RFID Tag Type Identifier for Encoding Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
RFID tags vary widely in physical and electrical characteristics, leading to issues during encoding and printing, such as improper encoding or printing errors due to lack of information on tag types, resulting in unsuitable tags and waste.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a tag-type identifier, such as an optical or electronic code, stored within the RFID tag's integrated circuit, to facilitate automatic processing and ensure correct assignment parameters, including encoder and printer settings, by recovering the tag-type identifier and using it to determine suitable assignment parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If RFID tags are provided in bulk format for singulation and assignment, then productivity is improved through batch processing, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to lack of tag-type information during encoding and printing
Solution Approach 1:
The tag-type identifier is incorporated into the RFID tag during manufacturing, before the tags are singulated and assigned. This preliminary inclusion of identification information allows the assignment process to automatically determine appropriate encoding and printing settings without requiring manual intervention or tag-by-tag inspection, thus maintaining high precision while processing tags in bulk
Solution Approach 2:
The tag-type identifier serves as an intermediary between the physical RFID tag and the assignment process. By reading this identifier, the system can automatically determine the correct encoding and printing parameters for each tag type, enabling batch processing with precision that would otherwise require individual tag analysis
2Manufacturing precision
If encoding and printing parameters are manually configured for each RFID tag type, then manufacturing precision is improved through proper tag assignment, but device complexity increases due to multiple configuration parameters and error-prone manual processes
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the tag-type identifier to automatically determine the appropriate encoding and printing parameters without requiring manual configuration. The process serves itself by reading the identifier from the tag and autonomously selecting the correct settings, eliminating the need for complex manual configuration procedures and reducing errors
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of manually configuring multiple parameters for different tag types, the system changes parameters automatically based on the tag-type identifier. The identifier encodes information about the appropriate parameters, allowing the system to switch between different encoding and printing configurations simply by reading the identifier rather than manually adjusting multiple settings
3Manufacturing precision
If comprehensive tag information is collected and processed during assignment, then manufacturing precision is improved through correct parameter selection, but loss of time increases due to additional information processing steps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential tag-type identifier information needed for parameter selection, rather than collecting and processing comprehensive tag information. By focusing on the specific identifier that determines encoding and printing parameters, the system achieves accurate parameter selection without the time cost of analyzing all possible tag characteristics
Data Source
AI summary
An RFID tag includes a tag-type identifier. This tag-type identifier can represent data encoder-relevant tag-type information and/or printer-relevant tag-type information as desired. This identifier can comprise an optical or electronic code such as a numeric, binary, or hexadecimal code. This code can be stored within the RFID tag's integrated circuit (for example, within the integrated circuit's stored EPC field). These teachings also provide for recovering from an unassigned RFID tag its tag-type identifier and using that tag-type identifier to facilitate automatically processing the RFID tag when assigning the RFID tag to a corresponding item. This can comprise utilizing the tag-type identifier to determine corresponding assignment-facilitation information to use when assigning the RFID tag. Examples in these regards, include, for example, an RFID tag encoder power setting or position, a printer setting, or a label layout.