Patent ID: 8537394

Claim:
A label printing mechanism for handling labels with associated RFID tags, the mechanism comprising: a label path extending from a label supply location; a print head located along the label path for printing indicia on labels passing thereby; an RF unit for reading and/or writing from and/or to label RFID tags on labels, the RF unit including an antenna located in a position to be proximate to label RFID tag antennas when labels are at a certain location along the label path; and a control associated with the label printer and RF unit for operation thereof, the control operable to carry out an RFID frequency selection process in which: (a) a given label is moved into the certain location along the label path; (b) for each of a plurality of frequencies that are separated by a defined frequency step: (i) the RF unit is operated to read and/or write to the label RFID tag of the given label multiple times; and (ii) the control records whether each read and/or write operation is effective; (c) the control identifies and selects for subsequent use in operation of the RFID unit a multiplicity of the plurality of frequencies based upon results obtained in steps (b)(i) and (b)(ii).