Security Systems

Market Segment Discussion Prevention of theft has become a major industry whether it be to deal with theft of books from a library, clothing or goods from a store or equipment from the workplace. Anti-theft tagging, generally referred to as Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS, is widely employed to reduce theft. Technologies utilizing radio frequencies to interact with "tags" on merchandise have steadily improved. Today, there are four methods used: Swept-RF (also called Radio-Frequency) tags use an "antenna" in the tag to reradiate a signal which is then detected by a receiver. Acousto-Magnetic uses a combination of permanent and soft magnetic material which transmits based on a pulsed electromagnetic field which stimulates it. Electromagnetic: found mostly in Europe. Microwave: the oldest source-tagging technology.

OTHER USEFUL LINKS Products: Precision rolled alloy strip and foil Injection molded magnets Flexible magnets Technical Assistance: Application Information Selecting permanent magnet materials Contact the Magnetics Technology Center Getting in touch with us: Contact us

Applications Engineering

Whether your company has sophisticated in-house magnetics design capabilities or a more modest facility, our Applications Engineers are ready to support your efforts through the entire product life cycle including: • Conceptualization • Initial design • Prototyping • Design optimization • Pre-Production trials • Validation testing support • Production issues • Cost reduction activities • Next generation designs Additional capabilities: • Magnetic field mapping • Magnetic properties testing

---

Application Example

EAS tagging of products can be accomplished at speeds of 1,200 to 1,400 per minute. Source tages are fed on continuous rolls through tag application equipment. Most tags were originally applied to the outside of packaging. Increasingly the tags are placed inside the packages or directly on the product where they are more difficult to detect and remove. Tags can be activated and deactivated using equipment designed by the manufacturer. Newer tagging systems are also being used for tracking product through manufacture, distribution and to the sales floor. The product identifying bar code is sometimes printed on the EAS tag as in the example illustrated here.

---