Patents by Inventor Thomas A. Cofino

Thomas A. Cofino has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6078259
    Abstract: The invention is a radiofrequency identification tag comprising a semiconductor chip having radio frequency, logic, and memory circuits, and an antenna that are mounted on a substrate. The antenna may be used by the chip to modulate an incident RF signal to transfer information to a base station. The antenna comprises one or more lengths of thin wire that are connected directly to the chip by means of wire bonding. The chip and antenna combination are sealed with an organic film covering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2000
    Assignee: Intermec IP Corp.
    Inventors: Michael John Brady, Thomas Cofino, Harley Kent Heinrich, Glen Walden Johnson, Paul Andrew Moskowitz, George Frederick Walker
  • Patent number: 5972156
    Abstract: The invention is a radiofrequency identification tag comprising a semiconductor chip having radio frequency, logic, and memory circuits, and an antenna that are mounted on a substrate. The antenna may be used by the chip to modulate an incident RF signal to transfer information to a base station. The antenna comprises one or more lengths of thin wire that are connected directly to the chip by means of wire bonding. The chip and antenna combination are sealed with an organic film covering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: Intermec IP Corp.
    Inventors: Michael John Brady, Thomas Cofino, Harley Kent Heinrich, Glen Walden Johnson, Paul Andrew Moskowitz, George Frederick Walker
  • Patent number: 5942987
    Abstract: A Write Broadcast system and method uses a base station to write sent data associated with no particular destination tag or tags, by radio frequency signal, to all or some selected number (sub group) of tags in a base station field simultaneously. By unselecting the tags that have been successfully written to, and requesting a response from the remaining tags in the field (or sub group), the system determines, by receiving a response to the request, that there are tags in the field (sub group) that were unsuccessfully written to. Another Write Broadcast signal is sent to these tags. The system is useful for quickly (simultaneously) "stamping" information on the tag memory of a large number of tags in the field of the base station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 24, 1999
    Assignee: Intermec IP Corp.
    Inventors: Harley Kent Heinrich, Christian Lenz Cesar, Thomas A. Cofino, Daniel J. Friedman, Kenneth Alan Goldman, Sharon Louise Greene, Kevin G McAuliffe
  • Patent number: 5939984
    Abstract: A combination of a radio frequency identification transponder (RFID Tag) and to a magnetic electronic article surveillance (EAS) device is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1999
    Assignee: Intermec IP Corp.
    Inventors: Michael J. Brady, Thomas A. Cofino, Richard J. Gambino, Paul A. Moskowitz, Alejandro G. Schrott, Robert J. von Gutfeld
  • Patent number: 5739754
    Abstract: The present invention is a magnetic sensor used with one or more frequency band pass filters and a logic circuit that produces a ("critical") signal that is used for enabling and disabling an external electronic circuit, e.g. a computer circuit. The magnetic sensor produces a signal when excited by an externally applied alternating current (ac) magnetic field. The external ac magnetic field can comprise one or more frequencies, each of which induces an electrical signal at the respective frequency in the sensor. Depending on the linearity of the sensor, one or more harmonic frequencies of the signal frequencies can also be induced in the sensor. One or more bandpass filters is connected to the magnetic sensor and each of the bandpass filters is tuned to filter the signal to select filtered signals, from the output of the sensor. A logic circuit is activated by one or more of the filtered signals or a combination of one or more of the signal frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1998
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Alejandro Gabriel Schrott, Michael John Brady, Thomas A. Cofino, Richard Joseph Gambino, Robert Jacob Von Gutfeld, Harley Kent Heinrich, Paul Andrew Moskowitz
  • Patent number: 5682143
    Abstract: A radiofrequency identification tag has a semiconductor chip with radio frequency circuit, logic, memory circuits, and further includes an antenna that is mounted on a substrate. The antenna may be used by the chip to modulate an incident RF signal to transfer information to a base station. The antenna comprises one or more lengths of thin wire that are connected directly to the chip by means of wire bonding. The chip and antenna combination can be sealed with an organic film covering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 28, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Michael John Brady, Thomas Cofino, Harley Kent Heinrich, Glen Walden Johnson, Paul Andrew Moskowitz, George Frederick Walker
  • Patent number: 5635693
    Abstract: A radio frequency (RF) tagging system is used to monitor vehicles passing through an area access to one or more vehicle storage area(s). One or more of the vehicles stored in the storage area is equipped with a RF tag which has vehicle ID information about the vehicle stored in a tag memory contained on the tag. The tag communicates with a base station when passing through the area accesses, (entering or leaving). A central and preferably one or more remote computers accesses status information that might include vehicle identification, customer, lot identification, time of day, and vehicle and lot status. The information is used in security or marketing functions. The security function can include a paging system for sending alarms and/or messages to a manager or security personnel. The marketing function can include determining how long or how many times different makes an model of vehicle are chosen by customers for test drives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 3, 1997
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Steven J. Benson, Thomas A. Cofino, Robert J. von Gutfeld