METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRACKING ITEMS ON A CONVEYER USING CAPACITIVE RFID

摘要

A method and apparatus for radio frequency (RF) communication between a radio frequency identification (RFID) device 110 and RFID tags 160 for a conveyer system 700 are disclosed. An RFID device 110 is positioned in proximity of the conveyor system, with at least one conductive surface 120, 130 coupled to the RFID device. The conveyer system 700 is configured to transport articles 610 with at least one or more of the articles having one or more associated RFID tags 160. The conveyer system 700 is operated so articles 610are brought in contact with the at least one conductive surface 12, 130, with the RFID device, the at least one conductive surface and one or more of the associated RFID tags 160 are capacitively coupled allowing RF signals to be communicated between RFID device and the one or more associated RFID tags and enabling data to be electronically read from the associated RFID tags.