JP2003187209A - Ring-like ic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC tag by which large communication distance is secured and which can be set as a communicative state at any time in use. <P>SOLUTION: The IC tag is provided with a belt-like sheet member (11), a plurality of conductive lines (12 to 18) formed on the surface of the sheet member and an IC module (19) connected with two conductive lines among a plurality of the conductive lines. One end (11a) of the sheet member is formed in the rugged shape along the width direction and the other end (11b) of the sheet member is formed in complementary rugged shape against the rugged shape of one end. A plurality of the conductive lines form loop antennas at an engaged state between a rugged part of one end and a rugged part of the other end. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ring-shaped IC tag, and more particularly to an IC tag suitable for a luggage tag (tag) for air baggage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When using an aircraft, passengers leave checked luggage during boarding procedures. A staff member of the airline in use attaches a tag called a tag to the checked baggage, and hands the stub to the passenger as a baggage claim certificate (claim tag). Information for identifying the consigned checked baggage is recorded on the tag for air baggage and its stub. Should the package not be delivered to the intended airport, a complaint will be made based on this stub.

[0003]

Generally, an air bag tag is required to accurately and quickly process a certain amount of information. Therefore, it is conceivable to use, for example, an IC label instead of the conventional air baggage tag. The IC label is a kind of RF-ID medium in which an IC module and a loop antenna are incorporated, and can be attached to a desired object surface at any time by the action of an adhesive (adhesive) applied to the back surface thereof. Is configured.

In the IC label, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, an IC module 101 is provided on a flat substrate 100 defined depending on the standard dimensions of an IC card, and a loop is formed according to a spiral two-dimensional pattern. The antenna 102 is formed. In this case, loop antenna 1
It is the number of turns of the loop and the size of the empty plane in the antenna that determines the communication distance of 02. As a result, it is difficult to secure a sufficiently large communication distance in the form of the IC label.

On the other hand, if the conventional IC label form as shown in FIG. 7 is diverted to the IC tag as it is, the structure of the IC tag as shown in FIG. 8 is obtained. In the IC tag of Fig. 8,
An IC module 111 is provided on a flat base material 110 defined in an elongated rectangular shape, and a loop antenna 112 according to an elongated spiral two-dimensional pattern is formed. Also in this case, it is difficult to secure a sufficiently large communication distance depending on the number of turns of the loop and the size of the empty plane in the antenna.

Since the IC label and the IC tag as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are always in a communicable state before and during use, the IC label and the IC tag near the reader / writer (reading / writing machine) before use can be used. If the IC label or IC tag is placed (or stored), it may cause malfunction due to interference. If the communication distance of the reader / writer is improved in the future, the possibility of malfunction due to the above-mentioned interference may be further increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IC tag which can secure a large communication distance and can be set to a communicable state at any time during use. And

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a first invention of the present invention, a belt-shaped sheet member, a plurality of conductive lines formed on the surface of the sheet member, and a plurality of the plurality of conductive lines formed on the surface of the sheet member. An IC module connected to two of the conductive lines, wherein one end of the sheet member is formed in an uneven shape along the width direction, and the other end of the sheet member is The conductive line is formed in a complementary uneven shape to the uneven shape of the one end,
There is provided a ring-shaped IC tag, wherein a loop antenna is formed in a fitted state of the uneven portion at one end and the uneven portion at the other end.

According to a preferred aspect of the first invention, one of the two conductive lines adjacent to each other in the fitted state of the concave-convex part at the one end and the concave-convex part at the other end. One end of the first conductive line is connected to the other end of the other conductive line. Further, it is preferable that an adhesive is applied to one end of the sheet member.

In the second invention of the present invention, the ring-shaped IC tag of the first invention is attached to baggage, the information related to the baggage is written in the IC module of the ring-shaped IC tag, and the information read from the IC module. And a baggage management method for managing the baggage based on the above.

In the third invention of the present invention, the ring-shaped IC tag of the first invention is wrapped around a predetermined site of the inpatient, the attribute information of the inpatient is written in the IC module of the ring-shaped IC tag, and the inpatient is hospitalized. There is provided a medication management method characterized by reading information from the IC module at the time of medication to a patient, and judging propriety of medication based on the information read from the IC module.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the ring-shaped IC tag of the first aspect is wrapped around a predetermined site of an inpatient, the attribute information of the inpatient is written in the IC module of the ring-shaped IC tag, and the ring There is provided a position management method characterized in that the position of the inpatient is managed on the basis of communication with a card-shaped IC tag.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a ring-shaped IC tag according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a fitted state of an end portion of the ring-shaped IC tag according to the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the ring-shaped IC tag according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ring-shaped IC tag 1 according to the present embodiment includes an elongated belt-shaped sheet member 11 made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), for example. On the surface of the sheet member 11 as a base material, seven substantially linear conductive lines 12 to 18 are provided along the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) such as aluminum, copper or silver paste. It is made of a conductive material. Here, the seven conductive lines 12 to 1
Reference numerals 8 are formed so as to be spaced from each other, and the conductive lines are electrically insulated from each other.

Of the seven conductive lines, one end of the conductive line 12 located at the uppermost position in FIG. 1 is connected to one terminal of a non-contact type IC module (IC chip) 19.
The other end of the conductive line 12 is connected to a conductive recess (see FIG. 2) 21a also formed of a conductive material at one end (right end in FIG. 1) 11a of the sheet member 11. On the other hand, the conductive line 18 located at the bottom in FIG.
One end of the sheet member 11 is the other end (the left end in FIG. 1) 11 of the sheet member 11.
At b, it is connected to the conductive protrusion 26b which is also made of a conductive material.

The other end of the conductive line 18 is connected to the conductive line 1
It is connected to the other terminal of the IC module 19 while being insulated from 3 to 17. And another conductive line 1
One ends of 3 to 17 are connected to the conductive convex portions 21b to 25b at the other end 11b of the sheet member 11, respectively, and the other ends of the conductive lines 13 to 17 are connected to the conductive concave portions 22a to 26a at the one end 11a of the sheet member 11, respectively. ing.
The IC module 19 is a very thin element, and is attached to the surface of the sheet member 11 with an appropriate adhesive, for example, after the step of forming each conductive line.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, one end 11a of the sheet member 11 is formed in an uneven shape along the width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 2). The other end 11b of the sheet member 11 is connected to the one end 11a.
Is formed to be complementary to the uneven shape. In other words, the conductive concave portions 22a to 26a formed on the one end 11a of the sheet member 11 and the conductive convex portions 21b to 25b formed on the other end 11b of the sheet member 11 are configured to fit with each other. An adhesive 28 is applied to the surface of each convex portion 27 formed at one end 11a of the sheet member 11 as needed.

In this embodiment, when the ring-shaped IC tag 1 is used, as shown in FIG. 3, the concavo-convex portion of the one end 11a of the sheet member 11 and the concavo-convex portion of the other end 11b of the sheet member 11 are fitted together. As a result, the other end of the conductive line 12 and one end of the conductive line 13 are connected by fitting the conductive recess 21a and the conductive protrusion 21b, and the other end of the conductive line 13 and one end of the conductive line 14 are connected to the conductive recess 22a. And the conductive convex portion 22b are connected to each other, and the other end of the conductive line 14 and the conductive line 15 are connected.
Of the conductive concave portion 23a and the conductive convex portion 23b are connected to each other.

Further, the other end of the conductive line 15 and the conductive line 1
6 is connected by fitting the conductive recess 24a and the conductive projection 24b, and the other end of the conductive line 16 and one end of the conductive line 17 are connected by fitting the conductive recess 25a and the conductive projection 25b. The other end of the conductive line 17 and one end of the conductive line 18 are connected by fitting the conductive concave portion 26a and the conductive convex portion 26b. In this way, the loop antenna can be formed by fitting the uneven portion of the one end 11a of the sheet member 11 and the uneven portion of the other end 11b of the sheet member 11 together.

As described above, the ring-shaped IC of this embodiment
In the tag 1, it is possible to secure a large empty plane in the loop antenna formed in the usage state, and thus to secure a large communication distance. Further, by the simple work of fitting the uneven portion of the one end 11a of the sheet member 11 and the uneven portion of the other end 11b of the sheet member 11,
It is possible to connect the other end of one conductive line and one end of the other conductive line in an accurately aligned state, form a loop antenna reliably, and set the IC tag 1 in a communicable state at any time.

Further, from the opposite viewpoint, the sheet member 1
1 and the other end 11b of the sheet member 11
By the simple work of releasing the fitting with the uneven part of
It is also possible to release the connection state between the other end of the one conductive line and the one end of the other conductive line to return the IC tag 1 to the communication disabled state at any time. In order to stably maintain the communicable state obtained by fitting the concave-convex portion of the one end 11a of the sheet member 11 and the concave-convex portion of the other end 11b of the sheet member 11, the action of the adhesive 28 described above is used. It is desirable to strengthen the coordination.

In this way, the reader / writer 29 (see FIG. 4) connected to the computer or the like is brought close to the ring-shaped IC tag 1 of the present embodiment set in the used state, and the computer and the IC are connected. It is possible to communicate with the tag 1 using weak radio waves of a predetermined frequency.
Specifically, when writing information to the IC tag 1, the computer emits communication radio waves via the reader / writer 29.

The transmitted radio wave is received via the loop antenna of the IC tag 1 and written in the memory in the IC module 19 as predetermined information. On the other hand, when reading information from the IC tag 1, the information stored in the memory in the IC module 19 is read and communication radio waves are transmitted via the loop antenna. The transmitted radio wave is received via the reader / writer 29 and is displayed on the computer display as predetermined information.

By the way, when aluminum or copper, for example, is used as the conductive material, it is preferable that the conductive line is formed by etching and the uneven portion is formed by die pressing. When a silver paste, for example, is used as the conductive material, it is preferable that the conductive line is formed by a printing process and the uneven portion is formed by a die pressing process. Further, the material of the sheet member 11 is not limited to PET, and other suitable material can be used.

As a first application example of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the ring-shaped IC tag 1 of this embodiment is
Attach to baggage 30. And the ring-shaped IC tag 1
Information relating to the baggage 30 (in the case of airline baggage, for example, name, destination, flight number, passenger number, etc.) is written in the IC module 19 of. Thus, I
The baggage 30 can be managed based on the information read from the C module 19.

As a second application example of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the ring-shaped IC tag 1 of this embodiment is
It is wrapped around a predetermined part of the inpatient 31 such as a wrist. Then, the IC module 19 of the ring-shaped IC tag 1
Attribute information of the inpatient 31 (for example, name, ID code, date of birth, treatment history, disease name, treatment schedule, medication history,
Write your medication schedule). In this way, it is possible to read the information from the IC module 19 at the time of administering the medication to the inpatient 31 and to judge the adequacy of the medication based on the information read from the IC module 19.

Similarly, as a third application example of this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 6, the ring-shaped IC tag 1 of the present embodiment
Is wrapped around a predetermined part of the inpatient 31 such as a wrist. Then, the IC module 1 of the ring-shaped IC tag 1
In 9, the attribute information of the inpatient 31 (for example, name, ID code, date of birth, treatment history, disease name, treatment schedule, medication history, medication schedule, etc.) is written. Thus ring I
The position of the inpatient 31 can be managed based on the communication with the C tag 1.

In the above description, the baggage management method, the medication management method, and the position management method are illustrated as application examples of the present embodiment, but the invention is not limited thereto.
Various applications are possible within the scope of the invention.

[0029]

As described above, in the ring-shaped IC tag of the present invention, it is possible to secure a large empty plane in the loop antenna formed in the usage state, and thus to secure a large communication distance. it can. Also,
By the simple work of fitting with the uneven portion, the other end of one conductive line and one end of the other conductive line are connected in a state of being accurately aligned, and the loop antenna is surely formed.
The C tag can be set in a communicable state at any time. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an IC tag that can secure a large communication distance and can set a communicable state at any time during use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a ring-shaped IC tag according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a fitted state of an end portion of the ring-shaped IC tag according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a usage state of the ring-shaped IC tag according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a reader / writer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a baggage management method for managing baggage by attaching the ring-shaped IC tag of the present embodiment to baggage.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a medication management method of wrapping the ring-shaped IC tag of the present embodiment around the wrist of an inpatient to determine the adequacy of medication and a location management method of managing the position of the inpatient.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a loop antenna formed on an IC label.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the configuration of a loop antenna formed on an IC label is diverted to an IC tag as it is.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Ring-shaped IC tag 11 sheet members 12-18 Conductive line 21a to 26a Conductive recess 21b to 26b Conductive convex portion 28 Adhesive 29 Reader / Writer 30 baggage 31 Inpatient

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Toshifumi Kimura             1-6 Surugadai Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Toppa             N Forms Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nariaki Nawa             1-6 Surugadai Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Toppa             N Forms Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B035 BA01 BA03 BB09 CA01 CA23

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A belt-shaped sheet member, a plurality of conductive lines formed on a surface of the sheet member, and an IC module connected to two conductive lines of the plurality of conductive lines, One end of the sheet member is formed in an uneven shape along the width direction, the other end of the sheet member is formed in an uneven shape complementary to the uneven shape of the one end, The ring-shaped IC tag, wherein the plurality of conductive lines form a loop antenna in a fitted state of the uneven portion at the one end and the uneven portion at the other end. 2. The one end and the other end of one of the two conductive lines adjacent to each other in the fitted state of the concavo-convex part at the one end and the concavo-convex part at the other end. The ring-shaped IC tag according to claim 1, which is connected to the other end of the conductive line. 3. The ring-shaped IC tag according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive is applied to one end of the sheet member. 4. The ring-shaped IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is attached to baggage and the ring-shaped IC tag is attached.
A baggage management method comprising: writing information related to the baggage in the IC module of a C tag, and managing the baggage based on the information read from the IC module. 5. The ring-shaped IC tag according to claim 1 is wrapped around a predetermined site of an inpatient, and attribute information of the inpatient is written in the IC module of the ring-shaped IC tag. A medication management method, comprising: reading information from the IC module at the time of medication to the inpatient, and determining adequacy of medication based on the information read from the IC module. 6. The ring-shaped IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is wrapped around a predetermined site of an inpatient, and attribute information of the inpatient is written in the IC module of the ring-shaped IC tag. A position management method for managing the position of the inpatient based on communication with the ring-shaped IC tag.