FAR FIELD MAGNET RESENSITIZER APPARATUS FOR USE WITH ARTICLE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS

摘要

A demagnetization apparatus for use with magnetically based electronic article surveillance systems having a dual status anti-theft marker containing at least one demagnetizable control element which when demagnetized allows the marker to be detected by the system when the marker is present in an interrogation zone. The apparatus includes an array of magnets contained within a housing which exhibits a succession of fields of alternate polarity and at least a portion of which exhibits exponentially decreasing intensities along a plurality of paths at distances above the working surface of the housing along that portion of the magnet array. The magnet array is configured and arranged such that the external field is sufficient to demagnetize the demagnetizable element of the markers that pass along paths at varying distances from the magnet array.