Sealed Air Corporation Deploys Blue Spark Thin Printed Batteries To Power Its New RFID Time and Temperature Data Logging Sensors

Blue Spark Technologies, the leading supplier of thin, flexible printed battery solutions, announced that Sealed Air Corporation selected Blue Spark thin, flexible batteries as a core component of its TurboTag RFID-enabled time and temperature monitoring and data logging solution.

According to Bill Roberts, a research fellow in Sealed Air’s Technology and Innovation group, the TurboTag “active packaging” sensor solution represents a breakthrough in time and temperature monitoring technology due to its ability to track and record temperatures in real time, from the processing plant, in transit and up to the point of delivery. This enables suppliers of consumables and temperature-sensitive products — such as meat and dairy products, fresh produce, frozen and refrigerated foods, pharmaceuticals, biologicals and other chemical substances — to minimize waste by ensuring proper cold chain quality control and compliance.

“Our TurboTag battery-assisted RFID smart card’s real-time temperature sensing and data capture capabilities offer a huge improvement over existing time and temperature monitoring technology,” explains Roberts. “To power our system’s autonomous data logging capabilities, we selected Blue Spark Technologies’ 1.5-volt printed batteries. Theirs was the only eco-friendly battery that fully met Sealed Air’s specified operating temperature range, and was thin, flexible and affordable enough to be embedded with the RFID chip into our compact credit card size form factor.”

Matt Ream, Blue Spark Technologies’ vice president of marketing, notes: “We are excited to be working with Sealed Air, a global leader of innovative performance-based materials. Their TurboTag battery powered RFID smart card application is a perfect example of how Blue Spark works with customers to provide a safe, reliable ‘green’ power boost advantage to their new product concepts. Typically, selecting thin, printed batteries enables them to reduce material costs, simplify production and bring products to market faster.”

Blue Spark Technologies will showcase its thin, flexible printed battery technology at RFID World 2008 in Las Vegas, September 8-10. In addition, Matt Ream and a Sealed Air executive will discuss the TurboTag battery powered RFID time and temperature data logging solution at the conference on Monday, September 8 from 2:00 — 2:45 p.m. The presentation title is Using Thin Printed Batteries for Temperature Monitoring in Food/Beverage/Pharma.

Blue Spark Technologies’ customizable carbon-zinc batteries offer a significantly thinner profile than standard button or coin batteries. Diverse applications include:

• Battery-assisted transdermal patches for drug delivery, wound care and some cosmetic applications.

• Interactive ‘smart cards’, one-time password, ID badges, tickets, consumer loyalty cards and gift cards.

• Battery-assisted RF-enabled devices and tags designed to track products, speed transactions and provide instant authentication.

• RF-linked sensors (e.g., to measure time, temperature, humidity, shock, etc.)

• Affordable active RFID and real-time locating systems (RTLS).

• Novelty items such as musical greeting cards, interactive packaging and functional merchandising displays.