FR2787220A1 - Electronic label for marking control and identification of product has communication device that permits exchange of information between electronic label and external computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic label includes at least a micro-controller (8), a programmable memory (11) holding data provided by a product parameter measuring sensor. A communication device (14) permits an exchange of information between at least the electronic label (5) and an external computer system (15).

Description

Electronic label The present invention relates to a device for

  useful control in the field of quality assurance of products in the medical, food or chemical field, in particular the continuous monitoring of perishable products and / or which must undergo treatments during their production process, their storage or their transport to a specific site. More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic device in the form of a flexible label comprising a measurement circuit and sensors capable of measuring and memorizing the various parameters of the environment of the product to be monitored and / or controlled in order to ensure that the conditions of storage, processing or

  have been respected.

  In many technical fields or sectors of activity, it is important to be able to "trace" a product during its life. The term "trace" means that the product is tracked during all the successive stages at different times in its life. Until now, tracing has meant identification, that is to say that a reference has been assigned to the product so that it can be identified. Most often, such a reference is made in the form of a bar code. The reference can be applied directly to the product by engraving, by screen printing or pad printing type or on

  a self-adhesive label which is attached to said product.

  However, there are needs other than identification. Certain food, medical or chemical products can constitute elements of what is generally called a cold chain. The cold chain should not

  in no case be broken under penalty of having a product unfit for use.

  PRIOR ART We already know in the field of tracing products, frozen products for example, devices capable of signaling an anomaly in respecting the conditions of conservation of these products. For example, document FR 2739687 describes a device comprising a substrate constituted by a solid product capable of melting if the temperature exceeds a predetermined value. The simple observation of this substrate, which must maintain its integrity, makes it possible to instantly know whether the product has or has not been exposed to too high a temperature. This device is limited to monitoring the

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  temperature and will give the same indication if the product has been exposed very briefly or on the contrary for a prolonged period to a temperature above the predetermined value, whereas very often a very brief exposure does not affect the quality of the product and it is not justified to eliminate the product which remains fit for use.

  We also know FR 2731517 which proposes a device allowing

  both to ensure thermal monitoring of perishable products of industrial, pharmaceutical or food type. This device uses a chemical reagent with variable coloring which must be decoded by a fairly optoelectronic reader.

complex to implement.

  There are also known devices capable of measuring temperatures at regular time intervals, for example the systems described in US 5774425 or US 5262758; these systems relate to a control of the environment of the product and include an apparatus

  relatively complex, bulky, expensive and inconvenient to use.

  The quality guarantee of all products, especially products

  perishable, being imperative for companies, it therefore becomes essential

  sand to be able to follow the different stages of treatment, storage and transport of products to ensure that no drift has occurred

during this whole process.

  OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The invention aims to provide a self-adhesive device of size and reduced prices, capable of accumulating data during the lifetime of a sensitive or perishable product on which it is fixed, said data being able to be analyzed at the time of use of the product to report a possible anomaly in compliance with the conditions of storage, processing or transport.

Description of the invention

  The invention relates to an electronic device for monitoring and identifying a sensitive product in the medical, food or chemical field, which comprises a self-adhesive label to which is removably attached a flexible electronic circuit capable of recording events at intervals, regular or not, predetermined and for a predetermined total duration, the intervals and the duration being determined as a function of the product ai a

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  to control, so that the various events conditioning the final quality

  of the product can be stored.

  The electronic circuit is built around a microprocessor associated with various peripherals which make it possible to measure and / or record as a function of time the significant parameters of the development or the conservation of the product. Depending on the nature of the parameters, the electronic circuit can be autonomous or dependent on an external system. For example, the device can be equipped with a thermal sensor which periodically and regularly measures the temperature of the product, and in this case the device is

autonomous.

  Conversely, if for example the product must undergo a sterilization operation by radiation or by the effect of a chemical, the device does not have a sensor capable of detecting the sterilization operation and an interface is then used. of communication between the device and an external system which will make it possible to record, in the memory of the device, the operation

sterilization.

  In this way, the electronic device, which remains attached to the product like a simple label, behaves like a march sheet and gradually accumulates, as a function of time, all the important information conditioning the quality of the product until it is used. When using the product, the information stored in the electronic device can be restored according to several processes: a) an autonomous process, managed by the electronic device which is capable of activating a printed part of the support label and to indicate thus by yes or no if the product is in conformity or has not undergone drift compared to the normal process of elaboration or conservation; b) a semi-autonomous process, managed by the electronic device which in this case is capable of modifying a bar code to give it at least two possible meanings after reading by a known optoelectronic system; c) a dependent process, according to which the information contained in the memory of the device is communicated, by means of an interface of

  communication for example of RS 232 type, to a computer which will

  prepare the data, compare them with pre-recorded set values and display the result of the quality control thus carried out. This process allows

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  to recover all the data stored in the memory of the electronic device, including for example the batch number and the origin of the product. If the product is only an intermediary for the manufacture of another product or for a particular treatment, the information transmitted to the computer by the electronic device can be transcribed again to another electronic device attached to the new product manufactured . This ensures continuous electronic traceability throughout the process of developing and preserving a product, even if it

  has several stages of manufacture or production.

detailed description

  As indicated above, the electronic label is fixed on a self-adhesive support, which identifies the product in a conventional manner by means of printed information and a barcode. The electronic label, made up of components soldered on a flexible circuit, is made integral with the self-adhesive support by means of bonding, or preferably, by means of a double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. The self-adhesive support consists of a support sheet of printable material such as for example a paper, or preferably, a synthetic material resistant to extreme environments of temperature and humidity such as for example Teslin (polyethylene sheet loaded with silica, sold by the company PPG) or Tyvek (polyethylene sheet reinforced with fibers, sold by Dupont de Nemours). The adhesive of the self-adhesive backing is of the pressure-sensitive type and has a sufficiently high adhesive power so that

  the label cannot be torn off without being at least partially damaged.

  The part of the support receiving the electronic label is separable and not repositionable. Of course, the adhesive power of each of the elements

  above is suitable for each use case.

  Other advantages and characteristics will become more clearly apparent from

  reading the description of several embodiments of the invention,

  as well as appended drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a support and an electronic label according to a first embodiment of the invention; - Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the electronic label capable of being associated with external processing means

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  - Figure 3 is a plan view of the label holder assembly

  according to another embodiment of the invention.

  According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the device comprises a flexible adhesive support 1, part 2 of which is occupied by identification means such as a bar code 3 and the other part 4 of which is occupied by a flexible electronic label 5, fixing the latter on

  the adhesive support 1 being carried out by the means already described above.

  The electronic label is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2. It is built around a microprocessor 8 (or microcontroller) which controls all of the functions. The microcontroller 8 is associated with an integrated circuit 9 containing a temperature sensor and means for converting and transferring the information to the microcontroller. The integrated circuit 9 may also have means 10 for alerting, by visual or audible means, that a programmed temperature threshold has been exceeded inside the integrated circuit. The electronic label also includes memory means of the EEPROM 11 type, capable of saving data coming from the microcontroller 8. These different elements are linked together by a two-wire type communication bus 12 and supplied by an energy source, generally a battery 13. The assembly is completed by external communication means 14 which can be either a connector connected to the bus 12, or a radio frequency transceiver. These means allow communication with a computer 15, in reception and in transmission. In particular, the computer 15 first serves to program the device with parameters such as the acquisition time and the sampling time necessary for the measurement functions that the label is capable of managing autonomously. The computer 15 is also used at the outset to enter the information characteristic of the identification of the product (type of product, batch number, date of implementation) or specific to the process, storage or transport, provided for the product. During the active period of the electronic label 5 (that is to say the time during which the label has the mission of controlling the parameters guaranteeing product quality assurance), the connection also makes it possible to enter memory of information concerning particular operations relating to the process undergone by the product. At the end of the active period of the label 5, that is to say at the time of using the product, the connection makes it possible to recover all the information collected and

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  stored in the memory 11. The computer, by a comparative processing of the information with the stored "standard" data, will be able to carry out a very rapid control of all the recorded parameters, detect a possible drift in relation to the optimal conditions and confirm the quality of the product. It should be noted that the memory 11 of the EEPROM type makes it possible to store the values

  saved even if the power source is exhausted.

  In the case, for example where the essential parameters governing the final quality of the product are the temperature and a sterilization step (for which there is no miniaturized sensor), the electronic label will include a flexible circuit supporting: a) a source energy such as a battery b) a microcontroller which ensures the time base and the management of the entire label; c) an EEPROM type memory capable of storing the programmed commands, the basic values and parameters entered at the start or during the process, and the temperature values measured by the label itself according to a programmed periodicity; d) a temperature sensor module capable of transmitting a signal acceptable to the microcontroller and the EEPROM memory; e) an external communication device which can be presented under

  in the form of a contact connector or in the form of a transmitter-

  radio frequency receiver working with a flooded antenna

in the label.

  All of these components can be assembled on a circuit

  flexible of small dimensions and whose thickness may be less than 1 mm.

  The electronic label thus obtained is then fixed on a

  larger self-adhesive label.

  According to another preferred embodiment (FIG. 3), use is made of a support 16 comprising a line of least resistance 17 separating a first part 18 coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive with very high adhesive power and a second part 19, of which the dimensions are slightly larger than those of the electronic label, coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive with medium adhesive power. The electronic label 5 is glued, by means of an adhesive

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  double-sided, for example, on the second part 19 of the self-adhesive label 16. According to this embodiment, it will be possible, at the end of the product's life, to recover the electronic label by separating it by cutting out the line of least resistance 17 without removing part 18 of the permanently adhesive label. This makes it possible to keep the part 19 provided with the electronic label, for example in a batch file of a manufactured product or in a medical file as part of quality assurance procedures, without the original label 16 (including both parts) is not reusable. If the electronic label is designed to modify the bar code printed on the highly adhesive part of the traditional label, the withdrawal of the electronic label automatically and irreversibly involves a modification of the bar code making it illegible, is significant of a product

improper.

  The hardware part of the device also includes 1) an interface box which has the function of upgrading the signals between the electronic tag and the PC, 2) a PC-type microcomputer, communicating with the previous interface

  by means of an RS232 type asynchronous serial link. The mic-

  computer allows the label to be configured before use with the various parameters specific to the measurements which must be carried out independently, to enter information during the process or

  storage and retrieving the acquired data.

  The software part of the device essentially comprises a first software for configuration and recovery of data, implemented in the PC and a second software, implemented in the microcontroller of the label, responsible for controlling all the temporal aspects and label communication. PC also includes software

of data exploitation.

  Example of an embodiment A device according to the invention was produced by first building the electronic part assembled on a flexible printed circuit and comprising: A RISC type microcontroller (ref 12C509 supplied by Microchip) A 32K EEPROM memory (ref AT24C32 supplied by ATMEL)

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  a digital temperature sensor (ref DS 1621 supplied by DALLAS Semiconductor) With a three-contact connector for external communications

  * a 3V 25 mAh battery (for example of the CR 1216 type).

  The microcircuit thus assembled is fixed by a double-sided adhesive on a self-adhesive label provided with a precut 17 defining a first zone 19 coated with an adhesive with low adhesive power on which is fixed the electronic label 5 and a second zone 18 coated with an adhesive with high adhesive power. This second area is printed in the traditional way to allow visual identification of the product and identification by

barcode.

  We also have a PC type microcomputer, communicating by means of an RS232 link with a communication interface (MAX 3238 circuit supplied by MAXIM), itself connected to a simple connector with 3 contacts compatible with the connector attached to the label. The connection between the PC and the label is necessary to load the initialization data of the electronic label: information relating to the product, software for controlling the autonomous functions of the label and values

  returnable deposit upon validation.

  For example, such a label can be used to track a biological product which must be kept at a maximum temperature of 4 C and which must undergo viral inactivation under Ultra Violet: in this case, the thermal sensor is used to record regularly ( that is to say for example every 5 min) the temperature of the product. The viral inactivation operation, for which the label does not have a sensor, must be recorded in memory by means of an external computer which is connected to the connector. At the end of the product cycle (i.e. just before use), we can, using the computer connected to the label, check the temperature records made by the label itself , as well as performing viral inactivation. The computer, by consulting this electronic "worksheet", will have the capacity to interpret the measurements by

  comparing to theoretical values to ensure product compliance.

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  This example, described for a particular case, is not limiting and it is possible to store in the memory of the label various parameters such as for example a humidity, a pressure, an inclination, an acceleration, or any other value physics of a parameter for which one can have a miniaturized sensor. The communication interface between the label and a computer allows the recording of any particular operation related to the process, transport, storage, conditioning the quality

final product.

  In the general case of application to products of industrial type or managed within the framework of a company, the control is carried out by the computer immediately after reading the information carried by the electronic label. Under these conditions, we can consider that the computer "studies" the batch file and gives an extremely fast result; this allows the product to be implemented in a very short time and eliminates the time which was previously necessary to validate the quality of a product with human means. In the case of marketed products, it may be preferable to make the electronic label interactive with a bar code in which at least one of the lines will be erased or scrambled so as to make the bar code illegible or significant of a defective product. when deviations from the instructions have been detected by the electronic tag. In this way, a computer is no longer necessary and an optical drive will be able to differentiate

  a conforming product of a defective product.

  The fields of application of the label according to the invention are those in which the traceability of a product is necessary to guarantee its quality: for example, in the medical field, it is possible to cite the blood circuit for which it is important to monitor the temperature and viral inactivation operations, transplant transport, monitoring a patient who can wear the label as an adhesive bandage, the electronic label can be programmed to regularly record the temperature or the heart rate and receive timely information such as administering medication. In the food industry, the electronic tag can be used to track the transport and storage of data

  perishable items such as fresh produce, fruit or ice cream.

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Claims (8)

  1. Electronic device for controlling and identifying a product, characterized in that it comprises an adhesive support (1, 16) fixed to said product and comprising identification data (3) of said product, an electronic label (5) removably attached to said adhesive support, said electronic label comprising at least one microcontroller (8), a programmable memory (11) capable of storing the data supplied by a sensor for measuring a parameter linked to the product to be checked and to be identified, and communication means (14) allowing an exchange of information between at least   said electronic tag (5) and an external computer system (15).   2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive support (1, 16) and the electronic label (5) are flexible to conform to the   surface of the product on which said adhesive support is to be fixed.   3. Device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that   that the adhesive support (1) comprises a part (2) on which is printed a bar code (3) for the identification and other information of the product to   control and a part (4) on which the electronic tag (5) is fixed.   4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the fixing of the electronic label (5) on the adhesive support (16) is carried out by means double-sided adhesive.   5. Device according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that   that the electronic label (5) is connected to the end of the support by means   a line of least resistance (17).   6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that   the electronic tag (5) comprises an electronic circuit constituted by - a microcontroller (8) controlling a set of functions, - an integrated circuit (9) comprising a sensor of the parameter to be checked and means for converting and transferring data to the microcontroller , - an EEPROM memory (11) for storing and memorizing the data coming from the microcontroller, Il 2787220 - a communication bus (12) of the two-wire type connecting together the microcontroller, the integrated circuit and the memory, - a source energy (13) connected to said communication bus, - alert means which are connected to the integrated circuit and which are triggered when the parameter to be checked exceeds a predetermined set value, and - communication means (14) connecting the microcontroller to a external computer (15).   7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that   I0 the communication means (14) consist of a contact connector.   8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that   the communication means (14) consist of a radio frequency transmitter-receiver.