Patent Publication Number: US-2023153555-A1

Title: Rfid reader control integrated with smart garment

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to the application of RFID technology to assist a user/operator in locating and retrieving a specific item or items from a space containing a multitude of such items. 
     PRIOR ART 
     RFID technology is well known and is useful in providing RFID tag data typically associated with consumer goods. U.S. Pat. No. 9,213,874 discloses an RFID tag sensing garment worn by an employee. The garment disclosed in this patent affords an advance in productivity since it is capable of registering the presence of nearby RFID tags (hereafter simply “tags”) and therefore the location of their associated goods. 
     Situations exist where numerous RFID tagged items are placed in a random or disorganized grouping and are retrieved in a sequence determined by factors not directly related to the items themselves. Where the number of items is voluminous, the task of manually finding a specific tagged item is often time consuming and frustrating, both of these conditions leading to low productivity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a portable RFID system, preferably associated with a garment, that enables a wearer/operator to locate a specific RFID tagged item or items. When the item or items is/are located, a signal is sent from the system to the operator. The operator&#39;s hands, being free of the system, can grasp the item and re-locate it to a desired place from where it can be delivered or otherwise processed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a showing of an operator wearing a smart garment of the invention in the form of a vest; 
         FIG.  2    is a rear view of the operator illustrating one arrangement of an antenna array, a reader/small board computer and associated battery; 
         FIG.  3    is a side view of the operator diagrammatically illustrating the distribution of radiation from an antenna array of the RFID reader system associated with the smart garment; 
         FIG.  4    is a view of a preferred antenna array depicted in a flat configuration; and 
         FIG.  5    is a block diagram illustrating the relationship of components of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The invention relates to a portable RFID system  10  that includes an antenna array  11 , a reader  12 , a small board computer (SBC)  15  and a battery power supply  13  laid out in the plane of the drawing for illustration purposes in  FIG.  4   . A person or operator  14  depicted in  FIGS.  1 - 3    carries the system  10  to scan RFID tags each associated with an individual object, typically a product, a component, package, or the like. With the system  10  of the invention, the operator  14  is free to circulate, hands free, through a space where RFID tagged goods are situated. 
     A preferred antenna array  11  of the present invention can be similar to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,058,998, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The present antenna array  11  for radiating or receiving electromagnetic signals, unlike that disclosed in this patent, comprises highly flexible elongated antennas  16  that can be readily folded out of a single plane and are of limited length. 
     Referring again to  FIG.  4   , the antenna array  11  preferably comprises two serpentine antennas  16 . Each antenna  16 , while lying on a flat support, has an elongated axis indicated by the broken line  17  across which a pair of parallel curvilinear feed lines  18  pass back and forth. The antennas  16  may be constructed of a rectangular, flexible, dielectric base sheet or film  19  such as Mylar® on which the feed lines  18 , made of an electrically conductive material such as a copper or an aluminum foil, are adhesively attached or otherwise fixed. At spaced locations, the feed lines  18  have perturbations in the form of relatively short stubs  21 . The stubs or dipole radiators  21  which are designed to radiate RF energy are typically made of the same material as the feed lines  18  and are electrically connected to a respective feed line. Adjacent pairs of the stubs  21 , one on each feed line  18 , form dipoles. Preferably, each stub  21  extends at a right angle to the local part of the feed line  18  to which it is joined. 
     An antenna  16  measured along its axis  17  is about 3 ft. long and the base sheet  19  supporting the stubs  21  is about 7 in. wide. Each antenna  16  is encased in a high durability water-resistant elongated flat fabric pouch. A soft cushion layer of batting is placed in the pouch on the side of the antenna  16  which is to face the operator  14  that will carry the antenna array  11 . A coaxial cable  24 , with its center conductor and its outer conductive sheath each connected to one of the feed lines  18  of the associated antenna  16  projects out of a pouch. 
     An effective way of deploying the antenna array  11  is to attach the individual antennas  16  to the inside of a vest  26  or similar garment. Preferably, the antennas  16  are positioned in the garment  26  so that one is on the left and one is on the right and the major length of each is at the front of the garment. The cables  24  are disposed on the inside back of the garment  26  and the radiators or stubs  21  proximate to a cable of each antenna are adjacent a shoulder of the garment  26 . 
     The pouches are preferably releasably held in place on the interior of the garment  26  by a suitable technique such as with Velcro®, snaps, buttons, zippers, pockets or other suitable fasteners. The releasable fasteners enable the pouch to be removed from the garment  26  so that the garment can be laundered or even replaced. 
     The RFID reader  12  is connected to the antennas  16  through the respective cables  24 . The reader  12 , small board computer (SBC)  15  and power supply  13 , typically a rechargeable battery electrically connected to the reader and SBC  15 , are carried by the operator  14  wearing the garment  26 . The reader  12  and SBC  15  integrated as a single device, and power supply  13  can be located in an inner pocket on the garment  26 , secured by fasteners to the garment, mounted on a waist belt separate from the garment or otherwise carried on the body of the operator  14 . 
       FIGS.  1 - 3    illustrate a preferred arrangement of the antenna array  11  being worn by the operator or individual  14 .  FIG.  3    is a diagrammatic representation of the RF beams produced by the individual dipole radiators  21  when the reader powers the antennae. It will be understood that the antenna array  11  radiates into a near space in front of the operator  14  wearing it in a pattern that is generally columnar, extending from floor level to a level overhead of the operator  14 . Depending on the selected power level, the range or coverage zone of the antenna array  11  can be between 2 and 6 ft. around the front of the garment  26 . 
     RF power density that reaches the user is minimal. The power is distributed across all of the antenna stubs  21 . Antennas are preferably alternately powered, thus cutting the duty cycle in half. The reader  12  energizes the antenna dipoles  21  and receives RFID signals from tags through the antenna dipoles. Where desired, the operator  14  wearing the garment  26  can be shielded from antenna radiation by providing a reflective material, for example, in the form of a conductive metal film or cloth next to the operator. The spacing of this reflective material, which can be provided, for example, by the batting, should be at least ¾ in. from the dipoles  21 . 
     With reference to  FIG.  5   , the computer  15  is preferably a single board or small board computer (SBC) hard wired to the reader  12  to enable the SBC to control functions of the reader. The SBC  15  is used to provide or supplement the processing of the reader  12  since, as is conventional, present day readers have insufficient processing capacity to perform the operations attributed to the reader/computer in this disclosure. Future readers with increased processing would be equivalent to the disclosed reader  12  supplemented in its processing by the SBC  15 . The reader  12  and/or SBC  15  may include a processor (such as an integrated circuit), discrete circuitry, memory, transceivers (or transmitters and/or receivers individually), and/or input/output interfaces (such as ports, terminals, and the like). The SBC sends audio signals to the operator by way of headphones or ear buds  25 . The earphones  25  communicate from the SBC by wire through a cable  30  that may be hard wired or connected via an input/output interface. Alternatively, these signals can be sent wirelessly, for example, via BLUETOOTH or like communication protocols. Other alternatives include a speaker physically associated with the computer  15 . 
     Data collected by the reader  12  is immediately sent to the SBC  15  that processes the data and sends audio signals related to the tags being read. For example, the SBC  15  is programmed to send an audio signal to the operator  14  when a tag being sought is seen by the reader module. While audio signals from the SBC  15  are preferred when a tag is being sought is detected, other techniques are contemplated such as visible light or vibration. 
     The coverage zone of the reader system  10  on the smart garment  26  moves with the operator  14 . The reader system  10  can be used, for example, to find a specific tag or tags on an item or items amongst a very large number of tagged items. Once a desired tag, the identity of which is previously loaded into the reader  12  and SBC  15 , for instance wirelessly by a remote server or controller, is known to be located within the coverage zone in front of the smart garment  26 , the operator  14  can easily use both hands to move items within the zone to pinpoint the desired tagged item or items. Then the operator  14  can pick up the item or items and easily place them in a desired location for further access and/or delivery. 
     After receiving original instructions from a server or controller identifying a desired tag or tags, only RFID tag information developed by the reader  12  is used to command and control the reader. This inventive concept is based on collecting RFID data and then using this data alone and associated processing to control the full system operation. All the processing is done within the reader  12  and associated small board computer (SBC)  15 . The SBC  15  has sufficient processing to analyze the RFID data and appropriately control the reader to collect the desired data to process. Then the SBC  15  uses prestored command and control audio information to inform the operator  14  of its operational status via the earpiece  25 . 
     The following section is used to explain the system operation via a specific example. 
     System Operational Example 
     In this example, assume that the smart garment operator  14  has been assigned to find tagged items amongst a very large number of tagged items such as might be found in a large delivery truck. When this truck arrives at a specific delivery location, the smart garment operator  14  will be informed of the number of tagged items to be delivered to this location/customer. This information is also loaded into the SBC  15  associated with the reader  12 . When this information is loaded into the SBC  15  memory, the reader  12  is put into search mode by the SBC. The first step in this mode is to inform the operator that he needs to find a specific number of tagged items. The reader  12  immediately starts collecting RFID tag data. If one or more of the desired tags is seen by the system  10 , an indicator sound is activated to tell the operator that at least one desired tag is seen by the reader. This sound will continue as the operator searches through the items to find at least one desired item. Once at least one item is found and is being carried away from the place where it was found, the system will determine that the operator is moving away and will stop the indicator sound. The operator&#39;s motion away is determined within the SBC  15  by recording the identity of all of the tags seen by the reader in the location where the desired tagged item is found. Then as the operator  14  moves away from this location, the reader  12  will not see the previous tagged items, which clearly means that he is moving away. Since the operator is still holding the desired item, the reader will see that the item is still in his hands and the previous adjacent tags are gone. Further, the system verifies that the item in the operator&#39;s hands is at least one of the desired items. 
     Reader Operation Finding a Single Tagged Item 
     1. The desired item tag number is loaded into the SBC  15 . 
     2. The SBC  15  tells the operator that he must find one tag. 
     3. The reader  12  immediately starts reading RFID tags. 
     4. The operator moves amongst the tagged items facing the items. 
     5. Once the tagged item is seen by the reader  12 , the SBC  15  sends an indicator sound to the operator. 
     6. The operator recognizes the sound to mean that he is very close to the desired tagged item and he digs amongst the items in front of him. 
     7. Once the operator finds the desired item, e.g., by some visual indicia on the item, he holds it in his hands and walks away. 
     8. As the operator moves away, the tags previously close to the desired item disappear from the present tag data and the systems knows that he is moving since he has correctly found and holds the desired item. 
     9. The SBC tells the operator that he has successfully found the correct item. 
     10. The reader stops reading tags and the SBC shuts down operation. 
     Reader Operation Finding Multiple Tagged Items 
     1. The desired item tag numbers are loaded into the SBC  15 . 
     2. The SBC tells the operator that he must find a certain number of tags. 
     3. The reader immediately starts reading RFID tags. 
     4. The operator moves amongst the tagged items facing the items. 
     5. Once one or more tagged items are seen by the reader, the SBC sends an indicator sound to the operator. 
     6. If more than one tag is seen, the SBC tells the operator the number of tags seen at the present location. 
     7. The operator recognizes the sound to mean that he is very close to desired tagged items and he digs amongst the items in front of him. 
     8. Once the operator finds and picks up one or more items, the SBC tells the operator how many of the desired tag items are seen. 
     9. If the reader still sees other tagged items in the present location, the SBC tells the operator how many are still at the present location. 
     10. This process continues at the present site until all the tagged items at that site are obtained. 
     11. As the operator moves away, the tags previously close to the desired items disappear from the present tag data seen by the reader, and the system knows that he is moving since he has correctly found and holds all the desired items from that location. 
     12. If there are more tagged items to be found, the SBC informs the operator that he still has to find so many more tagged items, this same process is repeated until all the items are found. 
     13. Once the operator has found all the desired items, the SBC tells the operator that he has successfully found all the correct items. 
     14. The reader stops reading tags and the SBC shuts down operation. 
     Due to the flexibility of the pouch including its contents and the low weight owing to its cloth/film construction, an operator  14  wearing the garment  26  is neither significantly burdened nor restricted in his or her movement by the system  10 . In particular, the operator&#39;s hands and arms are completely free to accomplish any required task while wearing the garment mounted system. It will be understood that an operator wearing the system can walk or otherwise traverse a space in which RFID tagged items are situated. The system  10  will read all of the tags within the range or coverage zone of the antenna array  11 . 
     While the invention has been described as being mounted on a vest-style garment, other arrangements are envisioned. Where a lab coat or gown is used as the garment  26 , the length of the antenna can be increased. It is also possible to arrange the antenna array in a stole or scarf garment. 
     It should be evident that this disclosure is by way of example and that various changes may be made by adding, modifying or eliminating details without departing from the fair scope of the teaching contained in this disclosure. The invention is therefore not limited to particular details of this disclosure except to the extent that the following claims are necessarily so limited.