Deactivator with wireless communication enabler
AssigneeSensormatic Electronics Corporation
InventorAdam S. Bergman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems (100, 150) and methods (700, 800) for transitioning a handheld device (100) from a partially inoperative state to a fully operative state. The methods comprise performing operations to pair a first communication device (150) and a second communication device (100). In response to the pairing of the first and second communication devices, the second communication device is transitioned from the partially inoperative state in which deactivation operations for deactivating an active security tag (124) are disabled to the fully operative state in which said deactivation operations are enabled.
Claims20
A method for operating a handheld device, comprising:
- obtaining a unique identifier from a first communication device;
- comparing the unique identifier to a plurality of pre-stored unique identifiers identifying authorized users of a second communication device;
- performing operations to pair the first communication device and the second communication device when results of the comparing indicate that the unique identifier matches one of the pre-stored unique identifier;
- in response to the pairing of the first and second communication devices, transitioning the second communication device from a partially inoperative state in which deactivation operations for deactivating an active Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) security tag are disabled to a fully operative state in which said deactivation operations are enabled;
- and
- transitioning the second communication device back to the partially inoperative state when the first communication device travels out of range of the second communication device.
A system, comprising:
- a first communication device configured to be paired to with a second communication device, where a paring between the first and second communication devices is performed when results of comparison operations indicate that a unique identifier obtained from the first communication device matches one of a plurality of pre-stored unique identifiers identifying authorized users of the second communication device;
- and
- the second communication device that transitions from a partially inoperative state in which deactivation operations for deactivating an active Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) security tag are disabled to a fully operative state in which said deactivation operations are enabled, in response to the pairing of the first and second communication devices;
- wherein the second communication device transitions back to the partially inoperative state when the first communication device travels out of range of the second communication device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.