Patent ID: 8299899

Claim:
A system for communicating with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, the system comprising: a) an actuatable RF signal generator for transmitting an electromagnetic signal; and b) a time-out circuit, wherein regardless whether an RFID tag is detected, or not, the RF signal generator transmits a first electromagnetic signal having a first limited total continuous transmit time that is not greater than a defined transmit length, followed by an interim period of a defined, manually non-resettable interim length where the time-out circuit renders the interrogator incapable of transmitting the electromagnetic signal, followed by the RF signal generator transmitting a second electromagnetic signal having a second limited total continuous transmit time that is not greater than the defined transmit length, c) wherein no matter how frequently the RF signal generator is actuated, the time-out circuit prevents the second and subsequent transmissions of the electromagnetic signal after a prior electromagne signal has been transmitted from the RF signal generator until the interim period of the defined, manually non-resettable interim length has expired, and d) wherein the first, second and subsequent transmissions of the electromagnetic signal can be less, but not greater than, the defined transmit length.