METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE POSITION AND MOVEMENT OF ITEMS USING RADIO FREQUENCY DATA

• US 20160321481A1
• Filed: 04/29/2015
• Published: 11/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Datalogic IP Tech S.r.l. (Datalogic S.p.A.)
• Original Assignee: Datalogic IP Tech S.r.l. (Datalogic S.p.A.)
• Inventors: Savioli, Enrico, Bottazzi, Marco, Natali, Federico
• Granted Patent: US 9,898,633 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/00 Methods or arrangements for effecting co-operative working between equipments covered by two or more of main groups G06K1/00 - G06K15/00, e.g. automatic card files incorporating conveying and reading operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10 by electromagnetic radiation, e.g. optical sensing; by corpuscular radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10435 the interrogation device being positioned close to a conveyor belt or the like on which moving record carriers are passing conveying in accordance with bodily destination marks, see B65G47/46, sorting of objects carrying identity markings, see B07C5/34

Abstract

A data reading system, and associated methods of operation, for locating and tracking a position of tagged items on a conveyor system. The system includes a data reader and a conveyor system operable to transport the tagged items through a read region of the data reader. A processor, in operative communication with the data reader, obtains data from an item tag being passed through the read region at a first time, at a second time, at a subsequent third time, and so forth. Based on the readings, the processor estimates an initial position of each item tag and determines an order at which each item reaches a reference position on the conveyor system.

Claims

1. A data reading system for tracking a position of tagged items, comprising:

a data reader having a read region;

a conveyor system configured to transport items through the read region of the data reader;

a processor in operative communication with the data reader;

wherein the data reader is for each item configured to;

(a) obtain data from an item tag being passed through the read region;

(b) obtain a first reading of the item tag at a first time;

(c) obtain a second reading of the item tag at a second time, and

wherein the processor is configured to estimate an initial position of each item tag based at least on the first and second readings, and to determine an order at which each item reaches a reference position on the conveyor system.

2. The data reading system of claim 1, wherein the data reader is an RFID reader and the item tag is an RFID tag.

3. The data reading system of claim 1, wherein the item tag further includes a tag antenna configured to transmit an identifier code, and wherein the data reader includes an antenna positioned above the conveyor system and configured to receive the identifier code from the tag antenna.

4. The data reading system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to assign the identifier code to each item tag based on the determined order at which the item reaches the reference position.

5. The data reading system of claim 1, wherein the processor further uses a correlation curve to estimate the initial position of each item tag.

6. The data reading system of claim 1, further comprising a presence sensor configured to sense a presence of the item as the item passes through a detection field of the presence sensor, wherein the presence sensor is in operative communication with the processor, one or both of the presence sensor and processor tallying a total number of items present on the conveyor system.

7. The data reading system of claim 6, wherein the presence sensor is positioned ahead of the read region of the data reader to monitor the total number of items present in the read region.

8. The data reading system of claim 1, further comprising a position encoder coupled to an actuator mechanism of the conveyor system, wherein the position encoder is configured to monitor movement of the actuator mechanism to determine a real-time speed of the conveyor system.

9. The data reading system of claim 8, wherein the position encoder is in operative communication with the processor, the position encoder communicating the real-time speed of the conveyor system to the processor, and wherein the processor determines the order at which each item reaches the reference position based further on the real-time speed of the conveyor system.

10. The data reading system of claim 1, wherein the data reader is further configured to obtain an Nth reading of the item tag at a time T, and wherein the processor is further configured to estimate the initial position of each item tag based at least on the first, second, and Nth readings.

11. A method for tracking a position of tagged items, comprising:

transporting, via a conveyor system, tagged items through a read region of a data reader;

obtaining, via the data reader, at a first time a first reading of an item tag being passed through the read region;

obtaining, via the data reader, at a second time a second reading of the item tag being passed through the read region;

receiving, via a processor, the first and second readings of data obtained by the data reader;

estimating, via the processor, an initial position of each item tag based at least on the first and second readings; and

determining, via the processor, an order at which each item reaches a reference position on the conveyor system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the data reader is an RFID reader and the item tag is an RFID tag.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the item tag further includes a tag antenna and wherein the data reader includes an antenna positioned above the conveyor system, the method further comprising receiving, via the antenna of the data reader, an identifier code from the tag antenna.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising assigning, via the processor, the identifier code to the item tag based on the determined order at which each item reaches the reference position.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein estimating the initial position of each item tag further comprises using a correlation curve.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

sensing, via a presence sensor, each of the items as the items pass through a detection field of the presence sensor; and

tallying, via one or both of the presence sensor and the processor, a total number of items present on the conveyor system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the presence sensor is positioned ahead of the read region of the data reader, wherein tallying the total number of items includes tallying the total number of items present in the read region.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a real-time speed of the conveyor system via a position encoder coupled to an actuator mechanism of the conveyor system.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising communicating, via the position encoder, the real-time speed of the conveyor system to the processor, and wherein determining the order at which each item reaches the reference position is further based on the real-time speed of the conveyor system.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

obtaining, via the data reader, at a time T an Nth reading of the item tag being passed through the read region;

receiving, via a processor, the first, second, and Nth readings of data obtained by the data reader; and

estimating, via the processor, the initial position of each item tag based at least on the first, second, and Nth readings.