Portable RFID reading terminal with visual indication of scan trace

• US 9,256,853 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2015
• Issued: 02/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Vargas, Joseph, Plocher, Tom, Wang, Ynjiun Paul, Putrevu, Sriharsha, Zumsteg, Philip
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): AKKI, MUNEAR T
• Application Number:
  US14/717,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20150254607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 265 Days
• Field of Search: 3405721-5729, 340 101- 106, 340/691.6, 340/815, 353/28, 353/46, 235/440, 235/491, 235/492, 343/575, 343/765
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10386 the interrogation device being of the portable or hand-handheld type, e.g. incorporated in ubiquitous hand-held devices such as PDA or mobile phone, or in the form of a portable dedicated RFID reader
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10475 arrangements to facilitate interaction with further interrogation devices, e.g. such that at least two interrogation devices may function and cooperate in a network of such devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0875 Itemisation or classification of parts, supplies or services, e.g. bill of materials

Abstract

A portable radio-frequency identifier (RFID) reading terminal can comprise a microprocessor, a memory, an RFID reading device, and a display. The portable RFID reading terminal can be configured to display a scan trace provided by a line comprising a plurality of time varying points. Each point can be defined by a projection of a radio frequency (RF) signal coverage shape of the RFID reading device onto a chosen plane at a given moment in time.

Claims

1. A radio-frequency identifier (RFID) reader comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) antenna that outputs an RF signal;

wherein a scan trace is displayed in response to outputting the RF signal and the scan trace comprises a plurality of time-varying points, each point being defined by a projection of the RF signal transmitted by the RFID antenna onto a plane at a given moment in time.

2. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein, by reading RFID tags attached to items, an inventory of items stored in a facility are reconciled against at least one of:

an expected inventory list and an expected count of items.

3. The RFID reader of claim 2, wherein the RFID reader is configured to receive from an external computer at least one of:

the expected inventory list and the expected count of items.

4. The RFID reader of claim 3, further comprising a user interface;

wherein at least one of the expected inventory list and the expected count of items is received via the user interface.

5. The RFID reader of claim 3, further comprising a two-dimensional imager;

wherein at least one of the expected inventory list and the expected count of items is received via the two-dimensional imager.

6. The RFID reader of claim 2, wherein at least one of:

(1) the expected inventory list and (2) the expected count of items, is received from an external memory device.

7. The RFID reader of claim 3,

wherein at least one of:

a list of read RFID tags and a count of read RFID tags is transmitted to a second external computer.

8. The RFID reader of claim 1, further comprising a display that displays the scan trace.

9. The RFID reader of claim 1, further comprising a two-dimensional imager;

wherein each point is defined by a projection of a coverage shape of an RF signal transmitted by the RFID antenna onto the plane at a given moment in time, and

wherein a spatial position of the coverage shape of the RF signal is determined based on a known position and orientation of the RF antenna relatively to a position of a field of view of the two-dimensional imager.

10. The RFID reader of claim 1, further comprising a two-dimensional imager;

wherein each point is defined by a projection of a coverage shape of an RF signal transmitted by the RFID antenna onto the plane at a given moment in time,

wherein a distance to an object is measured using the two-dimensional imager; and

wherein a projection of the RF signal coverage shape determined and displayed onto the plane defined by a physical structure.

11. The RFID reader of claim 1, further comprising at least one accelerometer;

wherein each point is defined by a projection of a coverage shape of an RF signal transmitted by the RFID antenna onto the plane at a given moment in time, and

wherein a change of a spatial position and orientation of the RF signal coverage shape is determined based on proper acceleration values received from the at least one accelerometer.

12. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein at least one of the following is displayed:

a quantity of scanned items, a quantity of items which have not be scanned yet, and a total quantity of items to be scanned.

13. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein an indicator of a ratio of quantity of scanned items to a total quantity of items to be scanned is displayed.

14. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein the scan trace is displayed overlaid over an image of a physical structure.

15. The RFID reader of claim 14, wherein the image of the physical structure is received.

16. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein a description of a physical structure is received;

wherein an image of the physical structure is created based on the description; and

wherein the scan trace is displayed overlaid over the image of the physical structure.

17. The RFID reader of claim 1, further comprising a two-dimensional imager;

wherein, using the two-dimensional imager, an image of a physical structure is acquired; and

wherein the scan trace is displayed overlaid over the image of the physical structure.

18. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein an indicator of an RF signal coverage is displayed over the scan trace overlaid over an image of a physical structure.

19. The RFID reader of claim 1, wherein an indicator of an RF signal coverage is displayed over a current position within the scan trace.

20. A method comprising:

outputting an RF signal from an radio-frequency identifier (RFID) reader;

displaying a scan trace in response to the outputting the RF signal, wherein the scan trace comprises a plurality of time-varying points that are each defined by a projection of the RF signal transmitted by the RFID antenna onto a plane at a given moment in time.