RFID tag programming, printing application, and supply chain/global registration architecture
First Claim
1. A tagging system, comprising:
- a printing component that prints a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag based on unique RFID tag information, the printing of the RFID tag includes creating and encoding the RFID tag based on the unique RFID tag information;
a software component of an industrial component that captures and communicates the unique RFID tag information to the printing component in a protocol compatible with the printing of an RFID tag, the industrial component manages a manufacturing process that includes affixing the RFID tag to an item of the manufacturing process, wherein the protocol includes an RFID tag communication protocol; and
an RFID tag verification component that reads the RFID tag to verify proper encoding of the RFID tag.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Integration of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology with an industrial controller to facilitate RFID tag printing and application of the RFID tags to manufactured items. RFID tags are printed based on RFID tag information that is generated and/or received by the industrial controller. A middleware software module can be included in the industrial controller to organize and schedule the RFID tag information in a manner compatible with an RFID tag printer. The RFID tag printer accesses the organized RFID tag information and tag printing occurs in conjunction with one or more industrial processes. The industrial controller can update a global registry with RFID tag information associated with printed RFID tags. The registry update procedure can be facilitated by creating email messages related to the RFID tags that have been created.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A tagging system, comprising:
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a printing component that prints a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag based on unique RFID tag information, the printing of the RFID tag includes creating and encoding the RFID tag based on the unique RFID tag information; a software component of an industrial component that captures and communicates the unique RFID tag information to the printing component in a protocol compatible with the printing of an RFID tag, the industrial component manages a manufacturing process that includes affixing the RFID tag to an item of the manufacturing process, wherein the protocol includes an RFID tag communication protocol; and an RFID tag verification component that reads the RFID tag to verify proper encoding of the RFID tag. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system that facilitates printing of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, comprising:
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an RFID tag information component associated with a programmable logic controller (PLC), the PLC controls a manufacturing process and the RFID tag information component captures and publishes the RFID tag information, wherein the RFID tag information includes data contents of at least one RFID tag; an RFID tag printer that receives the RFID tag information published by the RFID tag information component, prints an RFID tag based on the RFID tag information, wherein the RFID tag is affixed to an item of the manufacturing process controlled by the PLC, and wherein the RFID tag information is published in a format compatible with the RFID tag printer; and a verification component that reads the RFD tag, verifies proper operation of the RFID tag, and sends an error message to the PLC in response to detecting an RFID tag that fails verification. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of managing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag global registry, comprising:
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sending RFID tag data from a global registry to a programmable logic controller (PLC), the RFID tag data comprises at least one of;
data generated by the PLC or data retrieved from the global registry;publishing a message to a message queue wherein the message includes at least the RFID tag data; accessing the message queue; generating an RFID tag according to the message; applying the RFID tag to an article of commerce during a manufacturing process; verifying that the RFID tag is valid; and updating the global registry with information associated with the RFID tag. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A system that facilitates management of a global registry, comprising:
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means for generating data to be encoded on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag associated with a programmable logic controller (PLC), wherein the data to be encoded includes at least one of;
data generated by the PLC or data retrieved from the global registry;means for publishing a message to a queue, wherein the message includes the RFID tag data; means for generating an RFID tag according to the data encoded in the message published to the queue; means for applying the RFID tag to an item during an assembly line process; and means for updating the global registry with information associated with the RFID tag including information about the item. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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Specification