Abstract:
Apparatus for selectively reading or writing data on a magnetic data stripe on a data card which is thin and flexible and for selectively returning or capturing the card. The apparatus includes a card guide arrangement comprising a cylindrical card guide path section, an entrance card path section with an entrance slit for admitting the data card, and an exit path section with an exit slit for discharging the data card for capture. A drive arrangement drives the data card through the entrance slit, throughout the cylindrical card guide path section, and through the exit slit. A transducer with a read head and write head is mounted relative to the cylindrical card guide path section. A position tracking arrangement determines the position of the data card within the cylindrical card guide and a card-in sensor senses the presence of a data card in the entrance path section. A microprocessor based control circuit is used to operate the system and control operational features.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to an arrangement in the form of a portal positioned along a pathway for reading a transponder type device or tag attached to an object moving along the pathway through the portal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portal reading arrangement for reading a preferably passive transponder type device or tag which is excited by an inductively coupled magnetic field of a first predetermined frequency to produce a magnetic and/or an electrostatic field of a second predetermined frequency modulated with a coded identifying signal which is inductively received and decoded by a receiver. Proximity type systems generally operating in this manner are disclosed for example in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,855 and copending allowed U.S. application 07/453,721, filed Dec. 18th, 1989 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,099727, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     It is known to use systems of the above general type for the identification of objects moving along a pathway, for example, a conveyor belt or an animal walkway, for the purpose of identifying and/or controlling the movement of the object along the pathway as a result of the readout identification. In such systems, the transponder type device or tag is generally affixed to the object with a known orientation and position, and one or more readers are positioned along the pathway, for example above, below and/or to the side of the pathway, depending on the desired or known orientation of the tag on the object. While these systems operate satisfactorily when the orientation and/or position of the tag on the object is generally known, reading problems may occur if the tag is randomly oriented or randomly positioned. These reading problems may be caused for example because the tag has not been excited to produce an output signal, or because the output signal received by the receiving antenna is too weak. These problems generally occur because of the directional nature of the coupling mechanisms involved, and in particular the inductive magnetic field coupling used to excite the transponder or tag and/or to provide the received output signal. Additional reading problems can result due to the size, and thus the positioning of the tags relative to the readers, and/or due to the material from which the object is formed. For example, in the case of a metal object with a random orientation, the tag may be effectively shielded from the reading devices. 
     One type of pathway or conveyor system wherein automatic reading of tags affixed to objects moving along the conveyor would be most desirable is the baggage handling conveyor systems of the type commonly used, for example, by airlines at airports. As can easily be appreciated, the baggage or luggage transported by such conveyor systems is random in shape and material of construction, and is randomly oriented on the conveyor, often with little space between individual pieces of luggage. Thus, identifying tags fastened to the individual piece of luggage, for example tags indicating destination, flight or ownership, are likewise randomly oriented and positioned, thus rendering automatic reading of the tags most difficult. 
     At the present time identifying tags affixed to luggage in luggage conveying systems are either manually read or semimanually read by means of hand held optical scanners. Obviously, it would be desirable to provide an automatic system, and in particular a portal reader which could automatically read transponder type devices or tags containing the desired information irrespective of the orientation of the tags in such a baggage conveyor system. However, to be applicable, such a portal reader should be able to read the tags on the first try with a substantial degree of accuracy, e.g. close to 100% and the tags must be read in the same sequence as they appear on the conveyor. Additionally, the reader must be capable of reading the tags in all orientations, even if the tags disposed under the luggage, and should be capable of readings tags disposed on metal luggage, which tends to be most difficult in view of the shielding effect produced by the metal of the luggage. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved reading device for reading transponder type devices or tags of the above identified type attached to an object moving along a pathway through the portal. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved portal type reading device which is capable of reading transponder type devices or tags using proximity detection techniques while the tags are attached on an object moving along a pathway through the portal irrespective of the orientation of the tag. 
     The above objects are generally achieved according to a first aspect of the invention by an apparatus for automatically reading a passive transponder type tag, which is responsive to receipt of a magnetic exciting field of a first predetermined frequency to produce at least one of a magnetic and an electrostatic field of a second different predetermined frequency modulated by a digitally coded identifying signal, while the tag is attached to an object moving along a given pathway; which apparatus comprises: means for producing a magnetic exciting field of the first predetermined frequency along a portion of the length of the pathway; a curtain, formed of a plurality of flexible flaps of non-conductive material, suspended from above the portion of the pathway and extending across the pathway, with the plurality of flaps being positioned, and being of a length, such that at least one of the flaps will be contacted and deflected by an object having an attached tag moving along the pathway; at least one of an electrostatic field receiving antenna and a magnetic field receiving antenna disposed in each of the flaps; and means connected to each of the receiving antennas for receiving and decoding a signal of the second predetermined frequency received by the respective the antennas. 
     Preferably the tag simultaneously produces both a magnetic field and an electrostatic field modulated with the coded identifying signal, and at least some of the flaps contain both a magnetic field receiving antenna and an electrostatic field receiving antenna. 
     According to features of this aspect of the invention each electrostatic antenna comprises a length of wire extending along the length of the respective flap and connected at its upper end to the means for receiving, each magnetic field receiving antenna includes a coil disposed in a respective flap, with respective leads extending along the length of the respective flap and connecting the respective ends of the coil to the means for receiving, at least some of the flaps further include an excitor coil for the means for producing a magnetic field of the first predetermined frequency. 
     Moreover, according to the preferred feature of the invention, the pathway is a conveyor belt for conveying an object to which the tag is attached and may be randomly oriented, and the means for producing a magnetic exciting field comprises at least two exciting coils disposed orthogonally about the portion of the conveyor belt for generating respective magnetic fields disposed orthogonal to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt. 
     The above objects are achieved according to a preferred embodiment of the invention by a portal for automatically exciting and reading a passive transponder type tag, which is excited by an inductively coupled signal of a first predetermined frequency and which simultaneously produces a magnetic field and an electrostatic field modulated with a digitally coded identifying signal, while the device is moving along a substantially horizontal conveyor belt, which portal comprises: a rectangular frame for placement around a portion of a substantially horizontal conveyor belt in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt; means for producing a magnetic field of the first predetermined frequency within the interior of the frame with this means including first, second, third and fourth exciter coils mounted respectively on an upper, a lower and respective side panels forming the walls of the frame, and oscillator and driver circuit means, connected to each of the exciter coils, for producing a signal of the first predetermined frequency; a curtain, formed of a plurality of spaced flexible rectangular flaps of non-conductive material suspended from the upper panel disposed within the frame, extending in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt, and being of a length such that at least one of the flaps will be contacted and deflected by an object moving along the conveyor belt; a pickup coil, serving as a magnetic field receiving antenna, and an electrostatic field receiving antenna disposed in each flap; and receiver means, connected to each pickup coil and each electrostatic field receiving antenna, for detecting a coded signal of the second frequency received by any of the pickup coils and electrostatic receiving antennas. 
     Preferably, a respective further pickup coil, serving as a magnetic field receiving antenna, is disposed on each of the panels of the frame adjacent respective ones of the exciter coils, with the axes of the further pickup coils being orthogonal to the axes of the pickup coil in the flaps. 
     According to features of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the above mentioned pickup coils in the flaps are disposed near the center of the length of the flaps; a respective further exciter coil may be disposed in each flap adjacent the lower end of the respective flap and oriented orthogonal to said first, second, third and fourth exciter coils, and connected to said oscillator and driver circuit means; the oscillator and driver circuit means includes a respective separate oscillator and driver circuit for at least each of the first, second, third and fourth exciter coils, whereby at least the first, second, third and fourth exciter coils are asynchronously driven; and another magnetic field pickup coil may be disposed in each flap within and concentric with the adjacent further exciter coil, and connected in parallel with the associated pickup coil in the respective flap. 
     According to still further features of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the first, second, third and fourth exciter coils are flat loop coils, with the two of the pickup coils on the side surfaces being oriented parallel to one another and orthogonal to the two of the pickup coils on the top and bottom surfaces which are likewise parallel to one another; each of the pickup coils mounted on the panels of the frame is concentric with and disposed within the adjacent one of the exciter coils; the means for receiving and decoding includes a separate receiver connected to each of the pickup coils, and the curtain contains four flaps, with the means for receiving and decoding including a respective separate receiver connected to the electrostatic antennas of the two inner flaps and to the electrostatic antennas of the two outer flaps. 
     Finally, according to still a further feature of the invention, a pre-reader comprising a rectangular panel containing a further exciter coil for the first predetermined frequency and a further magnetic field pickup coil for receiving a coded signal of the second predetermined frequency may be disposed in front of the frame in the direction of travel of the conveyor belt and with the rectangular panel being positioned so that it is substantially coplanar and parallel to the lower panel of the frame, with this further exciter coil being an elongated loop coil extending in a direction transverse to the direction of travel of the conveyor belt and of a width in the direction of travel of the conveyor belt to produce a magnetic field transverse to the direction of conveyor belt travel which is narrow relative to the magnetic fields produced by the first, second, third and fourth exciting coils. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic isometric view of a preferred embodiment of a flap-reader type portal according to the invention for a conveyor belt with the panels of the portal shown in an exploded view for the sake of clarity. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic isometric view of the flap reader type portal of FIG. 1 showing the details of the content of the flaps. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit showing the preferred exciting circuitry for the magnetic field exciting coils. 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the preferred arrangement of the receiving circuitry for the portal of FIGS. 1 and 2. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a conveyor 10 provided with a portal type reader 12 according to the present invention for the purpose of the proximity reading tags attached to luggage, which tags are of the type which are excited by a magnetic field of a first predetermined frequency and which produce a carrier signal of a second predetermined frequency modulated with an identifying code stored in the tag and which simultaneously radiates or transmits the modulated carrier signal by both a magnetic coupling field and an electrostatic coupling field. Such a tag is disclosed in the above identified allowed copending U.S. application No. 07/453,271, filed Dec. 18th, 1989 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,227. 
     The portal reader 12 is provided as a rectangular frame disposed transverse to the direction of movement 13 of the conveyor 10. The frame 12 is essentially composed of four rectangular panels, and in particular an upper panel 14 disposed above the conveyor belt 10, a lower panel 15 disposed below the conveyor belt 10, and opposed side panels 16 and 17 disposed on either side of the conveyor belt 10. Although the panels 14-17, in FIG. 2, are shown as in fact constituting the frame, it is to be understood that this is not absolutely required, i.e. the panels may be attached to further supporting structures (not shown) which maintain the panels in theirindicated orientation, i.e. opposed panels being parallel to one another to form a rectangular frame. The portal reader 12 further includes a curtain which extends transverse to the direction of movement 13 of the conveyor belt 10 and which is formed of a plurality of elongated rectangular strips or flaps 18-21 of a flexible non-conductive material, for example rubber or a plastic such as vinyl, which are suspended from the upper panel 14 (or the supporting framework) within the frame formed by the four rectangular panels 14-17. The length of the flaps 18-21 and the number of such flaps, is such that at least one of the flaps will be contacted and deflected by an object moving along the surface of the conveyor 10. 
     To produce an exciting field in the area of the portal 12 for a tag moving along the conveyor belt 10, each of the panels 14-17 is provided with a large diameter exciter coil 22-25, respectively, with the coils being shown schematically. Each of the coils 22-25 is essentially a flat coil or loop of wire, with the opposing pairs of coils 22-23 and 24-25 being disposed parallel to one another and producing magnetic fields within the portal 12 which extend orthogonal to the direction of movement 13 of the conveyor belt 10. 
     Although each of the exciter coils 22-25 may be a simple loop of wire which is connected to an oscillator and driver circuit for providing an exciting signal of the first predetermined or exciting frequency, as shown in FIG. 3 for the exciter coil 22 by way of example, each exciter coil 22-25 is preferably a transformer with coaxial and closely coupled loop type primary and secondary windings 28 and 29, with the primary winding 28 being connected to the oscillator and driver circuit 30 for providing the exciting frequency signal, e.g. 125 kHz, and with the secondary winding 29 being connected in parallel with a capacitor 31 to form a resonant circuit at the exciting frequency in order to provide better control for the power of the exciting fields. Although it is possible to excite all of the exciter coils 22-25 from a common oscillator and driver circuit 30, experience has shown that with such an arrangement, as well as with an arrangement wherein opposite exciter coils, for example, coils 25 and 26, are excited with in-phase signals, a so-called &#34;hole&#34; in the exciting field may result in the center of the portal 12, so that tags passing through the portal 12 in this position are not consistently activated. Accordingly, preferably each of the exciting coils 22-25 is connected to a separate respective oscillator and driver circuit 30, each producing the same exciting frequency, with the respective oscillator and driver circuits 30 being operated asynchronously. While such a mode of operation results in a continuously changing field strength due to the interaction of the out of phase exciting fields, it has been found that this mode of operation does assure that there is always sufficient power available from one of the exciting coils 22-25 to activate a tag located within the portal 12 regardless of its location. It should be noted that operating the fields in this manner may cause a tag to be turned on sequentially by more than one coil as it passes through the field. However, the arrangement does assure that no so-called &#34;holes&#34; in the exciting field within the portal 12 are present at any given time. 
     In order to detect the modulated magnetic field produced by an excited tag disposed within the portal 12, each of the panels 14-17 is provided with a magnetic field receiving antenna or coil 32-35 which is of a smaller diameter and concentric with the respectively associated exciter coil 22-25. Each of the receiving coils 32-35 is connected to a respective receiver arrangement, responsive to the produced carrier frequency, for detecting and decoding the received signal. However, in view of the directional nature of the magnetic coupling mechanism involved, using only the four receiving or pickup coils 32-35 results in the problem that tags located in the center of the portal may not be read. That is, while the tag may be activated or excited, its magnetic output field may not be seen by the receiving antennas or coils 32-35. This problem may, in addition to being caused by the orientation of the tag, be a result of the distance of the tags from the receiving coils or antennas and possibly cancellation of the effect of the receiving coils or antennas 32-35 in the center of the portal. 
     To avoid such a problem, each of the flaps 18-21 is provided , as shown in FIG. 2, with a receiving antenna for receiving the modulated carrier signal radiated by a tag, with the receiving antennas in the respective flaps being either a magnetic field receiving antenna (e.g. coil) or an electrostatic field receiving antenna (e.g., a length of straight wire). Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the flaps 18-21 is provided with both a magnetic field receiving antenna or coil 36-39, respectively, and with a pair of electrostatic field receiving antennas or lengths of wire 40-40&#39;, 41-41&#39;, 42-42&#39; and 43-43&#39; which extend along the respective longitudinal edges of the respective flaps 18-21. As shown, each of the magnetic field receiving antennas or coils 36-39 is preferably disposed in approximately the center of the respective flap 18-21 with the coils being oriented orthogonally to the magnetic field pickup antennas 32-35 in the panels 14-17. 
     As further shown in FIG. 2, and in order to ensure the ability to excite and read tags which may be attached to metal objects or pieces of luggage, and thus might tend to be shielded from the remaining sensing and receiving antenna coils, each of the flaps 18-21 is additionally provided adjacent its lower end with a further receiving coil 36&#39;-39&#39;, respectively which is connected in parallel and similarly oriented with the associated receiving coil 36-39, and with a respective concentric exciter coil 44-47 which preferably are similar to the exciting coils 22-25 on the side panels. As can be seen, each of the exciting coils 44-47 is oriented orthogonally to the exciting coils 22-25, and thus produces fields orthogonal to those produced by the exciting coils 22-25, increasing the probability of a tag being activated regardless of its orientation. The exciter coils 44-47 may, like the coils 22-25, each be connected to a respective oscillator and driver circuit 30, or can be connected to a common oscillator and driver circuit 30. 
     Although the flap type portal reader as discussed above will excite tags passing through the portal irrespective of the orientation and/or type of luggage to which attached, as indicated above a tag may be read several times within the portal. Since it may occur in a luggage conveyor system that the pieces of luggage are closely spaced, it could occur that the tags of two different pieces of luggage are simultaneously within the portal 12 and being read. Since it is important in a luggage conveyor system that the sequence of the luggage being conveyed be known, such a dual reading presents a problem. To attempt to minimize such a problem, according to a further feature of the invention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the portal 12 is provided with a prereader including a further rectangular panel 48 which, in a manner similar to panels 14-17, contains an exciting coil 49 which is concentric with and surrounds a reading coil or antenna 50. This panel 48 is disposed in front of the frame or portal 12 in the direction of travel 13 of the conveyor belt 10, and is positioned so that it is substantially coplanar and parallel to the lower panel 15. Moreover, the panel 48, and thus the exciting coil 49, have a width in the direction of travel 13 of the conveyor belt 10 to produce a magnetic field which is narrow relative to the magnetic fields , produced by the exciter coils 22-25. The exciter coil 49 is likewise connected to an oscillator and driver circuit 30 operating at the exciting frequency and the read signal received by the reading antenna 50 is detected and decoded in the normal manner to provide an additional source of information, if necessary, in the event of an ambiguity in the signals read by the receiving antennas of the portal 12 itself. 
     To process the signals received by the various receiving antennas as shown in FIG. 4, each of the nine magnetic field receiving antennas 32-34, 36-39 and 50 of the flap type portal reader and prereader shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is connected via a respective preamplifier 51, a respective receiver 52 for detecting the modulation, and a respective microprocessor 53 for decoding the coded information to a host computer 54 for processing of the decoded information and for controlling downstream operations of the conveyor system. It should be noted, however, that instead of respective receivers 52 and microprocessors 53 for each of the magnetic field receiving antennas 32-39, multiplexing techniques may be utilized to reduce the number of receivers and microprocessors. For example, a common receiver 52 and microprocessor 53 may be utilized for the receiving antennas 32-35 of the panels 14-17 and a single further receiver 52 microprocessor 53 for the magnetic field receiving antennas 36-39 of the flaps 18-21. With regard to the electrostatic antennas in the flaps 18-21, while separate signal paths to the computer may likewise be utilized, preferably as shown in FIG. 4, each pair of electrostatic antennas 40-40&#39;, 41-41&#39;, 42-42&#39; and 43-43&#39; are connected together at their upper ends as shown. Thereafter, the connected pair 40-40&#39; and the connected pair 43-43&#39; associated with the two outer flaps 18 and 21 are connected via a common preamplifier 55, receiver 56 and microprocessor 57 to the computer 54 while the antenna pairs 41-41&#39; and 42-42&#39; are connected together and via a further preamplifier 58, receiver 59 and microprocessor 60 to the computer 54. 
     Although the flap type portal reader according to the invention has been described with particular applicability for a luggage conveyor system, it is to be understood that various modifications of the preferred arrangement are possible depending on the particular use of the flap type portal reader. For example, for certain type applications it may be possible to do without the exciting coils and magnetic field receiving antennas in the panels 14-17, i.e. to use only the exciting coils and the receiving antennas in the flaps 18-21. Additionally, the disclosed flap type portal reader may, for example, be utilized without the exciter coils 44-47 in the flaps and/or with different arrangements of the receiving antennas dependent on the particular application. Accordingly, various modifications, changes and adaptations are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.