Operation monitoring and enhanced host communications in systems employing electronic article surveillance and RFID tags

A method of monitoring electronic tag operation comprising the steps of

• passing an item through a read volume;
• identifying the item by reading a label on the item with a data reader device and thereby obtaining identification data;
• determining whether the item includes an EAS tag by attempting to sense an EAS tag using an EAS sense and deactivation system;
• if an EAS tag has been sensed, (a) attempting to deactivate the EAS tag and (b) validating whether the EAS tag has been deactivated by attempting to re-sense the EAS tag after attempting to deactivate;
• if the EAS tag has been re-sensed, repeating steps (a) and (b) for up to a given period or a given number of cycles;
• assembling operation data of the EAS system pertaining to sensing and attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• correlating the EAS system operation data to the item identified,
• wherein the step of correlating comprises:
• appending the EAS system operation data to the identification data to generate a combined data string;
• and
• transmitting the EAS system operation data and the identification data as a combined data string to a host.

A method of monitoring electronic tag operation comprising the steps of

• passing an item through a read volume;
• identifying the item by reading a label on the item with a data reader device and thereby obtaining identification data;
• determining whether the item includes an EAS tag by attempting to sense an EAS tag using an EAS sense and deactivation system;
• if an EAS tag has been sensed, (a) attempting to deactivate the EAS tag and (b) validating whether the EAS tag has been deactivated by attempting to re-sense the EAS tag after attempting to deactivate;
• if the EAS tag has been re-sensed, repeating steps (a) and (b) for up to a given period or a given number of cycles;
• assembling operation data of the EAS system pertaining to sensing and attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• correlating the EAS system operation data to the item identified,
• wherein the step of correlating further comprises:
• sending the identification data to a host and separately sending the EAS system operation data to the host, and
• automatically matching the EAS system operation data to the identification data if the EAS system operation data is received by the host within a predetermined time period of receiving the identification data.

A method of monitoring electronic tag operation comprising the steps of

• passing an item through a read volume;
• identifying the item by reading a label on the item with a data reader device and thereby obtaining identification data;
• determining whether the item includes an EAS tag by attempting to sense an EAS tag using an EAS sense and deactivation system;
• if an EAS tag has been sensed, (a) attempting to deactivate the EAS tag and (b) validating whether the EAS tag has been deactivated by attempting to re-sense the EAS tag after attempting to deactivate;
• if the EAS tag has been re-sensed, repeating steps (a) and (b) for up to a given period or a given number of cycles;
• assembling operation data of the EAS system pertaining to sensing and attempting to deactivate the EAS tag, the EAS system operation data including the number of deactivation attempts;
• correlating the EAS system operation data, including the number of deactivation attempts, to the item identified,
• wherein the step of assembling data further comprises measuring a time it takes to sense the EAS tag after successfully reading the label.

A method of operating a data reading and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining item identification data by reading, with a data reader device, a label on an item being passed through a read volume of the data reader device;
• (b) attempting to sense an EAS tag on the item;
• (c) if an EAS tag has been sensed, attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• (d) collecting EAS system operation data including the number of deactivation attempts with respect to the results of steps (b) and (c);
• (e) correlating the collected EAS system operation data to the item, the collected EAS system operation data including the number of deactivation attempts having been attempted on the item;
• (f) determining a success rate for deactivating an EAS tag on a particular item or class of items, based on results from steps (a)-(e).

A method of operating a data reading and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining item identification data by reading a label on an item being passed through a read volume of a data reader device;
• (b) attempting to sense an EAS tag on the item;
• (c) if an EAS tag has been sensed, attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• (d) collecting EAS system operation data including the number of deactivation attempts with respect to the results of steps (b) and (c);
• and
• (e) correlating the EAS system operation data collected including the number of deactivation attempts collected to the item identified,
• wherein the step of correlating comprises:
• appending the collected EAS system operation data to the item identification data to form combined data;
• and
• transmitting the combined data to a host.

A method of operating a data reading and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining item identification data by reading, with a data reader device, a label on an item being passed through a read volume of the data reader device;
• (b) attempting to sense an EAS tag on the item;
• (c) if an EAS tag has been sensed, attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• (d) collecting EAS system operation data with respect to the results of steps (b) and (c);
• and
• (e) correlating the EAS system operation data collected to the item identified,
• wherein the step of correlating further comprises:
• transmitting the item identification data to a host and separately transmitting the EAS system operation data to the host;
• and
• automatically matching the EAS system operation data to the item identification data if the EAS system operation data is received by the host within a predetermined time period of receiving the item identification data.

A method of operating a data reading and electronic article security (EAS) system, comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining item identification data by reading, with a data reader device, a label on an item being passed through a read volume of the data reader;
• (b) attempting to sense an EAS tag on the item;
• (c) if an EAS tag has been sensed, attempting to deactivate the EAS tag;
• (d) collecting EAS system operation data with respect to the results of steps (b) and (c), wherein the step of collecting data comprises measuring a time it takes to sense the EAS tag after reading the label;
• and
• matching the EAS system operation data to the item identification data if the EAS system operation data is received by the host within a predetermined time as measured.

A system for monitoring electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag quality comprising:

• a combined system of a data reader and an EAS system for reading labels appended to an item and for sensing and deactivating EAS tags appended to the item;
• means within the combined system for identifying a defective EAS tag comprising means for identifying EAS tags that have been sensed but not deactivated as defective tags;
• means for indicating presence of the defective EAS tag;
• means for correlating the number of deactivation attempts to item information of the item;
• means within the combined system for tallying a number of defective EAS tags by type of item identified.