Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
  • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
  • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
  • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
  • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
  • G08B13/2402—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting
  • G08B13/2405—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting characterised by the tag technology used
  • G08B13/2408—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting characterised by the tag technology used using ferromagnetic tags
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
  • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
  • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
  • G08B13/2402—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting
  • G08B13/2428—Tag details
  • G08B13/2437—Tag layered structure, processes for making layered tags
  • G08B13/244—Tag manufacturing, e.g. continuous manufacturing processes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
  • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
  • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
  • G08B13/2402—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting
  • G08B13/2428—Tag details
  • G08B13/2437—Tag layered structure, processes for making layered tags
  • G08B13/2442—Tag materials and material properties thereof, e.g. magnetic material details
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G08—SIGNALLING
  • G08B—SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
  • G08B13/00—Burglar, theft or intruder alarms
  • G08B13/22—Electrical actuation
  • G08B13/24—Electrical actuation by interference with electromagnetic field distribution
  • G08B13/2402—Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting
  • G08B13/2465—Aspects related to the EAS system, e.g. system components other than tags
  • G08B13/2488—Timing issues, e.g. synchronising measures to avoid signal collision, with multiple emitters or a single emitter and receiver
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S148/00—Metal treatment
  • Y10S148/003—Anneal
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S29/00—Metal working
  • Y10S29/095—Magnetic or electrostatic

Definitions

• the present invention is directed to an amorphous magnetostrictive alloy for use
• the present invention is also directed to a magnetomechanical electronic article
• amorphous magnetostrictive alloy and a method for making the marker.
• the marker can either be removed from the article, or converted
• Such systems employ a detection
• harmonics One type of electronic article surveillance system is known as a harmonic
• the marker is composed of ferromagnetic material
• detector system produces an electromagnetic field at a predetermined frequency.
• the detection system is tuned to detect certain harmonic frequencies. If such harmonic frequencies
• a resonator composed of an element of magnetostrictive material, known as a resonator, disposed
• biasing element adjacent a strip of magnetizable material, known as a biasing element.
• the resonator is composed of amorphous ferromagnetic material and the biasing element is composed of crystalline ferromagnetic material.
• the marker is
• the detector arrangement includes a
• the transmitter which transmits pulses in the form of RF bursts at a frequency in the low radio-frequency range, such as 58 kHz.
• the pulses (bursts) are emitted (transmitted)
• the detector arrangement includes a receiver which is synchronized (gated) with the
• the transmitter so that it is activated only during the pauses between the pulses emitted by the transmitter.
• the receiver "expects" to detect nothing in these pauses between the
• the resonator emits a signal which "rings" at the resonator frequency, with
• the detector usually must detect a signal
• the receiver circuit employs two detection windows within each
• the receiver integrates any 58 kHz signal (in this example) which is present in
• each window and compares the integration results of the respective signals integrated in the windows. Since the signal produced by the marker is a decaying signal, if the
• RF source which may coincidentally be at, or have harmonics at, the predetermined
• the receiver electronics is synchronized by a
• the receiver electronics is
• the receiver electronics is deactivated, and is then re-activated in a second detection
• the evaluation electronics assumes that the signal detected in the first window did not
• a, b, c, d, e, f and g are at%, a ranges from about 40 to about 43, b ranges from
• the alloy can be cast by rapid solidification into ribbon, annealed to enhance the
• the marker is
• harmonic marker systems operate magnetically. Voltage amplitudes detected for the
• amo ⁇ hous magnetic alloy which is heat treated, while applying a transverse saturating
• the treated strip is used in a marker for aplanneded-interrogation
• a preferred material for the strip is formed of iron,
• magnetomechanical article surveillance system which has optimum characteristics for use in such a system, and which is "invisible" to a harmonic system, has yet to be
• the resonator signal still has a relatively high amplitude at the time the second
• B-H loop would be "invisible" to a harmonic surveillance system.
• magnetomechanical surveillance system is that the resonant frequency of the resonator
• the bias element is used to activate and deactivate the marker, and thus is
• the resonant frequency of the resonator not change
• the material used to make the resonator must have mechanical properties
• the ribbon must be unrolled from a supply reel, passed through the annealing furnace,
• the annealed ribbon is usually cut
• activated condition can be excited by an alternating magnetic field so as to exhibit
• magnetostrictive amorphous alloy which, when excited, produces oscillations at the
• a further object is to provide such an alloy wherein the resonant frequency f r
• Another object of the present invention is to provide such an alloy which, when
• activated resonator has a resonator quality 100 ⁇ Q ⁇ 600, a linear B-H loop up to a
• the above resonator produces a signal, which in addition to the above attributes
• the alloy is prepared by rapid quenching from the melt to produce an amorphous
• a transverse magnetic field i.e., a magnetic field having a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal (longest)
• the annealed alloy forming a resonator having the above
• A(t) A(0) • exp (-t • ⁇ • f/Q)
• A(O) is an initial amplitude and Q is the quality of the resonator.
• Q should be below approximately 500-600, but should be at least
• the upper range limit for Q determines the maximum decay time
• composition has a Q within that range, and results in a drop in the signal amplitude of
• a marker for use in a magnetomechanical surveillance system has a resonator
• Such a marker is suitable
• a detector tuned to detect signals at the predetermined frequency, a synchronization
• the receiver circuit is activated to look for a signal at the predetermined frequency
• the alarm is generated when a signal is detected which is identified as originating from a marker in more than one
• the ring-down time of the marker has appropriate
• Figure 1 shows a marker, with the upper part of its housing partly pulled away
• FIG. 2 illustrates the signals produced by different markers with different
• Figure 3 shows the relationship of the ratio between the signal amplitude in the
• Figure 4 shows the relationship of the signal amplitude in the first detection
• Figure 5 illustrates a typical B-H loop exhibited by amorphous magnetostrictive
• Figure 6 shows the relationship between the resonant frequency and the signal
• Figure 7 illustrates the relationship between the resonator quality Q and the
• Figure 8 shows the relationship between the signal amplitude and the frequency
• Figure 9 illustrates the overlap of the resonant curves at different bias fields for
• Figure 10 shows the relationship between the ratio of signal amplitude in a burst
• Figure 1 illustrates a magnetomechanical electronic surveillance system
• a marker 1 having a housing 2 which contains a resonator 3 and a magnetic
• the resonator 3 is cut from a ribbon of annealed amorphous
• magnetostrictive metal having a composition according to the formula
• activated resonator has a resonator quality 100 ⁇ Q ⁇ 600 and produces a signal having
• the resonator 3 has a quality Q in a range
• biasing between 100 and 600, preferably below 500 and preferably above 200.
• the resonator 3 exhibits a change in its
• the resonant frequency of the resonator 3 changes
• the resonator 3 has an anisotropy field H ⁇ of at least 10 Oe. Moreover, the resonator 3 has a magnetic anisotropy which is set transversely
• resonator 3 is cut in a transverse magnetic field substantially perpendicular to the
• the resonator 3 produces a signal which can be substantially
• the magnetomechanical surveillance system shown in Figure 1 operates in a
• the system in addition to the marker 1 , includes a transmitter circuit
• the transmitter circuit 5 is controlled to emit the aforementioned
• a synchronization circuit 9 which also controls a receiver circuit 7 having
• an activated marker 1 i.e., a marker 1 having a
• magnetized bias element 4 is present between the coils 6 and 8 when the transmitter
• the synchronization circuit 9 controls the receiver circuit 7 so as to activate the
• the receiver circuit 7 integrates any signal
• the predetermined frequency such as 58 kHz , which is present.
• the marker 1 should have a relatively high initial amplitude upon excitation, preferably
• the signal should have a minimum amplitude of about
• the inventive resonator produces a signal fulfilling
• windowl signal (A1 ) was measured 1 ms after excitation and a signal representative
• window2 (A2) was measured 7 ms after excitation. These are times which fall in the
• the synchronization circuit 9 deactivates the receiver circuit 7, and
• the receiver circuit 7 again integrates any signal at the predetermined frequency (58 kHz). If the signal at this frequency is a predetermined frequency (58 kHz).
• window be of an optimum magnitude, i.e., it must not be too high so as to be mistaken
• Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between the resonator quality Q and the ratio
• the resonator quality Q should be below 600, and
• a resonator quality Q of at least 100, and preferably 200, is needed, however, in order to obtain an adequate signal amplitude in the first detection
• an alarm 10 is triggered.
• the receiver circuit 7 can be required to detect signals which satisfy the
• bursts emitted by the transmitter circuit 5 such as four successive pauses.
• marker 1 is deactivated, i.e, when the bias element 4 is demagnetized.
• the resonator quality Q will have values above 1 ,000, which means that
• the resonator quality Q can be reduced by a number of different measures
• thickness can be made very large, for example, 30-60 ⁇ m, which results in eddy
• dashed line shown in Figure 4 represents the typical drop in the signal amplitude which occurs when the resonator quality Q is artificially or forcibly lowered by such measures.
• Amorphous ribbons having a 6 mm ribbon width and a typical ribbon thickness
• the quality Q was measured from the decay behavior of the oscillation
• Exemplary embodiments 1.A through 1. J in Table I show a number of alloys
• Examples 1.A and 1.B represent commercially obtainable alloys, which produced
• Examples 1C through 1 J exhibit a higher anisotropy field strength H ⁇ and a high
• test field strength H b changes by approximately 1 Oe.
• Such a change in the bias field H b can occur, for example, merely by a marker being
• Tables II and III show alloy samples for which the desired, low-frequency change
• Samples 11.1- 11-12 from Table II are cobalt-rich samples which are distinguished
• Samples II.1-11.7 are preferred.
• Figure 4 shows that a reduced Q without significant loss of signal amplitude can be simultaneously achieved using the inventive alloy compositions. All of the examples represented in Figure 4 exhibit a higher signal amplitude than the aforementioned unsuitable samples, when their quality Q is "artificially” lowered by mechanical damping, or by other measures unrelated to alloy
• 6 are suitable for ribbon which is about
• the cobalt content can amount to a minimum of 32 at% and the iron content can
• a preferred embodiment within this generalized description has a
• One preferred embodiment within this generalized set has an iron content of
• Another preferred embodiment within this generalized set has a cobalt content
• a third generalized set of alloys has a nickel content between 30 at% and 53
• Another generalized set of alloys has a nickel content of at least 10 at%
• molybdenum, niobium, chromium and manganese can be included in small atomic
• carbon and phosphorous can be employed to promote glass formation, and therefore
• alloys made in accordance herewith can be expected to contain carbon in an amount
• ferro-boron which contains carbon as an impurity, and by chemical reaction of the melt
• compositions being fed to the circumference of the rotating wheel via a nozzle.
• the annealing speed can be correspondingly higher (about 1 m/min to 20
• the magnetic field used during the annealing was transverse to the longitudinal
• the magnetic field had a strength of
• the on-time of the bursts was about one-tenth of the 60 Hz repetition rate
• the resonant amplitudes were measured at 1 ms and 2 ms after
• the values A1 indicate the signal amplitude at 1 ms after termination of the burst.
• N is the number of turns of the receiver coil
• W is the
• width of the resonator and H ac is the field strength of the excitation (driving) field.
• the resonator quality was calculated assuming an exponential decay of the
• the frequency versus bias slope was determined between 6 and 7 Oe, and the
• FIGS 5 through 8 illustrate the typical characteristics of the magnetic
• the sample is 6 mm wide and 24 ⁇ m thick.
• the length was
• the annealing conditions were intentionally selected
• Figure 5 shows the B-H loop recorded at 50 Hz.
• Figure 5 is an ideal loop for a transverse anisotropy, for defining the anisotropy field H k ,
• Figure 6 shows the resonant frequency and the resonant amplitude A1 of this
• the resonator In the activated state, the resonator is biased with a magnetic field which is
• the resonator exhibits a high
• test conditions will be at a minimum of about 40 mV, in order to provide good
• the marker is deactivated by decreasing or eliminating the bias field, thereby
• subject to scatter may not exhibit exactly the target frequency at the target bias
• the resonator 3 must be designed so that its frequency vs.
• bias slope is not too steep.
• Figure 8 shows the resonant amplitude A1 against the frequency at a bias field
• the resonator 3 still shows a sufficient signal at the transmitter frequency of 58 kHz, even if the resonant frequency is not precisely hit.
• df,/dH b is preferably below about 700 Hz Oe.
• the bias field for activating the resonator 3 is between about 6 and 7 Oe.
• the resonant frequency of the resonator 3 should change
• the dashed curve is the ac field strength at 18 mOe, typically used in aforementioned standard test, while the other
• the deactivation is achieved by demagnetizing the bias element 4.
• a "demagnetized" bias element 4 may still exhibit a small
• resonant frequency at 6.5 Oe should be at least 1.2 kHz in order to guarantee that the
• composition and the thermal treatment so that the slope is about 550 Hz/Oe to 650
• 200 and 550 is particularly well-suited for the resonator 3.
• the resonator Q determines the ring-down time of the
• A(t) A(0) exp(-t ⁇ f/Q).
• the resonator signal requires the same time constant to "ring-
• A(0) Atechnische(1-exp(-t ON ⁇ f r /Q))
• N is the on-time of the burst transmitter and , is the signal amplitude
• amplitude A1 i.e., the amplitude occurring 1 ms after excitation:
• A(1 ms) A ⁇ (1-exp(-to N ⁇ f/Q)) exp (-1 ms ⁇ f/Q)
• the magnetoacoustic properties react sensitively to the composition and to the
• compositions can be compensated by changing the annealing parameters. It is highly
• the anisotropy field H k of the continuous ribbon can be monitored, as well

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Electromagnetism (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Burglar Alarm Systems (AREA)
• Soft Magnetic Materials (AREA)
• Coils Or Transformers For Communication (AREA)
• Investigating Or Analyzing Materials Using Thermal Means (AREA)
• Analysing Materials By The Use Of Radiation (AREA)

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• 1997
  • 1997-07-09 US US08/890,723 patent/US5841348A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1998
  • 1998-07-01 DE DE69831492T patent/DE69831492T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 EP EP98939591A patent/EP0996942B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 EP EP05010323A patent/EP1562160B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 DE DE69834282T patent/DE69834282T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 JP JP51497999A patent/JP4101307B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 AT AT05010323T patent/ATE323925T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-07-01 ES ES05010323T patent/ES2263146T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-07-01 WO PCT/EP1998/004053 patent/WO1999013442A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1998-07-01 PT PT05010323T patent/PT1562160E/pt unknown
  • 1998-07-01 AT AT98939591T patent/ATE304197T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-07-01 DK DK05010323T patent/DK1562160T3/da active
  • 1998-07-01 KR KR1020007000165A patent/KR100582580B1/ko not_active Expired - Lifetime

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