KR20200142972A - radio communication device with a detector for the opening of a package - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are RFID tag/NFC tag capable of automatically identifying products with tags attached using radio frequency communication, detecting whether or not to open the package, and communicating product information and open status information with a reader. The tag comprises: an antenna fixed/or attached to a substrate forming one side of the package to receive a first wireless signal and/or transmit a second wireless signal; a tag integrated circuit connected to the antenna on the substrate and processing a first wireless signal received therefrom and/or generating the second wireless signal or information therefor in response to the first wireless signal; and an opening detection line electrically connected to the tag integrated circuit through an opening formed between the other side of the packaging object/package from the antenna, and providing an alternating voltage from the antenna to the tag integrated circuit so that the tag integrated circuit detects an opening state of the opening.

Description

Radio communication device with a detector for the opening of a package}

The present invention relates to a radio frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC), and more specifically, a tag attached product automatically using radio frequency communication. It relates to a wireless communication device having an opening detector of a package including an RFID tag/NFC tag capable of identifying and detecting whether the package is opened or not and communicates the product information and the opening status information with a reader.

RFID and NFC, which attach tags with unique codes to objects and recognize and identify object information using radio waves, have been applied to overall corporate activities such as production, logistics, distribution, and sales, thereby enhancing corporate and industrial competitiveness. Has been recognized as. In addition, in recent years, it has become an infrastructure that enables convenient living by digging deep into the daily life of the people. As smartphones become popular, various mobile RFID services that use mobile phones to obtain product information and even purchase products have appeared. Through this mobile RFID service, you can conveniently enjoy campus life, such as library use and attendance check, with a single smartphone, and you can easily purchase and pay items at convenience stores or department stores.

In the case of Korea, in order to establish an order for liquor distribution by eradicating counterfeit liquor, etc., manufacturers must attach RFID to their products as a system implemented entirely by the National Tax Service in October 2012 to secure tax sources. In other words, by using RFID tags attached to alcoholic beverages, the history information of each stage from production to sales is grasped, and consumers check whether whiskey is genuine on a mobile phone at an entertainment establishment. In addition, since RFID can contain a lot of information on a single chip, not only product tracking, warehouse entry and exit management, asset management, but also all fields of our society such as medical, national defense, agricultural and livestock products, forestry, manufacturing, education, security environment, and home. Is applied to. In Korea, since 2008, it has been expanding its success model by first applying RFID to industries with large industrial ripple effects such as pharmaceuticals, home appliances, parcel delivery, alcohol, food, auto parts, and fashion.

A system for authenticating a product using an RFID tag is disclosed in Patent Document 1 [Patent No. 1813658 (registered on Dec. 22, 2017)] below. However, the conventional technology disclosed in this patent document is information recorded on the RFID/NFC tag attached to the product by linking the RFID or NFC tag of the high frequency band of 13.56 MHz with the NFC-enabled smart phone to inform the user of the forgery of the product. It could not be detected until the contents of the packaged product were forged or altered.

In addition to the above method, another example of alarming the user of forgery or alteration of a product is the'RFID tag with antenna destruction type described in Patent Document 2 [Public Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0013444 (published on February 6, 2013)] below. 'There is. The technology disclosed in this patent document 2 is to arrange the NFC tag in a packaging container so that the NFC tag is damaged when the protected product is opened. That is, by causing the antenna to be damaged in some way (the antenna of the NFC tag attached to the lid or cover of the container is cut), the NFC tag is damaged. This means that once the protected product is opened, a cloud service that authenticates the protected product based on the ID of the NFC tag can no longer be used.

Another conventional technique for solving the problems disclosed in the above two patent documents is disclosed in Patent Document 3 below (Publication Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0074865, published on June 30, 2017). There is a'FC/RPM mechanism' with valid states. The prior art disclosed in this patent document 3 includes a container persistence sensor that detects that the lid or lid of the container is separated from the main body of the container, inside the RFID or NFC tag.

The container persistence sensor detects whether the protection line formed to pass through the lid (or cap) from the container body is broken (broken), and is used to take out the contents put in the container (or bag, etc.) Or, it detects whether the product entrance) is opened as a cap/opening opening. For this operation, Patent Document 3 above uses a voltage output from a power circuit that converts an electromagnetic field that is inductively coupled to an antenna and is located inside an RFID/NFC integrated circuit into a voltage source.

That is, the conventional technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 is a radio signal transmitted at a constant electromagnetic field strength from an RFID reader or an NFC antenna of a smart phone to an antenna of an RFID/NFC integrated circuit (tag). A current-to-voltage conversion resistor is used to supply an output current of a power supply circuit inside an RFID/NFC integrated circuit (tag) that converts to a voltage source to one side of the protection line and detect the flow of the current to the other side.

However, the conventional technology disclosed in Patent Document 3 uses a direct current power source that is designed inside an RFID/NFC integrated circuit to determine whether the protection line is broken, and thus has a wide opening. When used for (for example, rice bags, etc.), power efficiency was a problem.

For example, if the opening is several tens of centimeters wide, in order to detect that some of the opening is opened, a protection line must be installed at least in the opening with a length much longer than the length of the opening so that the contents are not taken out to the outside. , If the length of the protection line increases, the line resistance of the protection line increases and the load of the power circuit (hereinafter referred to as "chip power circuit") located in the RFID/NFC integrated circuit increases, causing the RFID/NFC integrated circuit to malfunction. Can cause problems.

Usually, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the power circuit inside the chip designed in the RFID/NFC integrated circuit is as shown in Equation (1) below, and when the current load current Iload of the power circuit increases, the PCE decreases and eventually protects. Since the output voltage of the chip power circuit decreases due to an increase in the load on the line, the longer the protection line is, the lower the open recognition rate, and in severe cases, there is a problem that causes a malfunction of the low-level chip.

PCE = Pout / Pin ----------------------------------------(1)

In the above formula (1), Pout is VCC · I _load , and Pin is Vant · Iant. Here, VCC is the output voltage of the chip power circuit, I _load is the full load current of the chip power circuit, Vant is the voltage of the tag antenna, and Iant is the current of the tag antenna.

10-813658 B1 (Registration on Dec. 22, 2017) 10-2013-0013444 A (published on February 6, 2013) 10-2017-0074865 A (released on June 30, 2017)

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and by continuously detecting the AC voltage induced to the antenna of the RFID/NFC tag, it recognizes the opening of the packaging of the bag/container, etc. It is to provide a wireless communication device having an opening detector of a package capable of wirelessly transmitting corresponding information to an NFC reader.

Another object of the present invention is to supply an AC voltage according to the electromagnetic field strength of a wireless signal transmitted from an RFID/NFC reader to one side of an unsealing detection line, and to detect the presence or absence of a voltage on the other side of the unsealing detection line to / To provide a wireless communication device having an opening detector for packaging materials such as containers.

Another object of the present invention is to supply an AC voltage according to the electromagnetic field strength of a wireless signal transmitted from an RFID/NFC reader to one side of an unsealing detection line, and the frequency of the transmitted AC voltage at the other side of the unsealing detection line. It is to provide a wireless communication device having an opening detector of a package such as a bag/container by counting.

The present invention for achieving the above object is an antenna fixed/or attached to a substrate forming one side of a package/package to receive a first radio signal and/or transmit a second radio signal; A tag integrated circuit connected to the antenna on the substrate and capable of processing a first wireless signal received therefrom and/or generating the second wireless signal or information therefor in response to the first wireless signal; The tag is electrically connected to the tag integrated circuit from the antenna through an opening formed between the other side of the package/package, and the tag integrated circuit receives an alternating voltage from the antenna so that the tag integrated circuit detects the open state of the opening. It characterized in that it comprises a tamper detection line to provide an integrated circuit.

The tag integrated circuit is characterized in that it includes an open detection sensor for detecting an AC voltage from the antenna through the open detection line.

The tag integrated circuit and the antenna are fixed/or attached to one of the first and second detachable portions in which a boundary portion based on the opening of the package or the package is present, and the opening detection line is from the antenna. It is characterized in that it is connected to an unsealing detection sensor that detects whether or not an unsealing occurs with or without a voltage level via the first and second separable portions.

The unsealing detection sensor is composed of a diode and a pull-down circuit connected in the forward direction between the end of the unsealing detection line and the ground, and rectifies an AC voltage flowing into the diode through the unsealing detection line to control the tag integrated circuit. It is characterized by providing as.

The tamper detection sensor may further include a capacitive element connected in parallel to the pull-down circuit.

The unsealing detection sensor has a Schmidt trigger circuit for waveform shaping the AC voltage input through the end of the unsealing detection line, and the waveform-shaped signal in the Schmitt trigger circuit is m×2 ⁿ counted (where m is a positive integer And n is an integer greater than or equal to 3, and is characterized by comprising a counter providing a signal to the control unit of the tag integration circuit (8, 12, 24, 32, 48, 64, etc.).

The unsealing detection line is characterized in that the first and second separable portions are reciprocated at least two times in a zigzag form.

The tamper detection sensor is located inside the tag integrated circuit.

In the wireless communication device having a detector for opening a package according to an embodiment of the present invention, when an electric magnetic field having a predetermined strength is induced from a smart phone or RFID reader capable of NFC function, the package/package The status of the opening of the opening of the opening is determined to have been opened when the opening detection line is damaged. Conversely, when the unsealing detection line is not damaged, it may be determined to be recognized as a sealed state. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention allows the AC voltage according to the strength of the electric magnetic field to be inductively coupled to the antenna to flow through the unsealing detection line, and detects it at the end of the unsealing detection line to determine whether or not the package/package is opened. As such, it is possible to very efficiently determine whether a package with a long opening is opened, and transmit it to NFC such as a smart phone.

1 is a circuit diagram of a wireless communication device having a detector for opening a package having an opening detection line for detecting whether a container/package/package equipped with a tag is opened according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a detailed circuit diagram of the opening detection sensor shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating another embodiment of the opening detection sensor shown in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the present invention will be described in accordance with embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that this description is not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. Conversely, the present invention includes modifications, changes, and equivalents that may be included within the technical spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, in order not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention in the description according to the embodiment of the present invention, a technical configuration well known in the RFID/NFC-related technical field has not been described in detail.

1 is an exemplary near field communication (NFC) and/or RF device according to the present invention disposed on a package/package/container such as a burst bag, box, bottle, etc. Represents a wireless communication device 10.

The wireless communication device 10 having a detector for detecting the opening of the package generally includes a substrate (not shown), which is a base material of a label sticker to be adhered/attached to the opened area, a first wireless signal transmitted from the outside, for example, a smart device. An antenna (12) for receiving a first wireless signal transmitted from the phone (1) and/or transmitting/broadcasting a second wireless signal to the outside, a tag integrated circuit (14) in communication with the antenna (12), the antenna It includes an unopened detection line 20 for detecting the presence or absence of an AC voltage transmitted from (12). This structure and/or device configuration may also be applied to radio frequency (RF) devices such as RFID tags, high frequency (HF) devices such as roll readers, and the like.

The tag integrated circuit 14 includes an antenna interface 22 including a capacitive element C1 connected in parallel to both terminals ANT1 and ANT2 of the antenna 12 and two resistors R1 and R2 connected in series. Include. In this antenna interface 22, the resistors R1 and R2 are for impedance matching, and the capacitive element C1 is for resonating with the inductance of the antenna 12, and the quality factor (Q) of the LC circuit As components for obtaining the maximum voltage value at both ends of the antenna 12 to a maximum value, a detailed description thereof will be omitted since it is a technical configuration well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

The tag integrated circuit 14 is a demodulator (receiver) that demodulates the first wireless signal through the antenna interface 22 and outputs a command signal COM, according to the strength of the electric magnetic field induced to the antenna 12 AEF (analog front) including a power circuit rectifying an AC voltage (Vant), a clock unit that generates a clock, and a modulator (transmitter) that load-modulates a response signal and transmits a second wireless signal through the antenna 12 end)/or radio frequency analog (RFA) (24).

In addition, the tag integrated circuit 14 reads the output of the unsealing detection sensor 26 or data stored in the memory 29 in response to the command signal COM, and transmits a response signal RES through the modulator. It includes a control unit 28 for transmitting a signal.

The antenna 12 and the tag integrated circuit 14 have a boundary part 17 based on the opening opening of the package or package in the base material of the label sticker to be adhered/attached to the opening part of the substrate, for example, the packaging container/bag. ) Is attached/adhered to one of the first and second detachable portions 16, 18 where there is.

In addition, between the antenna 12 and the opening detection sensor 26 of the tag integrated circuit 14, the second detachable part 18 is reciprocated in a zigzag form from the first detachable part 16. The unsealing detection line 20 is electrically connected.

In this case, the first detachable part 16 may be one side of the main body of the packaging container/package or the opening of the bag, and the second detachable part 18 is a cover (lid) of the packaging container/package or a bag. It may be the other side of the opening. Accordingly, the boundary portion 17 may be located between the main body of the packaging container/package and the cover, or at an opening that is opened in an open form such as a bag or a bag.

In the present application, open detection generally refers to the ability and/or function to detect or identify whether a container/package or bag has been opened or remains sealed (e.g., as it is sealed at the factory). do.

In an embodiment, the tamper detection is implemented using the tamper detection line 20 as shown in FIG. 1. This NFC/RF tag is considered to have two parts: a first part including an antenna 14 and a tag integrated circuit 14 and a second part including a tamper detection line 20. I can lose.

As previously described, the first part is located on the first detachable portion 16 of the product and/or package/label to be protected.

The second part comprising the opening detection line 20 is at least partially located on the second separable portion 18 of the product and/or package/label to be protected, and when the product and/or package is opened, the As the second separable portion 18 moves relative to the first separable portion 16, the unsealing detection line 17 is cut and damaged.

For the above operation, the first part and the second part, that is, the first and second detachable parts 16 and 18, are formed on one substrate, for example, both ends of a label sticker having a predetermined width and length. It is required to be located at.

For example, the body of a bottle or packaging container for accommodating the contents in liquid or powder form may be the first detachable part 16 of the product and/or package, and the cap/lid or the cover of the packaging container may be the product and / Or may be the second detachable portion 18 of the package.

The substrate (label sticker or tape) constituting the first part and the second part is attached/adhered from the container body (or one side of the bag opening part) to the cap/cover (or the other side of the bag opening part) of the package to the boundary part ( When 17) is placed on the part where the contents are taken out, the opening detection line 20 reciprocates and traverses the boundary 17 between the bottle or jar 12 and the safety cap 14 in a zigzag form.

When the cap is removed, the lid is opened, or the opening is opened, the opening detection line 20 is damaged and the opening detection sensor 14 in the tag integrated circuit 14 detects the opened state of the container or To grasp. In the case of boxed products, a label or tape containing an NFC/RF tag is placed on the boundary between the lid and the body, or is taped after meeting each other to close and seal the box. By being placed across the two flaps, the antenna 12 and the tag integrated circuit 14 are positioned on one component (eg, the container body) of the packaging container, and the tamper detection line 20 It extends from one component to another component (eg, a lid of a packaging container) past the boundary portion 17.

When the box is opened or the opening of the bag is opened, the opening detection line 20 is cut off and damaged, so that the container detection signal is different from the factory shipment state. A similar approach and/or technique can be applied to many other types of commodity containers (e.g., hinge-lid boxes, alcohol bottles, cigarette packages, filaments, or other express delivery that can be opened by pulling a string). Shipping packages such as envelopes, etc.).

First wireless signal transmission from smartphone/RFID reader with NFC function when container is not opened

In the unopened state of the container, the tamper detection line 20 is completely electrically connected between one side ANT1 of the antenna 12 and the tamper detection sensor 26 in the tag integrated circuit 14.

In this state, when the antenna 12 receives the first wireless transmission signal, the electric magnetic field of the first wireless transmission signal transmitted from the smartphone/RFID reader is induced to the antenna 12, and by this operation An induced voltage (current) Vant is generated by an electric magnetic field at both ends ANT1 and ANT2 of the antenna 12. At this time, the first wireless signal is a signal modulated by a carrier wave of 13.56 MHz, so that the induced voltage (current) (Vant) is an AC voltage.

At this time, the power circuit of the AEF/or RFA 24 in the tag integrated circuit 14 converts the AC induced voltage into a rectified and constant constant voltage, and the operating voltage of the demodulator, modulator and controller 28 and the memory 29 ( Vcc). By this operation of the power circuit, the tag integrated circuit 14 demodulates the first wireless signal received by the antenna 12 through a demodulator to receive the command signal COM and/in response thereto, the opening detection sensor 14 ) Output from the open detection signal (ODS) or product specific information (ID) stored in the memory 29, or a response signal (RES) including the same, through a modulator, and modulate the second wireless signal to an antenna ( 12) to the smartphone/RFID reader.

At this time, if the level of one side (ANT1) of the antenna 12 is high (positive value) and the level of the other side (ANT2) is low (negative value), the opening detection sensor 26 configured as shown in FIG. The NMOS 27 connected in a forward diode state is turned on at the end of the unsealing detection line 20 to charge the capacitive element Cr. When the level of one side (ANT1) of the antenna 12 is low (negative value) and the level of the other side (ANT2) is high (negative value), the NMOS 27 is turned off, so that the capacitive element Cr reduces the charging voltage. Discharge.

When the unsealing detection line 20 is completely electrically connected between one side of the antenna 12 (ANT1) and the unsealing detection sensor 26 in the tag integrated circuit 14, both ends of the current-voltage conversion storage Rs The applied high-level voltage is input to the control unit 28 as an opening detection signal ODS.

In the above embodiment, it has been described that the unsealing detection sensor 26 detects as the presence or absence of the level of the AC voltage induced by the antenna 12 as shown in FIG. 2, but in FIG. 3, which is another embodiment of the present invention, the frequency of the induced voltage is m. ㅧ2 When ⁿ counting is completed (where m is a positive integer and n is an integer greater than or equal to 3, 8, 12, 24, 32, 48, 64, etc.), a signal that is activated as a logic'high' is used as an opening detection signal (ODS). You can configure what to print.

Referring to FIG. 3, a chute trigger 25 for shaping a waveform of an AC induced voltage is electrically connected to an end portion of the unsealing detection line 20. Accordingly, when the unsealing detection line 20 is disconnected and not damaged, an induced voltage having a carrier frequency (eg, 13.56Mhz) of the first wireless signal is input to the smite trigger 25. At this time, the Smit trigger 25 forms the induced voltage as a waveform and outputs it as a square wave, and the counter 30 counts the square wave mx2 ⁿ , and when the count is completed, a completion signal (Carry out) is logic "high". It is activated to provide an opening detection signal (ODS) to the control unit 28.

The control unit 28 includes an opening detection signal indicating whether the container is in an opened state or a factory shipment state by analyzing the level of the opening detection signal ODS according to the first wireless signal, that is, a command signal COM. The generated second wireless signal may be generated and transmitted to a smartphone/RFID reader through a modulator and antenna 12.

First wireless signal transmission from smartphone/RFID reader with NFC function when container is opened

When the container is opened, the first detachable part 16 and the second detachable part 18, which are detachable around the boundary part 17, are separated, and the open detection line 20 is broken and damaged.

When the unsealing detection line 20 is damaged, the antenna 12 and the unsealing detection sensor 26 are electrically insulated. That is, since the NMOS 27 of FIG. 2 is always in a'turn-off' state, the open detection signal ODS of FIG. 2 is output as a pull-down (ground potential). In addition, since no electrical signal is input to the short trigger 25 of the opening detection sensor 26 configured as shown in FIG. 3, the carry output of the counter 30 is logic'low', and the opening detection signal ODS is inactive. State.

At this time, the controller 28 transmits a second wireless signal containing information that the container is opened in response to the command signal COM that the demodulator demodulates and outputs the first wireless signal through the modulator and the antenna 12. It is transmitted to the RFID reader.

The present invention maintains the tag reading ability both before and after the packaging container is opened, so that the user and the NFC-based service can continue even after the product is opened. That is, health functional foods, such as alcohol and ginseng tablets, in which the products stored in the packaging container can be continuously used after the product is opened. By maintaining the communication service function between the smartphone/RFID reader during this time, the consumer can communicate with the manufacturer for the specific product to which the NFC tag is attached.

Smartphones/readers that read NFC and/or RFID tags are generally connected to cloud servers that collect information about IDs read from the tag integrated circuit. This is to log data for analysis, to provide an appropriate experience and provide accurate information to the consumer's smartphone or other NFC-enabled and/or RF-enabled device. If the ID indicating the'opened' status is read first and then processed by the cloud system, a warning will be issued automatically if the ID is read again as'closed' at least once, and the product Is a counterfeit product.

The antenna 12 and the tag integrated circuit 14 may be manufactured by a printing method. Regarding the manufacturing of printed RFID, please refer to "Printed RFID Technology" published in the October 2007 issue of Electronic Communication Trend Analysis Vol. 22 No. 5.

As described above, the present invention can reduce the malfunction of the RFID integrated circuit even when the open detection line is very long by detecting the open state of the container by using the AC voltage at both ends of the antenna having the best strength in the RFID tag, thereby improving reliability. Can be improved.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is described that the open detection sensor 26 is integrated with the tag integrated circuit 29, but the open detection sensor 26 is separated from the tag integrated circuit 29 and printed on the substrate. It can also be prepared in a way.

The foregoing description of the specific implementation of the present invention has been presented by way of example, and these are not exhaustive to the extent that other examples are excluded, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and many modifications are made in light of the foregoing teachings. And it is obvious that variations will be possible.

In addition, the above embodiments have been selected and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application. The scope of the present invention should be determined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

10 Wireless communication device with unpacked detector
12 antennas,
14 tag integrated circuit,
16 first detachable part
17 border
18 second detachable part
20 unopened detection lines
22 antenna interface
24 AFE/RFD
25 Smit Trigger
26 tamper detection sensor
28 control unit
29 memory
30 counter

Claims (8)

In a wireless communication device having a package opening detector,
An antenna fixed/or attached to a substrate forming one side of the package/package to receive a first radio signal and/or transmit a second radio signal;
A tag integrated circuit connected to the antenna on the substrate and capable of processing a first wireless signal received therefrom and/or generating the second wireless signal or information therefor in response to the first wireless signal;
The tag is electrically connected to the tag integrated circuit from the antenna through an opening formed between the other side of the package/package, and the tag integrated circuit receives an alternating voltage from the antenna so that the tag integrated circuit detects the open state of the opening. A wireless communication device having a tamper detector of a package comprising a tamper detection line provided to the integrated circuit. The wireless communication of claim 1, comprising a tamper detection sensor for detecting whether an electric signal flows from the antenna between the end of the tack detection line and the tag integrated circuit. Device. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag integrated circuit and the antenna are fixed/or attached to one of the first and second detachable portions in which a boundary portion based on the opening of the package or package is present, and the opening detection The line has an opening detector of a package, characterized in that the line is connected to an opening detection sensor that detects whether or not an electric signal from one end of the antenna flows through the first and second separable portions from the antenna. Wireless communication device. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the unsealing detection sensor is composed of a diode and a pull-down circuit connected in a forward direction between the terminal and the ground of the unsealing detection line, and flows into the diode through the unsealing detection line. A wireless communication device having a package opening detector, characterized in that the voltage is rectified and provided to the control unit of the tag integrated circuit. The wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the tamper detection sensor further comprises a capacitive element connected in parallel to the pull-down circuit. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the unsealing detection sensor comprises a Schmidt trigger circuit for waveform shaping the AC voltage input through the end of the unsealing detection line, and a signal shaped by the Schmitt trigger circuit in a preset number of clocks. A wireless communication device having a package opening detector, comprising a counter that provides a counting completion signal to a control unit of the tag integrated circuit when counting is completed. [4] The wireless communication device of claim 2 or 3, wherein the unsealing detection line reciprocates the first and second separable portions in a zigzag form at least two times or more. The wireless communication device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the tamper detection sensor is located inside the tag integrated circuit.

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