Patent ID: 7520435

Claim:
A reader arrangement for reading contactless payment cards, the reader comprising: an RF antenna circuit; and a landing plane positioned at a fixed distance from the RF antenna, wherein the RF antenna circuit is configured to generate a magnetic field H ov in a frusto-conical shaped operating volume, wherein the landing plane forms the smaller diameter base of the frusto-conical shaped operating volume, wherein the magnetic field H ov in the frusto-conical shaped operating volume is specified to power and communicate with the contactless payment cards placed in the frusto-conical shaped operating volume, wherein the frusto-conical shaped operating volume comprises: a frusto cone having an axial length S 1 , a small base diameter D 1 and a large base diameter D 2 ; and a cylindrical section having a diameter D 2 and an axial length S 2 , wherein the RF antenna has a diameter of about 7 cms, wherein the landing plane is positioned at a fixed distance of about 15 cms from the RF antenna, and wherein the parameters S 1 , S 2 , D 1 and D 2 have nominal values of about 1, 3, 3 and 5 cms, respectively.