RFID tunnel for encoding HF transponders

RFID tunnel for encoding HF transponders in the medical field

An RFID tunnel was implemented for encoding passive HF RFID transponders (13.56 MHz) attached to consumables for a medical technology product. The tunnel integrated into the conveyor belt and into the IT landscape provides the following process:

• The encoding can be started either automatically by the conveyor belt or by the user
• Identify transponders, read data from the transponders and getting data from the backend
• Interact with the conveyor belt to move the product box a little bit
• Write data (including a security feature) to various areas of the transponder memory
• Lock certain memory areas of the RFID transponders
• Success or error message to the backend system
• Display of the encoding progress or error messages on the display of a touch PC
• Interact with the conveyor belt so that an error-free encoded box is transported further

The tunnel supports 2 different types of HF RFID transponders. 10 RFID transponders are encoded per product box. Three types (sizes) of product boxes with any orientation of the RFID transponders are supported. The interaction with the conveyor belt is carried out via digital I/Os. A web service interface for bidirectional data exchange to the customer's production system was implemented.

The aim of the project was to increase the throughput in the packaging process with an RFID tunnel integrated into the conveyor belt. The encoding success rate is greater than 99.95%.

The dimensions and especially the function of the RFID tunnel can be adapted to suit the specific project. The tunnel could also be used without an encoding function for goods in or goods out.