Methods and apparatus for automatic identification wristband

• US 9,563,835 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2014
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quake Global, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Quake Global, Inc.
• Inventors: Karani, Chetan Shantilal, O'Bruba, Alexander Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Ahshik
• Application Number:
  US14/770,802
• Publication Number:
  US 20160004953A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 235/492, 235/451, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0702 the arrangement including a battery
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0715 the arrangement including means to regulate power transfer to the integrated circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0717 the sensor being capable of sensing environmental conditions such as temperature history or pressure
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/073 Special arrangements for circuits, e.g. for protecting identification code in memory protection against unauthorised use of computer memory G06F12/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07762 the adhering arrangement making the record carrier wearable, e.g. having the form of a ring, watch, glove or bracelet record carriers for insertion in the human body for medical purposes A61B90/00; record carriers adapted for attachment to animals A01K11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07775 the antenna being on-chip

Abstract

An apparatus for automatic radio-frequency identification (RFID). In an embodiment, the apparatus comprises a flexible strap comprising a plurality of holes and a buckle configured to buckle to any one of the plurality of holes, such that, when the buckle is buckled to one of the plurality of holes, the strap forms a closed loop. The apparatus further comprises one or more tag enclosures. Each tag enclosure comprises one or more buckles and a RFID tag configured to communicate identifying data to a reader device. The one or more buckles of each tag enclosure are each configured to buckle to any one of the plurality of holes on the strap such that the tag enclosure may be attached to the strap at any one of a plurality of positions on the strap.

Claims

1. An apparatus for automatic radio-frequency identification (RFID), the apparatus comprising:

a flexible strap comprising a plurality of holes and a buckle configured to buckle to any one of the plurality of holes, such that, when the buckle is buckled to one of the plurality of holes, the strap forms a closed loop; and

one or more tag enclosures, wherein each of the one or more tag enclosures comprises

one or more buckles, wherein each of the one or more buckles is configured to buckle to any one of the plurality of holes on the strap such that the tag enclosure may be attached to the strap at any one of a plurality of positions on the strap, and

a RFID tag configured to communicate identifying data to a reader device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more tag enclosures comprise two or more buckles, and wherein each of the two or more buckles is configured to buckle to any one of the plurality of holes on the strap.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more tag enclosures comprise a plurality of tag enclosures, and wherein each of the plurality of tag enclosures are buckled to one or more of the plurality of holes such that, when the strap is formed in the closed loop, two or more spaces between the plurality of tag enclosures along the strap are substantially equal in length.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more tag enclosures comprise a plurality of tag enclosures, and wherein the buckle of the strap and each of the one or more buckles of each of the one or more tag enclosures are further configured to unbuckle from each of the plurality of holes such that the strap may form closed loops of different diameters and each of the one or more tag enclosures may be repositioned on the strap to accommodate the different diameters of the closed loops.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more tag enclosures comprise a plurality of tag enclosures, and wherein the plurality of tag enclosures comprise a first tag enclosure and a second tag enclosure, wherein the first tag enclosure comprises a first RFID tag, wherein the second tag enclosure comprises a second RFID tag, and wherein the first RFID tag is of a different type than the second RFID tag.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first RFID tag is an active RFID tag and the second RFID tag is a passive RFID tag.

7. The apparatus of claim 1,

further comprising a power supply,

wherein the strap comprises a nonconductive element which separates the strap into two portions that are not conductively connected to each other within the strap and that each contain one or more of the plurality of holes, and

wherein at least one of the one or more tag enclosures comprises two or more buckles and a conductive material, such that, when one of the two or more buckles is buckled to a hole in a first one of the two portions of the strap and a different one of the two or more buckles is buckled to a hole in a second one of the two portions of the strap, the two portions of the strap are conductively connected to form a circuit loop, and

wherein, when the circuit loop is formed, the power supply provides power to the one or more tag enclosures that are buckled to the strap, and wherein, when the circuit loop is not formed, the power supply does not provide power to the one or more tag enclosures that are buckled to the strap.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein one or more of the one or more tag enclosures that are buckled to the strap comprise a RFID tag that is configured to:

when power is provided to the RFID tag, operate as a battery-assisted passive RFID tag; and

,

when power is not provided to the RFID tag, operate as a pure passive RFID tag.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein one or more of the one or more tag enclosures that are buckled to the strap comprise:

a RFID tag configured to receive an instruction from a reader device; and

a processor configured to, in response to an instruction received from the reader device, turn off a power supply to the RFID tag.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the strap further comprises a surface acoustic wave sensor, and wherein the surface acoustic wave sensor comprises a first interdigital transducer, a second interdigital transducer, a piezoelectric substrate between the first and second interdigital transducers, and a delay line between the first and second interdigital transducers.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the delay line comprises a coating which changes in at least one characteristic in response to one or more a conductivity, mass, and elasticity.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first interdigital transducer outputs an electrical signal to the second interdigital transducer via the delay line, and wherein the change in at least one characteristic of the coating changes a length of the delay line, such that a delay of the electrical signal output from the first interdigital transducer to the second interdigital transducer is changed, and wherein the strap further comprises a processing circuit electrically coupled to the second interdigital transducer and configured to detect the change in the delay of the electrical signal output from the first interdigital transducer to the second interdigital tranducer.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a sensor tag, wherein the sensor tag comprises:

a sensor configured to collect data representing at least one characteristic of a surrounding environment; and

an antenna configured to transmit the collected data to a reader device.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more ports for receiving one or more connectors for forming one or more physical connections.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more tag enclosures further comprise a rules module that filters data, to be communicated to the reader device via the RFID tag of the tag enclosure, based on one or more reporting rules, and wherein filtering data comprises communicating data to the reader device via the RFID tag when the one or more reporting rules are satisfied and not communicating data to the reader device when the one or more reporting rules are not satisfied.