Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
  • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
  • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
  • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
  • H01Q1/2208—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems
  • H01Q1/2225—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
  • G06K19/06—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
  • G06K19/067—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components
  • G06K19/07—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components with integrated circuit chips
  • G06K19/077—Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
  • G06K19/04—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the shape
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
  • G06K19/00—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
  • G06K19/06—Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
  • G06K19/067—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components
  • G06K19/07—Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components with integrated circuit chips
  • G06K19/077—Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier
  • G06K19/07749—Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
  • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
  • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
  • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
  • H01Q1/2208—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
  • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
  • H01Q1/36—Structural form of radiating elements, e.g. cone, spiral, umbrella; Particular materials used therewith
  • H01Q1/38—Structural form of radiating elements, e.g. cone, spiral, umbrella; Particular materials used therewith formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
  • H05K5/00—Casings, cabinets or drawers for electric apparatus
  • H05K5/0004—Casings, cabinets or drawers for electric apparatus comprising several parts forming a closed casing

Definitions

• the invention relates to improving wireless marking means, and especially to improving the RFID marking means mounted inside the object to be marked by nailing or shooting, and the mounting method.
• RFID devices that is, marking means operating with radio frequency
• They may also include sensors for wireless reading of measurement results.
• RFID devices are adhered to the object being tracked by means of a self-adhesive label and they may, for example, be implanted with a needle into people or animals.
• RFID devices are advantageously used, for example, for tracking and identifying pallets.
• a hole is drilled for RFID identifiers mounted in a pallet, in which hole the identifier is mounted, or the identifier is fixed otherwise in the pallet, for example, by gluing, stapling or leaving the RFID transponder between the parts of the pallet at the manufacturing stage.
• An identifier remaining on the surface of the pallet is susceptible to damage and mounting inside the wooden structure of the pallet is slow because a hole has to be drilled for the identifier.
• Nail-like RFID devices are also known, for example, the TAGnology company's Nail Tag. It is a 4 mm thick, fibreglass reinforced nail made of polyamide, inside which is cast an RFID chip and a ferrite-rod antenna.
• the ferrite-rod antenna is expensive to manufacture and requires fill-casting in order for the RFID circuit and antenna to withstand the accelerations required in nailing. Manufacturing a nail of the above type is relatively expensive, because a winding wire and ferrite have to be cast inside the body of the nail.
• the aim of the invention is to provide a nail-like RFID transponder which is more economical to produce, distance-readable, and more flexibly modifiable than before.
• the aims of the invention are achieved by means of a transponder, which comprises a flexible circuit board mountable inside a flat nail body.
• the flat body may be openable or have two parts and thus the flexible circuit board can be mounted inside it only after the body has been manufactured.
• the flat shape gives the nail a small cross-sectional area and thus the nailing force is reasonable. At the same time, the flat shape makes possible the use of a strip antenna and allows a reading distance of several metres.
• a strip antenna, a flexible circuit board and an RFID circuit are considerably cheaper to produce than an RFID device based on a coil antenna. Since the flexible circuit board is extremely light and strong, it withstands high accelerations even unsupported, in addition to which the flexible circuit board can be laminated to be liquid- and gas-tight, in which case the nail body itself does not have to be tight.
• the flexible circuit board is preferably of the same lami- nated material as is currently used in the manufacture of distance-readable smart cards. In this way is achieved a strong, dimensionally accurate and gas-tight casing for the RFID circuit.
• the circuit board does not necessarily have to be very flexible; it suffices that it withstands the forces generated by the impact without breaking.
• a fibreglass reinforced board may also be sufficiently flexible. It is, however, disadvantageously thick and its jointing techniques withstand high accelerations poorly.
• Figure 1 shows the body part of the RFID device according to the invention with the body part opened.
• Figure 2 shows the device of Figure 1 as seen from the other side.
• Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the body of the RFID device according to the invention.
• the body 1 has a recess Ia for the circuit board and antenna of the RFID transponder.
• the circuit board is placed in the recess and the lid 2 is closed.
• the circuit board remains supported by the lid and the lid is locked into place by the locking means 6.
• the circuit board may also be glued to the lid 2, the bottom of the recess Ia of the body part or to both.
• Figure 2 shows the lid 2 and the body part from a different direction.
• the lid 2 has a recess 2a for the electronic part of the RFID circuit.
• the recess may be provided with an adhesive or a casting filler either before or after closing by injecting, spraying or pouring. This will both support the components of the circuit and prevent the disassembling of the device without breaking it.
• the body 1 described in Figures 1 and 2 comprises holes 3 which can be used for alternative fixing or suspension. Furthermore, the holes 3 can be utilised in the operation of the device nailing the marking means for aligning the device before ram- ming the device, for example, into wood by striking it on the rear part 4.
• the holes 3 may also act as fastening means in the assembly, by means of which the body can be kept exactly in place.
• the holes 7 provided in connection with the locking means make it possible to open the locking means 6 and thus, for example, to change the circuit board.
• the locking means are spring bolts 6, which may be released through the holes 7 by using an appropriate tool. Spring bolts are only one option for locking the lid.
• the lid 2 fits the recess Ia tightly lengthwise.
• the lid therefore, takes on some of the impact generated during nailing and prevents for its part the distortion of the body.
• the lid may also be on a different side than the largest side shown in the picture.
• the lid may be on the small side, in which case the lid is preferably designed so that it wedges the circuit board containing the antenna into place.
• the lid may also be on the tip or on the base.
• the material of a lid mounted on the tip or the base may also be metal, in which case it is possible to make the tip or the base, which are subjected to the greatest stress, of a harder material without encumbering the manufacture to any great extent.
• the leading tip or base may also be arranged as a part of the antenna circuit by making a suitable contact area for the tip in the circuit board.
• a lid located on the largest side in accordance with Figures 1 and 2 facilitates the mounting of various sensors and measuring devices inside the device, because a suitable recess can be made for the measuring devices and they can be more easily supported between the lid and the body.
• the sensors may thus also be more easily arranged in the recesses made in the body.
• suitable sensors are temperature sensors, a humidity sensor, sensors measuring force and vibrations which may act, for example, as anti-theft devices which detect the moving of an object or they may function as a vibration transducer for monitor- ing the construction.
• the sensor may also be a chemical one, in which case it may detect, for example, the metabolism of a living tree or the decay of a foodstuff.
• the hardness of a body containing a sensor which is nailed into a live tree or in harvested timber can be made such that it will not cause inconvenience to wood harvesting or pulp manufacture.
• the lid and the recess Ia in the body are designed to be wavy or curved, so that the RFID circuit board is wavy or curved when viewed from the back or front.
• the directional pattern of the antenna can thus be modified to be more omnidirectional, because a curved antenna also extends out of the plane, which makes it possible to even out the directional pattern of a completely planar antenna in such a way that no equally steep dead directions are formed in the radiation pattern.
• the waviness also rigidities the structure to some extent.
• the body and the lid may also be wavy or curved on the outer surface, or only the part supporting the flexible circuit board is designed to be wavy or curved.
• the RFID circuit board may be manufactured by a technique used in manufacturing distance- or proximity-readable smart cards, in which case thin and flexible RFID circuit laminate, laminated inside the card, is used as such or as a circuit board cut into a suitable shape.
• a thin circuit board laminate is laminated inside the card itself.
• the technique used makes possible a dimensionally very accurate laminate thickness and size.
• the body according to the invention may preferably be directly dimensioned so that a suitable circuit board can be cut from the laminate blank used in smart card manufacture.
• Suitable circuit board laminates can be made, for example, of polyimide, polyamide, polyethene or polycarbonate.
• the body may preferably be made of strong non-conducting material.
• Polyamide, aramid, polyimide, polycarbonate and nylon are suitable plastic types. Reinforcing or filling materials, such as fibre glass, graphite, carbon fibre, silica or glass balls are preferably also used. The tip and the sides may also be of metal.
• hot-setting adhesive or heat- or pressure- activated adhesive on the surface of the lid and/or body.
• the hot- setting adhesive also acts as a lubricant during nailing, as long as the properties of the adhesive are suitable and the adhesive melts due to frictional heat or becomes essentially liquid under high pressure.
• the surface of the body and of the lid may be grooved or roughened to improve contact.
• Suitable adhesives include at least polyolefins or two-component adhesives acti- vated by nano- or micropartides.
• Two adhesive components which react with one another may also be patterned on the surface of the body as stripes perpendicular to the nailing direction, whereupon when the nail penetrates the object, the adhesive components are mixed together.
• the adhesive may also be provided on the tip of the nail or, for example, in a vial inside the body, the said vial releasing the ad- hesive as it breaks in connection with the nailing. Liquid adhesives can thus also be used.
• the adhesive surface prevents for its part the tearing of the wood after nailing, because the adhesive also has tensile strength. It is, therefore, not easy, for example, to wedge wood from beside the marking means to detach the flat marking means from the object. Due to its tensile strength, the adhesive maintains the wood intact at the marking means so that splitting will not occur easily at the marking means once the adhesive has dried, or should the basic material of the object to be marked be split, for example, by wedging with force at the marking means, the marking means adhered with an effective adhesive will not detach easily from its hole, at least not without breaking.
• the joint between the body and lid of the marking means for example, by fill-casting it after closing, in which case an attempt at splitting will not detach lid and the body from one another in such a way that the circuit board could be detached from inside the body intact.
• a nailer which drives the device with a single stroke inside the object to be marked, or a nailer which drives the nail in with several low-energy strokes.
• a hammer or a manual device provided with a guide can also be used.
• the devices driving with a single stroke usually function with compressed air or with an impulse produced by the combustion gases of a gas or solid.
• a palm nailer driving with several strokes is smaller and lighter, but operates more slowly, and is usually not provided with automatic feed. These palm nailers usually operate with compressed air.
• the power driven devices available include electropneumatic devices similar to a drilling ham- mer. It would seem that the nailing method driving with several strokes is better suited for nailing a relatively large marking means, because the friction of the body is relatively high when nailing and a device driving with one stroke becomes large in size and bulky.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Structure Of Printed Boards (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=40097311

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

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Family Cites Families (10)

• 2008
  • 2008-11-10 FI FI20086063A patent/FI20086063L/fi not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2009
  • 2009-11-09 EP EP09824461A patent/EP2364515A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-11-09 WO PCT/FI2009/050902 patent/WO2010052375A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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