GB2521857A - UHF RFID tag for bottles wines spirits has radio tamper evident means - Google Patents

Abstract

A cap 5 with an insulator or gap 7 beneath and a conductive collar 8; each of which connect to an RFID tag to form an antenna. The bottles fluid or a plate can enhance or disrupt the antenna by affecting its capacitance, inductance, impedance or resonance. The electrical connection to the antenna ideally includes weaknesses such as perforations 2 to assist disconnection when the cap is moved. The tag can include additional inputs to detect tampering. The RFID tag and the collar part of the antenna can be integrally formed by printing on a label or strap 1. The collar 8 and lid 5 preferably have matching impedances. The tag is designed to be read by a leaky feeder. There is a mathematical relationship between the authentication code and the user data to enhance security.

Description

Long Range UHF RFID Tag for bottles with anti tamper means This invention describes a new tamper evident tag which relies on the principles of the previous granted patent; GB2493996. The original patent GB2493996 describes how the fluid in a bottle can be used to sink current and create current flaw through a near field loop to obtain excellent range using standard UHF RFID cquipment. Ranges of 10 metors can be achievod whilst staying within current ETSI regulatory limits imposed by EN302-208.

This new invention will be referred to as the Strap Tag; it can be used with bottles stared on their side which is a major breakthrough for wine cellars and high end restaurants.

A video demonsTration of the former patent 0B2493996 can be seen at this URL. This is very useful to watch before reading this new patent description. h

The new Strap tag invention described below utilses a method employing the cap cf the bottle, a small insulating gap below the bottle cap and a capsule collar or ring on the neck of the bottle, see Figure 1. These inventive steps now allow the design of a low cost, covert tag which can have a plurality of tamper evident means. The standard Gen2 chip used in this invention has the usual individualised serial number; authentication TDI fixed code and all the other benefits of standard Gen 2 RFID integrated circuits and reader equipment.

Tho main invontivo stop of tho first patent GB2493996 showed how it is now possible to solve the problem of fluid RF absorption which reduced the range of RFID tags on battles from 10 Meters to just a few centimeTres. The main invenTive steps of this new patent is the use of a small non conductive space Figure 1-7 which when combined with the bottle screw cap Figure 1-5 and a conductive capsule sleeve Figure 1-8, results in a radio readable tamper evident long range tag.

A pluraliTy of meThods can be used to create both physical and radio alert lamer evidence; in the preferred embodiment this is just simple perforations at the base of the cap or stopper means.

Background

A high percentage of winos and spirits moving through the supply chain today are known to be fake.

Import duty can be avoided by refilling used bottles with substandard spirits, or faking the bottles and the spirits for black market sales to avoid import taxes.

Counterfeit spirits or wines do not only cause significant lasses of earnings for the true manufacturer and custom/excise authorities, they also put the public's health at risk. Some of the brewing and distilling methods used to create the fake wines and spirits have dangerous toxins which can pose serious health problems like blindness and in same cases death.

Sadly, theft botween the store room and the sales sholves is as much of a concern to some shops as theft by customers. Doorway monitoring; and better still, constant automated stock inventory sysTems can now be implemented using covert tagging to idenTify theft by monitoring the bottle movements and registering this with video footage.

Bottles can now be verified using low cast readers attached to iPhane or Android phones etc. Overt tagging can also be implemented to discourage theft by printing radio tagged' or something similar, on the strap covering the bottle top. This can be demonstrated to customers and also used as a selling tool showing details of the wine or spirit they have selected on the closest monitor.

Using RFID to tag battles is an obvious step forward; however, the costs involved have been two prohibitive until the advent of patented method GB2493996 which adds as little as s US cents to the cast of the spirit or fine wine.

UHF AFID tags are now down to a fraction of a dollar; however, their normal range is reduced from a possible 10 meters to just 10cm or less when used normally on battle labels; this is mainly due to The absorption of the FtF signal by the fluid in The bottle.

Lower frequency tags at 13.56 MHz, 12 KHz and below do work on fluids; however, they are costly and could not be covertly integrated within the aesthetics of the bottle; also they would only give one meTer range or less as They uTilise the magnetic part ci the radio wave.

This patent describes a new tag invention which uses a small non conductive space and conductive sleeve to provide all the advantages of patent 0B2493996 but also a method of disrupting the reception and transmission when the top of the bottle is removed or the seal is broken or disturbed.

An e-Pedigree can be given to each specific botte; not only authenticity but traceability can be achieved as the tag can be written to at various stages of shipping, storing and rotating stock information can travel with The battle.

This type of tagging can also control tho production of grey/black markot produco as bottlos without a tag response will obviously be automatically identified as fake or back door production.

Wines can be dated precisely and also oTher informaTion can be stored in The tag like grape blend, vineyard, vat, bottler etc. Tags can also be used by restaurants, bars etc to find, identify and to re-order the product or beverage automatically. The Gen2 system used in this patent embodiment description, allows internal user areas of the tag to be re programmed on a bottle by battle basis from a range of two meters or more. For example the tag could contain today's price and other variable date or URL information which would be readable by a phone without any disruption to the bottle esthetics.

For high security applications, tags can have a mathematical relationship between the user data code and the TDI (permanent identification unchangeable tag memory) authentication code to create a high degrees of security between sender and receiving customer without the need for a security passwords; this has obvious implications for customs and excise automation as each crate could be automaTically authenticated using a portal without unpacking The crates or other human intervention.

Other attempts to solve the bottle tagging problem in the past have been UHF RF tuned cavities to create decoupling between the tag and the fluid (this stops the fluid absorbing the signal).

Omni-ID (RTM) among others has such a solution. This method is both costly and at 1mm thick it cannot be covertly placed on the bottle. This and other similar methods rely on the bottles facing the correct direction, towards the reader's antenna, which is impractical in most cases. The patent described in Figure 1 gives an omni-directional transponder field pattern and so can be read with the botTle facing in any direcTion.

Description of the strap tag preferred embodiment:

Note the word bottle used in this description covors glass and plastic containors and other non conductive fluid containing vessels that can be fitted with a capsule and have a lid or top of sufficienT physical size to capture The necessary amount of radiated electrical energy.

Note,' near field' refers to the H or magnetic part of the radiated electromagnetic wave and far field or E' field refers to the electrical part or the electromagnetic radiation.

In general tags have not been used within the battling industry due mainly to cost and physical thickness. The capsule strap tamper evident desgn described in this patent uses a tag that is paper thin measuring typically 35mm X 9mm, with the cast down to los than 9c in moderate volumes. The prototype first embodiment tag could be read consistently at over ten meters using a conventiona full battle of Vodka; the radiated energy from the transmitter was well within the ETSI --EN302 208, 2W ERP regulations for Europe and the 4W EIRP regulation for the USA.

The integrated circuit within the tag embodiment can be any of a number of UHF RFID tags. The initial tests were performed using a Gen 2 Alien technology (RTM) Higgs 3 ePc complianT integrated circuit, test with other integratod circuits gave similar or botter performance.

Description of the embodiment.

The tag shown in Figure 2 is covered by the granted patent 082493996; however, in this new patent other components are added to this tag to create tamper evidence and extra benefits. The main inventive steps are the addition of a small non conductive area under the screw cap in combination with a conductive sleeve which is used in conjunction with the top cap of the bottle.

Bottles with real or imitation corks usually have a metal cover or metal cap under a wire wrapped cage. This metal cap or cage or both act the same as The screw cap shown in figure 1-5. The combination of those structures in conjunction with an integrated RFID chip capable of receiving an RF signal forms the basis of this new invention.

Construction and inventive steps.

The conductive part of the tag Figure 2-4 can stop at location Figure 1-3; however, it can continue all the way over the cap to location Figure 1-5 but no further than Figure 1-6. Extending the conductive part of the tag figure 2-4 to the location figure 1-5 will help considerably f the screw cap or cork figure 1-5 has no conductive component or wire cage.

The wire and cap found on champagne bottles helps significantly as it also collected the radio energy from the transmitter.

Another inventive step in the construction which also increases the range considerably is a small cut away slot section in the collar Figure 1-8 down to point 1-10 to accommodate the loop figure 2-2. Otherwise the size of the loop is reduced and this in turn reduces efficiency and range.

The cork or stopper should extend below the gap figure 1-7 for wines or champagnes which need to be detected at range when on their side or at various angles.

For practical and esthetic reasons the required non conductive gap below the cork on champagnes and sparkling wines can be hidden with the capsule cover removal puN tab. When this tab is removed it will also separate the antenna from the integrated circuit by some means; perforations are the most practical and have given good results in testing. Obviously the pull tab must be non conductive and so some redesign of the capsule would be required.

Theory of operation of the Strap Tag preferred embodiment.

Applying those tags to a bottle to archive significant range has boon achieved by using the capsule to turn the radio H field tag figure 2 into an electric field tag which is excited by the current flowing into the wine spirit by capacitive means. The path for this current is provided by the capacitivo coupling from the portion of the tag shown in figuro 2-6 which is located at Figure 1-10 to the capsule or collar Figure 1-8. The capacitive coupling between the capsules Figure 1-8 and the fluid is very high as the surface area is large and the Glass dielectric constant is reasonably high, ( about 5).

The current flow in is only possible if an air, or insulating gap, is created at location Figure 1-7; this insulating gap forces a large RF voltage across the transponder integrated circuit loop.

One problem which occurs with metal screw caps is when the bottle is on its side, at a steep angle; the fluid can flow all the way to the conductive cap and reduce the range severely due to

E' field absorption.

(The electric part of the electromagnetic wave is absorbed by the fluid; however, the magnetic portion of the electromagnetic radio wave remains almost unchanged.) Fortunately when a conventional, or plastic, cork is used this gap is preserved (the fluid cannot flow into the gap area) and hence the invention will perform well with wine bottles in racks on their side. Range loss may even indicate the cork is failing as the fluid reaches the required non conductive space to create unwanted signal absorption. Figure 1-7.

For this embodiment to work at its best, with the bottle at all angles, the collar Figure 1-3 would need to almost totally or totally circumnavigate the bottle or container so that it always has some capacitive dampening effect due to the fluid when the bottle is slanted or rotated. Without this capsule, range may be reduced; however, the tag will still give some range.

When the bottle cap or cork is removed the connection between electric field collected by the combination of figure 1-5, and Figure 1-4 and the transponder integrated circuit is severed; the transponder integrated circuit then has no power from the carrier signal and immediately shuts down.

Special equipment can be used to retrieve the tag data, if ever required. Note tags can be killed permanently by a radio command from the transmitter; this helps with data protection and elevates personal customer concerns.

In another embodiment the perforations are replaced by capacitive or conductively sliding areas, around 5mm square, this method has all the merits of the above; however, it is easier to repair by the user and hence is not so highly recommended.

Other embodiments use transponder chips that have a sense input. These chips can be used in this invention to permanently flag a tamper attempt or even a loose cap or expanding cork. Many applications using these tags are now possible.

The strap tag embodiment described in this patent is Omni-directional with a Range of 10 meters at 2W ERP; 100 bottles/second; and about one meter range using a 300mW iPhone (RTM) reader at 7 bottles per second.

Technical The RF signal path is as follows: The electromagnetic wave from the transmitter is received by the bottle cap and top part of the strap Figure 1-4 these have a large radar capture area and so receive large amounts of energy without specific tuning to the signal wavelength as is more common in RFID tags.

This collected signal is mostly the Electric E' field part of the radio wave. The top of the metalised strap is in close proximity with the cap and hence RF capacitive connected to the bottle cap figure 1-5.

If the perforations Figure 1-2 are in tacked the signal will crudely resonate the H' field loop containing the transponder chip. Being an H' field loop, which is magnetic, this tuned signal is not affected greatly by the fluid.

This H' field 1oop would not resonate very well wthout a large amount of radio signal across its ends. This signal is provided by the wine or spirit itself which absorbs the current at the bottom of the loop Figure 1-10 and disperses this energy as heat and re-radiation. The voltage at the bottom of the tag Figure 1-10 therefore cannot move easily and hence this maximizes the voltage difference across the H field loop resulting in high RF signal across the transponder integrated circuit.

This energy powers up the integrated circuit which can then create a disconnection or phase shift etc. in the H filed loop figure 2-2 to send the data back to the reader interrogator antenna. This disconnect is seen by the transmitter (see reciprocity principal) as the transmitter at this time is irradiating The Tag with a pure carrier wave.

Within the standard Gon 2 system the signaling is Millor or FMO modulations which are both edgo detecting code retrieval systems. This is important as our embodiment may reply to the reader in an inverse manor; the standard tags reflect raTher Than absorb signals to communicate back to the roader.

Preferred embodiment The embodiment shown in figure 1 uses a paper or plastic strap over the bottle cap or cork or stopper means, Figure 1-5. This cap should be conductive or have a conductive coating or layer for improved performance; however, this increases cost and may not be required with a metal battle cap or wire cage etc. The tag shown in figure 2 is employed within the sTrap shown in figure 1 so thaT the transponder chip figure 2-1 is located within the strap at tho approximate location shown in figure 1-1.

The tag perforations, or disconnect means, shown in figure 2-7 should be located as shown in figure 1-2.

The tag is best integrated within the strap so that when the strap is removed or the bottle is opened the perforations are torn apart; this has been shown, by experimentation, to reduce the read range of the tag from 10 meters to zero.

If the tag is removed from the bottle very carefully and remains intact, its range is reduced from meters to about 6cm.

Key to Drawings Figure 2 shows a standard capsule tag covered by patent GB2493996. Many shapes and forms can provide the same performance as the embodiment shown. Figure 2-3 is an area of conductive material which locks like a standard RFID Gen 2 tag; however, its actua construction is a near field magnetic loop with capacitance areas at the top and bottom.

Figure 2-1 Transponder integrated circuit; for example Alien (ATM) Technologies Higgs3 or later.

Figure 2-2 Nonconductive area of antenna which forms a near field magnetic loop as described in 0B2493996 Figure 2-3 Printed, sputtered or etched conductive material. This does noT need to be very low impedance; printed carbon loaded ink may also yield good performance.

Figure 2-4 Conductive area which forms a capacitive RF connection with the bottle cap, this area can be extended over the cap or cork.

Figure 2-5 This is the peal and stick inlay and common to most Gen2 tags, the opposite face is often printable and could obviously carry a seal, logo or overt warning.

Figure 2-6 Conductive area which forms a capacitive RF connection to the sleeve/capsul which is a conductive paper or aluminum capsule shown in Figuro 1-8, this capacitive attaches to the wine through the glass which in turn produces current flow through the transponder. This current is typically 1 uA AC aT 800MHz To 950MHz.

Figure 2-7 Perforation or same means of separating the antenna top and bottom sections. The perforations can be under or over the transponder device Figure 1-1.

Figure 1 A preferred ombodimont using a metal bottlo cap and a covert seal strap. Tho cap can be replaced wth a cork, however, when using a cork the portion of the strap between figure 1-10 to figure 1-5 must be conductive material.

Figure 1-1 Shows the transponder integrated circuit. Gen2 ePc for example.

Figure 1-2 Perforations or other disconnection method.

Figure 1-3 this is the security strap and could be manufactured and printed as a standard RFID tag then used as a covert security device which can be killed or disarmed using rado signaling from the reader.

Figure 1-4 This area must be conductive to capture the radiated electric field from the transmitter.

Figure 1-5 Metal screw cap or cork. With a cork the performance is enhanced when the bottle is on its side; as long as figl-4 has a good amount of conductive area.

Figure 1-6 this is the split point for the screw cap. With a cork, this would be the wire release location.

Figure 1-7 This is the, all important, separation area. The wine or spirit can come up to any point within the capsule figure 1-8 but must not fill this empty space. With a cork in the bottle then the fluid cannot enter this space, dry cork or plastic will maintain this RF gap and improve performance when the bottle is on its side.

Figure 1-6 This is a conductive paper or metal capsule. The shape is of little importance; however, if wine bottles with corks are to be read on their side, then the shape indicated is preferable.

Figure 1-9 This is the bottle which can be made from glass or plastic but not metal or other conductive materials.

Figure 1-10 This part of the security strap contains the UHF RFID Gen2 tag.

Useful information.

This new invention adds tamper evidence and the possibility to read wine bottles and champagne bottles at long range when they are stored on their sides. These are very important technical feature which create many application benefits for automated boarder control, authentication, anti theft and wine cellar restaurant automated stock and stock rotation.

David B Mapleston.

31 December2013

Claims (19)

1. CLAIMS1. A container tag structure which is primarily but not exclusively for bottles has a small non conductive gap or insulator Figure 1-7 under the bottle cap cork stopper means which when used with a label conductive collar or ring on or around the bottle Figure 1-8 forms an antenna structure which gives very long read range using passive or active RFID tags that are shaped to capacitive or DC connect to the cap cork means Figure 1-5 and the conductive collar means Figure 1-8.
2. 2. A tag as described and illustrated in Figure 2 where areas Fig2-6 and Figure 2-4 form capacitors with other structures or the fluid in the bottle or container means to create the necessary voltage and current flow to excite an integrated circuit.
3. 3. A bottle or other container tag structure as described in claim 1 which has means such as perforations Figure 1-2 to provide a disconnect which would prevent the tag responding to its radio interrogator.
4. 4. A tag as in claim 1 where the transponder chip has a separate input or inputs which are used to detect tamper and shut down the tag or cause the tag to re radiate a trnper code or create any change in transponder reflected or re-radiated signal by any analogue or digital means.
5. 5. A tag embodiment as in claim 1 and claim 2 where the transponder chip is disconnected from the antenna by the cap movement or cap rotation or cork movement in any manner.
6. 6. A tag embodiment as in the description and claim 1 where the metal foil collar and the tag are formed as a single tag and antenna structure.
7. 7. A tag structure as in claim 1 where the capacitive area Figure 2-4 is extended to a length up to or over the cap or bottle stop means Figure 1-5.
8. 8. A tag embodiment as in claim 1 where the metal forming the tag loop has a structure which impedance matches the electric field from the collar and cap means directly into the RFID transponder chip.
9. 9. An embodiment of the tag described in all previous claims where the structure of the tag is printed on a bottle label or container sticker of any form.
10. 1O.A tag embodiment as in the description and claim 1 where the current flow or resonance o-F a tuned loop is disturbed by capacitive plate means, where by removing the cap of the bottle disrupts the tuning or current flow through the transponder integrated circuit.
11. 11.A tag as in claim 1 where the metal contact forming the connection to the top conductive portion of the screw cap Figure 1-5 or bottle stop is disconnected by any opening attempt.
12. 12.A tag embodiment as in claim 1 where the conductive sleeve forming the capacitive connection to the fluid in the bottle is disconnected from the integrated circuit or antenna by any means.
13. 13.An embodiment of the tag described in all previous claims where the structure of the tag is printed as part of the collar figurel-4.
14. 14.An embodiment of the tag described in all previous claims where the structure of the tag is formed from a conductive covering over the cap or bottle stop means.
15. 15.An embodiment as described and stated in claim 1 which uses some other description for the capsule, sleeve, label which capacitive connects to the fluid in the bottle to crate the desired current flow through the integrated circuit.
16. 16..A tag invention as in claim 1 which has a mathematical relationship between the user data code area in the integrated circuit and the TDI authentication fixed code to create a high degrees of security and authentication.
17. 17.A tag as shown in Figure 2 where the metallised capacitive contact area Figure 2-4 is extended to collect the Electric field from the transmitter directly. In a preferred embodiment it would extend over the top of the shopper to reach location Figure 1-5.
18. 18.A Long or short range tag constructed and described in claim 1 where the tag is communicated with or read using a leaky feeder of any type or construction.
19. 19.Any embodiment using the principles' described in claim 1 where the capsule ring and the strap are formed in one piece.Amendment to Claims have been filed as followsCLAIMS1. An electrically insulating vessel containing fluid has a conventional insulating cork means with a conventional electrically conductive top (figl,5) and has an electrically insulating gap under this conductive top (figl,7) further it has a conductive area under this insulating gap(figl,8) which forms a capacitive RF connection through the vessels to the fluid within the vessel, the known REID tag (fig2) comprises of a capacitive area (fig2,4) at the top of the tag which connects signal to the electrically conductive top of the vessel (fig 1,5) a conventional UHF RFID Integrated circuit (fig2,1), a tuned resonant loop incorporating the said integrated circuit (fig2,2), an RF capacitive connection area at the bottom (-Fig2,6) to connect the RF signal to the bottom electrically conductive area (figl,8) which connects this signal to the fluid in the container through the non conductive wall of the vessel.2. A vessels as described in claim 1 where the capacitive connection areas at the top and bottom of the known RFID tag are replaced with direct electrical contacts.3. A vessel as described in claim 1 and claim 2 where the tag structure is constructed from the RFID integrated circuit and one piece of electrically conductive material to eliminate capacitive RF connections at the top and bottom of the known RFID tag.4. A vessel as described in claim 1 and claim 2 where the electrically conductive top on the vessel is conventional conductive capsul.5. A vessel as described in claim 1 and 2 which has perforations (figl,2) across the tuned loop of the tag to provide a disconnect if * *. an opening attempt is made, to prevents the tag responding to the :.: * external radio interrogator and therefore indicate that an opening attempt has been made. *.*. * *6. A vessel as described in claim 1 and 2 where the integrated circuit has a separate signal inputs which is used to detect tamper and shut down the tags response to indicate the tamper attempt to the user.7. A vessel as described in claim 1 and 2 where the integrated circuit * ** has a separate signal inputs which is used to detect tamper and cause the tag to send an altered code to the interrogator to * indicate the tamper attempt.8; A vessel as described in claim 1 where the capacitive area forming the capacitive plate (fig2,4) at the top of the known tag slides away from the conductive top of the vessel when the vessel is opened to reduce the reading range.9. A vessel as described in claim 1 where the capacitive area forming the capacitive plate (figl,8) which couples the RF signal into the fluid is shaped to fit the aesthetics of the bottle whilst still providing the surface area necessary to fulfil its function.1.A vessel as described in claim 1 where the conductive area of the tag (figl,3) extends in length over the top of the vessel providing improved capacitive connection and better signal capture of the external transmitter signal.ll.A vessel as described in claim 1 where the metal contact forming the connection to the electrically conductive top of the vessel is disconnected from the known tag by any opening attempt. * ** * * * *** *S..... * * *S*. S... *.. * * S. * . S * 55S 55.S