JP4522240B2 - RFID label printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an RFID label issuing printer and an RFID label that issue an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) label that can be written and read without contact using radio waves.

  The RFID has an inlet (film-like substrate) composed of an IC chip and a planar antenna connected thereto. The IC chip is divided into four parts, that is, a storage unit, a power supply rectification unit, a transmission unit, and a reception unit. The capacity of the storage unit is 8 to 2000 bytes, and data can be rewritten any number of times.

  As a communication procedure, when a planar antenna receives a radio wave from a reader / writer, an electromotive force is generated due to a resonance action (electromagnetic induction, etc.), the IC chip is activated and information in the chip is converted into a signal from the antenna. Is sent to the reader / writer. On the reader / writer side, when the signal is caught, information on the RFID side is recognized by performing data processing.

  By the way, since the contents stored in the IC chip cannot be read by human vision or a conventional barcode reader, the RFID is an RFID label integrated with a label or tag, and characters or barcodes are printed on the surface of the label. Therefore, the usage forms that can be read by human vision, OCR, barcode readers, and the like are expanding.

  On the other hand, a label printer that performs printing on the RFID label issuing printer includes non-contact communication means (reader / writer) that communicates with the RFID in addition to the printing means. In addition, the reader / writer has a communication antenna, communicates with the RFID antenna using the communication antenna, writes information on the IC chip, and reads information recorded on the IC chip. Yes.

  By the way, when printing and writing information to an IC chip by a label printer for such an RFID label, it is necessary to match the contents to be written on the IC chip with the contents to be printed on the label.

  In order to perform such printing, information writing, and the like, Patent Document 1 has a built-in RFID reading / writing device for reading / writing on an RFID tag provided on a paper and a printer device for printing on a paper label. In addition, a printer with an RFID reading / writing device is proposed in which a label is printed on the basis of data from an RFID tag read by the RFID reading / writing device.

JP 2001-96814 A

  In the RFID label issuing printer shown in Patent Document 1 described above, since the label is printed based on the data from the RFID tag read by the RFID reader / writer, the contents written on the RFID tag and The content printed on the label by the printer device can be matched.

  However, since the RFID inlet is composed of an IC chip and a planar antenna connected thereto as described above, the surface of the label to be printed has irregularities depending on the thickness of these IC chip and planar antenna. This may occur, and there is a risk of causing a printing failure due to printing shading or the like.

  In addition, since the inlet itself has almost the same thickness as an IC chip or a planar antenna, a step is generated in a portion corresponding to the outer peripheral portion of the inlet on the surface of the label to be printed, and a printing defect is caused in the same manner as described above. There is a risk that.

  In addition, when printing on the label, heat and pressure are applied to the IC chip and the planar antenna from the thermal head and the platen roller of the printing unit, so that the RFID chip may be damaged due to destruction of the IC chip or disconnection of the planar antenna. There is a possibility of failure.

  The problem to be solved is that the thickness of the RFID IC chip and the planar antenna or the thickness of the inlet itself may cause irregularities or steps on the surface of the label to be printed, resulting in poor printing. In addition, heat or pressure is applied to the IC chip or the planar antenna during printing, and there is a possibility that the RFID chip may be broken or the RFID may be broken due to the planar antenna disconnection.

The RFID label issuance printer of the present invention includes a mount on which an inlet composed of an IC chip and a planar antenna connected thereto is temporarily attached via an adhesive layer, and the inlet on the surface on which the inlet of the mount is disposed. An RFID label issuance printer that issues an RFID label having a label paper temporarily attached so as to cover the supply, a supply unit having a supply shaft for mounting the RFID label wound in a roll shape, and the supply A separation unit that separates only the label sheet of the RFID label fed out from the shaft from the mount, a printing unit that includes a thermal head that performs printing on the separated label sheet, and is attached to the mount side. A reader / writer for writing / reading information to / from the IC chip of the inlet conveyed via the antenna, and printing A bonding guide section that guides conveyance while re-bonding the label-attached sheet and the information-attached mount with the inlet, and bonding the thermal head and the reader / writer to the bonding guide section. characterized by being arranged at a position equal distance to the separating portion from.
In addition, the separation unit includes a peeling member located on the upper surface side of the label top sheet, and a guide roller that guides the label top sheet in contact with the peeling member upward, and the bonding guide part includes It is possible to have a guide roller that performs a conveyance guide while pressing the label upper sheet and the mount from above and below .
In the RFID label issuing printer of the present invention, printing with the thermal head on the label top of the RFID label and writing / reading of information with respect to the inlet are performed separately on the label top and the inlet conveyed simultaneously, and then again. Each piece of information was made to match by pasting together.
The RFID label of the present invention is composed of a series of continuous paper from the leading end to the terminal end of the label, and is temporarily attached to the back side of the inlet via a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer so as to be peeled off, and the front side of the inlet A release agent layer was provided so as to cover.
Since the label top paper is a series of continuous paper, even if the transport path after separating the label top paper and the mount with inlet in the label issuing printer is different, there is no shortage of label top paper with respect to the mount with inlet. Can be pasted together.
Further, the inlet since both a firmness predetermined thickness, when in fold returns to peeling to mount the label Ueshi inlet remaining attached to the backing sheet side, whereas, with the backing to label top sheet When in fold returns to peeling it can be left attached to the inlet to a label Ueshi side. Therefore, while being transported in the RFID label issuing printer of the present invention, it can be separated into the label top paper and the base paper to which the inlet is attached. On the other hand, after bonding again, the side of the base paper is peeled off by hand. The paper and the inlet can be integrated and pasted on the object.

According to the RFID label issuing printer and the RFID label of the present invention, the printing by the thermal head of the printing unit on the label top of the RFID label and the inlet by the reader / writer arranged at substantially the same distance on the upstream side in the transport direction from the thermal head. Writing / reading information to / from the IC chip can be performed independently and simultaneously.
As a result, it is possible to suppress the failure of the RFID due to the printing failure on the label top paper, the destruction of the IC chip, the planar antenna disconnection, or the like.
In addition, the RFID label of the present invention is transported by separating it into a label top sheet and a mount with an inlet in the label issuing printer of the present invention, and after printing and writing / reading information on each of them, they are bonded again. Thus, it is possible to achieve information matching of each medium.
Further, after being issued, the label paper and the inlet can be integrated and pasted to the object by peeling the mount side by hand.

  In this embodiment, printing by the thermal head of the printing unit on the label paper of the RFID label and writing / reading of information with respect to the IC chip of the inlet by the reader / writer at a position facing the thermal head are separated. Only the label top paper of the RFID label fed out from the supply shaft of the supply unit is separated from the mount by the unit.

  At that time, since there is no unevenness or level difference due to the thickness of the RFID IC chip and the planar antenna or the thickness of the inlet itself on the surface of the label top sheet, reliable printing is performed without causing printing blur or the like. In addition, since information is written to and read from the IC chip of the inlet by the reader / writer in a state where heat or pressure from the thermal head is not applied, RFID due to destruction of the IC chip or disconnection of the planar antenna is performed. The failure of is reliably suppressed.

  In addition, since the thermal head and the reader / writer are at positions facing each other, the content printed on the label top sheet and the content written on the IC chip match for each RFID label.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
1 is a view showing an embodiment of an RFID label issuing printer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the RFID label of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing one RFID label of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of the control unit of FIG.

  The label printer shown in the figure mainly includes a supply unit 10, a separation unit 20, a reader / writer 30, a printing unit 40, a bonding guide unit 50, a cutter unit 60, and a control unit 70.

  An RFID label 80 wound in a roll shape is attached to the supply shaft 11 of the supply unit 10. The RFID label 80 is fed out from the supply shaft 11 by the rotational drive of the platen roller 41 and the bonding guide unit 50 of the printing unit 40, and is transferred to the printing unit 40 through the reader / writer 30.

  Here, the platen roller 41 and the bonding guide unit 50 of the printing unit 40 are synchronously rotated by receiving a driving force of a stepping motor 93 described later.

  The separation unit 20 includes a separation roller 21 and a guide roller 22, and separates a label top paper 82 (described later) of the RFID label 80 from the peeling mount 81. In this case, since only the label upper paper 82 is pulled upward by the separation roller 21 (peeling member) and the guide roller 22, an inlet 85 described later is left on the peeling mount 81 side, and details thereof will be described later. .

  A paper sensor 31 is provided in the vicinity of the reader / writer 30, and the paper sensor 31 detects a detection mark 86 on a peeling mount 81 (described later) of the RFID label 80. The printing unit 40 starts printing based on the timing when the paper sensor 31 detects the detection mark 86.

  The printing unit 40 includes a platen roller 41 and a thermal head 42 that are disposed to face each other. Between the platen roller 41 and the thermal head 42, the label top paper 82 of the RFID label 80 fed from the supply unit 10 is supplied.

  Then, printing on the label upper paper 82 is performed by the heat of the thermal head 42. The label upper paper 82 may be printed by transferring ink using an ink ribbon (not shown).

  The reader / writer 30 is disposed at a position facing the thermal head 42 of the printing unit 40 and includes an antenna 32. The antenna 32 is disposed in the vicinity of the conveyance path of the RFID label 80.

  The reader / writer 30 communicates with the IC chip 83 via the antenna 32 and an antenna 84 (to be described later) of the RFID label 80 to write information to the IC chip 83 and read information from the IC chip 83. Further, since the reader / writer 30 is disposed at a position facing the thermal head 42 of the printing unit 40, the content written on the IC chip 83 matches the content printed on the label upper paper 82. Yes.

  The bonding guide unit 50 includes guide rollers 51 and 52, and presses a label upper sheet 82 (described later) of the RFID label 80 separated by the separation roller 21 of the separation unit 20 from above and below by the guide rollers 51 and 52. Then, the conveyance guide is performed while being bonded to the peeling mount 81. The guide rollers 51 and 52 are configured to rotate synchronously with the platen roller 41 by receiving a rotational driving force from the platen roller 41 by a timing belt (not shown).

  A cutter unit 60 having a movable blade 61 and a fixed blade 62 is provided in the vicinity of the bonding guide unit 50, and the RFID labels 80 bonded by the bonding guide unit 50 are cut one by one. Each cut RFID label 80 is taken out from the outlet 63.

  The control unit 70 controls the operation of each unit based on an instruction to issue the RFID label 80, and details thereof will be described later.

Next, the RFID label 80 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the RFID label 80 includes an inlet (film-like substrate) formed of an IC chip 83 and a planar antenna 84 connected thereto between a peeling mount 81 and a label upper paper 82. ) 85 are arranged at predetermined intervals. The antenna 84 is not limited to a coil shape as shown in FIG. 2, but may have a shape other than the coil shape used in the UHF band.

  The detection mark 86 described above is provided for each RFID label 80 on the lower surface of the peeling mount 81. A release layer 87 made of silicon or the like is formed inside the release mount 81. An adhesive layer 89 is formed inside the label upper paper 82, and the label upper paper 82 is temporarily attached to the release layer 87 of the release mount 81 via the adhesive layer 89. The inlet 85 has an adhesive layer 88 formed on the lower surface side, and is disposed on the release mount 81 in a state of being embedded in the release layer.

Next, the control unit 70 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 70 includes a CPU 71, ROM 72, RAM 73, platen control circuit 74, head control circuit 75, paper sensor control circuit 76, cutter control circuit 77, external I / F 78, internal I / F 79, reader. A writer control circuit 79a is provided. These are connected to each other via a data bus 79b.

  The CPU 71 controls the operation of each unit based on the detection result from the paper sensor 31 and the control program stored in the ROM 72.

  The ROM 72 stores a control program, various fixed data, control table data, and the like. The RAM 73 stores flags, work areas, and the like. When printing is performed, the platen control circuit 74 sends the RFID label 80 to the thermal head 42 side together with the guide rollers 51 and 52 of the bonding guide unit 50 described above. The head control circuit 75 controls the printing operation of the thermal head 42 during printing.

  The paper sensor control circuit 76 controls the detection operation by the paper sensor 31 and gives the detection result from the paper sensor 31 to the CPU 71. The cutter control circuit 77 controls driving of a cutter motor 94 that moves the movable blade 61 of the cutter unit 60 described above up and down. The external I / F 78 takes in data related to printing from a PC (personal computer) 90 and sends status information and the like on the RFID label issuing printer side to the PC 90.

  The internal I / F 79 supplies input information from the input unit 91 provided on the RFID label issuing printer side to the CPU 71 or gives status information to be displayed on the display unit 92. The reader / writer control circuit 79 a controls the information writing to the IC chip 83 and the information reading from the IC chip 83 by the reader / writer 30.

  In such a configuration, when printing or information writing / reading is performed on the RFID label 80, the rotation drive of the platen roller 41 of the printing unit 40 is synchronized with the platen roller 41 as shown in FIG. The RFID label 80 is fed out of the supply shaft 11 by the rotational drive by the guide rollers 51 and 52 of the bonding guide section 50 that rotates.

  At this time, as described in FIG. 3, the label top paper 82 of the RFID label 80 is temporarily attached to the peeling mount 81 side through the adhesive layer 89 and is pulled upward by the separation roller 21 of the separation unit 20. Thus, separation from the peeling mount 81 side is easily performed. Then, the label upper paper 82 is conveyed to the thermal head 42 side of the printing unit 40 by the guide roller 22, and the inlet 85 is conveyed to the reader / writer 30 side while remaining on the peeling mount 81 side.

  Here, when the detection mark 86 on the peeling mount 81 side is detected by the paper sensor 31 during the conveyance of the RFID label 80, printing on the label upper paper 82 by the thermal head 42 based on the detected timing, and the reader / Writer 30 writes information to IC chip 83 and reads information from IC chip 83.

  In this case, since printing on the label upper paper 82 by the thermal head 42 is performed in a state where the label upper paper 82 is separated from the inlet 85, there is no unevenness or level difference due to the inlet 85 on the printing surface of the label upper paper 82. Printing with is performed.

  On the reader / writer 30 side, since the inlet 85 remaining on the peeling mount 81 is separated from the thermal head 42, information is written or read without any heat or pressure from the thermal head 42 or the platen roller 41. Is done. At that time, communication with the IC chip 83 is performed via the antenna 32 of the reader / writer 30 and the antenna 84 of the RFID label 80, thereby writing information to the IC chip 83 and information from the IC chip 83. Is read.

  Further, since the reader / writer 30 is disposed at a position facing the thermal head 42 of the printing unit 40, the content written on the IC chip 83 matches the content printed on the label upper paper 82. Yes. In other words, printing, information writing, and information reading are performed almost simultaneously on each RFID label 80.

  Thus, the label upper paper 82 and the peeling mount 81 on which printing, information writing, and information reading are individually performed are pressed from above and below by the guide rollers 51 and 52 of the bonding guide section 50 and are pasted again. It is sent to the cutter unit 60 side while being combined. The RFID labels 80 are cut one by one by the movable blade 61 and the fixed blade 62 of the cutter unit 60. Each cut RFID label 80 is taken out from the outlet 63.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the IC chip 83 of the inlet 85 by the reader / writer 30 at the position facing the thermal head 42 and the printing by the thermal head 42 of the printing unit 40 on the label upper paper 82 of the RFID label 80. Information is written into and read out from the mount sheet only by the separation unit 20 from the mount sheet of the RFID label 80 fed out from the supply shaft 11 of the supply unit 10.

  As a result, there is no unevenness or step due to the thickness of the IC chip 83 and the planar antenna 84 or the thickness of the inlet 85 itself on the surface of the label upper paper 82, so that reliable printing can be performed without causing printing blurring. It can be made to be. In addition, the writing / reading of information to / from the IC chip 83 by the reader / writer 30 is performed in a state where heat and pressure from the thermal head 42 and the platen roller 41 are not applied, and therefore the IC chip 83 is broken or planar. RFID failure due to disconnection or the like of the antenna 84 can be reliably suppressed.

  Further, since the thermal head 42 and the reader / writer 30 are in positions facing each other, the content printed on the label upper paper 82 and the content written on the IC chip 83 are matched for each RFID label. can do.

  In addition, the thermal head 42 and the reader / writer 30 described above are disposed at substantially equal distances from the bonding guide unit 50 to the separating unit 20 side as shown in FIG. The conveyance distances from the 50 guide rollers 51 and 52 to the thermal head 42 and the reader / writer 30 are substantially equal. As a result, the printed label paper 82 is pasted and pasted so as to cover the inlet 85 where information has been written / read out without any shortage.

  Further, FIG. 1 illustrates a case where the transport path of the label top paper 82 is longer than the transport path of the peeling mount 81. Therefore, in this case, the RFID label 80 is preferably formed such that the leading end and the terminal end side of the label upper paper 82 are longer than the peeling mount 81.

  Further, the separation member is not limited to the separation roller 21, and a small-diameter pin, a (plate or wedge-shaped) edge, a small-diameter roller, or the like can be used. That is, in order to peel off the label top paper 82 from the peeling mount 81, it is effective to fold the label top paper 82 at a steep angle.

It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of the RFID label issuing printer of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the RFID label of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating one RFID label in FIG. 2. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the control part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Supply part 11 Supply shaft 20 Separation part 21 Separation roller 22 Guide roller 30 Reader / writer 32 Antenna 40 Printing part 41 Platen roller 42 Thermal head 50 Bonding guide part 51, 52 Guide roller 80 RFID label 81 Release board 82 Label top paper 83 IC chip 84 Antenna 85 Inlet 87 Release layer 88,89 Adhesive layer

Claims (2)

A mount on which an inlet composed of an IC chip and a planar antenna connected thereto is temporarily attached via an adhesive layer, and a label is temporarily attached so as to cover the inlet on the surface on which the inlet of the mount is disposed An RFID label issuance printer for issuing an RFID label having an upper sheet, wherein a supply unit having a supply shaft for mounting the RFID label wound in a roll shape, and the RFID label fed out from the supply shaft A separation unit that separates only the label top paper from the mount, a printing unit having a thermal head that performs printing on the separated label top paper, and an IC chip of the inlet that is attached to the mount and conveyed On the other hand, a reader / writer for writing / reading information via the antenna, and writing information on the printed label on the label And a bonding guide portion for conveying guide while attaching the mount with read data is performed inlet again, and the thermal head and the reader / writer, a position of equal distance from the laminated guide portion to the separating portion An RFID label issuing printer characterized by being arranged. The separation unit includes a peeling member positioned on the upper surface side of the label top paper, and a guide roller that guides the label top paper in contact with the peeling member upward, and the bonding guide portion The RFID label issuing printer according to claim 1, further comprising a guide roller that performs a conveyance guide while pressing the paper and the mount from above and below.

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