JP2001034726A - Id tag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an ID tag to execute a communication operation while located in front of a reader/writer for an ID tag in a configuration in which a thin plate-shaped ferromagnetic material is utilized as the core of an antenna coil. SOLUTION: An ID tag main body 16 arranged in an ID tag 13 is composed by forming a rising part 21a continuing from a planar part 20 by bending the middle of a thin plate-shaped ferromagnetic material 17. An antenna coil 18 is wound around the part 21a, and electromotive force (operation power) is generated in such a manner that a magnetic signal for power from a reader/ writer for an ID tag interlinks with the coil 18. In such a case, the magnetic signal for power with sufficient magnitude is made to interlink with the coil 18 because the magnetic signal for power is caused to pass through the part 21a in the material 17 to reach the part 20 while the tag 13 is located in front of the reader/writer of an ID tag.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ID tag which executes data communication in a state where power is supplied through an antenna coil wound around a thin ferromagnetic material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an automatic parts manufacturing factory, it is easy to write data on the surface of a return box in which a work is stored.
2. Description of the Related Art A D tag is attached to manage a work manufacturing process.

However, if the return box is made of metal, the ID
Most of the power magnetic signal output from the tag reader / writer will pass through a small box having a small magnetic resistance, and the magnetic flux density of the power magnetic signal linked to the ID tag will decrease. Thus, there arises a problem that sufficient operating power cannot be supplied to the ID tag.

[0004] Further, even if the returnable box is made of plastic, if the work accommodated in the returnable box is made of metal, I
Since the power magnetic signal from the D tag reader / writer passes through the work, a problem arises in this case also that sufficient operating power cannot be supplied to the ID tag.

Therefore, it has been considered to use a ferromagnetic material having high magnetic permeability as the core of the antenna coil of the ID tag. That is, in FIG. 12 showing the plane of the ID tag and FIG. 13 showing the side surface thereof, the ID tag 1 has a flat ferromagnetic material (for example, amorphous silicon) 2 having a large magnetic permeability.
, And the antenna coil 3 is connected to a control circuit 4. In this case, since the magnetic permeability of the amorphous silicon is large, the magnetic signal for power from the reader / writer for the ID tag passes through the ferromagnetic material 2 and interlinks the antenna coil 3.
As a result, a sufficiently large electromotive force is generated in the antenna coil 3, so that the ID tag 1 can obtain the operating power and execute the communication operation.

[0006]

However, when the ID tag 1 is positioned in front of the ID tag reader / writer, as shown in FIG. 14, the power magnetic signal from the antenna coil 5 of the ID tag reader / writer is generated. Even when the light passes through the ferromagnetic material 2, the antenna coil 3 located at the center of the ferromagnetic material 2 is not sufficiently linked, so that a sufficiently large electromotive force cannot be generated in the antenna coil 3. For this reason,
There is a problem that the operating power of the ID tag 1 is insufficient and the ID tag 1 cannot execute a communication operation.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16,
Although the size of the antenna coil 7 is increased by inserting the ferromagnetic material 2 into the annular antenna coil 7 as the D tag 6, even in such a configuration, the ID tag In reality, it is not possible to solve the problem that the power magnetic signal from the reader / writer does not sufficiently link with the antenna coil 7 and the operating power of the ID tag 6 becomes insufficient.

When the ID tags 1 and 6 deviate from the front of the ID reader / writer, a sufficiently large power magnetic signal is linked to the antenna coils 3 and 7, so that the ID tags 1 and 6 are Operating power can be obtained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication operation while being positioned in front of a reader / writer for an ID tag in a configuration using a thin ferromagnetic material as a core of an antenna coil. Is to provide an ID tag capable of executing the following.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the ID tag is located in front of the ID tag reader / writer, the power magnetic signal output from the ID tag reader / writer is a ferromagnetic substance. Will pass through. At this time,
Since the rising portion of the ferromagnetic material is located in front of the ID tag reader / writer, the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer passes through the rising portion. As a result, a sufficiently large power magnetic field signal is linked to the antenna coil wound around the rising portion to generate an electromotive force, so that the ID tag can obtain communication power by performing operation operation. .

At this time, the power magnetic signal that has passed through the rising portion of the magnetic material passes through the flat portion of the ferromagnetic material that is substantially parallel to the surface of the mounted body. The magnetic signal for use does not pass through the metal surface on which the ID tag is mounted, and the influence of the metal surface can be prevented.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rising portion of the ferromagnetic material is formed by bending the middle portion of the plane portion forming the ferromagnetic material, so that the rising portion can be easily formed. In addition to this, a member for forming the rising portion is not required, and it can be implemented at low cost. Also,
Since the flat portion and the rising portion are continuous, the magnetic resistance between them is small, and it is possible to prevent the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer from leaking from the ferromagnetic material.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the ferromagnetic material is used as the core of the antenna coil, the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer passes efficiently through the ferromagnetic material. Even if the resonance frequency is shifted by being mounted on the metal mounting body, the effect is slight. Therefore, by setting the resonance frequency of the ID tag in a system including a ferromagnetic material, the resonance frequency of the ID tag is set to an appropriate resonance frequency even when the ID tag is mounted on a metal object. can do.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the magnetic permeability of the amorphous silicon is large, the magnetic signal for power from the reader / writer for the ID tag passes through the ferromagnetic material even if the mounted body is made of metal. As a result, the influence of the mounted body can be avoided. Also, since amorphous silicon has a high saturation magnetization, the magnetic signal for power passing through the ferromagnetic material is saturated even when the cross-sectional area is small by forming the ferromagnetic material with a small thickness dimension. Not,
Leakage of the power magnetic signal from the ferromagnetic material can be prevented.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ID tag mounted on a returnable box of an automatic parts manufacturing factory. It will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 schematically shows a production line. In FIG. 2, the return box 11 is transported by a conveyor 12, and stops at a position corresponding to a predetermined processing robot (not shown). This return box 11
An ID tag 13 is attached to a predetermined position on the outer surface of the device.
In addition, an ID tag reader / writer 14 is installed corresponding to a predetermined position along the conveyor 12 (a locus of passage or a stop position of the ID tag 13).

FIG. 1 shows the ID tag 13 in cross section. In FIG. 1, the ID tag 13 is configured by disposing an ID tag main body 16 in a plastic case 15.

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the ID tag main body 16, and FIG. 4 shows a side view thereof. 3 and 4, the ID tag main body 16 includes a thin plate-shaped ferromagnetic body 17, an antenna coil 18, and a control circuit 19.

The ferromagnetic material 17 forms a flat portion 20 by stacking several tens of amorphous silicon ribbons, and forms a convex portion 21 having a rising portion 21a by bending an intermediate portion of the flat portion 20. Is formed.
This amorphous silicon ribbon has characteristics of high magnetic permeability and high saturation magnetization. The antenna coil 18 is wound around the rising portion 21 a of the projection 21 of the ferromagnetic body 17.

The control circuit 19 includes a control IC 23 mounted on a printed wiring board 22, a resonance capacitor 24,
It is composed of a smoothing capacitor 25, and both ends of the antenna coil 18 are connected to terminals of the printed wiring board 22.

FIG. 5 shows an electrical configuration of the ID tag 13. In FIG. 5, the control IC 23 is an MPU.
(Microprocessor unit) 26 and rectifier 2
7, the semiconductor elements constituting the modulation / demodulation unit 28, the memory unit 29 and the like are integrated into one chip.

Here, the antenna coil 18 is connected in parallel with the resonance capacitor 24 to constitute a resonance circuit 30, and a power magnetic signal of a predetermined frequency is transmitted from the ID tag reader / writer 14 which is an external device. Then, it is received and supplied to the rectifier 27. The rectifying unit 27 constitutes an operation power supply circuit together with the smoothing capacitor 25. The rectifying unit 27 rectifies the power magnetic signal transmitted from the resonance circuit 30, and smoothes the power magnetic signal with the smoothing capacitor 25 to operate at a constant voltage. Power is supplied to the MPU 26 and the like.

Predetermined tag information is written in the memory section 29 in advance, or tag information is appropriately written. The tag information includes the product number of the work stored in the return box 11, the stop position of the return box 11, the content of the work instruction of the robot for the work, the work start time, the work end time, and the work defect management.

The resonance frequency of the resonance circuit 30 including the antenna coil 18 and the resonance capacitor 24 matches a predetermined optimum frequency (resonance frequency of the ID tag reader / writer 14) in a system including the ferromagnetic material 17. It is set as follows.

In this case, when the ID tag 13 having the above configuration is mounted on the return box 11, the flat portion 20 of the ferromagnetic body 17 constituting the ID tag body 16 is positioned substantially parallel to the surface of the return box 11. At the same time, the rising portion 21a of the convex portion 21 is located substantially perpendicular to the surface of the returnable box 11.

The ID tag reader / writer 14 is controlled by a host computer (not shown).
The host computer manages the manufacturing process for the workpiece by obtaining tag information from the ID tag 13 through the ID tag reader / writer 14.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the return box 11 is transported by the conveyor 12, the return box 1
The ID tag 13 provided in 1 approaches the reader / writer 14 for the ID tag, and comes to be located in front of the reader / writer 14 for the ID tag. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Since the power magnetic signal from the antenna coil 14a of the D tag reader / writer 14 passes through the rising portion 21a of the ferromagnetic body 17 in the ID tag main body 16, the power magnetic signal is linked to the antenna coil 18. As a result, an electromotive force is generated. As a result, operating power is supplied to the control circuit 19, and the ID tag main body 16 performs a communication operation.

In this case, the power magnetic signal that has passed through the rising portion 21a of the ferromagnetic material 17 in the ID tag body 16 passes through the flat portion 20 of the ferromagnetic material 17, so that
The power magnetic signal leaks from the ferromagnetic material 17 and the return box 11
Never go through. Therefore, the ID tag body 16 can receive the power magnetic signal efficiently without being affected by the return box 11.

As described above, the ID tag reader / writer 14 can read the tag information from the ID tag main body 16 with the ID tag 13 positioned at the front. The work position of the work stored in the return box 11 is determined based on the read tag information, and the return box 11 is stopped when the return box 11 reaches a predetermined work position.

When the return box 11 is stopped, the return box 1
Since the ID tag 13 is located in front of the ID tag reader / writer 14 installed corresponding to the stop position of No. 1, the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer 14 is ferromagnetic as shown in FIG. The rising portion 21a and the flat portion 2 of the body 17
It will pass through zero. Thereby, the ID tag body 1
6 is supplied with operating power, so that the ID tag 13 performs a communication operation.

Therefore, the host computer reads the tag information from the ID tag 13 to read the work instruction contents for the robot, and instructs the robot to operate according to the work instruction contents.

When the work on the work by the robot is completed, the work start time and the end time of the work are written in the ID tag 13 by the ID tag reader / writer 14, and when a problem occurs in the work on the work. Then, the contents of the defect are written in the ID tag 13. By repeating the above operation, the robot can automatically perform the processing on the work stored in the return box 11 in order.

According to such an embodiment, in the ID tag 13, the rising portion 21 a is attached to the thin ferromagnetic body 17.
Is formed, and the antenna coil 18 is wound around the rising portion 21a.
Even when 3 is located in front of the ID tag reader / writer 14, the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer 14 can pass through the rising portion 21a.
Therefore, unlike the conventional example in which the antenna coil is simply wound around the thin plate-shaped ferromagnetic material, the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer 14 is linked to the antenna coil 18 of the ID tag 13. Can generate an electromotive force. Tag information can be read from or written to the ID tag 13 located in front of the ID tag reader / writer 14.

In this case, in the ferromagnetic material 17, the rising portion 21 is formed by bending the middle portion of the flat portion 20.
Since the protruding portion 21 having the a is formed, the rising portion 21a can be easily formed, and a member for forming the rising portion 21a is not required, so that the cost can be reduced. Further, the flat portion 20 and the convex portion 21
Are formed continuously, the magnetic resistance between them is small, and the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer 14 does not leak from the ferromagnetic material 17.

Further, since amorphous silicon having a large magnetic permeability is used as the ferromagnetic material 17, even if the ID tag 13 is attached to the metal
The power magnetic signal from the tag reader / writer 14 passes through the ferromagnetic material 17 and can be prevented from being affected by the return box 11. In addition, since amorphous silicon has a high saturation magnetization, the power magnetic signal passing through the ferromagnetic material 17 is saturated even when the cross-sectional area is small by forming the ferromagnetic material 17 with a small thickness dimension. It is possible to prevent the power magnetic signal from leaking from the ferromagnetic material 17 as much as possible.

Further, as described above, since the ID tag 13 is not affected by the metal return box 11,
By attaching the tag 13 to the metal return box 11,
Even if the resonance frequency of the D tag 13 shifts, the influence is slight. Therefore, the resonance frequency of the ID tag 13 is set to be the optimum frequency in a system including the ferromagnetic material 17 made of amorphous silicon. As a result, the resonance frequency of the ID tag 13 can be adjusted without adjusting the resonance frequency of the ID tag 13. Can be used by attaching.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those of the embodiment, and the description is omitted. The second embodiment is characterized in that the shape of the ferromagnetic material constituting the ID tag body is a cross shape.

In the first embodiment, the ferromagnetic material 1
In the state where the ID tag 13 is located in front of the ID tag reader / writer 14, the ferromagnetic material 17 is not linked to the ferromagnetic body 17 because the rising portion 21 a and the plane portion 20 do not exist in the direction orthogonal to the long direction of the ID tag 7. Of the generated power magnetic signals, a power magnetic signal interlinked in a direction orthogonal to the long direction of the ferromagnetic material leaks from the ferromagnetic material. For this reason, the power magnetic signal leaked from the ferromagnetic material 17 passes through the return box 11 and the level of the power magnetic signal linked to the antenna coil 18 is reduced accordingly. The generated electromotive force may be reduced.

Therefore, in FIG. 7 showing the plane of the ID tag main body and FIG. 8 showing the side surface thereof, the ferromagnetic body 32 constituting the ID tag main body 31 is a cross-shaped flat portion 3.
3, a square pillar-shaped projection 3 having a rising portion 34a at the center.
4 is formed. In order to form the ferromagnetic body 32 in such a shape, the center of the cross-shaped flat portion 33 is bulged, or the convex portion is formed by bending as shown in the first embodiment. This can be implemented by stacking the magnetic bodies orthogonally.

According to the second embodiment, in the ferromagnetic material 32, the rising portion 34a and the flat portion 33 also exist in the direction orthogonal to each other.
The power magnetic signal from 4 can efficiently pass through the ferromagnetic material 32, and the electromotive force generated by the antenna coil 18 can be sufficiently increased.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The third embodiment is characterized in that the ferromagnetic material is formed in a disk shape. That is, in FIG. 9 showing the ID tag,
The D tag 41 has a cylindrical shape. In FIG. 10 showing the plane of the ID tag main body and FIG. 11 showing the side surface thereof, the ferromagnetic material 43 constituting the ID tag main body 42 is formed by bulging the center of the disk-shaped flat part 44. It is formed to have a convex portion 45 having a columnar rising portion 45a.

According to the third embodiment, when the ID tag 41 is located in front of the reader / writer,
Since the power magnetic signal from the ID tag reader / writer 14 surely passes through the rising portion 45a and the flat portion 44 of the ferromagnetic material 43, the electromotive force generated by the antenna coil 18 can be sufficiently increased.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be modified or expanded as follows. The rising portion of the ferromagnetic material may be provided upright on the plane portion. Ferrite may be used as the ferromagnetic material.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an ID tag according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between an ID tag and an ID tag reader / writer;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an ID tag main body.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an ID tag main body.

FIG. 5 is an electric circuit diagram of the ID tag main body.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a power magnetic signal passing through the ID tag body.

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ID tag showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of an ID tag showing a conventional example.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the ID tag.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a power magnetic signal passing through an ID tag.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of an ID tag showing another conventional example.

FIG. 16 is a side view of an ID tag.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 is a return box (attached body), 13 is an ID tag, 16 is I
D tag body, 17 is a ferromagnetic material, 18 is an antenna coil,
19 is a control circuit, 20 is a flat portion, 21 is a convex portion, 21a is a rising portion, 31 is an ID tag main body, 32 is a ferromagnetic material, 33
Is a flat portion, 34 is a convex portion, 34a is a rising portion, 41 is an ID
A tag, 42 is an ID tag main body, 43 is a ferromagnetic material, 44 is a flat portion, 45 is a convex portion, and 45a is a rising portion.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ID tag comprising: a thin plate-shaped ferromagnetic material; an antenna coil wound around the ferromagnetic material; and a control circuit that executes data communication in a state where power is supplied through the antenna coil. The ferromagnetic body is formed having a flat portion that is substantially parallel to the mounted body and a rising portion that is substantially perpendicular to the mounted body, and the antenna coil is formed on the rising portion of the ferromagnetic material. An ID tag characterized by being wound. 2. The ID tag according to claim 1, wherein the rising portion of the ferromagnetic material is formed by bending an intermediate portion of the plane portion. 3. The ID tag according to claim 1, wherein the resonance frequency is set to be a predetermined optimum frequency in a system including the ferromagnetic material. 4. The ID tag according to claim 1, wherein said ferromagnetic material is made of amorphous silicon.