JP2007153346A - Rfid label sticking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an PFID label sticking apparatus capable of holding accurate data with no influence of pressing, heating or the like being a cause of inferiority as an RFID inlet and data processing on a label piece are separately performed to make it possible to perform sticking on a required body to be stuck. <P>SOLUTION: The RFID label sticking apparatus is equipped with a first RFID inlet sticking machine 3 which reads and writes required information on the RFID inlet prepared by temporarily sticking a plurality of sheets of the RFID inlet 16 on a belt-shaped mount at specified intervals and winding it into a roll shape, and can stick the RFID inlet to the article to be stuck, and a second label sticking machine 4 which prints required information on a label piece prepared by temporarily sticking a plurality of label pieces on the belt-shaped mount at specified intervals and winding it into a roll shape, and can stick the label on the RFID inlet stuck on the article to be stuck so as to overlap it. Then, an RFID label composed of the RFID inlet and the label piece having the required information is stuck to the article to be stuck. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a first RFID inlet pasting machine that writes desired information on an RFID inlet of an RFID inlet continuous body wound in a roll shape and sticks it to an adherend, and desired information on a label piece of the label continuous body. It is related with the RFID label sticking apparatus provided with the 2nd label sticking machine which sticks so that it may overlap with the said RFID inlet after printing.

  In recent years, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) inlet having an IC chip capable of reading and writing data has been developed. The RFID inlet is provided with a transmission / reception antenna and an IC chip module connected to the transmission / reception antenna and having a memory, and these are covered with a film made of a transparent material. Can be done.

  The RFID inlet is attached to the adherend and used with a dedicated reader / writer, and the IC chip module writes the article information of the adherend and the code information that encodes information such as the distribution status and environment. It is possible to use it in logistics management etc. by reading from it.

  On the other hand, a physical distribution label having an article or physical distribution information is attached to the surface of the RFID inlet attached to the adherend. These physical distribution labels are provided with information columns such as slip-specific information such as slip numbers, consignor information and consignee information, and the information printed in this information column is the carrier that carries the adherend. It is considered essential as visual information.

  RFID label continuum that can hold these articles or physical distribution information in both the RFID inlet and the label piece medium (label continuum in which the RFID inlet is already connected and continuously connected between the mount and the label piece) In order to perform desired printing, the RFID label continuum is sandwiched between a thermal head which is a printing unit and a platen roller, transferred while being pressed as the platen roller rotates, and printed on the label piece. Therefore, a strong pressing force is applied to a portion connecting the IC of the RFID inlet and the transmission / reception antenna, which is a step raised in a convex shape compared to other surfaces, so that the connection portion is separated or the IC May be damaged.

  Also, the IC may be damaged by heating of the thermal head when printing on the label piece.

In addition, the printable area in the case where visual information is printed on the RFID label continuum with the RFID inlet installed therein is set to a limited print area in order to avoid a step formed by the IC chip and the transmitting / receiving antenna part. Has been made.
JP 2004-42340 A

  The present invention does not perform printing in the form of an RFID label in which an RFID inlet is embedded in the label piece, but writes desired information on the IC and performs desired printing on the label piece and affixes it to a predetermined adherend. Since the IC and the transmission / reception antenna are not pressed or heated more than necessary, the connection part is separated or the thermal head is heated or pressed when printing on a label piece. It is an object of the present invention to provide an RFID label sticking device in which an IC is not damaged.

  In addition, the present invention provides an RFID label affixing method in which the entire area of the label piece can be set as a printable area in order to print on the label piece of the label continuous body without printing in the state where the RFID inlet causing the step is installed. It is an object to provide an apparatus.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide an RFID label sticking apparatus that can determine whether correct information has been written in the RFID inlet and can issue an alarm if necessary.

That is, in the first invention, a plurality of RFID inlets are temporarily attached on a belt-like mount at predetermined intervals, and desired information is read / written on the RFID inlet wound in a roll shape, and the RFID is attached to an adherend. A first RFID inlet pasting machine capable of pasting an inlet;
A plurality of label pieces are temporarily attached at a predetermined interval on a belt-like mount, and desired information is printed on the label pieces wound in a roll shape, on the RFID inlet attached to the adherend. A second label applicator that can be attached to overlap;
The RFID label sticking apparatus is capable of sticking an RFID label comprising the RFID inlet having desired information and the label piece to the adherend.

The second invention includes first sensor means for reading information written in the RFID inlet, and second sensor means for reading information printed on the label piece attached to the RFID inlet. RFID label sticking device,
RFID label affixed with alarm means for issuing an alarm when the predetermined information read by the first sensor means and the predetermined information read by the second sensor means do not match Device.

  In the RFID label sticking apparatus according to the present invention, in the state of the RFID label in which the RFID inlet is embedded in the label piece, desired printing is performed on the label piece without passing between the thermal head and the platen roller. Since the IC and the transmission / reception antenna are not pressed or heated, the connection part is separated or the thermal head is heated or pressed when printing on a label piece. IC is not damaged by pressure.

  Furthermore, in the RFID label sticking apparatus according to the present invention, the entire area of the label piece can be set as the printable area because the RFID inlet that causes the step is not provided.

  Furthermore, in the RFID label sticking apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether correct information is written in the RFID inlet, and if necessary, an alarm can be issued. Therefore, an RFID inlet having proper information is stuck. Only the adherend can be provided.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the entire system of an RFID label sticking apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an RFID inlet sticking machine, and FIG. 3 is a label sticking machine. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example, and FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of the RFID label sticking apparatus.

The RFID label sticking apparatus 1 mainly includes a transport means 2, an RFID inlet sticking machine 3, a label sticking machine 4, an information determination alarm gate 5, and a host 6.
The host 6 is connected to the RFID inlet sticking machine 3, the label sticking machine 4, and the information determination alarm gate 5, and is capable of inputting and receiving the article information and the like of the desired adherend M by transmitting and receiving signals and data. Means.
The conveying means 2 is composed of a conveyor C that conveys the adherend M.

The RFID inlet pasting machine 3 mainly includes an RFID inlet supply unit 10, a communication unit 11, an RFID inlet peeling unit 12, an RFID inlet pasting unit 13, and a mount winding unit 14.
The RFID inlet supply unit 10 is provided with an RFID inlet supply shaft 18 that rotatably holds an RFID inlet continuous body 15 in a roll shape of a plurality of RFID inlets 16 temporarily attached to the belt-like mount 17 at a predetermined interval, and a guide roller It can be fed to the communication unit 11 to be described later.
Note that the RFID inlet 16 coated with an adhesive is temporarily attached to the surface of the strip mount 17 coated with a release agent such as silicon. This pressure-sensitive adhesive is made of a pressure-sensitive adhesive that does not easily peel off when bonded to the adherend M.
The RFID inlet 16 is configured to cover a transmission / reception antenna, an IC chip having a memory connected to the transmission / reception antenna, and a film made of a transparent material. Pitch marks (black rectangular marks) are formed on the back surface.

The communication unit 11 is provided at a position where the communication unit 11 can communicate with the RFID inlet 16 and can write to or read from the RFID inlet 16.
The RFID inlet peeling part 12 has a turning pin 25, turns only the mount 17 of the RFID inlet continuous body 15 at the turning pin 25, and peels the RFID inlet 16 from the mount 17.

  The RFID inlet pasting unit 13 includes a pasting cylinder 21, a suction plate 23, and a pressure sensor (not shown).

The affixing cylinder 21 has a cylinder main body and a cylinder rod 22, is attached to the cylinder main body so that the cylinder rod 22 can be projected and retracted, and an adsorption plate 23 is attached to the tip of the cylinder rod 22.
The crimping sensor can detect the contact state or the crimping state when the suction plate 23 attached to the cylinder rod 22 contacts the article M on the conveyor C.

  The suction plate 23 has a large number of suction holes 24 on its bottom surface, and by sucking air from the suction holes 24, the RFID inlet 16 can be suctioned to the bottom surface.

The RFID inlet 16 peeled off at the RFID inlet peeling portion 12 is sucked by the suction plate 23, and the RFID inlet 16 is moved together with the suction plate 23 by the sticking cylinder 21 (cylinder rod 22) in the predetermined adherend M direction. The RFID inlet 16 is attached to the adherend M.
At the time of this sticking, the pressure sensor detects the pressure-bonded state of the RFID inlet 16 to the adherend M by the suction plate 23, and then releases the suction state of the RFID inlet 16 by the suction plate 23. With the inlet 16 attached, the suction plate 23 returns to the original position.

In addition, as said RFID inlet sticking part 13, the suction plate 23 moves to the to-be-adhered body M direction, the suction plate 23 stops in the state with a space | interval with the to-be-adhered body M, and the stop position Also, a type in which the RFID inlet 16 is attached to the adherend M by air pressure can be employed.
Further, as the RFID inlet pasting portion 13, a sticking roller made of an elastic body such as sponge or rubber material is rotatably provided, and the adherend M to be transported as the rollers constituting the conveyor C are rotated. A type to be affixed to can also be adopted.

    The control unit 20 controls the entire RFID inlet pasting machine 3 and exchanges data with the host 6.

    The mount take-up unit 14 has a rotatable mount take-up shaft 19 that takes up the belt-like mount 17 from which the RFID inlet 16 has been peeled off by the turning pin 25, and the mount take-up shaft 19 is driven to rotate. is there.

In addition, a pitch detection sensor 26 is disposed below the transfer path of the RFID inlet continuous body 15 between the RFID inlet supply unit 10 and the communication unit 11. The pitch detection sensor 26 receives light reflected from the belt-like mount 17 and light emitted from the light emitting unit (not shown) that emits predetermined light and the light emitted from the light emitting unit, and the intensity of the received light (the amount of light received per unit time). A light receiving portion (not shown) that outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the above, and a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion are arranged on the back side of the belt-like mount 17, and a pitch mark formed by printing or the like on the back side of the belt-like mount 17 is received. The detection is performed based on the amount of light received by the unit.
The pitch detection sensor 26 is configured to supply a signal to the control unit 20 so that it can be detected as a peeling reference position of the RFID inlet 16 or RFID pitch data based on the detection result of the pitch mark.
A pair of rollers is provided between the communication unit 11 and the pitch detection sensor 26 so that the RFID inlet continuum 15 can be transferred.

With the above configuration, when write data and a write signal of a predetermined adherend M are supplied from the host 6 described later, the communication unit 11 writes to the IC of the RFID inlet 16 based on the write data. After completion of writing, the RFID inlet continuum 15 is transferred, and the RFID inlet 16 is peeled off by the turning pin 25 and transferred.
The transferred RFID inlet 16 is adsorbed by the adsorbing holes 24 provided in the adsorbing plate 23 of the RFID inlet adhering portion 13 and waits for adhering to a desired adherend M.

  Next, when the adherend detection sensor 100 detects the tip of the adherend M, the detection signal is sent to the control unit 20 and the locking plate 27 that regulates the position of the adherend M is provided. Is driven, the locking plate 27 is erected from between the rollers constituting the conveyor C, the adherend M is locked, and the RFID inlet 16 is bonded.

  The label applicator 4 includes a label supply unit 30, a printing unit 31, a label peeling unit 32, a mount take-up unit 34, a label applying unit 33, and a control unit 40.

The label supply unit 30 has a label supply shaft 38, holds the label continuous body 35 in a roll shape, and allows the label continuous body 35 to be fed out in a strip shape in the direction of the printing unit 31.
The label continuum 35 includes a strip-shaped mount 37 and a plurality of label pieces 36 temporarily attached to the mount 37.

    The printing unit 31 includes a thermal head 38 and a platen roller 39, and rotates the platen roller 39 to transfer the label continuous body 35, and supplies a desired print information signal to the thermal head 38 to supply a label piece 36. To print.

    The label peeling part 32 has a turning pin 51, turns only the mount 37 of the label continuous body 35 at the turning pin 51, peels the label piece 36 from the mount 37, and feeds it in the direction of the label applying part 33.

    The mount winding unit 34 has a mount winding shaft 41 and winds the mount 37 turned by the turning pin 51 in a roll shape.

    The label sticking part 33 has a sticking cylinder 42, a suction plate 44, and a pressure sensor.

The pasting cylinder 42 has a cylinder body and a cylinder rod 43, is attached to the cylinder body so that the cylinder rod 43 can be projected and retracted, and an adsorption plate 44 is attached to the tip of the cylinder rod.
The crimping sensor can detect the contact state or the crimping state when the suction plate 44 attached to the cylinder rod 43 contacts the article M on the conveyor C.

    The suction plate 44 has a number of suction holes 45 on its bottom surface, and by sucking air from the suction holes 45, the label piece 36 can be suctioned on this bottom surface.

The label piece 36 peeled off at the label peeling part 32 is sucked by the suction plate 44, and the label piece 36 is moved together with the suction plate 44 in the direction of the predetermined adherend M by the sticking cylinder 42 (cylinder rod 43). A label piece 36 is attached to the sticking body M.
At the time of this sticking, the pressure sensor detects the pressure-bonded state of the label piece 36 to the adherend M by the suction plate 44, and then releases the suction state of the label piece 36 by the suction plate 44 to label the adherend M. With the piece 36 attached, the suction plate 44 returns to the original position.

In addition, as the said label sticking part 33, the adsorption | suction board 44 moves to the to-be-adhered body M direction, the adsorption | suction board 44 stops in the state with a space | interval with the to-be-adhered body M, and from the stop position. The type which sticks the label piece 36 to the to-be-adhered body M with an air pressure is also employable.
Further, as the label piece pasting portion 33, a sticking roller made of an elastic material such as sponge or rubber material is rotatably provided, and the adherend M to be conveyed along with the rotation of the rollers constituting the conveyor C is provided. A type to be affixed to can also be adopted.

    The control unit 40 controls the entire label sticking machine 4 and communicates data with the host 6.

A pitch detection sensor 46 is disposed below the transfer path of the label continuum 35 between the label supply unit 30 and the printing unit 31. The pitch detection sensor 46 receives a reflected light from the belt-like mount 37 and a light emitting unit (not shown) that emits predetermined light and light emitted from the light emitting unit, and the intensity of the received light (amount of received light per unit time). A light receiving portion (not shown) that outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the above, a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion are arranged on the back side of the belt-like mount 37, and a pitch mark (not shown) formed on the back surface of the belt-like mount 37 by printing or the like Is detected based on the amount of light received by the light receiving unit.
The pitch detection sensor 46 supplies a signal to the control unit 40 as data such as a printing reference position and a peeling reference position of the label piece 36 based on the detection result of the pitch mark.

With the above configuration, when print data and a print signal are supplied from the host 6, a slip number, consignor information, consignee information, and the like based on the print data are printed on the label piece 36 by the printing unit 31. Then, the label piece 36 is peeled off by the peeling pin 51 and transferred to the label sticking portion 33, and is sucked by the suction plate 44 of the label sticking portion 33 and stands by.

Next, when the second adherend detection sensor 101 detects the tip of the adherend M, the detection signal is sent to the control unit 40 and the position of the adherend M is regulated. The motor of the stop plate 47 is driven, the locking plate 47 is erected from between the rollers constituting the conveyor C, and the adherend M is stopped.
Next, based on the label sticking instruction signal from the control unit 40, the label piece 36 sucked on the tip of the suction plate 44 is covered on the RFID inlet 16 stuck on the adherend M. Adhere to.

On the other hand, an information determination alarm gate (first sensor means 48, second sensor means 49, alarm means) formed in a U shape so as to straddle the conveyor C in the width direction of the conveyor C (direction perpendicular to the conveying direction). 50) 5 is provided.
The information determination alarm gate 5 is provided on the downstream side of the label sticking machine 4, and includes a first sensor means 48 such as an RFID reader, a second sensor means 49 such as a barcode reader, and an alarm means 50 such as an alarm device. And having.
The first sensor means 48 has an RFID reader capable of reading information written in the RFID inlet 16,
The second sensor means 49 is provided with a scanner or a CCD camera that can read a bar code, a two-dimensional code, etc., and a unique code printed on the adherend M itself or on a label attached in advance. It is provided so that a bar code or the like indicating can be read.
The information read by the first sensor means 48 and the information read by the second sensor means 49 are transferred to the host 6 and the host 6 judges the matching of the information. The adherend M to which the label (the RFID inlet and the label piece having the printing information attached thereon) is attached flows to a predetermined transport process and is not aligned or the data on the RFID inlet 16 is not matched. When it is determined that the data cannot be read, the alarm means 50, for example, an alarm device is sounded to verify the information of the data RFID inlet attached to the adherend M.

  If there is a discrepancy between the information written in the RFID inlet 16 and the barcode or two-dimensional code information written in the label piece 36, the host 6 outputs an alarm control signal to the alarm means 50 and is loaded. The information written in the RFID inlet and the barcode or two-dimensional code printed on the label piece are informed.

Next, the RFID label sticking apparatus will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
In step S1, when the adherend M is transported by the conveyor C and the first adherend detection sensor 101 determines that the leading end of the adherend M has been detected, the process proceeds to step S2 and is detected. If it is determined that it is not, the determination in step S1 is repeated.
In step S2, on the basis of the detection signal in step S1, the locking plate 27 for locking the adherend M is raised to lock the adherend M, and the RFID inlet sticking portion 13 is further sucked. The RFID inlet 16 on which desired data has been written is attracted to the plate 44 and waits.
In step S3, the desired RFID inlet 16 is attached to the desired adherend M.
Next, in step S4, the adherend M to which the label piece 36 is stuck further conveys the conveyor C, and the second adherend detection sensor 101 detects the adherend M. The process proceeds to step S5, and if it is determined that it has not been detected, the determination in step S4 is repeated.
Next, in step S5, based on the detection signal in step S4, the locking plate 47 that locks the adherend M is raised to lock the adherend M, and further, the RFID inlet sticking portion. The label piece 36 on which desired data is printed is sucked onto the 33 suction plates 44 and waits.
In step S6, a desired label piece is adhered to a desired adherend M.
Next, in step S7, when passing through the information determination alarm gate 5, the first detection sensor 48 (RFID reader) provided in the information determination alarm gate 5 writes in the communication unit 11 of the RFID inlet pasting machine 3. It is determined whether the information of the RFID inlet can be read. If it is determined that the information can be read, the information is supplied to the host 6 and the process proceeds to step S8. If it is determined that the data cannot be read out, an alarm is sounded by the alarm means 50 in step S10 to notify the data failure.
Next, in step S8, the second detection sensor (barcode reader) 49 determines whether or not the barcode is read. If it is determined that the barcode has been read, the barcode data is transferred to the host 6 and the process proceeds to step S9. If it is determined that the barcode cannot be read, an alarm is sounded by the alarm means 50 in step S10 to notify the data failure. The bar code content is encoded with information such as manufacturer name, product type, and product name as an example.

  In step S9, the host 6 determines the consistency between the data transferred in step S7 and the data transferred in step S8. When it is determined that consistency is achieved, the adherend M is placed on a predetermined conveyance path. Conversely, when it is determined that the consistency is not obtained, an alarm is sounded by the alarm means 50 in step S10, the adherend M is excluded from the predetermined transport path, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, in the RFID label sticking apparatus of the present invention, the label piece 36 is printed and stuck to the adherend M without passing through the form of the RFID label that is a continuous body of the label pieces with the RFID inlet installed. The RFID inlet 16 and the label piece having accurate data are configured by ensuring the consistency between the predetermined data of the RFID inlet 16 and the predetermined data (barcode data or the like) printed on the label piece 36. 36 can be provided.

  In this embodiment, the number, position, shape, and the like of each constituent member are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the number, position, shape, and the like suitable for implementing the present invention can be achieved. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

It is the schematic block diagram which showed an example of the whole RFID label sticking apparatus system of this invention. It is the schematic block diagram which showed an example of the RFID sticking machine same as the above. It is a schematic block diagram which showed an example of the label sticking machine same as the above. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a RFID label sticking apparatus same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

1 Label sticking device 2 Conveying means (Conveyor C)
3 RFID inlet sticking machine 4 Label sticking machine 5 Information determination gate (first sensor means, second sensor means, alarm means)
6 Host 10 RFID inlet supply unit 11 Communication unit 12 RFID inlet peeling unit
13 RFID inlet pasting unit 14 Mount winding unit 15 RFID inlet continuum 16 RFID inlet 17 Strip mount 18 RFID inlet supply shaft 19 Mount winding shaft 20 Control unit (RFID inlet control unit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Sticking cylinder 22 Cylinder rod 23 Suction plate 24 Suction hole 25 Turning pin 26 Pitch detection sensor 27 Locking plate 30 Label supply part 31 Printing part 32 Label peeling part 33 Label sticking part 34 Mount winding part 35 Label continuous body 36 Label piece 37 Belt Mount 38 Thermal Head 39 Platen Roller 40 Control Unit (Labeling Machine Control Unit)
41 Mount winding shaft 42 Sticking cylinder 43 Cylinder rod 44 Suction plate 45 Suction hole 46 Pitch detection sensor 47 Locking plate 48 First sensor means (RFID reader)
49 Second sensor means (barcode reader)
50 Alarm means (alarm)
51 Turning pin
100 First adherend detection sensor 101 Second adherend detection sensor M Adherence

Claims (2)

A plurality of RFID inlets are temporarily attached on a belt-like mount at predetermined intervals and desired information is read / written on the RFID inlet wound in a roll shape, and the RFID inlet can be attached to an object to be attached. 1 RFID inlet pasting machine;
A plurality of label pieces are temporarily attached at a predetermined interval on a belt-like mount, and desired information is printed on the label pieces wound in a roll shape, on the RFID inlet attached to the adherend. A second label applicator that can be attached to overlap;
The RFID label sticking apparatus which can stick the RFID label which consists of the said RFID inlet which has desired information, and the said label piece to the said to-be-adhered thing. An RFID label sticking apparatus comprising first sensor means for reading information written in the RFID inlet and second sensor means for reading information printed on the label piece attached to the RFID inlet. There,
Alarm means for issuing an alarm when the predetermined information read by the first sensor means and the predetermined information read by the second sensor means do not match;
The RFID label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

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