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:
Aug. 05, 2008
Filed:
Feb. 27, 2006
Sadayoshi Mochida, Numazu, JP;
Sadayoshi Mochida, Numazu, JP;
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus according to an aspect of the invention includes: a first table and a second table on which an article with an RFID tag may be placed; a retaining mechanism for selectively retaining the first table and the second table in a state in which the second table is placed on the first table and in a state in which the first table and the second table are apart from each other vertically by a specified distance; a first article detector and a second article detector disposed on the upper surface of the first table and the upper surface of the second table, respectively, for detecting that the article has been placed; and an antenna communicating with the RFID tag, with the directivity aimed upward when the second article detector has detected the article, and with the directivity aimed downward when the first article detector has detected the article.