JP2005078268A - Rf-id tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an RF-ID tag with an antenna capable of communicating data in a body part comprised of other IC modules even if a label part attached to a surface of an article is lacking. <P>SOLUTION: The RF-ID tag is configured with a first antenna 2 fixed to a label 1, which is attached to the surface of the article, and the body part comprised of a second antenna and an IC module, then connection of a connecting terminal 10 between a lead wire 3 extending from the body part and the lead wire of the first antenna is weaken, and it is selectively disconnected. Besides, the connection is automatically switched to the second antenna and the communication is enabled at the time of lack of the first antenna 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact type RFID tag, and particularly to an RFID tag excellent in ability such as traceability.

  Conventionally, RFID tags have been used for automatic recognition systems in various fields such as rental CD and video management tags, apparel product management tags, airline barge tags, transportation distribution industry delivery tags, library collection tags, etc. . In recent years, with the arrival of a ubiquitous society, it has become widespread to attach an ultra-thin RFID tag that can check detailed product information, distribution channels, traceability, etc. to “everything”. Note that the communication frequency used for these RFID tags is generally 125 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 433 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.45 GHz, or 5.8 GHz.

  At present, RFID tags that are labeled on the surface of a package or food are generally adhered to each other. By attaching the RFID tag on the surface of a packaging member containing food such as fruit or meat, it is possible to control quality. A guarantee is made.

  The memory part of the IC chip is packed with information necessary for traceability of management items such as the production location and production date and time, the type of agricultural chemicals used, and the distribution channel.

  A method for manufacturing a tag antenna used in this manner is disclosed in Patent Document 1. It has a structure in which a non-contact type antenna and an IC chip module are enclosed in a base sheet and an adhesive portion is provided on the back surface. It is pasted on release paper and stored for easy use.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an RFID tag having a structure wrapped in a package so that it does not peel off during the distribution process.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134460

JP 2003-158414 A

  However, in these methods, when a label-type RFID tag is used while being adhered to a packaging member, if the packaging member is removed, individual products such as fruits and meat contained therein cannot be distinguished. Have the disadvantages. Therefore, it is possible to attach a label type RFID tag to a place where the image of each product is not destroyed. However, since the RFID tag can be easily peeled off during processing or distribution, or it can be intentionally peeled off. In many cases, this information is not used for the intended purpose and is wasted.

  Therefore, it has been desired to develop an RFID tag that can transmit and receive information in the IC even if the RFID tag label is peeled off from the surface of the article in the distribution process or processing process.

  Accordingly, the present invention is used so that the antenna of the ID tag is attached to the label to be attached to the surface of the article. Even when the label attached with this antenna is missing, the main body constituted by the remaining IC modules and the like An object is to provide an RFID tag capable of exchanging data in a part.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention comprises an RFID tag that includes a terminal of a first antenna mounted on a label attached to the surface of an article, a main body configured by a second antenna, and an IC module. And the lead wire extending to the terminal of the first antenna are weakened and selectively cut off. In addition, when the first antenna is missing, a structure is adopted in which communication can be automatically switched to the second antenna.

  That is, according to the present invention, in the non-contact type RFID tag, the first antenna is mounted on the flexible sheet, and the second antenna, the control unit, and the memory function are connected to the main body part that is lead-connected away from the first antenna. The RFID tag is characterized in that an IC chip module having the above is mounted.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an RFID tag configured such that a lead connection portion from the main body portion to the first antenna is selectively disconnected.

  Further, the present invention is an RFID tag characterized in that the first antenna and the second antenna have different communication frequency bands, and the first antenna uses a higher communication frequency band than the second antenna. is there.

  According to the present invention, the RFID tag is characterized in that the first antenna is used for communication at normal times, and the communication is performed by switching to the second antenna when a sheet equipped with the first antenna is detached from the main body. It is.

  The RFID tag obtained by the present invention is provided with two different antennas, so that the antennas can be switched in the event of an accident, and data can be communicated. Therefore, the RFID tag has excellent capabilities such as traceability. Further, by using different communication frequencies for the two antennas, it is possible to cope with the situation.

  A basic block diagram of the RFID tag of the present invention is shown in FIG. In the RFID tag, a first antenna is mounted on a flexible sheet, and an IC chip module having a second antenna, a control unit, a memory function, and the like is mounted on a main body part that is lead-connected away from the first antenna. .

  With this configuration, it is possible to provide an RFID tag that can communicate even when the first antenna is removed from the main body.

  In the above configuration, the connection portion of the lead wire between the terminal of the first antenna and the terminal of the main body is a connection with a weak bonding force. With this configuration, the lead connection part can be selectively cut off, and even when the label is intentionally peeled off, only the label with the first antenna attached is peeled off. The IC module body including the remaining second antenna can operate normally.

  Connection of lead wires with weak bonding strength is realized by using a conductive adhesive whose bonding strength is suitable for the purpose, making a notch like when making a chocolate break in advance, or providing a pin insertion type connection terminal it can. Further, it is desirable that the first antenna has a terminal interval of 0.5 mm or more in order to reduce the probability of occurrence of a short circuit due to dirt, migration, or whisker even after the antenna is removed.

  Here, the first antenna mounted on the label may use a communication frequency on the higher frequency side than the second antenna mounted near the IC module. Among the commonly used communication frequencies of 125 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 433 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.45 GHz, and 5.8 GHz, for example, the communication frequency of the first antenna is 2.45 GHz and the communication frequency of the second antenna. Can be selected to use 13.56 MHz.

  An advantage of communication characteristics when the first antenna described as an example is 2.45 GHz and the second antenna is a communication frequency of 13.56 MHz will be described.

  1) Regarding the communication distance, the first antenna is ˜2 m, the second antenna is ˜30 cm, and the first antenna is advantageous in that the communication distance is long. The second antenna is intended to be used as an auxiliary means when an accident occurs, and the communication distance may be short.

  2) Regarding water resistance and oil resistance, the second antenna is stronger than the first antenna. A 1st antenna is an antenna with which the label stuck on the surface was mounted | worn, and it can judge dirt etc. visually and can perform suitable treatment. Since the second antenna is inserted into an invisible article, such a treatment is impossible, and the second antenna is finally left, so it should be strong and meet the purpose.

  3) Regarding the influence of the shielding object, the second antenna is superior to the first antenna. The second antenna has an exterior and is installed in the interior of the article for communication. It is preferable that the second antenna is less affected by the shielding object, so it matches the purpose.

  For the above reason, it is desirable to use the first antenna as follows using a communication frequency on the higher frequency side than the second antenna. The first antenna is arranged on the article surface layer so that it can communicate far away as an antenna normally used. In addition, the second antenna has a drawback that the communication distance is short, but it is less affected by the degree of embedding, and it is less susceptible to the effects of dirt on the surface. Attach to.

  When the first antenna is operating normally, the second antenna does not need to operate, but when the first antenna is destroyed, a method for switching from the first antenna to the second antenna is attached to a label. A circuit that can communicate information by automatically switching to a circuit that can communicate with the second antenna from a change in resistance or the like that occurs when the first antenna is disconnected from the main body composed of the second antenna and the IC module. Is desirable.

  A label including a first antenna that transmits and receives data in a non-contact state is formed by first forming an antenna coil pattern on the back side of a sheet of moisture-proof paper or flexible plastic, and providing a through-hole for forming a connection terminal. The processed cover sheet is attached using thermocompression bonding or an adhesive. The antenna coil pattern can be formed by a printing method using a conductive paste, a method of attaching a stamped metal foil, a method of attaching a coil, a sputtering method, or the like.

  As the coil pattern of the first antenna, any pattern according to the communication frequency such as a loop antenna, a patch antenna, a dipole antenna, or a plate antenna may be adopted. As an example, in the folded dipole antenna, good characteristics can be obtained by patterning with a length of about 56 mm in total length and a folding interval of about 2 mm.

  Whether the front side sheet is printed after the label is formed or the antenna coil pattern is printed in advance before the formation of the antenna coil pattern, a process suitable for the purpose of use may be employed.

  The exterior that wraps the module main body including the IC chip with the second antenna mounted in the vicinity has a structure in which the main body cannot be easily pulled out, and a structure that improves moisture resistance and weather resistance. A sealing structure with the formed plastic resin is preferable. Further, it is desirable that the lead wiring connected from the first antenna to the main body cannot be easily pulled out from the main body.

  The second antenna may be a wound coil. As a basic configuration of the magnetic material used for the core of the wound coil, a soft magnetic material layer such as a CoFeSiB system in which the longitudinal direction is aligned with the hard axis direction in a magnetic field is formed on one surface of a polyimide-based organic insulating substrate. A small and high-performance one can be obtained by cutting a strip and laminating a predetermined number of the strip-shaped magnetic bodies. When such a magnetic core is wound a predetermined number of times with an insulation coated flat copper wire or the like, it can be used as an antenna. In addition, a spiral coil-like loop antenna can be formed on a plastic film, and it can be folded and used in an elongated shape to further reduce the cross-sectional area.

  Although the connection method between the first antenna and the IC module main body has been described above, it is basically desirable that the circuit is opened when the first antenna is removed. For this reason, the peel strength of the lead wire joined to the first antenna is higher than the tensile strength of the lead wire from the IC chip module main body including at least the second antenna to the connection portion of the surface layer to which the second antenna is connected. The setting should be weaker. The reason is that if the lead wire breaks from the IC chip module body including the second antenna in the middle of the surface layer, there is a possibility of short-circuiting between the wirings. If the IC chip becomes inoperable, the intended purpose cannot be achieved.

  When an energy supply antenna is required in addition to the first antenna, a folded dipole antenna or the like is installed as the third antenna, and the power regeneration circuit is configured in an integrated IC chip. The energy obtained by this antenna can be supplied to the control unit and the memory unit. Further, as a capacitor for storing energy, a capacitor provided with opposing electrodes may be appropriately disposed.

  As described above, a product image of an article can be obtained by using the label that attaches the first antenna to the surface of the article so that the main body of the IC chip module integrated with the second antenna is inserted into the article. As long as the RFID tag is not destroyed to the point of sale, it is possible to provide an RFID tag in which data for traceability, which is the intended purpose, is not lost.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an RFID tag according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the inside of the tag body.

  The tag label 1 to which the first antenna 2 was attached had the first antenna 2 for 2.45 GHz formed on the back surface of the plastic film. Here, the antenna was formed by a method of attaching a copper metal foil. The shape of this antenna was a 1 / 2λ (λ: wavelength) type folded dipole antenna. A cover sheet that had been processed in advance was attached to the antenna fabrication side. The cover sheet is coated with an adhesive for attaching the lead wire to both the antenna production side and the article on both sides of the cover sheet, and the adhesive on the side to be attached to the article is attached. In order to prevent the adhesion force from dropping, it was affixed to a release paper having a hole through which a lead wire for connection to the main body was passed.

  The tag main body constituted by the second antenna, the antenna control unit, the transmission unit, the control unit, the IC chip module including the memory unit, and the capacitors arranged as appropriate in the block diagram of FIG. 3 is sealed with resin. It was.

  An ordinary RFID tag does not require an antenna control unit in an integrated IC chip, but in the present invention, it is necessary to control transmission and reception of two antennas. Therefore, a switch for switching the second antenna to operate when the first antenna is removed is added in the IC chip module. Switching was performed by changing resistance when the first antenna was opened or shorted.

  In this embodiment, an antenna having a communication frequency of 13.56 MHz is formed as the second antenna. Basically, a thin film winding inductor in which a thin film soft magnetic material formed on a flexible substrate is wound is used as an antenna. A soft magnetic thin film substrate was formed while applying a DC magnetic field of 3 to 6 kA / m to the substrate surface using a magnetron sputtering apparatus capable of obtaining a vacuum of 1 Pa or less. This soft magnetic thin film substrate is a 5 μm thick CoFeSiB amorphous soft magnetic layer with a longitudinal direction aligned in the hard axis direction in a magnetic field on one surface of a polyimide organic insulating substrate having a thickness of 12 μm. doing. As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic material 6 for magnetic cores was formed by laminating five layers of the films formed with the soft magnetic material. Further, an IC chip mounting circuit board 7 was laminated on a 12 μm thick polyimide board. If necessary, a substrate on which the capacitor portion is formed is also laminated. The coil 5 was formed by winding the periphery of this laminate with an insulation-coated copper wire having an outer diameter of 10 μm. After winding, the IC chip 4 was bonded using gold wire for circuit wiring.

  The first antenna terminal and the main body were connected by a silicone-coated lead wire 3. For the connection, a conductive adhesive in which acrylic, polyimide, silicone resin and copper were mixed was used. The average value of the peel strength of the lead wire from which the silicone-coated lead wire is detached from the joint is set to 600 gf, and the amount applied by the microdispenser is applied so that a predetermined amount of adhesive is applied to a predetermined area so as not to cause variation. Controlled.

  Further, the main body including the second antenna is packaged by transfer molding using a thermoplastic polyamide resin which is a hot melt material. The typical conditions for the transfer molding were set at a resin temperature of 185 ° C. and a heating and pressing time of 12 seconds. The outer surface of the package was provided with irregularities having a structure that is easy to insert into the article but does not easily come off from the article.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example in which the RFID tag manufactured in this embodiment is attached to an article. The RFID tag of the present invention can be attached to various kinds of fruits, root vegetables, fish meats, and the like, but this is an example attached to the vicinity of a melon stem. A tag label on which the first antenna of the RFID tag written “Melon” is attached is attached near the stem of the melon. Although not visible in this figure, the IC integrated with the second antenna immediately below or near the tag label. A tag body in which a chip is sealed is embedded.

  You can also insert the tag by hand, but here it was embedded using a simple jig. This jig is a jig with a sliding tag clip combined guide, a push-in bar, and a stopper. First, the tag body is clipped onto a sliding tag clip and inserted into a predetermined position. If it continues to be pushed in, the tip of the tag guide hits the surface of the melon, but if it keeps pushing even if it hits the surface, the tag guide stops while being in contact with the surface and starts sliding while weakening the holding force. Furthermore, if it continues pushing, a tag guide will come off completely this time, but it will continue pushing only with a pushing rod after that. Confirmation of the final push-in point is when the stopper comes into contact with the surface, and the push-in is stopped at this point. The tag guide guides the direction of the tag and the lead wire connecting the tag label and the tag main body to be inserted while maintaining a predetermined interval. By using such a jig, it can be set accurately. By applying such an attaching jig, it is possible to relatively easily attach the RFID tag. Moreover, when attaching just under a tag label, the hole for an outer diameter of a pushing rod should just be made in a tag label, and it should just push in using the hole.

1 is an overall view of an RFID tag. An enlarged view of the inside of the tag body. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an RFID tag. The figure which shows the example which attached the RFID tag to the goods (melon).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label 2 1st antenna 3 Silicone coating lead wire 4 IC chip 5 Coil 6 Magnetic body 7 Circuit board 10 Connection terminal of a 1st antenna and a lead wire

Claims (4)

  In a non-contact RFID tag, a first antenna is mounted on a flexible sheet, and an IC chip module having a second antenna, a control unit, and a memory function is mounted on a main body part that is lead-connected away from the first antenna. An RFID tag characterized by being mounted.   The RFID tag according to claim 1, wherein a lead connection portion from the main body portion to the first antenna is selectively cut.   The RFID tag according to claim 1, wherein the first antenna and the second antenna have different communication frequency bands, and the first antenna uses a communication frequency band on a higher frequency side than the second antenna. .   2. The RFID according to claim 1, wherein the first antenna is used for communication at a normal time, and the communication is performed by switching to the second antenna when a sheet equipped with the first antenna is detached from the main body. tag.

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