Patent ID: 8587432

Claim:
A reader system comprising: a proximity sensor system configured to detect a presence of an object within a first area, and to generate a proximity signal in response to detecting the object within the first area; and an electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag reader communicatively coupled to the proximity sensor system, and configured to make a transition from a first operational mode to a second operational mode in response to receiving the proximity signal from the proximity sensor system, wherein the transition includes the EAS tag reader altering production of an EAS tag detection signal; wherein the proximity sensor system comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader, and the reader system further comprises: the object in a form of an RFID tag configured to interact with the RFID tag reader to enable the RFID tag reader to determine whether the RFID tag is within the first area, wherein the first area corresponds to an RF range of the RFID tag reader; and an EAS tag configured to interact with the EAS tag reader by responding to the EAS tag detection signal, thus enabling the EAS tag reader to determine whether the EAS tag is within a second area, wherein the second area corresponds to an RF range of the EAS tag reader.