Switch using radio frequency identification
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorsPatrick W. Fink, Gregory Y. Lin, Timothy F. Kennedy, Phong H. Ngo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is an apparatus for use as a switch. In one embodiment, the switch comprises at least one RFID tag, each RFID tag comprising an antenna element and an RFID integrated circuit, at least one source element, and at least one lever arm. Each lever arm is connected to one of the RFID tags, and each lever arm is capable of two positions. One of the positions places the lever arm and the RFID tag connected thereto into alignment with the source element. Other embodiments are also described.
Claims13
An apparatus for use as a switch, comprising:
- a ring tag including a ring element with an RFID circuit, the ring tag attached to a membrane rotatable on a rotation axis to place the ring tag into a first position, wherein the ring tag is not coupled to a source element, and into a second position, wherein the ring tag is coupled to the source element, wherein the RFID circuit comprises an RFID integrated circuit, the membrane comprises a strip of insulating fabric, the source element comprises a fabric antenna, and a fastener is used to fasten the end of the membrane in either the first or second position.
An apparatus for use as a switch, comprising:
- at least one RFID tag, each RFID tag comprising an antenna element and an RFID integrated circuit;
- at least one source element;
- and
- at least one lever arm, each lever arm having the at least one RFID tag attached thereto, each lever arm capable of being placed in at least two positions, wherein one of the at least two positions being such that the lever arm and the RFID tag affixed thereto are placed into alignment with the source element.
An apparatus for use as a switch, comprising:
- a first RFID tag, the first RFID tag comprising an antenna element and an RFID circuit, located at a first location;
- at least one lever arm, each lever arm capable of being placed in at least a first position and a second position, the first RFID tag being disabled when the at least one lever arm is placed in the first position;
- an interrogator capable of reading a RFID signal that is not disabled;
- and
- a processor, capable of communicating to the interrogator, for processing the RFID signal received from the interrogator and for discerning the position of the lever arm based on whether the RFID signal is not disabled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.