RFID staple provides a tracking solution for wood pallets(AUSTIN, TX, September 2019) Until now, applications such as logs, lumber loads, pallets, utility poles and railroad ties, as well as live trees, have not had any UHF RFID tag tailored for these demanding applications. Utility Composites, Inc has introduced a ruggedized, long-distance, passive tag that can be instantly installed: the SUNDOG® UHF RFID staple for tracking assets with rough wood surfaces. SUNDOG® tags are ruggedized to withstand cooking baths used in veneer production, kiln drying cycles in lumber, as well as creosote pressure-treating processes for utility poles and railroad ties, without degradation of readability. SUNDOG® staples will not trip metal detectors or damage cutting blades and can be left in the wood.
SUNDOG® is an innovative UHF RFID tag made of high strength, aerospace-grade composite materials. SUNDOG® tags are staples that are collated in strips of 25 tags and can be instantly inserted into the wood surface with a custom stapler for secure attachment. Flat, adhesive-backed RFID tags do not stick to rough wooden surfaces. Expensive, ruggedized tags take time and effort to screw each tag into the wood surface. Whether on a log stored in a yard or traveling down the highway in high wind and rain, SUNDOG® tags stay fixed to their asset. Instant attachment of SUNDOG® collated tags saves precious labor time.
SUNDOG® tags provide reliable, real-time inventory data, reduced inventory losses, faster and efficient reading (hundreds of tags per second are possible), high read range capability and the elimination of labor required for reading individual barcodes.
Utility Composites offers SUNDOG® tags tuned for two frequency ranges: 902 – 928 MHz, predominant in North and South America and Australia and 865 – 868 MHz predominant in Europe, Africa, India and Russia. SUNDOG® tags are packaged 250 tags per box and 8 boxes per case. Installation tools can be purchased with the tags.
“The tag is small enough to be installed on the stringer between the bottom deckboards or on the edge of the bottom deckboards at the stringer location,” explained Pam Tucker. VP and co-founder of Utility Composites.
Another suggestion for staple placement, she commented, is to put it on the middle stringer. “This could be a good option if placed near the bottom boards,” she said.
“Tag placement may be limited by whether the tag is installed before pallet assembly or after assembly,” Tucker stressed. “The latter would be more limiting. We do expect a SUNDOG tag in a pallet to last for a long time before read failure. Keep in mind that SUNDOG tags are designed to withstand high force impact from the pneumatic stapler that installs the tag, so they can take some abuse.”
Utility Composites, founded in 1993, manufactures specialty composite fasteners including RFID enabled fasteners in the USA for a wide variety of markets and applications.
For more information, contact Utility Composites, Inc.
Made in the USA | www.sundog-rfid.com | (512) 846-4027 | info@sundog-rfid.com