The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 16, 2024
Filed:
Sep. 08, 2021
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Matthew L. Prendergast, Covington, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A fastener accessory includes a fastener body and a sacrificial radio frequency (RF) tag. A dielectric substrate of the tag is affixed to a contact surface of the fastener body. An RF antenna trace is connected to or printed on the substrate. The antenna trace transmits an RF response signal when energized by an external RF tracking circuit. The substrate is plastically deformed by an installation force to prevent transmission of the response signal. A method for locating the fastener body within a search area includes exciting a receiver trace of the tag using an interrogation signal, frequency-modulating an interrogation frequency using an RF modulating circuit, transmitting a response signal at a response frequency via a transmitting antenna trace of the tag, and detecting the response signal using an RF tracking circuit to locate the fastener body within the search area.