Article tracking system and method
First Claim
1. A system for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
- a plurality of stations at which an operation is performed;
a plurality of smart tag readers, wherein one of the smart tag readers is associated with each one of the plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, and wherein each of the plurality of smart tag readers produces information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or inserts information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
a plurality of antennas operatively coupled to a respective one of the plurality of smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith, at least some of said plurality of antennas including a plurality of loop antenna arranged with spatial or temporal separation for coupling the information-bearing electrical signals between the smart tag reader and a smart tag in the detection region with substantially 100% reading rate;
at least one smart tag associated with an article, the smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory;
wherein the information to be stored in and the information produced from the electronic memory of the smart tag includes a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, a computer processor for processing at least information signals including application specific data and a relational check number from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals; and
communication means for communicating the information signals between said computer processor and said plurality of smart tag readers.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are useful for tracking an article at a plurality of stations. A smart tag is associated with each article to be tracked, e.g., by being attached to the article either directly or indirectly, e.g., to a container containing the article. The smart tag includes at least an electronic memory coupled to an antenna by which information from the memory may be transmitted and/or information may be received and stored in the memory. Smart tag control units and antenna at the stations communicate with the smart tags and communicate directly or indirectly with one or more processors that process the information.
328 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A system for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
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a plurality of stations at which an operation is performed;
a plurality of smart tag readers, wherein one of the smart tag readers is associated with each one of the plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, and wherein each of the plurality of smart tag readers produces information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or inserts information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
a plurality of antennas operatively coupled to a respective one of the plurality of smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith, at least some of said plurality of antennas including a plurality of loop antenna arranged with spatial or temporal separation for coupling the information-bearing electrical signals between the smart tag reader and a smart tag in the detection region with substantially 100% reading rate;
at least one smart tag associated with an article, the smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory;
wherein the information to be stored in and the information produced from the electronic memory of the smart tag includes a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, a computer processor for processing at least information signals including application specific data and a relational check number from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals; and
communication means for communicating the information signals between said computer processor and said plurality of smart tag readers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
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associating a smart tag reader with each one of a plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, producing information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or inserting information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
operatively coupling an antenna to a respective one of the smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith, wherein the antenna includes a plurality of loop antenna arranged with spatial or temporal separation for coupling the information-bearing electrical signals between the smart tag reader and a smart tag with substantially 100% reading rate;
associating with an article a smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory;
wherein the information to be stored in and the information produced from the electronic memory of the smart tag includes a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, processing at least information signals including application specific data and a relational check number from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals; and
communicating the information signals between a computer processor and the smart tag readers. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
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means for associating a smart tag reader with each one of a plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, means for producing information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or for inserting information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
means for operatively coupling an antenna to a respective one of the smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith, wherein said antenna includes a plurality of loop antenna arranged with spatial or temporal separation for coupling the information-bearing electrical signals between the smart tag reader and a smart tag with substantially 100% reading rate;
a smart tag associated with an article, the smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory;
wherein the information to be stored in and the information produced from the electronic memory of the smart tag includes a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, means for processing at least information signals including application specific data and a relational check number from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals; and
means for communicating the information signals between a computer processor and the smart tag readers. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A system for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
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a plurality of stations at which an operation is performed;
a plurality of smart tag readers, wherein one of the smart tag readers is associated with each one of the plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, and wherein each of the plurality of smart tag readers produces information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or inserts information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
a plurality of antennas operatively coupled to a respective one of the plurality of smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith with substantially 100% reading rate, wherein each antenna includes a plurality of loop antenna activated sequentially in time;
at least one smart tag associated with an article, the smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory;
wherein the information to be stored in and the information produced from the electronic memory of the smart tag includes a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, a computer processor for processing at least information signals including application specific data and a relational check number from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals;
wherein said computer processor includes a central processor in communication with one or more local processors in communication with the smart tag readers; and
communication means for communicating the information signals between said computer processor and said plurality of smart tag readers. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49)
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50. A system for tracking an article at a plurality of stations, wherein a smart tag is associated with the article, comprising:
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a plurality of stations at which an operation is performed;
a plurality of smart tag readers, wherein one of the smart tag readers is associated with each one of the plurality of stations for providing and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in a smart tag format, and wherein each of the plurality of smart tag readers produces information signals representative of information contained in the received information-bearing electrical signals and/or inserts information contained in information signals in the transmitted information-bearing electrical signals;
a plurality of antennas operatively coupled to a respective one of the plurality of smart tag readers for transmitting and/or receiving the information-bearing electrical signals in a detection region proximate the respective station associated therewith, at least one smart tag associated with an article, the smart tag including an electronic memory and an antenna coupled to the electronic memory for transmitting and/or receiving information-bearing electrical signals in the smart tag format, wherein the information-bearing electrical signals represent information to be stored in the electronic memory and/or represent information produced from the electronic memory including a permanent number, application specific data and a relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data;
whereby information is communicated between the electronic memory of the smart tag and the smart tag reader of a particular station when the smart tag is in the detection region of that particular station, a computer processor for processing at least information signals from the smart tag readers at the plurality of stations and for providing a record of the information represented by the information signals, said information represented by the information signals including the permanent number, the application specific data and the relational check number representative of the permanent number and/or the application specific data; and
communication means for communicating the information signals between said computer processor and said plurality of smart tag readers. - View Dependent Claims (51)
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Specification