Surgical implement detector
First Claim
1. A detector system for detecting an RFID tag having an RF antenna and being configured to transmit therefrom a signal containing a modulated carrier frequency impressed with an identification code, the detector system comprising:
- a presence detector having an interrogating antenna configured to transmit a carrier frequency; and
wherein;
the RF and interrogating antennae are coupleable to one another within a presence range;
the RFID tag being configured to transmit a signal in response to the carrier frequency received from the interrogating antenna;
the interrogating antenna being configured to receive a signal from at least one of the following;
the signal transmitted by the RFID tag, signals transmitted by a combination of environmental noise and the RFID tag;
the presence detector further including;
a signal reader configured to receive the modulated carrier frequency from the RFID tag during a predetermined response time period for comparison to a reference level for determining the presence of the RFID tag within the presence range.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided is a detector system for detecting a plurality of items each having at least one RFID tag attached thereto. The detector system may include a presence detector and/or a message detector. The presence detector may include a signal reader which receives modulated carrier frequencies from the RFID tags during a predetermined response time period for comparison to a reference level. The signal reader may be configured as a power integrator or a constellation discriminator. The power integrator sums the power contained in signals transmitted by the RFID tags by integration for comparison to an environmental noise level measurement taken during a quiet period. For the constellation discriminator, bits contained in the modulating message are compared to the bit pattern of a predetermined reference constellation. The detector system may be configured as a 3-state detector which combines the presence detector with a message detector that indicates the identification code of the RFID tags.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A detector system for detecting an RFID tag having an RF antenna and being configured to transmit therefrom a signal containing a modulated carrier frequency impressed with an identification code, the detector system comprising:
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a presence detector having an interrogating antenna configured to transmit a carrier frequency; and wherein; the RF and interrogating antennae are coupleable to one another within a presence range; the RFID tag being configured to transmit a signal in response to the carrier frequency received from the interrogating antenna; the interrogating antenna being configured to receive a signal from at least one of the following;
the signal transmitted by the RFID tag, signals transmitted by a combination of environmental noise and the RFID tag;the presence detector further including; a signal reader configured to receive the modulated carrier frequency from the RFID tag during a predetermined response time period for comparison to a reference level for determining the presence of the RFID tag within the presence range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A detector system for detecting at least two RFID tags each having an RF antenna and being configured to transmit therefrom a signal containing a modulated carrier frequency impressed with an identification code, the detector system comprising:
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a presence detector having an interrogating antenna configured to transmit a carrier frequency; and wherein; the RF and interrogating antennae are coupleable to one another within a presence range; each one of the RFID tags being configured to transmit signals in response to the carrier frequency received from the interrogating antenna; the interrogating antenna being configured to receive signals from at least one of the following;
signals transmitted by at least one of the RFID tags, signals transmitted by a combination of environmental noise and at least one of the RFID tags;the presence detector further including; a signal reader configured to receive the modulated carrier frequencies from the RFID tags during a predetermined response time period for comparison to a reference level for determining the presence of RFID tags within the presence range. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A detector system for detecting a plurality of items each having at least one RFID tag secured thereto, each one of the RFID tags being operative to transmit an identification code, the detector system comprising:
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a presence detector operative to detect the presence of at least one of the RFID tags within a presence range between the presence detector and the RFID tags; a message detector operative to detect the identification code of at least one of the RFID tags within a message range between the presence detector and the RFID tags; and an indicator device connected to the presence and message detectors; wherein the presence and message detectors are operative to cause the indicator device to indicate the existence of at least one of the following three states;
non-presence of RFID tags, presence of at least one RFID tag, identification code of at least one of the RFID tags. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method for detecting a plurality of items each having an RFID tag secured thereto, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. establishing a reference level during a quiet period; b. transmitting a carrier frequency from a presence detector; c. receiving the carrier frequency at the RFID tags located within a presence range of the presence detector; d. impressing an identification code of each of the RFID tags onto a plurality of the carrier frequencies by modulation thereof; e. transmitting the modulated carrier frequencies from the RFID tags to the presence detector; f. receiving at the presence detector during a predetermined response time period a composite signal comprised of at least one of the following;
signals transmitted by at least one of the RFID tags, signals transmitted by a combination of environmental noise and at least one of the RFID tags;g. comparing the composite signal to the reference level; and h. generating a comparator signal when the composite signal is distinguished from the reference level. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification