Radio frequency identification tag based tray and tray receiving method and apparatus

摘要

A tray ( 201 ) comprises electrically conductive material and has at least one hand-graspable fixture ( 203 ). This hand-graspable fixture comprises an electrical conductor ( 301 ) disposed in a location that is likely to be operably interacted with by a human who grasps the hand-graspable fixture. A capacitively-coupled RFID tag is then disposed on the hand-graspable fixture with a first antenna plate ( 303 ) being electrically coupled to the tray and a second antenna plate ( 304 ) that electrically couples to the electrical conductor. A corresponding tray receiving compartment ( 400 ) has a front lip ( 401 ) over which the tray must pass and upon which the tray will rest when properly disposed within the tray receiving compartment. One or more capacitively-coupled RFID tag reader antennas ( 402 ) are disposed proximal to the front lip. These antennas may be positioned to facilitate reading the capacitively-coupled RFID tag when the tray is properly disposed within the tray receiving compartment.