Patent 7164380 was granted and assigned to Hitachi on January, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An interrogator with an antenna that allows information exchanges with multiple transponders in a shorter distance of communication, by securing an intensified and uniform electromagnetic energy concentrated on areas near antenna elements. The interrogator is furnished with a sleeve antenna that includes a monopole conductor of ¼ wavelength (free space wavelength) continuously connected to a core wire of a coaxial cable on one end thereof, and a feed point on the other end, in which the sleeve antenna is grounded at the feed point. The interrogator has a plurality of the transponders arrayed near the antenna, and a plurality of the antennas selected by RF signal selectors. The interrogator antenna allows movable body identification such as in a goods management system for identifying multiply arrayed goods.