Identification and telemetry system

• US 5,689,239 A
• Filed: 03/08/1994
• Issued: 11/18/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Integrated Silicon Design Pty Ltd. (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Integrated Silicon Design Pty Ltd. (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Cole, Peter Harold, Turner, Leigh Holbrook
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): WONG, ALBERT KANG
• Application Number:
  US08/204,271
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 340/870.12, 340/572, 340/551, 340/825.54, 340/505, 340/568, 343/742, 343/867, 342/51, 235/385, 235/383, 235/474, 283/85, 283/74, 283/82, 283/72, 365/101, 365/230.06
• US Class Current: 340/10.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0716 at least one of the integrated circuit chips comprising a sensor or an interface to a sensor
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07779 the inductive antenna being a coil
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07783 the coil being planar
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/082 using inductive or magnetic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10316 using at least one antenna particularly designed for interrogating the wireless record carriers antennas in general H01Q1/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10336 the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2431 Tag circuit details
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2462 Asset location systems combined with EAS inventory, tracking, logistic G06Q10/00; entrance control systems G07C9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2471 Antenna signal processing by receiver or emitter
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2477 Antenna or antenna activator circuit

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for automated identification of articles such as baggage or carrier cargo wherein an electronic sub system called an interrogator including a transmitter and receiver extracts by electromagnetic means useful information from an electronically coded label attached to such items as they are processed through the sorting operations at an airport or node of an article handling organization.

Claims

1. An identification and telemetry system comprising:

a transmitter for generating an interrogation signal and a receiver for detecting and decoding a reply signal;

an interrogation field creation means for generating, within a scanned region, from said interrogation signal, an interrogation electromagnetic field through which an object possessing a code responding label may pass;

an auxiliary illumination system for generating within said scanned region an auxiliary illumination field;

a code responding label including a receiving antenna for receiving from the interrogation electromagnetic field a label interrogation signal, and sensing means for receiving from the auxiliary illumination field an auxiliary illumination signal, microcircuit means for generating from information stored within the label and from said auxiliary signal a label reply signal, and means within the label for generating from the label reply signal a label reply electromagnetic field; and

a receiver antenna connected to said receiver for receiving from the label reply electromagnetic field a system reply signal;

said label reply signal containing information indicative of the auxiliary illumination signal detected by the label.

2. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the auxiliary illumination field is well collimated as to spatial extent.

3. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 2 wherein the auxiliary illumination field comprises an electromagnetic field within one of the ultra-violet, visible, infra-red and microwave regions.

4. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sensing means uses a photoconductive medium.

5. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sensing means is disposed within the microcircuit means.

6. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label reply signal contains information indicative of whether the label has or has not passed through the auxiliary illumination field.

7. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label reply signal is enabled only when said auxiliary illumination signal is detected by the label.

8. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label reply signal is disabled when said auxiliary illumination signal is detected by the label.

9. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein modification of said label reply signal produced as a result of the auxiliary illumination signal is used to determine relative positions of labels which are simultaneously present within the scanned region.

10. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label reply information contains a label memory data field and a label reply tag field, said tag field containing information describing the auxiliary illumination signal detected by the label.

11. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label reply signal contains information indicative of the strength of the auxiliary illumination field.

12. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 10 wherein the label memory data field contains a cyclic redundancy check and the label reply tag field contains at least one parity check.

13. An identification and telemetry system as claimed in claim 1 wherein each interrogation antenna comprises a short range magnetic dipole mounted so as to be able to remain in close contact with labelled objects as the objects move through the scanned region.