Method and system for deactivation of combination eas/rfid tags
AssigneeSensormatic Electronics Corporation
InventorsMing-Ren Lian, Richard Loyd Copeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A combination Electronic Article Surveillance/Radio Frequency Identification (“EAS/RFID”) tag and method and system for deactivating said combination EAS/RFID tags without the need to physically contact the tag with a deactivation device. The EAS/RFID tag replaces the conventional diode with a non-linear device such as a capacitor with a given breakdown voltage threshold. Inducing a predetermined voltage across the capacitor results in destruction of the capacitor rendering the EAS/RFID tag undetectable in the interrogation systems.
Claims20
A combination electronic article surveillance/radio frequency identification (“EAS/RFID”) device comprising:
- a semiconductor device having an EAS circuit and an RFID circuit;
- an antenna circuit in electrical communication with the semiconductor device;
- and
- a capacitor, the capacitor including an insulation layer, wherein application of a predetermined voltage to the capacitor results in electrical breakdown of the insulation layer resulting in permanent deactivation of the EAS/RFID device.
A combination electronic article surveillance/radio frequency identification (“EAS/RFID”) deactivation system comprising:
- a combination EAS/RFID tag, the tag comprising:
- a semiconductor device having an EAS circuit and an RFID circuit;
- an antenna circuit in electrical communication with the semiconductor device;
- and
- a capacitor, the capacitor including an insulation layer, wherein application of a predetermined voltage to the capacitor results in electrical breakdown of the insulation layer resulting in permanent deactivation of the EAS/RFID device;
- and
- a deactivation device adapted to cause application of the predetermined voltage to the capacitor when the combination EAS/RFID tag is placed in non-contact proximity to the deactivation device.
A method of deactivating a combination electronic article surveillance/radio frequency identification (“EAS/RFID”) tag without physically contacting the tag, the method comprising:
- providing a semiconductor device having an EAS circuit and an RFID circuit;
- providing an antenna circuit in electrical communication with the semiconductor device;
- providing a capacitor, the capacitor including an insulation layer, and
- applying a predetermined voltage to the capacitor that results in electrical breakdown of the insulation layer resulting in permanent deactivation of the EAS/RFID device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.