Electronic article surveillance system incorporating an auxiliary sensor
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting tags or labels attached to protected articles, comprising:
- means for producing an applied field in a selected region;
means for detecting disturbances in said applied field responsive to tags or labels passing through said region;
means for providing an alarm upon detecting said disturbances in said applied field;
sensor means for detecting a person passing through said region; and
means for enabling said alarm providing means only when said sensor means detects said person passing through said region;
wherein said field producing means and said disturbance detecting means operate substantially continuously, independent of the condition of said alarm providing means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
To reduce the occurrence of false alarms, the disclosed system incorporates an auxiliary sensor for detecting the presence of a shopper passing through the electronic article surveillance device, such that the device is operated continuously, and the auxiliary sensor is used to enable external alarms of the device only upon detecting the shopper'"'"'s presence. Thus, while the device continuously monitors field-induced signals which are received, activation of the external alarm is permitted only when a shopper passes through the security device and is detected by the auxiliary sensor. Sounding of the alarm is then based upon an analysis of the data received at and just prior to the detected approach of the shopper to be monitored, eliminating phantom alarms while significantly reducing false alarms and merchandise-activated alarms.
37 Citations
29 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting tags or labels attached to protected articles, comprising:
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means for producing an applied field in a selected region; means for detecting disturbances in said applied field responsive to tags or labels passing through said region; means for providing an alarm upon detecting said disturbances in said applied field; sensor means for detecting a person passing through said region; and means for enabling said alarm providing means only when said sensor means detects said person passing through said region; wherein said field producing means and said disturbance detecting means operate substantially continuously, independent of the condition of said alarm providing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for detecting tags or labels attached to protected articles, comprising the steps of:
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substantially continuously producing an applied field in a selected region; substantially continuously detecting disturbances in said applied field responsive to tags or labels passing through said selected region; providing an alarm upon detecting said disturbances in said applied field; detecting persons passing through said selected region; and enabling said alarm only when a person is detected passing through said selected region. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification