Systems and methods for increasing alarm confidence in EAS detection systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10832545-B2
Application number	US-201916259847-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2019
Priority date	Jan 28, 2019
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods for operating an EAS detection system. The methods comprise: detecting an Active Security Tag (“AST”) in an EAS detection zone; determining whether AST is coupled to an object identified in a list; and performing operations when a determination is made that AST is coupled to a listed object. The operations involve: accessing sensor data generated by at least one sensor device disposed on/near display equipment associated with the listed object; processing the sensor data to determine whether a person was within a defined distance range of AST during a period of time immediately preceding the detecting; concluding that a false alarm scenario exists when the sensor data indicates that a person was not within the defined distance range of AST during the period of time; and suppressing alarm issuance by the EAS detection system in response to the false alarm scenario conclusion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) detection system, comprising:
detecting, by the EAS detection system, an alarm of a tag of the system; and
determining whether or not the alarm is a false alarm by:
determining whether the alarmed tag is associated with an object identified in a list of objects on display within a detection zone of the system; and
performing the following operations when a determination is made that the alarmed tag is coupled to an object identified in the list:
accessing sensor data generated by at least one sensor device disposed on or near display equipment associated with the object identified in the list;
processing the sensor data to determine whether a person was within a defined distance range of the alarmed tag during a period of time immediately preceding the detecting;
concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when the sensor data indicates that the person was not within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time; and

suppressing an issuance of the alarm by the EAS detection system in response to the false alarm determination.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing operations by the EAS detection system to read security tags coupled to objects on display within the detection zone during off hours and generate the list.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising outputting an alarm by the system when a determination is made that the alarmed tag is not coupled to the object identified in the list.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor device comprises at least one of a motion sensor and a camera.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising using the sensor data to classify the person as a customer or employee when a determination is made that a person was within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when the person is classified as an employee.

7. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising concluding that the alarm is a real alarm when the person is classified as a customer.

8. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when (a) the person is classified as a customer and (b) image analysis indicates the customer is not an individual present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting or that no individual was present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting.

9. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when (a) the person is classified as a customer and (b) image analysis indicates that the object to which the active security tag is coupled is not the same as the object present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising using the sensor data to determine whether an inanimate object was within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time immediately preceding the detecting.

11. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when a determination is made that an inanimate object other than an order-fulfilling robot was within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time.

12. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising programming instructions that are configured to cause the processor to implement a method for operating an Electronic Article Surveillance (“EAS”) detection system, wherein the programming instructions comprise instructions to:
cause the EAS detection system to detect an active security tag in an EAS detection zone for causing issuance of an alarm;
determine whether or not the alarm is a false alarm by:
determining whether the active security tag is coupled to an object identified in a list of objects on display within a detection zone of the system; and
performing the following operations when a determination is made that the active security tag is coupled to an object identified in the list of objects:
accessing sensor data generated by at least one sensor device disposed on or near display equipment associated with the object identified in the list of objects;
processing the sensor data to determine whether a person was within a defined distance range of the active security tag during a period of time immediately preceding the detecting; and
concluding that the alarm is a false alarm when the sensor data indicates that the person was not within the defined distance range of the active security tag during the period of time; and

suppress the issuance of the alarm by the EAS detection system in response to the false alarm determination.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to cause the EAS detection system to read security tags coupled to objects on display within the detection zone during off hours and generate the list.

14. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to cause the EAS detection system to issue the alarm when a determination is made that the alarmed tag is not coupled to the object identified in the list of objects.

15. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one sensor device comprises at least one of a motion sensor and a camera.

16. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to use the sensor data to classify the person as a customer or employee when a determination is made that a person was within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to conclude that the alarm is a false alarm when the person is classified as an employee.

18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to conclude that the alarm is a real alarm when the person is classified as a customer.

19. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to conclude that the alarm is a false alarm when (a) the person is classified as a customer and (b) image analysis indicates the customer is not an individual present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting or that no individual was present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting.

20. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to conclude that the alarm is a false alarm when (a) the person is classified as a customer and (b) image analysis indicates that the object to which the alarmed tag is coupled is not the same as the object present in the EAS detection zone at the time of the detecting.

21. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to use the sensor data to determine whether an inanimate object was within the defined distance range of the alarmed tag during the period of time immediately preceding the detecting.

22. The system according to claim 21 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise instructions to conclude that the ala

Assignees

• Ouellette Glen
• Huang John C Y
• Trivelpiece Steve E
• Westmacott Ian
• Sensormatic Electronics Llc

Inventors

• Ouellette Glen
• Huang John C Y
• Trivelpiece Steve E
• Westmacott Ian

Classifications

• G06V20/52

  Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) · CPC title

• G08B13/2482

  EAS methods, e.g. description of flow chart of the detection procedure · CPC title

• G08B13/2445

  Tag integrated into item to be protected, e.g. source tagging · CPC title

• G08B13/2454

  Checking of authorisation of a person accessing tagged items in an EAS system · CPC title

• G08B13/2462

  Asset location systems combined with EAS (inventory, tracking, logistic G06Q10/00; entrance control systems G07C9/00) · CPC title