System and method of RFID data tracking

• US 7,040,532 B1
• Filed: 11/30/2004
• Issued: 05/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: BTS Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: BTS Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Wrench, Dean, Taylor, Peter S., Cullimore, Ian
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labaze, Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US11/000,808
• Publication Number:
  US 20060113370A1
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235379-380, 235/435, 235/487, 235/494, 235/485, 235/385, 235/472, 705/1, 705/26, 340/572.1, 340/10.1, 340/10.51, 340/825.22
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0022 arrangements or provisious for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device "transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

A hand-held RFID scanner has an extendable shaft with a handle for gripping of the RFID scanner. The shaft expands and retracts with a plurality of telescoping segments, either manually or with an electrical mechanism. An RFID antenna/reader is disposed on one end of the shaft. The RFID reader communicates with an RFID tag by RF communication link. A local controller, implemented as a PDA, is mounted to the extendable shaft and electrically connected to the RFID antenna/reader to receive data from the RFID tag. The local controller has an antenna for transmitting the data to a remote computer. The local controller executes software which allows the user to select whether the data is stored in the RFID tag or the remote computer. The software uses the RFID tag, RFID scanner with local controller, and remote computer to manage data associated with an object such as a wine barrel.

Claims

1. A method for tracking wine making data received from a wine barrel stored in a rack using in a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, comprising:

providing an extendible hand-held RFID scanner to reach within transmission proximity of an RFID tag attached to the wine barrel;

storing wine barrel identification data on the RFID tag;

receiving the wine barrel identification data from the RFID tag on the hand-held RFID scanner;

sending wine making data corresponding to the identified wine barrel from the hand-held RFID scanner to a remote computer;

receiving wine making data from the remote computer on the hand-held RFID scanner;

selecting a first portion of the wine making data to be managed on the hand-held RFID scanner in a manner suited to the wine making process; and

selecting a second portion of the wine making data to be managed on the remote computer in a manner suited to the wine making process.

2. The method of claim 1, further including sending data from the hand-held RFID scanner to the RFID tag for storage.

3. The method of claim 1, further including sending data from the hand-held RFID scanner to the remote computer for storage.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the data which is managed on the hand-held RFID scanner is selected by a user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second portion of the data which is managed on the remote computer is selected by a user.

6. The method of claim 1, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the first portion of the data on the hand-held RFID scanner.

7. The method of claim 1, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the second portion of the data on the remote computer.

8. A method for tracking data related to wine making received from a wine barrel stored in a rack using a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, comprising:

providing an extendible hand-held RFID scanner to reach within transmission proximity of an RFID tag attached to the wine barrel;

selecting a first portion of data related to wine making for storage on an RFID tag;

selecting a second portion of data related to wine making for storage on a remote computer;

selecting a third portion of data related to wine making for storage on the hand-held RFID scanner;

reading the first portion of data related to wine making from the RFID tag;

reading the second portion of data related to wine making from the remote computer; and

managing the second and third portions of data related to wine making on the hand-held RFID scanner and remote computer, respectively, in a manner suited to the wine making process.

9. The method of claim 8, further including sending the first portion of data to the RFID tag for storage.

10. The method of claim 8, further including sending the second portion of data to the remote computer for storage.

11. The method of claim 8, further including managing the second portion of data on the remote computer.

12. The method of claim 8, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the second and third portions of the data on the hand-held RFID scanner.

13. The method of claim 8, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the second portion of the data on the remote computer.

14. A method for tracking data related to manufacturing processes using a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, comprising:

providing an extendible hand-held RFID scanner to reach within transmission proximity of an RFID tag;

providing a graphical user interface to the hand-held RFID scanner;

receiving data from the RFID tag; and

managing manufacturing data received in part from the RFID tag through the graphical user interface on the hand-held RFID scanner by selecting a first portion of the manufacturing data to be managed on the hand-held RFID scanner and selecting a second portion of the manufacturing data to be managed on a remote computer in a manner suited to the manufacturing process.

15. The method of claim 14, further including:

sending the data from the hand-held RFID scanner to a remote computer;

receiving data from the remote computer on the hand-held RFID scanner;

managing the data from the remote computer on the hand-held RFID scanner.

16. The method of claim 14, further including sending data from the hand-held RFID scanner to the RFID tag for storage.

17. The method of claim 14, further including sending data from the hand-held RFID scanner to the remote computer for storage.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the first portion of the data which is managed on the hand-held RFID scanner is selected by a user.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the second portion of the data which is managed on the remote computer is selected by a user.

20. The method of claim 14, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the first portion of the data on the hand-held RFID scanner.

21. The method of claim 14, further including providing a graphical user interface for managing the second portion of the data on the remote computer.

22. A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having a computer readable program code embodied therein, comprising:

computer readable program code which stores wine barrel identification data on the RFID tag;

computer readable program code which receives the wine barrel identification data from an RFID tag on a hand-held RFID scanner which is extendible to reach within transmission proximity of a wine barrel;

computer readable program code which sends wine making data corresponding to the identified wine barrel from the hand-held RFID scanner to a remote computer;

computer readable program code which receives wine making data from the remote computer on the hand-held RFID scanner;

computer readable program code which selects a first portion of the wine making data to be managed on the hand-held RFID scanner; and

computer readable program code which selects a second portion of the wine making data to be managed on the remote computer.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, further including computer readable program code which provides a graphical user interface for managing the first portion of the data on the hand-held RFID scanner.

24. The computer program product of claim 22, further including computer readable program code which provides a graphical user interface for managing the second portion of the data on the remote computer.

25. A computer system for performing radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking of data related to wine making received from a wine barrel stored in a rack, comprising:

means for extending hand-held RFID scanner to reach within transmission proximity of an RFID tag attached to the wine barrel;

means for selecting a first portion of data related to wine making for storage on an RFID tag;

means for selecting a second portion of data related to wine making for storage on a remote computer;

means for selecting a third portion of data related to wine making for storage on the hand-held RFID scanner;

means for reading the first portion of data related to wine making from the RFID tag;

means for reading the second portion of data related to wine making from the remote computer; and

means for managing the second and third portions of data related to wine making on the hand-held RFID scanner and remote computer, respectively, in a manner suited to the wine making process.

26. The computer system of claim 25, further including means for providing a graphical user interface for managing the first and second portions of the data on the hand-held RFID scanner.