Loss prevention system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A monitor for a loss prevention system, comprising:
- an RF communication circuit adapted for communication with at least one radio frequency identification tag;
a control circuit having a microprocessor and a memory, the control circuit being electrically connected to the RF communication circuit;
an alarm electrically connected to the microprocessor; and
a computer readable program code stored in the memory and executing under control of the microprocessor, the program code having;
means for acquiring the identification tag by storing a unique identifier associated with the identification tag in the memory and associating the identifier with an alias;
means for dropping the identification tag by deleting the unique identifier associated with the identification tag from the memory;
means for operating the RF communication circuit to interrogate the identification tag;
means for causing the alarm to activate when the identification tag is out of range of the RF communication circuit; and
means for dropping the identification tag by deleting the unique identifier associated with the identification tag from the memory;
wherein said means for operating systematically polls each at least one identification tag, and said means for dropping deletes the unique identifier upon subsequent polling when the identification tag is determined out of range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The loss prevention system is a system to prevent articles from becoming lost, misplaced, or stolen. The articles are tagged with, or contain, an identifying device such as an RFID tag or a wireless network interface. The identifying device allows the articles to be monitored by a monitor. The monitor periodically interrogates each identifying device with a transmitted RF signal, and generates an alarm signal if an interrogated identifying device does not reply or is out of range. The identifying devices can be acquired by the monitor and associated with an alias that can be used to associate the identifying device with its associated article.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A monitor for a loss prevention system, comprising:
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an RF communication circuit adapted for communication with at least one radio frequency identification tag; a control circuit having a microprocessor and a memory, the control circuit being electrically connected to the RF communication circuit; an alarm electrically connected to the microprocessor; and a computer readable program code stored in the memory and executing under control of the microprocessor, the program code having; means for acquiring the identification tag by storing a unique identifier associated with the identification tag in the memory and associating the identifier with an alias; means for dropping the identification tag by deleting the unique identifier associated with the identification tag from the memory; means for operating the RF communication circuit to interrogate the identification tag; means for causing the alarm to activate when the identification tag is out of range of the RF communication circuit; and means for dropping the identification tag by deleting the unique identifier associated with the identification tag from the memory; wherein said means for operating systematically polls each at least one identification tag, and said means for dropping deletes the unique identifier upon subsequent polling when the identification tag is determined out of range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A loss prevention system, comprising:
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(a) a monitor having; (i) a control circuit including a microprocessor and a memory; (ii) a radio frequency communication circuit connected to the control circuit, including a transmitter and a receiver; (iii) program code stored in the control circuit memory and executing under control of the microprocessor, the program code including; (A) means for causing an interrogation signal to be transmitted by the transmitter; (B) means for acquiring an identification tag number from a response to the interrogation signal, including storing the acquired tag number and associating an alias with the acquired tag number; (C) means for repetitively transmitting the interrogation signal, and for tracking responses to the interrogation signal, including comparing responses to the acquired tag number; (D) means for generating an alarm when the tracked responses fail to include the acquired tag number; and (E) means for dropping the acquired identification tag number from memory; wherein said means for dropping deletes the acquired tag number upon the repetitive tracking when subsequent tracked responses fails to include the acquired tag number; and (b) at least one radio frequency identification tag adapted for attachment to an article to be tracked, the tag having; (i) a memory having a unique identification number stored therein; and (ii) transponder means for receiving the interrogation signal transmitted by the monitor and transmitting the unique identification number in response to the interrogation signal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification