Patent ID: 7030736

Claim:
A system comprising: a reader antenna configured to generate a reader field; and a bowling pin comprising: a body having a base, a neck and a head portion; and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag having a pin antenna, said pin antenna being associated with said body and configured to generate a power signal in response to said reader field, said RFID tag further including a processor responsive to said power signal for activation thereof wherein said RFID tag is configured to produce an identification signal for identifying said pin; wherein said pin antenna and said reader antenna having a first level of inductive coupling through said reader field therebetween when said pin is in a pin-up position, said pin antenna and said reader antenna having a second level of inductive coupling therebetween when said pin is in a pin-down position, said pin antenna and said reader antenna being arranged with respect to each other such that said first level is discriminatable from said second level for determining the position of the bowling pin.