CA2796785A1

CA2796785A1 - Circumvention resistant rfid tag

Info

Publication number: CA2796785A1
Application number: CA2796785A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Nolan Wheeler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-11-21
Filing date: 2012-11-21
Publication date: 2014-05-21

Abstract

There is provided a circumvention resistant RFID tag with a body having a front face, a rear face and a peripheral edge. The body has RFID technology. In order to make the RFID tag circumvention resistant, a strip of amorphous ribbon is positioned along at least one peripheral edge of the body. The amorphous ribbon has EM EAS technology. The EM EAS, is a unique material that does not suffer this kind of interference from metals, acting as a safeguard for the RFID when the tag is shielded. The two technologies act together to form a safety net protecting each other's weakness most relevant to professional and organized retail theft.

Description

TITLE
[0001] Circumvention Resistant RFID Tag FIELD

[0002] There is described an RFID tag for use in a retail setting that is more difficult to circumvent.
BACKGROUND

[0003] Over the past decade, RFID was expected to become a very large part of the retail I 0 and library sectors. The RFID tag is an incredible tool, as it can carry much more information than its predecessor the barcode, and does not require line of sight. The RFID
tag has struggled to gain momentum as was anticipated due to the cost of the RFID tag, and the fact that RFID faces interference issues. The RFID tag, among point of sale and logistics, was to be an important tool for reducing shoplifting.

[0004] By replacing the barcode with the RFID tag, a key added benefit was that the retailer could stop the process of EAS (electronic article surveillance) tagging items for theft reduction. EAS tagging is an added expense of both labor and tag prices. After all, the RFID
tag is an improvement upon the RF tag; one of the first EAS technologies in retail.

[0005] However, the reality was that the RFID tag could not be used effectively for loss prevention. The same thing that gave the RFID tag its power (high bandwidth frequency) was also its weakness ¨ a tag easily confused/defeated by everyday items and tools of the shoplifter trade. Therefore, retailers were required to continue the practice of EAS tagging items, even with the addition of RFID technology.

[0006] There have been attempts at developing RFID/RF EAS and RFID/AM EAS
(acousto-magnetic EAS), however, even these two technologies cannot deter a sophisticated shoplifter, as the RFID/RF or RFID/AM tags can be defeated by items with high metal or battery content, or foil-lined bags (booster bags) ¨ a huge industry problem.
SUMMARY

[0007] There is provided a circumvention resistant RFID tag with a body having a front face, a rear face and a peripheral edge. The body carries RFID
technology. In order to make the RFID tag circumvention resistant, a strip of amorphous ribbon is positioned along at least one peripheral edge of the body. The amorphous ribbon carries EM EAS
technology.

[0008] The above described tag combines the highest frequency tag technology in the industry, with that of the lowest frequency tag technology. This combination allows for low frequency to penetrate booster bags, while the high frequency can transfer data to the store (item specific details) if they are available (based on pick rate of the RFID
tag ¨ orientation, clean environment (no metals, etc.)). Having these low and high frequency technologies on one tag, allows the retailer to simplistically tag/price artifacts in the retail store (or library) once. By providing the retailer or library with one tag, it allows for detection through the full spectrum of electronic tag support.

[0009] Should the RFID tag be shielded or oriented in a way that the reader does not pick the tag, the amorphous ribbon system is then afforded the opportunity to act as a safety net for the artifact. Should a retailer be faced with ORC (Organized Retail Crime) or professional shoplifters using a booster bag or other tactic to defeat the EAS, the amorphous ribbon will have the opportunity to pick up the artifact due to the low frequency inherent in amorphous ribbon technology (the amorphous ribbon is not required to be energized by the reader, thus, the ribbon still provides signal even inside a booster bag).

[0010] In a library situation, should the RFID tag of the book be blocked by a laptop, iPad or other electronic device, again the amorphous will have the best chance at capturing the book.

[0011] However, should the amorphous ribbon not be captured by the system, the RFID
reader then has the chance to capture the artifact. Whether the retailer or library relies primarily on the RFID or the amorphous ribbon for detection of artifacts is not relevant. The dual tag technology, leveraging high and low frequency allows the customer to obtain the very best protection and intelligence for their business.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a Circumvention Resistant RFID
Tag.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] A
Circumvention Resistant RFID Tag, generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIG. 1.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:

[0015] The RFID tag in Fig. 1 illustrates the RFID Tag (2) having been applied on a single surface (label) in with one or more amorphous ribbons (4) and, if the tag requires deactivation of the amorphous material a deactivation strip or other deactivation material (6) applied directly on top of the amorphous ribbon (4).
Operation:

[0016] The tag operates as a single application tag that holds RFID and amorphous ribbon(s); this may also include amorphous deactivation strips. The RFID tag supports logistics, point of sale, authentication, etc., operating at high bandwidth (frequency).

[0017] The amorphous ribbon strengthens the tag, operating in low frequency used to protect this business from theft where the RFID tag is missed, or the RFID tag is shielded by metals or batteries. The invention includes an RFID integrated circuit, a strip of amorphous ribbon, and a strip of spot deactivation material used to deactivate the amorphous ribbon.
This is all placed on a single label, thus removing the need for a second label on a product.
The weaknesses of RFID are that they are easily defeated by shoplifters, and easily interfered with by metals (intentional and unintentional). The EM EAS, is a unique material that does not suffer this kind of interference from metals, acting as a safeguard for the RFID when the tag is shielded. The two technologies act together to form a safety net protecting each other's weakness most relevant to professional and organized retail theft.
Variations:

[0018] The tag includes an RFID that that has amorphous material applied to the exterior edge(s) of the RFID tag. These exterior edges include any exterior edge of the tag. There can be amorphous ribbon applied to any edge of the tag, and the number of amorphous ribbons applied to the edges can exceed one. There will be times where tags are comprised of amorphous ribbon on 2, 3 or even 4 sides that may even include multiple strips of amorphous ribbon on that/those sides.
Cautionary Warnings:

[0019] The CRRFID tag resulted in research and development of various different RFID
tag approaches, as well as research and development of various EAS materials and technologies. Following this research, it was identified that only one EAS
technology was compatible for the solution; electro-magnetic or amorphous metals. This allowed further research and subsequent proto-type tag development for testing.

[0020] It was identified through testing that due to the properties of the RFID material, the amorphous could be placed on any part of the RFID in essentially any orientation. The difficulty came however in finding a placement and orientation that did not interfere with that of the RFID.

[0021] As mentioned, the RFID struggles to communicate and become energized when metals or batteries are in proximity. Therefore, by adding any EAS (all EAS
technologies are metal), the material of the EAS then becomes a shield to the RFID signal. The sheer mass of the RF and AM EAS technologies caused research to end when considering what EAS
material if any could be successfully paired with RFID.

[0022] It was believed that due to the small mass of the amorphous material that the amorphous would not interfere with the RFID tag; this was not the case.
Numerous RFID tag types were tested, as well as various manufactures of tags. Work began on identifying what the cause of the RFID interference was. Theories of the interference primarily included that 5 the amorphous ribbon lying on the RFID inlay was causing the RFID tag to short circuit.
Other theories included that due to the unique properties of the amorphous ribbon, interference yet to be identified with the RFID was to blame. Other theories suggested that the deactivation material was interfering, and that the amorphous ribbon was not to blame.

[0023] After more than 40 prototypes that included various placements of the RFID and the amorphous, inclusion and exclusion of the deactivation material, various approaches of using different label linings to create insulation between the RFID and amorphous were conducted.

[0024] Various levels of interference were observed from ¨25-90%; testing included handheld and stationary RFID readers. The RFID interference was observed as a result of various different application techniques including placement and insulation via various linings.

[0025] It was identified after these various tests and subsequent failures, and with consideration in mind that would support the cost effective construction of the CRRFID, that the material would be applied in parallel with the edge of the RFID tag, where the RFID tag is applied with or without insulation of the RFID inlay.

[0026] The creation of the tag requires the ability to use barkhausen amorphous ribbon as well as the industry standard harmonic amorphous ribbon. Barkhausen amorphous ribbon, due to its metallurgic components, is a fine strand of metal that has a 'twist' in the material.
As such, this material cannot be applied with a blow applicator (used for placement of metals or inserts in labels). Therefore, the material must be applied in the direction the tags/labels are produced in order to achieve efficiency that can lead to tag costs the industry (retail and library) can bare.

[0027] In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

[0028] The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given a broad purposive interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.

Claims

What is Claimed is:

1. A circumvention resistant RFID tag, comprising:
a body having a front face, a rear face and a peripheral edge, the body having RFID
technology; and a strip of amorphous ribbon along at least one peripheral edge of the body, the amorphous ribbon having EM EAS technology.