A peel plate assembly 10 as shown in
Both the front cover 20 and the back cover 26 are affixed to the plate body 12 by recessed screws 28 and 30. However, the covers could be affixed in a variety of other ways, or one or both of the front and back covers 20 and 26 could be formed as an uninterrupted integral part of the plate body 12. At least the front cover 20 is preferably made of stainless steel for purposes of shielding radio frequency communications and providing a non-reactive web guide 24. However, the back cover 26 and the plate body 12 are also preferably made of electrically shielding metals, such as stainless steel, or metal composites to further restrict radio communications with the antenna 18. As such, the radio communications are preferably limited to the space within the opening 22 of the front cover 20 over which the RFID tag web (not shown) is directed.
The web guide 24 is formed by a substantially planar face 32 of the front cover 20 together with an arcuate sidewall 34 of the plate body 12. The substantially planar face 32 is blended by a tapered portion 34 together with the arcuate sidewall 36 to provide a smooth guide way for advancing the RFID tag web (not shown) over the substantially planar face 32 of the front cover 20 (thereby exposing RFID tags carried by the web to RF communications with the recessed antenna 18) and around the arcuate sidewall 36 of the plate body 12 (for selectively removing the RFID tags from the web).
Also mounted within the peel plate assembly 10 is a retractable peel blade 40 having a planar blade body 42 that is slidably mounted between the plate body 12 and the front cover 20. In the position shown in
In
In
An applicator 70 for selectively applying the RFID tags 60 to articles 72 is depicted in
A micro-controller 82 controls the RFID sensor 16 (shown in
The RFID tags 60 with successfully polled transponders 64 are immediately removed from the web 62 by the extension of the peel blade 40. No special tracking of the polled RFID tags 60 is required because the RFID tags 60 are polled adjacent to the peel blade 40 and are next in line for removal from the web 62. Once an RFID tag 60 is successfully polled, e.g., meets a threshold condition as determined by the micro-controller 82, a signal is delivered to a blade actuator controller 84 for extending or allowing the peel blade 40 to be extended. A pneumatic actuator is preferably used for both extending and retracting the peel blade 40. However, hydraulic or electromechanical systems could also be used, including systems in which the peel blade 40 is biased by a potential energy source (e.g., a spring) into one or the other of its positions. A label or tag handler 86, which can also take a number of conventional forms, affixes the removed RFID tags 60 to the articles 72.
If, in contrast, an RFID tag 60 is unsuccessfully polled, e.g., does not meet a threshold condition such as exhibiting a weak signal or incorrect information, the micro-controller 82 sends a signal for retracting the peel blade 40. With the peel blade 40 retracted, the RFID tags 60 remain on the web 62 as the web 62 is guided around the arcuate sidewall 36 of the plate body 12 en route to the rewind reel 80 of the web transporter 74. Thus, RFID tags 60 with defective programmable transponders 64 remain on the web 62 instead of being applied to the articles 72. Preferably, the web transport 74 and the article transport 76 are capable of operating asynchronously so that one or more unsuccessfully polled RFID tags 60 can be skipped over while continuing to apply successfully polled RFID tags 60 to an uninterrupted sequence of the articles 72.
The preferred embodiment can be described as a “one-off application” because the RFID tag 60 closest to the peel blade 40 is interrogated just before applying the RFID tag 60 to an article 72. In fact, communications with the polled RFID tags 60 take place as the RFID tags 60 are guided across the peel plate assembly 10. The broadcast and receiving antenna 18 is mounted within a recess of the plate body 12 beneath a cover plate 20 that also functions as a portion of a web guide. The mounting accurately positions, protects, and shields the antenna 18 to safely isolate communications and improve readability between the antenna 18 and the programmable transponder 64 within the RFID tag 60 that is closest to the peel blade 40. Extended life and increased versatility of the applicator systems are also expected, including the ability to selectively apply different size tags or labels to articles.