the conductive wires are insulated from one another; and an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the wires to convert a coded pattern of open and closed circuits of the wires into a unique tag ID, the electronic circuit transmitting at least one wireless signal including the unique tag ID wherein the electronic circuit includes a first transmitter for transmitting a substantially line-of-sight signal including the unique tag ID and a second transmitter for transmitting a substantially non-line-of-sight signal also including the unique tag ID. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of storing ID information in an electronic band tag, the electronic band tag including a band of material;
- a plurality of conductive wires supported within the band so that the conductive wires are insulated from one another; and
an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the wires to convert a coded pattern of open and closed circuits of the wires into a unique tag ID, the electronic circuit transmitting at least one wireless signal including the unique tag ID, the method comprising the step of;forming an electrical discontinuity in at least one of the conductive wires to form a coded pattern of open and closed circuits of the wires.
- a plurality of conductive wires supported within the band so that the conductive wires are insulated from one another; and
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11. An electronic band tag comprising:
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a band of material; a plurality of substantially parallel conductive wires supported within the band so that the conductive wires are insulated from one another; and an electronic circuit electrically coupled to the wires to convert a coded pattern of open and closed circuits of the wires into a unique tag ID, the electronic circuit transmitting at least one wireless signal including the unique tag ID.
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Specification