Patent Application
20080048867
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the following drawings.
PIG. 5 is a diagram of a prior art dipole RFID reader antenna.
The subject is now described in more detail.
Reader 110 and tag 120 exchange data via wave 112 and wave 126. In a session of such an exchange, each encodes, modulates, and transmits data to the other, and each receives, demodulates, and decodes data from the other. The data is modulated onto, and decoded from, RF waveforms.
Encoding the data in waveforms can be performed in a number of different ways. For example, protocols are devised to communicate in terms of symbols, also called RFID symbols. A symbol for communicating can be a delimiter, a calibration symbol, and so on. Further symbols can be implemented for ultimately exchanging binary data, such as “0” and “1”, if that is desired. In turn, when the waveforms are processed internally by reader 110 and tag 120, they can be equivalently considered and treated as numbers having corresponding values, and so on.
Tag 120 can be a passive tag or an active tag, i.e. having its own power source. Where tag 120 is a passive tag, it is powered from wave 112.
Tag 220 is formed on a substantially planar inlay 222, which can be made in many ways known in the art. Tag 220 also includes two antenna segments 227, which are usually flat and attached to inlay 222. Antenna segments 227 are shown here forming a dipole, but many other embodiments using any number of antenna segments are possible, as will be seen later.
Tag 220 also includes an electrical circuit, which is preferably implemented in an integrated circuit (IC) 224. IC 224 is also arranged on inlay 222, and electrically coupled to antenna segments 227. Only one method of coupling is shown, while many are possible.
In operation, a signal is received by antenna segments 227, and communicated to IC 224. IC 224 both harvests power, and responds if appropriate, based on the incoming signal and its internal state. In order to respond by replying, IC 224 modulates the reflectance of antenna segments 227, which generates the backscatter from a wave transmitted by the reader. Coupling together and uncoupling antenna segments 227 can modulate the reflectance, as can a variety of other means.
In the embodiment of
An example of an RFID tag is now described, which is better suitable for being made in relatively smaller dimensions. A good rule of thumb is that the largest antenna dimension is less than λ/8, where λ is the wavelength of the frequency. For UHF RFID, at a frequency of 900 MHz, that wavelength λ is 33 cm (about 1 ft).
Tag 270 is formed on a substantially planar inlay 272, which can be similar to inlay 222. Tag 270 also includes antenna segments 277, which are usually flat and attached to inlay 272. These antenna segments are advantageous for reading magnetic fields, and were first disclosed in copending U.S. Serial application Ser. No. 29/254,156, filed Feb. 17, 2006, Attorney Docket No. IMPJ-0189 (033327-000146).
Antenna segments 227 shown here are advantageous for small tags. Indeed, their largest dimension is the diameter of the large loop, which can be less than 4 cm. As such, they are well suited for tagging individual items, and especially small items, such as pharmaceuticals, etc.
Tag 270 also includes an electrical circuit, which is preferably implemented in an integrated circuit (IC) 274, similar to IC 224. Operation is similar as described above.
The components of the RFID system of
RFID reader 110 and RFID tag 120 talk and listen to each other by taking turns. As seen on axis TIME, when reader 110 talks to tag 120 the communication session is designated as “R→T”, and when tag 120 talks to reader 110 the communication session is designated as “T→R”. Along the TIME axis, a sample R→T communication session occurs during a time interval 312, and a following sample T→R communication session occurs during a time interval 326. Of course interval 312 is typically of a different duration than interval 326—here the durations are shown approximately equal only for purposes of illustration.
According to blocks 332 and 336, RFID reader 110 talks during interval 312, and listens daring interval 326. According to blocks 342 and 346, RFID tag 120 listens while reader 110 talks (during interval 312), and talks while reader 110 listens (during interval 326).
In terms of actual technical behavior, during interval 312, reader 110 talks to tag 120 as follows. According to block 352, reader 110 transmits wave 112, which was first described in
During interval 326, tag 120 talks to reader 110 as follows. According to block 356, reader 110 transmits a Continuous Wave (CW), which can be thought of as a carrier signal that ideally encodes no information. As discussed before, this carrier signal serves both to be harvested by tag 120 for its own internal power needs, and also as a wave that tag 120 can backscatter. Indeed, during interval 326, according to block 366, tag 120 does not receive a signal for processing. Instead, according to block 376, tag 120 modulates the CW emitted according to block 356, so as to generate backscatter wave 126. Concurrently, according to block 386, reader 110 receives backscatter wave 126 and processes it.
In the above, an RFID reader/interrogator may communicate with one or more RFID tags in any number of ways. Some such ways are called protocols. A protocol is a specification that calls for specific manners of signaling between the reader and the tags.
One such protocol is called the Specification for RFID Air Interface—EPC™ Radio-Frequency Identity Protocols Class-1 Generation-2 UHF RFID Protocol for Communications at 860 MHz-960 MHz, which is also colloquially known as “the Gen2 Spec”. The Gen2 Spec has been ratified by EPCglobal, which is an organization that maintains a website at: <http://www.epcglobaline.org/> at the time this document is initially filed with the USPTO.
A driver 430 can send a driving signal, to cause its respective antenna 440 to transmit an RF wave 412, which is analogous to RF wave 112 of
Unit 420 also has other components 450, such as hardware and software, which control drivers 430. Accordingly, components 450 cause RF wave 412 to be sent, and interpret the sensed backscattered RF wave 426. Optionally and preferably there is a communication link 425 to other equipment, such as computers and the like, for remote operation of system 410.
Antenna 640 can be provided on an optional base 648, similarly to how antenna 540 can be provided on an optional base 548. Conductor 647 is excited by art excitation signal, which is typically received by conductors 635 from an RFID driver. Conductors 635 can be implemented as a coaxial cable as is known in the art.
An advantage of antenna 640 is that it can produce a substantially uniform magnetic field, but only if the perimeter length of the loop is less than one wavelength, and preferably less than a fraction of that. A useful antenna size for item level tagging is with conductor 647 having a loop perimeter of about 50 cm (about 20 in.)
These conditions can be met by HF RFID, whose frequency of about 13.56 MHz corresponds to a wavelength of about 22 m (more than 70 ft). If conductor 647 has a perimeter of 50 cm, it will work, because the phase drop along 50 cm is small compared to the long wavelength of 22 m. Indeed, there will be no self-canceling, because the length does not reach half a wavelength, after which the phase would invert.
A problem has been that these conditions could not be met by UHF RFID, whose wavelength is only 33 cm. The phase would invert within the loop, causing self-canceling, and thus no workable magnetic field would be generated.
The invention includes an antenna for an UHF RFID reader and methods for driving such antennas. In some embodiments, such antennas and driving them can produce a magnetic field that is usably large.
As will be seen from the below, antennas according to embodiments of the invention have special configurations. Such antennas can also be called discontinuous-loop antennas, or broken loop antennas. These special configurations include one, two or more loop sections. It will be understood that many of these loop sections are actually discontinuous, in that they are made by conductors, but there are gaps between them.
Each of these loop sections can resemble a loop, or not. If not, it could work with other loop sections to form an aggregate that resembles a loop, or not.
A set of embodiments is now described where the loop sections, each alone or in combination with each other, are shaped so that they actually resemble a loop. As will be seen, they confer the important advantage that their conductors generate magnetic subfields that become added. First an example of embodiments with a single loop section will be described, and then one with two, and thus their similarities will be understood.
The antennas of the invention may be driven by driving components, which may or may not be similar to what was described in
These driving components are part of an RFID reader system that outputs an excitation signal ES as a potential difference between driving nodes DN1, DN2. Excitation signal ES is an AC signal, alternating at an excitation frequency larger than 200 MHz, and preferably where RFID domains can be established. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the excitation frequency is in a range centered on approximately 900 MHz, and in other embodiments the excitation frequency is in a range centered on approximately 2.4 GHz. When excitation signal ES is received by an antenna, such as that of
In some embodiments, an antenna according to the invention includes at least three conductors that do not contact each other. It will be appreciated that more than three conductors are used, and in fact some preferred embodiments have higher numbers of such conductors.
Each of these conductors includes a special portion called a loop portion, and possibly other extraneous portions. In some embodiments, such as described below, the conductors do not include other extraneous portions, if they do not need them. In those cases, the entire conductor is the loop portion.
Components 740 are now described. Components 740 include three elongate conductors 710, 720, 730, arranged substantially as shown. These conductors 710, 720, 730, along possibly with driving nodes DN1, DN2, could be provided as is known in the art, for example on a base (not shown), with means of attachment to wires 735, and so on. In some embodiments, they are advantageously provided so that they can replace an ordinary RFID reader antenna.
In more detail, conductor 710 has a first end 711 and a second end 712. Conductor 720 has a first end 721 and a second end 722. Conductor 730 has a first end 731 and a second end 732. As will be appreciated from the below, conductors 710, 720, 730, have no other extraneous portions, and are themselves the loop portions. In addition, the loop portions in this embodiment are also substantially elongate along the loop section, but that is not necessary.
Conductor 710 is coupled to receive excitation signal ES from first driving node DN1. In addition, conductor 720 is coupled to receive excitation signal ES from second driving node DN2. As such, excitation signal ES is applied between first driving node DN1 and second driving node DN2.
Signal ES is received at a point of conductor 710 that is called the first driving point. In this instance, the first driving point is first end 711, as is preferred. It is not required, however, that the first driving point be within the loop portion of the first conductor, or even at the end of it. In fact, it can be at a place different than the end, for example to accomplish phase matching, or as a termination, etc., as will be discerned by the person skilled in the art.
Signal ES can be received at the driving points in any number of ways. These can be implemented when designing how wires 735 will be attached to antenna components 740, or how coupling nodes in the antenna are connected to the loop portions. In some embodiments, as shown, the first driving point is arranged to come in contact with first driving node DN1. In other embodiments, the first driving point is coupled to receive excitation signal ES from first, driving node DN1 inductively across a gap.
Conductor 730 is not coupled to receive excitation signal ES directly from either one of driving nodes DN1, DN2. Instead, there is a small gap 751 between ends 712, 731, and a gap 752 between ends 722, 732. It will be appreciated that, if more non-contacting conductors are used than what is shown, there will be correspondingly more gaps between them. Even in that case, any one of the conductors that is not coupled to receive excitation signal ES directly from either one of driving nodes DN1, DN2 can be considered the third conductor, and so on.
Given the overall design, conductor 730 is coupled to receive excitation signal ES across gap 751 from conductor 710, and across gap 752 from conductor 720. Coupling takes place because excitation signal ES is alternating. This way conductor 730 will be driven from both its ends.
Furthermore, excitation signal ES, as received from conductor 710 into conductor 730, will be further coupled into conductor 720 via gap 752. In addition, excitation signal ES, as received from conductor 720 into conductor 730, will be further coupled into conductor 710 via gap 751. As such, driving nodes DN1, DN2, by applying excitation signal ES at driving points 711, 721, will be driving each one of conductors 710, 720, 730 from its ends. This way, excitation currents will become established along conductors 710, 730, and 720. Strictly speaking, these excitation currents will become established along the loop portions of conductors 710, 730, and 720, but in this case these loop portions are identified with the conductors themselves.
In proper parlance, there will be inductive excitation currents also across gaps 751, 752. This is possible because excitation signal ES is alternating at the high frequency of over 200 MHz. With proper design, all the excitation currents will he alternating substantially in unison.
An additional concept of the invention is now described, namely that of a discontinuous loop. This is also referred to as a loop section in this document. It should be remembered that it includes conductors with gaps between them, and that electrical current flows through the conductors, and also through the gaps, exactly because it is alternating at such a high frequency. Also, that its overall shape can resemble a loop, or not.
As also described above, individual excitation currents flow through each of conductor 710, gap 751, conductor 730, gap 752, and conductor 720, in response to excitation signal ES being applied at driving nodes DN1, DN2. In fact, it can be equivalently considered that there is a single excitation current 767 that becomes established along loop section 760. Excitation current 767 has substantially the same direction at every one of conductor 710, gap 751, conductor 730, gap 752, and conductor 720, but not necessarily the same magnitude, or the same phase. As will be seen later in this document, proper design in geometry, dimensioning, and the like, can cause the phase to have improved results.
As such,
Methods of the invention are now described. These methods can be practiced by antennas described in this document, and by readers driving such antennas.
These methods include coupling to an RFID reader system an antenna such as the antennas described in this document. For this particular description, the antenna of
According to an operation 840, an excitation signal is output from the RFID reader system. The excitation signal can be the same as excitation signal ES.
According to an operation 841, the output excitation signal is coupled to first driving point 711 of conductor 710.
According to an operation 842, the output excitation signal is coupled to second driving point 721 of conductor 720.
According to an operation 843, the excitation signal becomes coupled to third conductor 730, but inductively only, which means across gaps from conductor 710 and conductor 720. As also described above, since these conductors form a loop, conductor 710 will receive the excitation signal also via conductor 730, in addition to receiving it directly from first driving point 711. In addition, conductor 720 will receive the excitation signal also via conductor 730, in addition to receiving it directly from second driving point 721.
As a result, excitation currents will be established in conductors 710, 720, 730, and in fact all around the loop section. As will be seen, these excitation currents will generate wireless fields for communicating with the one or more RFID tags, as shown in
According to a resulting operation 851, the established excitation current in conductor 710 will generate a first magnetic subfield /MBF1. This surrounds conductor 710, but only two points of it are shown. According to the right hand rule, magnetic subfield vector /MBF1 emerges from the page of
According to a resulting operation 852, the established excitation current in conductor 720 will generate a first magnetic subfield /MBF2. This surrounds conductor 720, but only two points of it are shown. According to the right hand rule, magnetic subfield vector /MBF2 emerges from the page of
According to a resulting operation 853, the established excitation current in conductor 730 will generate a first magnetic subfield /MBF3. This surrounds conductor 730, but only two points of it are shown. According to the right hand rule, magnetic subfield vector /MBF1 emerges from the page of
Aggregate 860 shows how the magnetic subfields can be added, by vector addition. A target point 880 is selected with respect to the antenna, and thus is treated also as points P1, P2, P3 according to arrow 870. Magnetic subfield vectors /MBF1, /MBF2, and /MBF3 are added as components at target point 880, to yield a resultant magnetic field vector /MBF.
An important advantage is now described for the antenna configuration of
It will be appreciated from
Components 945 are driven by the excitation signal delivered from two pairs of driving nodes DN1, DN2. These pairs are designated similarly, to indicate that it would be highly preferred that they deliver the exact same signal, in the exact same phase, which is preferred but not necessary. To accomplish that, one would have to ensure that transmission lines from the reader system (not shown) have the same delay, etc., which is one more thing to get right. This is not necessary in the embodiment of
Note that resulting loop sections 961, 962 carry their respective induced excitation currents 967, 968. Note further that excitation currents 967, 968 complete each other in an aggregate shape that again resembles a loop. They each result in magnetic subfields, which can be further added the same way as those from components 740, for a substantially similar resultant magnetic field vector /MBF.
It is instructive at this point to compare the discontinuous loops of
The discontinuous loops of
It should be observed that, in all cases, the loop sections have a longer length than the individual conductors that constitute them. In fact, they can have a length longer than the wavelength of the excitation signal. This way an antenna with a large diameter can be made, even at the smaller wavelengths of the higher RFID frequencies. The antenna can be large enough to create a magnetic field that is usable over a large volume, for permitting accurate tag reading and fast throughput.
When the excitation current travels through the conductors, it creates an individual magnetic subfield from each. These fields can add to a resultant magnetic field can be substantially uniform, depending on the shape of the loop section. Plus the volume of the usable magnetic field can be optimized for the reading arrangement, by controlling the spatial arrangement of the conductors, as discussed later in this document.
Shapes of the loop sections are now described.
Antenna 1080 has individual conductors (not shown individually) that are separated by gaps (not shown individually), and which together form a discontinuous loop 1087, which is also called a loop section 1087.
Discontinuous loop 1087 is shaped substantially like a circle in this embodiment. It appears as an ellipse only because this is a perspective drawing, seen somewhat from the side.
While discontinuous loop 1087 is substantially like a circle, it would not be like an exact full circle, because then it would be a completely closed loop that would not radiate. There is always at least one gap for each pair of driving nodes that are used.
When an excitation signal is applied as per the above to discontinuous-loop antenna 1080, a magnetic field is generated. The magnetic field is denoted by many arrows /MBF. The arrows have substantially the same size and direction, indicating that the magnetic field is uniform in that location. The field is the strongest at the plane of base 1082. A centerline 1048 is considered perpendicular to base 1082. The resulting magnetic field /MBF remains substantially uniform even at a distance 1099 which approximately equals DDL, the diameter of discontinuous loop 1087. A plane 1092 is shown, which is closer to base 1082 than DDL. This renders a large volume of usable magnetic field as is now described:
A conveyor 1093 has a surface 1094, on which items 1096 can be placed. Items 1096 would be tagged with RFID tags, and can be pharmaceuticals, etc. Antenna 1080 is placed such that its plane 1092 intersects surface 1094. It should be remembered that plane 1092 is indicative of a whole volume of usable magnetic field that can conduct the RFID communication of
Surface 1094 can be moved in a direction shown by arrow 1098. As such, items 1096 on surface 1094 are passed by conveyor 1093, through the volume of usable magnetic field of antenna 1080, and can thus be read by the RFID system.
The discontinuous-loop of
It has been found that such-shaped loop sections generate an usable magnetic field. In
Any number of combinations and shapes of non-contacting conductors can produce a discontinuous-loop antenna, having a loop section such as loop sections 1087, 1088, 1089. Examples were already described previously to this document. Some more examples are now described.
It will be observed that, as cue transitions from a total of three conductors (as in
This is highly advantageous. It means that the loop portion of each conductor will carry less of a phase drop across it. This way the magnitude of the subfield will be less affected by the changing phase. More particularly, if the excitation frequency defines a wavelength λ, the loop portion can be made small enough to have a length smaller than λ/4, or even smaller than λ/8. An example is now described.
Advantageously, while the loop portions are made individually smaller, the whole loop section need not be so constrained. In fact, it can have a total length larger than λ, which is what permits the antennas of the invention to produce a magnetic field of useable size. As an example, in
As mentioned above, the resultant magnetic field can be maximized in size, depending on the design. Proper design of the spatial arrangement of the conductors, their geometry, and the like can make it so that the phase difference of each field propagating within the loop portion of a conductor can be substantially matched to that of coupling to another segment.
In the above described embodiments, design has been facilitated by having the loop portions of the conductors be substantially elongate, and have substantially similar lengths. In fact, the entire conductors are substantially identical to each other.
More particularly, transmission of the excitation current via one of the loop portions of the conductors results in a lagging phase shift, or phase lag. In addition, transmission of the excitation current via the gaps results in a leading phase shift, or phase lead. It is preferred that the conductors are designed such that the phase lead cancels the phase lag. In so designing, the following should be considered.
Transmission via the loop portion of the conductor is something akin to transmission via a transmission line, or an inductor. The conductor can be a printed conductor, or a circuit board trace, or a wire. The amount of the phase lag is believed to go approximately in proportion to the length of the loop portion, at least as to first order.
Transmission via the gap is something akin to transmission via a capacitor, or coupling between coupled transmission lines, where there is distributed capacitance of the type that is through dielectric sandwiched between conductors. There would be also fringing capacitance between nearby circuit board traces (adjacent traces on same side of insulating substrate). The amount of the phase lead is believed to go in approximately proportion to gap width, divided by the overlap length, assuming no “point gaps”, and that there is some distribution of overlap.
A number of geometries are thus possible for the segments. One such geometry is where the loop portions of the conductor are substantially elongate, and terminates in two ends that are shaped with square-like corners. This is a convenient characterization of the shapes in the above described drawings, even though the corners are not exactly like those of a square, because the conductors can be actually bent.
Another such geometry is where one or more of the conductors are substantially elongate, and terminate in two ends that have slanted shapes. An example is now described.
Another way to perform efficient coupling is to have the conductors be in two or more rows. This way, the easy-to-design square-like corners can be retained. Examples are now described.
In the far field, an electromagnetic pattern is formed by this antenna that is equivalent to, and sometimes indistinguishable from, that of a dipole. This way RFID tags can be read as known.
A noteworthy item about distributing the conductors in two or more rows is that these rows, taken together, still correspond to a single loop section, or discontinuous loop per this description. They are simply a more efficient way to implement one.
Another noteworthy item about distributing the conductors in two or more rows is that the total conductor length can be larger than the length of the loop section. It can be 20% larger, or more than twice as large, and so on.
As will have become clear by now, it is not necessary that the non-contacting conductors belong in exact rows. For example, they can be staggered, not forming rows along exact lines. In addition, it is not necessary that the non-contacting conductors be identical to each other, or have the same electrical characteristics. For example, one of them can be replaced by a load, and so on. Variations like this can help guide the excitation signal in higher detail.
Antenna 1880 is made from a discontinuous-loop antenna and a dipole antenna. The discontinuous-loop antenna is made from individual conductors (not shown individually), which that are separated by gaps (not shown individually), and which together form a discontinuous loop section 1887. The dipole antenna is made from two conductors 1847 on base 1882, which can be similar to conductors 547.
Antenna 1380 can radiate from either the discontinuous-loop antenna, or the dipole antenna, or both. If from only one of them, then it can receive a single excitation signal, which can be routed to one or to the other by a switch. Or each can be controlled independently, as is shown for separate antennas in
As mentioned above, where the loop section resembles a loop, there is the advantage that the subfields become added within it, such as shown in
Attention is drawn now to individual magnetic subfield /MBFD, which is a component of resultant magnetic field /MBF that is generated from a portion of loop section 1960, but where the portion is not shown individually. It will be appreciated that the portion can be a conductor or a loop portion of a conductor as described above. Individual magnetic subfield /MBFD also technically points into the page within loop section 1960, as also seen in
According to the right hand rule, the individual magnetic subfield can also be represented by vectors /MBFA, /MBFB and /MBFC at other locations. Vector /MBFB points exactly out of the page, as also seen in
The systems described above in detail communicate with the tags by exploiting the individual magnetic subfield primarily at the location shown by vector /MBFD, occurring within loop section 1960. In other words, the antenna is oriented relative to the tagged items such that the items are passed through vector /MBFD by the conveyor, such as seen in
Other systems are also possible, which primarily exploit the individual magnetic subfields at locations that they are characterized instead by vectors /MBFA, /MBFB and /MBFC. This is accomplished by proper orientation of the antenna and the conveyor. In all such cases, the vectors that are not exploited will have a tendency to be formed anyway, but can be ignored. Suitable design can ensure they do not have an adverse impact.
In addition, more than one loop sections can be used. These can be excited by a single or multiple pairs of driving nodes. A single pair is preferred.
Some examples are now described.
Antenna 2000 receives an excitation signal from driving nodes DN1, DN2. Two feeders 2006, 2008 deliver the excitation signal from driving nodes DN1, DN2 to loop sections 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040. Feeders 2006, 2008 can either be themselves discontinuous as shown, or continuous. If continuous, then they can be part of the conductors delivering the signal, and the driving nodes can be considered to be at the ends of discontinuous loop sections 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040.
In either case, magnetic subfield /MBFE is generated for communication with the RFID tags. Given the arrangement, vector /MBFE, which can be oriented as any one of vectors /MBFA, /MBFB, /MBFC, and /MBFD.
If feeders 2006, 2008 are discontinuous as shown, then another loop section can alternately be construed, from driving node DN1 to driving node DN2. This would give rise to a magnetic field MBF, which is not used in this instance.
An advantage of antenna 2000 is that it can be made with long discontinuous loop sections 2010, 2020, 2030, and 2040. This way vector /MBFE will be available over a long length, which can be aligned with the direction of travel of a conveyor.
In the above example, if discontinuous loop sections 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 are far enough apart, no conductors are shared by them. In other instances, they some conductors can be shared. An example is now described.
These can equivalently be considered as two loop sections, namely one formed by loop sections 2110 and 2120, and one formed by loop sections 2110 and 2130. Both resemble closed loops; the first gives rise to magnetic field /MBF1 at the plane of the conductors, while the second gives rise to magnetic field /MBF2 at the plane of the conductors. Neither /MBF1 nor /MBF2 are used in this embodiment. Instead, at a plane higher than that of the conductors, vector /MBFC can be primarily exploited, which is centered above the conductors forming discontinuous loop section 2110.
An advantage of antenna 2100 is that it can be made with long discontinuous loop sections 2010, 2120, 2130. This length can be aligned with the conveyor's direction of movement. In addition, it can be made narrow, by having discontinuous loop sections 2120, 2130 be not far from each other. The useful field /MBFC will be provided for most of the length, and more than half the width, since the return current is half the size.
In this description, numerous details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail in order to not obscure unnecessarily the description.
A person skilled in the art will be able to practice the present invention in view of this description, which is to be taken as a whole. The specific embodiments as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense. Indeed, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that what is described herein may be modified in numerous ways. Such ways can include equivalents to what is described herein.
The following claims define certain combinations and subcombinations of elements, features, steps, and/or functions, which are regarded as novel and non-obvious. Additional claims for other combinations and subcombinations may be presented in this or a related document.
This patent application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/760,058, filed on Jan. 18, 2006, Attorney Docket No. 50133.53USPI/IMPJ-0180P, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by inference for all purposes. This is a Continuation-In-Part patent application from U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/265,163, filed on Aug. 25, 2006, Attorney Docket No. 50133.53US01/IMPJ-0234DS, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60760058 | Jan 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 29265163 | Aug 2006 | US |
| Child | 11623403 | US |
