RFID switch tag

• US 9,767,404 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2017
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neology Incorporated (OEP Technologie BV)
• Original Assignee: Neology Incorporated (OEP Technologie BV)
• Inventors: Mullis, Joe, Nyalamadugu, Sheshi
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAIL, ALLYSON NEEL
• Application Number:
  US15/445,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20170177988A1
• Time in Patent Office: 203 Days
• Field of Search: 235492, 705 734, 3405735, 340 58
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/041 Constructional details G06K19/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07345 by activating or deactivating at least a part of the circuit on the record carrier, e.g. ON/OFF switches
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07701 the record carrier comprising an interface suitable for human interaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07703 the interface being visual
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07715 the interface being used to indicate that the record carrier is active, e.g. a blinking light to indicate that the record carrier is busy communicating with a secondary device or busy computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07745 Mounting details of integrated circuit chips
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07754 the connection being galvanic
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07773 Antenna details antennas for wireless devices, e.g. RFID tags, in general H01Q1/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07794 the record carrier comprising a booster or auxiliary antenna in addition to the antenna connected directly to the integrated circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2225 used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal

Abstract

Various embodiments of RFID switch devices are disclosed herein. Such RFID switch devices advantageously enable manual activation/deactivation of the RF module. The RFID switch device may include a RF module with an integrated circuit adapted to ohmically connect to a substantially coplanar conductive trace pattern, as well as booster antenna for extending the operational range of the RFID device. The operational range of the RFID switch device may be extended when a region of the booster antenna overlaps a region of the conductive trace pattern on the RF module via inductive or capacitive coupling. The RFID switch device may further include a visual indicator displaying a first color if the RFID switch device is in an active state and/or a second color if the RFID switch device is in an inactive state.

Claims

1. An RFID device, comprising:

a first substrate comprising a booster antenna adapted to extend the operational range of the RFID device;

a second substrate comprising an RF module comprising an integrated circuit and a set of one or more conductive traces, wherein at least one conductive trace of said set of one or more conductive traces is adapted to electrically couple to a coupling region of the booster antenna when the coupling region of the booster antenna is located in a first position relative to said set of one or more conductive traces; and

a switching mechanism adapted to selectively activate and deactivate the RF module by changing the position of the coupling region of the booster antenna relative to the position of said at least one conductive trace of the RF module.

2. The RFID device of claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism is configured to translate at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate relative to the other substrate in a direction parallel to a surface of the second substrate.

3. The RFID device of claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism is configured to rotate at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate relative to the other substrate.

4. The RFID device of claim 3, further comprising:

a housing comprising a first portion coupled to the first substrate and a second portion coupled to the second substrate, wherein the first portion is rotatable coupled to the second portion.

5. The RFID device of claim 4, wherein the first portion and the second portion are one of circular in shape and triangular in shape.

6. The RFID device of claim 1, further comprising an indicator configured to visually indicate if the RF module is activated or deactivated.

7. The RFID device of claim 6, wherein the indicator displays a first color when the RF module is activated and displays a second color when the RF module is deactivated.

8. The RFID device of claim 1, wherein the switching mechanism comprises one or more of a lever, a switch, a knob, a slider and a rotatable member.

9. The RFID device of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the one or more conductive traces is configured to capacitively couple to the coupling region of the booster antenna when the RF module is activated.

10. The RFID device of claim 1, wherein the at least one conductive trace is configured to inductively couple to the coupling region of the booster antenna when the RF module is activated.