Security for blister packs

• US 8,091,790 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2008
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Pittsburgh of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
• Original Assignee: University of Pittsburgh of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
• Inventors: Mickle, Marlin H., Hawrylak, Peter J., Mats, Leonid
• Primary Examiner(s): WALSH, DANIEL I
• Application Number:
  US12/045,787
• Publication Number:
  US 20080223936A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,400 Days
• Field of Search: 235/487, 235/435, 340/572.1, 340/572.3, 340/572.7, 340/572.8
• US Class Current: 235/492
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2203/10 Transponders
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 75/327 and forming several compartments
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07798 part of the antenna or the integrated circuit being adapted for rupturing or breaking, e.g. record carriers functioning as sealing devices for detecting not-authenticated opening of containers electronic seals G09F3/03

Abstract

Various RFID based blister pack embodiments are provided for improving the ability to detect and prevent tampering and counterfeiting of blister packs and/or facilitating the chain of custody tracking of blister packs during manufacture. Some embodiments employ an RFID chip network on the blister pack and some embodiments employ an RFID strap network on the blister pack, wherein the integrity of the network (or lack thereof) is used to indicate the possibility of tampering. Other embodiments determine the possibility of tampering based on the frequency of an RF signal that is received from a chip provided on the blister pack, which will vary depending on whether the associated antenna has been detuned as a result of some type of tampering.

Claims

1. A blister pack, comprising:

a base having a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of said cavities holding one of a plurality of products;

a sealing sheet provided on top of said base and covering said cavities;

a network provided on or within one of said sealing sheet and said base, said network comprising a plurality of RFID chips and being structured to receive one or more RF interrogation signals from a reader device, each of said RFID chips being provided adjacent to a corresponding cavity holding one of said products associated with the chip, said network having one or more conductors provided on or within said sealing sheet and operatively coupling all of said RFID chips, wherein said RFID chips are physically interconnected to one another through said one or more conductors, wherein said one or more conductors individually and substantially or entirely surround each of said cavities such that if any one of the cavities is accessed a portion of the one or more conductors surrounding the cavity will be broken and the network will be rendered not intact, and wherein said network, in response to receiving said one or more RF interrogation signals, provides an indication to said reader device as to whether said network is intact based on;

(i) whether one of said RFID chips is able to communicate with all of the other RFID chips of the network through the one or more conductors, or (ii) whether all of said RFID chips of the network are able to receive said one or more RF interrogation signals through the one or more conductors, wherein if said network is intact said network transmits a first response to said reader device in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals, said first response being an indication to said reader device that said network is intact, and wherein if said network is not intact said network in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals either transmits no response to said reader device or transmits a second response to said reader device, said no response and said second response each being an indication to said reader device that said network is not intact.

4. The blister pack according to claim 1, wherein said RFID chips are physically connected in parallel to one another through said one or more conductors.

5. The blister pack according to claim 4, wherein said RFID chips are connected in parallel to one another through a first one of said one or more conductors and a second one of said one or more conductors.

6. The blister pack according to claim 4, wherein each of said RFID chips is part of a respective strap.

7. The blister pack according to claim 4, wherein each of said RFID chips is operatively coupled to an antenna through said one or more conductors, said antenna receiving said one or more RF interrogations signals, and wherein each of said RFID chips is adapted to provide its respective response to said reader device through said antenna.

8. The blister pack according to claim 7, wherein each of said RFID chips in said network is powered by RF signals received from said reader device through said antenna.

9. The blister pack according to claim 4, wherein each of said RFID chips is able to receive said one or more RF interrogations signals though direct coupling between said one or more conductors and one or more touch probes provided on said reader device.

10. The blister pack according to claim 9, wherein said RFID chips are connected in parallel to one another through a first one of said one or more conductors and a second one of said one or more conductors, wherein said first one of said one or more conductors is operatively coupled to a first contact and said second one of said one or more conductors is operatively coupled to a second contact, and wherein the coupling between said one or more conductors and said one or more touch probes is through contact between said one or more touch probes and said first and second contacts.

11. The blister pack according to claim 9, wherein said one or more touch probes are a single touch probe, wherein said RFID chips are connected in parallel to one another through a first one of said one or more conductors and a second one of said one or more conductors, wherein said first one of said one or more conductors is operatively coupled to a first terminal of an antenna and said second one of said one or more conductors is operatively coupled to a second terminal of said antenna, through said one or more conductors, and wherein the coupling between said one or more conductors and said one or more touch probes is through contact between one of said first one of said one or more conductors and said second one of said one or more conductors and said single touch probe.

12. The blister pack according to claim 1, wherein every one of said products has a respective one of said RFID chips adjacent thereto.

13. The blister pack according to claim 1, wherein less than every one of said products has a respective one of said RFID chips adjacent thereto.

2. A blister pack, comprising:

a base having a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of said cavities holding one of a plurality of products;

a sealing sheet provided on top of said base and covering said cavities;

a network provided on or within one of said sealing sheet and said base, said network being structured to receive one or more RF interrogation signals from a reader device, said network including a plurality of RFID chips, each of said RFID chips being provided adjacent to a corresponding cavity holding one of said products, said network having one or more conductors provided on or within said sealing sheet and operatively coupling all of said RFID chips, wherein said one or more conductors individually and substantially or entirely surround each of said cavities such that if any one of the cavities is accessed a portion of the one or more conductors surrounding the cavity will be broken and the network will be rendered not intact, wherein said network, in response to receiving said one or more RF interrogation signals, provides an indication to said reader device as to whether said network is intact, wherein each of said RFID chips in said network is operatively coupled to an associated antenna separate from the one or more conductors for receiving RF signals from said reader device, wherein at least one of said RFID chips is adapted to transmit information to said reader device and communicate with each of the other ones of said RFID chips through one or more of said one or more conductors, wherein in response to receiving said one or more RF interrogation signals said at least one of said RFID chips determines whether said network is intact by determining whether it is able to successfully communicate with each of said other ones of said RFID chips through the one or more conductors, and wherein if said network is intact said at least one of said RFID chips transmits a first response to said reader device in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals, said first response being an indication to said reader device that said network is intact, and wherein if said network is not intact said at least one of said RFID chips in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals either transmits no response to said reader device or transmits a second response to said reader device, said no response and said second response each being an indication to said reader device that said network is not intact.

3. The blister pack according to claim 2, wherein each of said RFID chips in said network is powered by the RF signals received from said reader device.

14. A blister pack, comprising:

a base having a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of said cavities holding one of a plurality of products;

a sealing sheet provided on top of said base and covering said cavities;

one or more networks provided on or within said sealing sheet and on or within said base, each of said one or more networks being structured to receive one or more RF interrogation signals from a reader device, each of said one or more networks including a plurality of RFID chips, each of said RFID chips being provided adjacent to a respective cavity holding one of said products, each of said one or more networks having one or more conductors provided on or within one or both of said sealing sheet and said base and operatively coupling said RFID chips, wherein in each network the RFID chips are physically interconnected to one another through the one or more conductors of the network and said one or more conductors individually and substantially or entirely surround each of said cavities such that if any one of the cavities is accessed a portion of the one or more conductors surrounding the cavity will be broken and the network will be rendered not intact, wherein each of said one or more networks, in response to receiving said one or more RF interrogation signals, provides an indication to said reader device as to whether the network is intact based on;

(i) whether one of the RFID chips of the network is able to communicate with all of the other RFID chips of the network through the one or more conductors of the network, or (ii) whether all of the RFID chips of the network are able to receive said one or more RF interrogation signals through the one or more conductors of the network, wherein for each of said one or more networks;

(i) if the network is intact said one of the RFID chips of the network transmits a first response to said reader device in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals, said first response being an indication to said reader device that said network is intact, and (ii) if the network is not intact said one of the RFID chips of the network in response to said one or more RF interrogation signals either transmits no response to said reader device or transmits a second response to said reader device, said no response and said second response each being an indication to said reader device that the network is not intact.

15. The blister pack according to claim 14, wherein one or more of the one or more conductors in each of the one or more networks entirely surround each of the products having a chip adjacent thereto such that one or more of said one or more conductors are damaged when any one of the products having a chip adjacent thereto is accessed, thereby causing said network to no longer be intact.

16. The blister pack according to claim 14, wherein one or more of the one or more conductors in each of the one or more networks substantially surround each of the products having a chip adjacent thereto such that one or more of said one or more conductors are damaged when any one of the products having a chip adjacent thereto is accessed, thereby causing said network to no longer be intact.

17. The blister pack according to claim 14, wherein said one or more networks are a single network provided on or within both said sealing sheet and said base.

18. The blister pack according to claim 14, wherein said one or more networks are a first network provided on or within said sealing sheet and a second network provided on or within said base.

19. A method of detecting that a blister pack may have been tampered with, said blister pack having a base having a plurality of cavities formed therein, each of said cavities holding one of a plurality of products, and a sealing sheet provided on top of said base and covering said cavities, the method comprising;

providing an RFID chip and an antenna on said blister pack, said RFID chip being operatively coupled to said antenna, wherein said antenna substantially or entirely and individually surrounds a top of each of said cavities, said antenna being structured to transmit RF signals having a frequency within a predetermined frequency range when in an undamaged condition and to be detuned when damaged, said antenna, when detuned, being structured to transmit RF signals having a frequency outside of said predetermined frequency range;

transmitting an RF interrogation signal from a reader device to said RFID chip;

in response to said RF interrogation signal, receiving an RF response signal from said RFID chip that is transmitted through the antenna; and

determining whether said blister pack may have been tampered with based on a frequency of said RF response signal, wherein a received RF response signal of a first frequency outside of said predetermined frequency range indicates tampering and a received RF response signal of a second frequency within said predetermined frequency range indicates no tampering.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said antenna is provided on or within said sealing sheet.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein said antenna is provided on or within said base.