A system and method for marking, tracking, and locating stains on a fabric item for application of a stain treatment prior to laundering is disclosed. The system and method uses an RFID tag to mark the stain or stains on a fabric item and uses a transponder to locate the RFID tag and the stained fabric item. The user is then able to precisely locate both the stained fabric item and the precise location of the stain or stains on the fabric item for a chemical pretreatment prior to laundering. Once the stained fabric item is located, the RFID tag is removed and once all RFID tags are removed, the transponder is placed in a standby or power saving mode.

An RFID device that can be connected to a piece of material, in particular, a piece of fabric (22), in an efficient manner and that is small and flexible is provided. A wire antenna (16) is coupled to an integrated circuit provided on a substrate (12) of the RFID device (10). The wire antenna (16) is attached to the substrate (12) by being laced with the substrate (12) via a pair of through holes. In this state, the wire antenna (16) is fixedly connected to the piece of material by heating a coating of the wire antenna (16), which coating includes a thermoset adhesive material. In this manner, the substrate (12) is connected to the piece of material via the wire antenna (16).

A method for inserting a wire into a longitudinal groove of a semiconductor chip for the assembly thereof, the groove containing a pad made of a bonding material having a set melting point, comprises: in a positioning step, placing a longitudinal section of the wire along the groove, in forced abutment against the pad; and, in an insertion step, exposing a zone containing at least one portion of the pad to a processing temperature higher than the melting point of the bonding material and for a sufficient time to make the pad at least partially melt, and causing the wire to be inserted into the groove. The present disclosure also relates to a piece of equipment allowing the insertion method to be implemented.

A system performs a method for processing an image of a machine-readable code. The method includes receiving an image of a machine-readable code comprising coded information, where the machine-readable code is at least partially obscured by a substance that has a predominant color; generating an adjusted image by adjusting a color space of the image based on the predominant color; binarizing at least a machine-readable code region of the image, wherein the machine-readable code region of the image depicts the machine-readable code; and decoding the binarized machine-readable code region to determine the coded information. Other apparatus and methods are also described.

The present invention relates to the particularly innovative field of electronics applied to textiles. In particular, the present invention provides a method and a multilayer device which allows the use of known and present electronic passive electronic devices on the market or other electronic devices, making them one-piece with textiles or polymers through the use of heat-sealing materials and creating a stable innovative device.

Systems and methods for integrating tags with items. The methods comprise: dynamically determining a length of each metal thread to be incorporated into or trace to be disposed on a item to optimize tag performance in view of dielectric and tuning properties of the item. In the metal thread scenarios, the methods also involve: creating a metal thread having the length that was dynamically determined; and sewing the metal thread into the item being produced to form an antenna for a first tag. In the trace scenarios, the methods also involve forming the trace on the item being produced to form an antenna for a first tag. Next, at least a communications enabled device is attached to the item so as to form an electrical coupling or connection between the communications enabled device and the at least one antenna.

The invention relates to an RFID device comprising: a layer of flexible laminar material, comprising: an outer face, and an inner face, and an RFID tag, fixed to the inner face of the layer.
Said inner face comprises a coating, with the RFID tag being encapsulated between the inner face and the coating.

A flexible circuitry layer may comprise a conductive mesh including a circuitry trace; and an interfacing component, comprising: a flexible substrate; a terminal electrically connected to the circuitry trace; and a connector configured to be detachably connected to an external device.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and systems for laser turning and attaching RFID tags to products. Such methods and systems may include a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The methods and systems may include determining a characteristic of a conductive trace on a substrate to be incorporated into an item to configure a tag performance in view of at least one of a dielectric property or a tuning property of the item. The methods and systems may further include a laser to alter the conductive trace on the substrate to have the characteristic to define an antenna for the tag. The methods and systems may further include an attaching device configured to attach a communications enabled device to the substrate so as to form an electrical connection between the communications enabled device and the antenna to form the tag.

Aspects of the present disclosure involve an apparatus, systems, and methods for providing intelligent laundering alerts. Example embodiments involve an intelligent garment tag that may be affixed to garments, and may store and provide information about the garment to which it is affixed. The information stored thereon describes various aspects of the garment including color, fabric, and laundering information. The intelligent garment tags further include an alert component for providing laundering alerts (e.g., a flashing or colored light, a warning noise, or a vibration) based on, for example, garment color compatibility or laundering device (e.g., washing machine or clothes dryer) compatibility.