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US 2025/0174098 A1Published application
Anti-theft device with remote alarm feature
AssigneeFasteners for Retail, Inc.
InventorsBrent O. Ewing, Chan Chor Man, Thomas O. Nagel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An anti-theft device with a remote alarm feature is provided. The device is configured to attach to an item of retail merchandise and detect when a predetermined motion and light condition are met which together are indicative of a potential retail theft. Upon detection, the device is configured to generate a local alarm, and send a radio frequency to a remote device to generate an alarm at the remote device.
Claims29
A theft detection device, comprising:
- a light sensor;
- a motion sensor;
- an emitter;
- an antenna configured to emit a wireless signal separately from the emitter;
- a controller;
- wherein the controller is configured to determine a light level sensed by the light sensor;
- wherein the controller is configured to determine, via the motion sensor, whether the theft detection device is in motion;
- wherein the controller is configured to operate the antenna based on the sensed motion of the theft detection device and the light level sensed by the light sensor such that the wireless signal is transmitted by the antenna to an alarm box.
5 more elements
A theft detection system, comprising:
- at least one retail merchandise tag configured for attachment to an item of retail merchandise, the at least one retail merchandise tag configured to detect a change in motion of the retail merchandise tag sensed by a motion sensor of the at least one retail merchandise tag, and a change in light sensed via a light sensor of the at least one retail merchandise tag which together are indicative of a potential retail theft condition;
- an alarm box, the alarm box configured to receive a signal from the at least one retail merchandise tag, the signal being at least one of an audible tone generated by an emitter of the at least one retail merchandise tag and a wireless signal generated by an antenna of the retail merchandise tag;
- and
- wherein the at least one retail merchandise tag and the alarm box are each operable to generate an alarm upon detection of the potential retail theft condition simultaneously.
1 more element
A method of detecting a potential retail theft and generating an alarm, the method comprising:
- detecting motion of a retail merchandise tag using a motion sensor of the retail merchandise tag;
- detecting a light condition using a light sensor of the retail merchandise tag;
- determining whether the motion and the light condition are indicative of a potential retail theft using a microprocessor of the retail merchandise tag;
- and
- upon determination that the motion and the light condition are indicative of a potential retail theft, generating an alarm at an alarm box remote from the retail merchandise tag.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.