This invention relates generally to a handheld portable device for detection and deactivation of electronic article surveillance (EAS) devices, and more particularly to a handheld EAS deactivation device having an integral data capture and alarm event logging system.
Conventional methods of logging Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) device alarms rely on manual recordation (e.g., a paper log) or electronic recordation (e.g., a logging terminal) near the point of detection (e.g. a doorway of a store). EAS devices are typically a tag or label attached to or otherwise disposed in merchandise to be monitored. When an EAS alarm occurs, the responding employee must approach the customer, locate the EAS device causing the alarm, deactivate the EAS device, and log the cause of the alarm. In most cases, the customer has several bags of items, which makes it difficult to locate the item with the EAS device causing the alarm.
The employee will direct the customer back to the EAS monitoring system and place each bag separately in the EAS monitoring system in order to locate the bag with the active EAS device. Once the bag containing the active EAS device is located, each item in the bag must be inspected to locate the offending EAS device. This second alarm of the same EAS device generates additional alarms that need to be logged. Once the EAS device attached to the item is located, it must be deactivated at a deactivation apparatus, which is usually located at the cash register. Finally, the employee must log the alarms and capture all associated alarm details. This process can be time consuming and inefficient. It also can unnecessarily delay the customer's exit from the store, resulting in customer satisfaction problems.
As noted above, some alarm logging systems have moved from paper logs to electronic logs. Typically, a store employee logs each alarm electronically using a stationary terminal located near the entrance or exit of the store. In one conventional example, a stand-alone, portable EAS device detection and deactivation apparatus is used. Such a system, however, only addresses the detection and deactivation portion of responding to an EAS alarm. Moreover, the process of EAS device detection, deactivation, and data capture associated with the process of the alarm logging is still inefficient and can be time consuming. There is a need, therefore, for a more efficient way to handle the detection, deactivation, and data capture associated with an EAS alarm.
The following simplified summary provides a basic overview of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of the invention. This Summary is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Its purpose is to present some simplified concepts related to the technology before the more detailed description presented below.
Embodiments of the invention overcome one or more deficiencies in known EAS systems by employing a portable device for locating an activated device and managing the activation/deactivation status of the device. A portable, cordless hand-held device is disclosed for locating an active electronic article surveillance (EAS) device, managing the activation/deactivation status of the EAS device and logging information relating to alarm events triggered by the EAS device. The device includes an EAS detector for detecting the presence of an EAS tag or label, a state manipulator for manipulating the activation/deactivation state of the detected active EAS label, at least one data capture device for capturing data related to the alarm event, and a memory for storage of the captured data.
For a better understanding of various embodiments of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the following figures wherein like numerals represent like parts.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
For simplicity and ease of explanation, the invention will be described herein in connection with various embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the features and advantages of the invention may be implemented in a variety of configurations. It is to be understood, therefore, that the embodiments described herein are presented by way of illustration, not of limitation.
In the embodiment depicted in
To aid in the management of such EAS devices 25, the portable device 21 comprises a detector 35 for detecting the presence of an active EAS device (see
In one embodiment, for example, the detector 35 may be an RFID label detector for detecting the active EAS device 25 in the form of an RFID label within a working range of the detector. The detector 25 can also be an acoustomagnetic or electromagnetic tag detector. With the detector 35, the active EAS device 25 can be readily detected in a group of items or through a container, such as a gift box or shopping bag, or through clothing, such as under a coat. Those skilled in the art are familiar with detection of EAS devices 25 by passing the EAS device near an EAS detector (e.g., a detection pedestal), usually located at the entrance and exit of a store, or using a handheld EAS detection device. As such, the operation of such devices will not be elaborated upon here.
Referring to
According to aspects of the invention, the portable device 21 may also include a state manipulator 45 for manipulating the activation/deactivation state of the detected active EAS device 25 (see
In another embodiment, the state manipulator 45 may be both a deactivator and an activator. With this alternative embodiment, the state of the EAS device 25 may be manipulated from active to inactive or from inactive to active. The ability to manipulate the state from inactive to active may be particularly useful in the warehousing example, where an inactive EAS device 25 on an item 29 requires activation before shipping and/or sale of the item. Those skilled in the art are familiar with activation and deactivation of EAS devices 25 by using a passive contact deactivation device or an electronic deactivator device, for example, as well as other devices not called out specifically here. As such, the operation of such devices will not be elaborated upon here.
The portable device 21 may also include at least one data capture device 55 for capturing data related to the detected EAS device 25 (see
The data capture device 55 may take various forms, including but not limited to, at least one of a manual data entry device, a barcode scanner, and a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader. For example, the barcode scanner may capture an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) code associated with the scanned item. In another example, the RFID tag reader may capture the data associated with an RFID tag. In the case of a manual data entry device, several devices are contemplated as within the scope of the present invention, including a keypad, a button or group of buttons, a touch screen, a joystick, and a stylus. Other devices may also be used without departing from the scope of the invention. In the embodiment of
As described above, the portable device 21 may include at least one integral data capture device 155. The data capture device 155 can be used to collect data relevant to an alarm event triggered by an EAS device. The collected data may be stored in the memory 153 to provide an electronic alarm event log.
The portable device 21 can include any suitable I/O data transmission means 157 which can transfer the logged alarm event data to a central server. In a first mode of use, the data is stored in the memory 153 and periodically downloaded to the server. In a second mode of use, the data can be transmitted in real time to a remote server. In the practice of the invention, the data can be stored in the memory 153 of the device 21 and transmitted to the remote server simultaneously as well.
For example, the data transmission can be effected by direct electronic coupling of the device 21 to the destination server using any suitable conventional communication link including, but not limited to, telephone lines, IEEE 1284 (parallel port), Ethernet, universal serial bus port such as USB and USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), IrDA standard (InfraRed Data Association), fiber optics etc. Conventional port and cable connector arrangements can be used to establish a communications link between the device 21 and the destination device. The invention can also include a docking port for the device 21 which is configured to initiate a communications link upon engagement. The device 21 may also include a removable flash memory card having the data stored thereon which can be physically transferred to another device. The data can also be transmitted to a LAN using wireless data transmission means, as is described in detail hereinafter
Referring again to
The portable device 21 is preferably cordless and may further comprise a base 75 (see
The portable device 21 may further include a network access provider 85 for providing communication between the portable device and a network 89 (e.g., a local area network (LAN)) for sending data to the network and receiving data from the network (see
Another embodiment of the invention depicted in
The method may further include the step of individually scanning, at 119, items 29 contained within the at least one identified container 103 with the portable device 21 to determine which item in the identified container is associated with the active EAS device 25. The method can further include identifying, at 125, the active EAS device 25. In the retailing example, the employee individually scans 119 the items 29 in the customer's bags 103 until the active EAS device 25 is identified 125. The method further includes deactivating, at 131, the identified active EAS device 25 with the portable device 21. The method can further include the step of capturing, at 137, data relating to the deactivated EAS device 25 with the portable device 21. Once captured 137, the data may be sent to the network 89, 91 in real-time (as the data is collected) or as a batch (e.g., when the portable device 21 is connected to the base 75).
In still another embodiment of the present invention depicted in
The method can further include the steps of sending, at 215, the identifier from the portable device 21 to a network (e.g., the LAN 89) and receiving, at 221, from the network at the portable device a listing of the at least one of the one or more items 29 associated with the inventory list that may be associated with the one or more previously-detected EAS devices 25. Returning to the retailing example, the listing of the at least one of the one or more items 29 may be a list of the items purchased by the customer that may have an EAS device 25 associated with them, so that the employee can focus their efforts on the items most likely to have an active EAS device. To wit, the method further includes the steps of (i) individually scanning, at 227, the one or more items 29 identified in the listing to determine if any item in the listing is associated with the one or more active EAS devices and (ii) identifying, at 233, the one or more active EAS devices if one or more items in the listing are associated with the one or more active LAS device.
The method further includes the steps of individually scanning, at 251, any of the one or more items 29 not identified in the listing to determine if any items not in the listing are associated with the one or more active EAS devices, if an item in the listing is not identified as associated with the one or more active EAS devices. In other words, if scanning the items 29 in the listing does not identify the item associated with the active EAS device, security personnel can scan the other items under the control of the customer, but not included in the listing. This additional scan can identify items not scanned by the cashier either by accident, or due to “sweethearting,” the practice of cashier-facilitated stealing by a customer by not charging the customer for one or more items. Moreover, the security personnel may then identify, at 253, the one or more active EAS devices, if one or more items not identified in the listing are associated with respective active EAS devices. This enables the security employee to identify the particular item 29 that was not purchased, whereby the customer may purchase the item. The method further comprises capturing, at 245, data relating to the one or more identified EAS devices with the portable device. This can include any number data, including the identity of the item not scanned, the cashier who failed to scan the item, and the store where the failure to scan occurred, among others. By tracking such data over time, the root cause, or causes, of inventory loss due to failure to scan items may be identified and addressed.
The method may further include deactivating, at 241, the one or more identified active EAS devices 25 with the portable device 21 and capturing, at 245, data relating to the one or more deactivated EAS devices with the portable device. In the retailing example noted above, the deactivating 241 deactivates the active tag so the customer can exit the store without an alarm, and the capturing 245 captures data relating to the item 29, the customer, or any other aspect of the method.
Those skilled in the art will note that the order of execution or performance of the methods illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified. That is, it is contemplated by the inventors that elements of the methods may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and that the methods may include more or less elements than those disclosed herein.
It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the various embodiments of the present invention can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It is also to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be interpreted as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but only in accordance with the appended claims when read in light of the forgoing disclosure.
The present application is a U.S. National Stage Application of PCT Application Number: PCT/US2006/006339, filed Feb. 21, 2006 entitled “HANDHELD ELECTRONIC ARTICLE SURVEILLANCE (EAS) DEVICE DETECTOR/DEACTIVATOR WITH INTEGRATED DATA CAPTURE SYSTEM,” which relates to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/654,095, filed Feb. 18, 2005, entitled “Mobile Alarm Management With Integrated EAS Tag Detection, Deactivation and Capture,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2006/006339 | 2/21/2006 | WO | 00 | 9/2/2008 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2006/089304 | 8/24/2006 | WO | A |
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20090090780 A1 | Apr 2009 | US |
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60654095 | Feb 2005 | US |