GB2449065A - Detecting unauthorised stock in public house cellars - Google Patents

Abstract

A radio frequency identification (RFID) system to locate and identify unauthorised stock tagged with RFID tags identified using RFID readers located throughout the premises. For example, a cellar may have an RFID reader for tags 2 attached to beer kegs 4 or to crates. The system may alternatively read the tags when the stock is delivered. The system is designed for use in tenanted or managed public houses to verify that only authorised stock is available for sale throughout the licensed premises.

Description

Secure Cellar System for Tenanted or Managed Public Houses Problem to

be solved, tenanted and managed public houses receive stock from the brewery or landlords who control the premises by providing the tenant or manager with stock delivered from central warehouses, the brewery control the stock and the tenant is contracted to sell this stock exclusively, however it is difficult to monitor any unauthorised stock entering the premises, tenants or managers could introduce stock from other suppliers at reduced rates thus depriving the brewery or landlord of profits, to prevent this our system records all stock entering the tenanted or managed premises and sends information to a central database located on the brewery or landlords premises. The way in which this is achieved is by the use of RFID tags which are attached to stock such as beer kegs, bottles, crates and boxes which enter the premises these tags are read on entry and the information is sent to the database any foreign tags are flagged by the system, an inventory is run off which can be cross checked against the premises accounts. The system is huilly equipped to be part of a networked-distributed data aggregation and analysis system with security being handled by the RFII) reader, these can handle passive and active RFID tags including those in any geography and written to any standard, before exchanging information with a tag a network reader searches for and retrieves the II) of each tag in its read zone, this discovery process produces a list if identifications which will then be made available to our warehouse management system that resides on a remote networked server.

The RFID readers speak TCP/IP, DCHP and UDP/IP protocol and will facilitate advanced applications by acting as a gateway between an IP network and tags that provide read write data storage.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a stock sample in this case a crate of bottled beer, the crate carries an RFID tag, each bottle is also tagged, the tags are placed on the stock during the distribution process.

Figure 2 shows another stock sample in this case a keg of beer, the R.FID tags are placed on the kegs during the manufacturing process.

Figure 3 shows the beer kegs stored in the cellar the tags are read by the RFID reader, which is located in the cellar.

Figure 4 shows the beer kegs arriving in the cellar by conventional delivery methods, the tags are read by the RFID reader as they arrive.

Figure 5 shows the RFID reader connected to the computer holding the stock database, this is connected to the remote warehouse management system via a broadband connection.

Figure 1 shows a crate I filled with bottled beer 3 the crate 1 carries an RFLD tag 2 each bottle also carries an RFID tag 2, which has a unique ID, which is read on entry to the premises.

Figure 3 shows a beer keg 4 which has an RFID tag 2 attached near the connector cap the RFID tag 2 is attached to the beer keg 4 during the manufacturing process to protect it from damage.

Figure 3 shows the beer keg 4 stored in the cellar, the RFII) tag 2 is read by the RFID reader 6, which sends the ID from the RFID tag 2 to the warehouse management system.

Figure 4 shows the beer keg 4 arriving into the cellar by conventional delivery methods down a ramp 12 to be stored ready for connection, the RFID tag 2 is read by the R.FID reader 6 on entry to the premises, the ID in the RFID tag 2 is sent to the warehouse management system for verification.

Figure 5 shows an RFID reader 6 which is located throughout the premises, attached to the computer 10 via cable 7 the computer 10 is connected to the broadband router 11 which is connected via cable 9 to the telephone outlet 8 the RFID reader 6 sends the RFII) tag 2 ID to the computer 10 the data is sent to the remote warehouse management database via the broadband router 11.

Claims (3)

1. Claims 1. A system for identifying unauthorised stock entering a

   licensed premises which is either a managed or tenanted house.
2. 2. The system of claim I where a database can identify unauthorised RFID tags.
3. 3. The system of claim 1 and 2 where unauthorised RF1D tags are recognised by a remote warehouse management system.