WO2014053746A1

WO2014053746A1 - Anti-fraud mat

Info

Publication number: WO2014053746A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/052262
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alexandre TARTAR; Saad SKALI
Original assignee: Embisphere
Priority date: 2012-10-01
Filing date: 2013-09-25
Publication date: 2014-04-10
Also published as: FR2996330A1; FR2996330B1

Abstract

The subject matter of the present invention concerns an anti-fraud mat (100) comprising: first (A1) and second (A2) antennas each configured to transmit and receive a radiofrequency signal (SRF-out1, SRF-in1; SRF-out2, SRF-in2), said first (A1) and second (A2) antennas being incorporated respectively into first (P1) and second (P2) portions of the mat (100), a control module (10) configured to measure the intensity (RSSI-1, RSSI-2) of each signal (SRF-in1, SRF-in2), and to determine, on the basis of the measured intensities (RSSI-1, RSSI-2), the distance (d1, d2) between said tag (TAG) and the first (A1) and second (A2) antennas respectively, and a detection module (20) configured to generate a detection signal (SD) when the distance (d1) between said tag (TAG) and the first antenna (A1) is greater than the distance (d2) between said tag (TAG) and the second antenna (A2) or vice versa.

Description

ANTI-FRAUD MAT

Technical area

The object of the present invention relates to the field of security, and relates to the detection of theft of articles in an enclosure such as a store.

More specifically, the object of the present invention relates to an anti-fraud mat to be positioned near the outlet of a store to detect theft of items. The anti-fraud mat according to the present invention relates to a particular implementation of the RFID technology (for radio-identification or "Radio-Frequency IDentification").

The object of the present invention thus finds an advantageous application for the various stores and retail chains that seek to limit the theft of items, or at least improve the detection of theft of items.

It is possible to consider other advantageous applications in the context of the present invention such as for example to optimize inventory management or traceability of articles.

For carpet in the sense of the present invention, it is necessary to understand any coating intended to be positioned on the ground. It may be for example a carpet, a slab, or a carpet.

State of the art

The so-called EAS (Electronic Surveillance of Articles) technology is mainly known for detecting theft of items in stores.

This technology requires the installation at the outlet of the stores of a gantry consisting of two vertical panels each having a coil configured to allow the detection of electronic tags at a resonance frequency of 8.2 MHz.

With such technology, it is impossible to know if the article bearing the electronic label has been sold or not: such a gantry is limited exclusively to the detection of the label as such during the passage of the article between both panels.

This detection is not sensitive to the direction of passage of the article between the two panels: such a system emits an audible or light warning when for example a customer returns with a paid item for which the seller has omitted disable the label. This can be very embarrassing both for the customer and for the security service posted at the entrance of the store.

The Applicant submits that the effectiveness of such a gantry is conditioned both by the separation distance between the two panels, and by the height of these panels.

The Applicant further submits that such a portico at the exit of a store is particularly unsightly.

The deterrent effect of such a portico is also very questionable.

Although present in most stores, these porticoes therefore have many disadvantages.

The object of the present invention is to improve the present situation described above.

Object and summary of the present invention

The object of the present invention thus provides an aesthetic solution, effective, to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above, and can easily adapt to existing facilities and equipment.

For this purpose, the object of the present invention is based on a specific use of the technology by radio-identification or RFID.

We know this technology which is widely used and acclaimed in the field of logistics for inventory management or in the field of access control (with contactless cards of the type for example "NAVIGO" cards).

Radio-identification technology remotely stores and retrieves data using markers called radio frequency identification tags, radio tags or electronic tags (RFID tag or RFID transponder).

RFID tags are small objects, such as self-adhesive labels, that can be glued or embedded on or in articles, objects or products; they can even be implanted in living organisms.

These tags include an antenna associated with an electronic chip containing information such as for example an identifier and possibly additional data; these tags are thus configured to receive radio requests sent by an RFID reading module and transmit to this module the information contained in the chip. This identification technology is today used mainly to identify:

articles, as with a barcode (application for logistics and inventories);

- the people, being integrated in the passports, the transport cards, or the cards of payment (application for the control of access).

The concept underlying the present invention is to use this technology to make it an effective application to detecting theft of articles in an enclosure such as a store. Today, these labels are already used in store shelves, as mentioned above, especially to facilitate inventories. The idea is to use these labels here to allow theft detection of items, and solve the above problems.

Thus, the object of the present invention relates to an anti-fraud mat comprising at least a first and a second antenna configured each for:

on the one hand, emitting a radio frequency transmission signal intended to obtain from a radiofrequency identification tag the information or information it contains, and

on the other hand, receiving a radiofrequency reception signal from the tag in response to the radiofrequency transmission signal.

The radio frequency reception signal or signals received by each of the antennas thus comprise one or more data containing the information or information contained in the radio frequency identification tag: it is for example an identification data item containing information of identification relating to the article, and / or a payment data item containing information relating to the payment of the article.

Typically, the first and second antennas are respectively integrated in a first and a second portion of the carpet.

Preferably, the first and second portions are opposed to each other.

The anti-fraud mat according to the present invention further comprises a control module which is configured to:

on the one hand, to measure the intensity of each received radio frequency reception signal, and

on the other hand, determining, as a function of the measured intensities, a comparison of the distances between the tag and the first and second antennas, respectively.

The anti-fraud mat according to the present invention further comprises a detection module which is configured to generate a detection signal when the distance between the tag and the first antenna is greater than the distance between the tag and the second antenna, or conversely when the distance between the tag and the second antenna is greater than the distance between the tag and the first antenna.

Thus, the anti-fraud mat according to the present invention, thanks to this specific arrangement of the antennas between them and the comparison of the distances between the label and each antenna, allows the detection of article theft, when an individual fraudulently crosses the carpet passing from the first to the second portion, or conversely from the second portion to the first portion, with an article provided with a radio frequency identification tag.

The first situation corresponds to the scenario in which the first portion is "inside" side of the enclosure and the second portion is "outside" side of the enclosure. The second situation corresponds to the opposite scenario.

Advantageously, the first and second antennas are each configured to transmit and receive respectively ultra-high frequency transmission and reception signals.

According to one embodiment, the anti-fraud mat according to the present invention comprises a warning module configured to emit a warning light, on receipt of the detection signal and on the basis of the information contained in the radio frequency reception signal. from said label.

According to another embodiment that can be combined with the previous mode, the anti-fraud mat according to the present invention comprises a warning module configured to emit an audible warning, upon reception of the detection signal and according to the information contained in the radio frequency reception signal from said tag.

The radio frequency identification tag contains the information that the item was paid for or not at the checkout. Thus, according to one and / or the other of these two modes, when the warning module receives the information that on the one hand an individual crosses the carpet with an article in the direction of the exit of the pregnant (that is to say according to the particular case of the first to the second portion of the carpet or the second to the first portion of the carpet), and that on the other hand this article was not paid, then a warning light and / or sound is emitted.

Advantageously, the anti-fraud mat according to the present invention comprises at least one pressure sensor which is configured to emit a presence signal when an individual exerts pressure on the pressure sensor. Preferably, the pressure sensor or sensors are positioned at the first portion or at the second portion. Here, it is understood that the sensor or sensors are preferably positioned on the "inside" side of the enclosure.

According to a preferred embodiment variant, each pressure sensor is connected directly or indirectly to a counting module which is configured to count the number of individual passes as a function of the presence signal. This electronic module thus comprises a memory and a counter which is incremented upon receipt of each presence signal received from the pressure sensor. A latency can also be provided to avoid that we count several times the same individual.

According to another variant which can be combined with the previous variant, the first and second antennas are configured to each transmit a radio frequency transmission signal upon reception of the presence signal.

In other words, the presence signal emitted by the pressure sensor or sensors activates the first and second antennas so that they emit their radio frequency transmission signal.

This advantageously allows to control the consumption of the system by activating it only during the passage of an individual; this provides a significant energy gain, and avoids the same way of possible false alarm.

Advantageously, the first and second antennas are each housed in a rigid shell. Such a shell makes it possible to avoid too rapid deterioration of the antennas with the successive and repeated passages of the individuals on the carpet.

Advantageously, the various constituent modules of the mat, namely here in particular the control module and / or the detection module and / or the warning module and / or the counting module, are positioned in a protective housing.

Advantageously, the carpet comprises a wireless communication module able to communicate with a remote server. Such a communication module makes it possible, for example, to interrogate the server of the store so that it provides the information relating to the payment of the article, this interrogation being able to be done on the basis of the identification data provided by the customer. radio frequency identification tag.

Thus, thanks to these technical and functional characteristics, and in particular thanks to this arrangement of two antennas between them and the measurement of the intensity of the radio frequency signals received, it is possible to remedy the various disadvantages encountered so far in the state of the art mentioned above. Brief description of the attached figures

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge from the description below, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment without any limiting character and on which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic view of an anti-fraud mat according to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 2a and 2b each show schematically an anti-fraud mat according to Figure 1 during the passage of an individual with an article provided with a radio frequency identification tag; and FIG. 3 shows the measurements of the intensity of the radiofrequency signal received respectively by the first and second antennas as a function of time, this during the passage of an individual as illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b.

Detailed description of an advantageous embodiment example

An anti-fraud mat according to an advantageous embodiment of the present invention will now be described in the following with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

The example described here relates to an enclosure such as a store. Of course, it is possible to consider other places and other situations, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As a reminder, designing a security system that integrates discretely and aesthetically in a store, and that allows the detection of theft of articles in an efficient manner is one of the objectives of the present invention.

The present invention is based on a new and clever application of radio frequency identification technology; the present invention relates in particular to a specific arrangement of antennas for detecting the direction of passage of an article provided with a radio frequency identification tag.

More precisely, in the example described here and as illustrated in particular in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to a carpet 100, said anti-fraud, comprising a first antenna A1 and a second antenna A2, each of the antennas A1 and A2 being housed respectively in a rigid shell CRI and CR2 to avoid any deterioration. In the example described here, the first antenna Al is integrated inside the belt 100 at the first portion PI of the belt 100; the second antenna A2 is integrated into the carpet 100 at the second portion P2 of the carpet 100.

In this example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, the belt 100 is positioned on the ground so that the first portion PI is located on the "inside" side IN of the store, and the second portion P2 is located on the "outside" side OUT of store. The portions PI and P2 can thus be considered as opposed to each other.

Thus, in the example described here, as illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, an individual who leaves the store, that is to say who goes from "inside" IN to "outside" OUT of the store, crosses the belt 100 necessarily passing above the first portion PI and the second portion P2.

Conversely, in the example described here, an individual I who enters the store, crosses the belt 100 passing over the second portion P2 and the first portion P1.

Allowing the detection of the passage direction of the individual I when he passes through the belt 100 is one of the objectives of the present invention.

In the example described here, and as illustrated in FIG. 1, a pressure sensor 40 is positioned on the first portion PI of the belt 100. This sensor 40 emits a presence signal SP when an individual I exerts a pressure while walking on this first portion Pl. Preferably, this sensor 40 at least partially covers the surface of this portion P1.

In the example described here, and as illustrated in FIG. 1, the first Al and the second A2 antennas are both connected to the pressure sensor 40 and are each configured to emit, on reception of the presence signal SP, a signal d radio frequency transmission respectively SRF-outl and SRF-out2 intended to obtain a radio frequency identification tag TAG or information it contains.

The first A1 and second A2 antennas are further each configured to receive a radio frequency reception signal SRF-in1 and SRF-in2 respectively from the tag TAG in response to the RF transmission signal respectively SRF-out1 and SRF-1. out2.

In the example described here, the tag TAG includes OK or NOK information depending on the payment or not of the item O at the cash desk. Thus, after the passage of the tag TAG near the first Al and / or the second A2 antennas, each radio frequency reception signal SRF-in1 and SRF-in2 received respectively by the antennas A1 and A2 contains, according to the payment or not of the article O, the information OK or NOK.

This information on the tag TAG is by default NOK when the article O is on the shelf in the store; when the individual I goes to the cash register to pay, at the time of payment, this information is replaced by the information OK.

This NOK information is used in the context of the example described here to warn the theft of the corresponding article O when an individual I crosses the carpet 100 to the outlet of the store without having paid the item O in cash . This dual condition (NOK information and crossing of the carpet 100 by an individual I to the exit of the store) is necessary to determine the theft of the article O.

It is also possible to envisage a variant in which the tag TAG provides data of the given type of identification (not shown here); in this case, the system queries the central server of the store to determine on the basis of this data whether the article has been paid or not.

In any case, in the example described here, the determination of the direction of passage of the individual is as follows: as illustrated in FIG. 1, the control module 10 measures the intensities RSSI-1 and RSSI-2 ( for Received Signal Strength Indication) respectively received radio frequency reception signals SRF-in1 and SRF-in2. The measurement of these RSSI-1 and RSSI-2 intensities can consist, for example, in measuring the power of the received signals SRF-in1 and SRF-in2.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, these RSSI-1 and RSSI-2 intensity then make it possible to determine the relative distances d1 and d2 between the tag TAG and respectively the first Al and second A2 antennas. Allowing to determine these relative distances d1 and d2 is characteristic of the present invention.

More precisely, in the example described here, the determination of the distances d1 and d2 consists in comparing the intensities RSSI-1 and RSSI-2. This is to determine for example the ratio RSSI-l / RSSI-2 or the difference RSSI-1 - RSSI-2.

This comparison makes it possible to determine whether the distance d1 between the first antenna A1 and the tag TAG is less than or greater than the distance d2 between the second antenna A2 and the tag TAG. If the ratio RSSI-l / RSSI-2 is greater than 1 or if the difference RSSI-1 - RSSI-2 is positive, then the distance dl between the first antenna Al and the tag TAG is greater than the distance d2 between the second antenna A2 and tag TAG.

In the example described here, it is therefore the situation of FIG. 2b in which the individual I has crossed the belt 100 towards the "outside" OUT of the magazine: in FIG. 3, the intensity RRSI 2 is greater at intensity RSSI1.

Conversely, if the ratio RSSI-1 / RSSI-2 is less than 1 or if the difference RSSI-1 - RSSI-2 is negative, then the distance dl between the first antenna Al and the label TAG is less than the distance d2 between the second antenna A2 and the tag TAG.

In the example described here, this is the situation of Figure 2a in which the individual I is "inside" IN of the store: in Figure 3, the intensity RRSI1 is greater than the intensity RSSI2.

Thus, in the example described here, when the control module 10 determines that the distance d1 between the first antenna A1 and the tag TAG is greater than the distance d2 between the second antenna A2 and the tag TAG (situation illustrated in FIG. 2b), the detection module 20 of the belt 100 generates a detection signal SD.

In the example described here, this detection signal SD is then processed by the warning module 30 with the OK or NOK information contained in the received radio frequency reception signals SRF-in1 and SRF-in2.

More specifically, in the example described here, the warning module 30 is configured such that on receipt of a detection signal SD and a NOK information, that is to say "item no paid in checkout ", a warning that can be both AS sound and bright AL is issued.

If the information is OK, then no warning is issued by the module 30 to the extent that the situation is not fraudulent: the individual I leaves the store regularly having paid his article O.

Alternatively, as mentioned above, the warning module 30 can remotely interrogate the central server of the store to find out whether the article O has been paid or not, such a query being made via a module of wireless communication 60.

Thus, thanks to this arrangement of the modules together and the positioning and the specific configuration of the antennas between them, the carpet 100 according to the present invention allows an effective detection of theft of O items in stores. This exemplary embodiment has been described in the specific case where the antenna Al was positioned at the first portion PI of the carpet ("inside" side IN), and that the antenna A2 was positioned at the second portion P2 carpet ("outside" side OUT). Of course, it is possible to consider the opposite situation, and in this case it is possible to configure the control modules 10 and detection 20 accordingly.

In the example described here, the pressure sensor 40 is connected to a counting module 50 which makes it possible to count, for example, the number of passes, and to compile statistics of the type of attendance of the store by time slot, etc.

Preferably, in this case, the wireless communication module can also transmit to the central server of the store the data relating to the number of passages and calculated statistics.

In the example described here, the modules 10, 20, 30, and 50 are housed inside a BP protection box to prevent deterioration of these electronic modules.

It should be observed that this detailed description relates to a particular embodiment of the present invention, but in no case this description is of any nature limiting to the subject of the invention; on the contrary, its purpose is to remove any imprecision or misinterpretation of the claims that follow.

Claims

Anti-fraud carpet (100) comprising:

at least one first (A1) and one second (A2) antenna each configured to transmit a radio frequency transmission signal (SRF-out1, SRF-out2) intended to obtain a radio frequency identification tag (TAG); ) the information or information (OK, NOK) contained therein, and for receiving a radio frequency reception signal (SRF-in1, SRF-in2) from said tag (TAG) in response to said radio frequency transmission signal ( SRF-outl, SRF-out2), said at least one first (A1) and one second (A2) antennas being respectively integrated in a first (PI) and a second (P2) portion of the mat (100),

a control module (10) configured to measure the intensity (RSSI-1, RSSI-2) of each received radio frequency reception signal (SRF-in1, SRF-in2), and to determine, according to the measured intensities (RSSI-1, RSSI-2), a comparison of the distances (dl, d2) between said label (TAG) and respectively the first (Al) and second (A2) antennas, and

a detection module (20) configured to generate a detection signal (SD) when the distance (d1) between said tag (TAG) and the first antenna (Al) is greater than the distance (d2) between said tag (TAG) ) and the second antenna (A2) or vice versa,

in order to allow the detection of article theft, when an individual (I) fraudulently crosses the carpet (100) passing from the first (PI) to the second portion (P2) with an article (O) provided with a radio frequency identification tag (TAG), or vice versa.

2. Carpet (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first (PI) and second (P2) portions are opposite one another.

3. Carpet (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said at least one first (A1) and one second (A2) antennas are each configured to transmit and receive respectively ultra-light transmission and reception signals. high frequency (SRF-out1, SRF-in1, SRF-out2, SRF-in2).

4. Carpet (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a warning module (30) configured to issue a warning light (AL) and / or sound (AS), to receiving the detection signal (SD) and depending on the information (OK, NOK) contained in the radio frequency reception signal (SRF-in1, SRF-in2) from said tag (TAG).

5. Carpet (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises at least one pressure sensor (40) configured to emit a presence signal (SP) when an individual (I) presses the at least one pressure sensor (40).

Carpet (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that said at least one pressure sensor (40) is connected directly or indirectly to a counting module (50) configured to count the number of passes of individual depending the presence signal (SP).

Carpet (100) according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that said at least one first (A1) and one second (A2) antennas are configured to each transmit a radio frequency transmission signal (SRF-outl, SRF -out2) when the presence signal (SP) is received.

8. Carpet (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said at least a first (A1) and a second (A2) antennas are each housed in a rigid shell (CR1, CR2).

9. Carpet (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the different modules (10, 20, 30, 50) constituting the carpet (100) are housed in a protective housing (BP).

10. Carpet (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises a wireless communication module (60) adapted to communicate with a remote server.