Systems and methods for managing inventory of items held in a cabinet using radio frequency identification (RFID)

• US 7,518,516 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2007
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smartrac Technology Fletcher, Inc. (Avery Dennison Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Neology Incorporated (OEP Technologie BV)
• Inventors: Liu, Jason, Zhu, Jeffrey, Azevedo, John, Mikuteit, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phung
• Application Number:
  US11/692,101
• Publication Number:
  US 20080094214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 749 Days
• Field of Search: 3405721-5729, 340/10.1, 340/568.1, 340/570, 340/825.69, 235/383, 235/385
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00936 for key cabinets
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2457 Lending systems using EAS tags wherein the tags are reusable, e.g. they can be activated and deactivated more than once, e.g. for a library

Abstract

A RFID cabinet comprises a cabinet structure and one or more drawers or shelves. Chambers are formed within the cabinet to house the one or more drawers or shelves. An RFID scanner is configured to scan items tagged with RFID tags in the chambers via one or more antennas. The antennas can include transmit and receive antennas or antennas configured to perform both transmit and receive functions. The drawers can have a access cover, or lid that can be controlled so as to control access to the drawer. The scanner can be configured to perform inventory control for the tagged items.

Claims

1. A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cabinet, comprising:

a cabinet structure;

a drawer configured to slide in and out of the cabinet structure, the drawer configured to hold RFID tagged items;

a chamber within the cabinet structure, the chamber configured to completely enclose the drawer when the drawer is in the cabinet structure;

at least one antenna positioned within the chamber and within an operational range of the RFID tag items;

a scanner coupled with the antenna, the scanner configured to;

receive a request for access to the drawer;

perform a scan of the RFID tagged items before the draw is removed;

granting access to the drawer after a predetermined period of time; and

continuing to scan the RFID tagged items as the drawer is removed.

2. The RFID cabinet of claim 1, wherein the scanner is further configured to detect when the drawer is to be closed and to start performing a scan of the RFID tagged items as the drawer is being closed.

3. The RFID cabinet of claim 2, wherein the scanner is further configured to detect when the drawer is closed and continue to scan the RFID tagged items for a predetermined period of time.

4. The RFID cabinet of claim 3, further comprising an access cover associated with the drawer, and wherein the scanner is configured to detect when the drawer is going to be closed based on the access cover being closed over the drawer.

5. The RFID cabinet of claim 4, further comprising a mechanism coupled with the drawer, the mechanism configured to control the closing the drawer so that the drawer cannot be closed for a predetermined period of time after the access cover is closed, and wherein the scanner is further configured to perform a scan of the RFID tagged items during the time the drawer cannot be closed.

6. The RFID cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a control mechanism coupled with the drawer, the control mechanism configured to control how fast the drawer can be opened and closed.

7. The RFID cabinet of claim 6, wherein the control mechanism is a motor.

8. The RFID cabinet of claim 6, wherein the control mechanism is a resistance mechanism.

9. The RFID cabinet of claim 8,wherein the resistance mechanism is a hydraulic mechanism.

10. The RFID cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of antennas configured within the chamber and within an operational range of the RFID tag items.

11. The RFID cabinet of claim 10, wherein the scanner comprises a receive path and a transmit path, and wherein some of the plurality of antennas are receive antenna coupled with the scanner'"'"'s receive path and some of the plurality of antennas are transmit antennas coupled with the scanner'"'"'s transmit path.

12. The RFID cabinet of claim 11, wherein the scanner is configured to transmit signals using a fundamental frequency and to receive signals from the RFID tagged items using a harmonic frequency.

13. The RFID cabinet of claim 12, wherein the chamber is configured as a resonant chamber.

14. A method for performing a dynamic scan operation in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cabinet that includes a cabinet structure, a drawer configured to slide in and out of the cabinet structure, the drawer configured to hold RFID tagged items, an access cover associated with the drawer, and a scanner, the method comprising:

receiving, at the scanner, a request for access to the drawer;

performing, at the scanner, a scan of the RFID tagged items before the draw is removed;

granting, at the scanner, access to the drawer after a predetermined period of time;

continuing to scan, at the scanner, the RFID tagged items as the drawer is removed; and

detecting, at the scanner, when the drawer is going to be closed based on the access cover being closed over the drawer.

15. A method for performing a dynamic scan operation in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cabinet that includes a cabinet structure, a drawer configured to slide in and out of the cabinet structure, the drawer configured to hold RFID tagged items, a mechanism coupled with the drawer, the mechanism configured to control closing the drawer so that the drawer cannot be closed for a predetermined period of time after the access cover is closed, and a scanner, the method comprising:

receiving, at the scanner, a request for access to the drawer;

performing, at the scanner, a scan of the RFID tagged items before the draw is removed;

granting, at the scanner, access to the drawer after a predetermined period of time;

continuing to scan, at the scanner, the RFID tagged items as the drawer is removed;

detecting, at the scanner, when the drawer is going to be closed based on the access cover being closed over the drawer; and

performing a scan, at the scanner, of the RFID tagged items during the time the drawer cannot be closed.