JP2006001616A - Label attaching device and label attaching method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label attaching device and a label attaching method, which send/receive information to/from an adherend 31 (a folding type container 31) where an IC tag 12 is incorporated in attaching to the adherend 31 a label sheet 11 where no IC tag 12 is incorporated, prevent various types of damages to the RFID label (the IC tag 12) of a printing part 2, also prevent the meandering of the sheet 11 and a partial wearing of the platen-roller of the part 2, and easily enable the reuse of the tag 12. <P>SOLUTION: An IC tag 12 reader writer 19 and its communications aerial 20 are mounted on the suction plate 25 of a label attaching part 5, i.e. printing on a label sheet 11 and electronic data transmission with the IC tag 12 are done at a different part. Electronic data transmission with the tag 12 related to an adherend 31 is done on the suction plate 25. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a label sticking apparatus and a label sticking method, and more particularly to a label sticking apparatus and a label sticking method capable of transmitting and receiving (writing and reading) electronic data to and from an IC tag.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various label printers have been developed in which a plurality of labels are temporarily attached to a belt-like mount, transferred through a predetermined transfer path, and a label is printed on a printing unit.
Also, a label with an IC tag has been developed, and this IC tag is equipped with an IC chip capable of reading and writing data without contact. The label attached with the IC tag is called an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) label, and can print predetermined information such as a barcode on the surface thereof, and write data electronically in the IC chip. And can read.
Furthermore, a label attaching device for peeling such an RFID label from the mount and attaching it to a predetermined adherend has been developed.

    FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a conventional label sticking apparatus 1, and the label sticking apparatus 1 includes a printing unit 2, a data writing / reading unit 3 (data transmission / reception unit), a label peeling unit 4, and a label pasting unit. 5 and the control unit 6.

The printing unit 2 performs printing by an arbitrary printing method. The printing unit 2 includes a printing drive control unit 7 and, for example, a thermal head 8 and a platen roller 9, and enables printing on the surface of the RFID label 10.
The RFID label 10 has an IC tag 12 attached to the back surface of the label paper 11, and the IC tag 12 has an IC chip 13 and a chip antenna 14. The IC tag 12 is usually formed by providing an IC chip 13 and a chip antenna 14 on a predetermined substrate 15 made of a synthetic resin film or the like, and is attached to the back surface of the label paper 11 as an RFID inlet (note that FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic plan view of the RFID label 10).
The RFID label 10 is temporarily attached to a strip-shaped mount 16. A position detection mark 17 is printed on the back surface of the mount 14 in advance.

The data writing / reading unit 3 includes a reader / writer drive control unit 18, a reader / writer 19, and a communication antenna 20.
The reader / writer 19 transmits and receives data to and from the IC chip 13 of the RFID label 10 via the communication antenna 20 and the chip antenna 14 by an electromagnetic induction method or a microwave method. That is, the reader / writer 19 performs a process of writing predetermined information (electronic data or RFID data) on the IC chip 13 and a process of reading predetermined information (electronic data or RFID data) written on the IC chip 13. Can do.

    The label peeling unit 4 includes a peeling pin 21, and the RFID label 10 is peeled off from the mount 16 by turning only the mount 16 at an acute angle at the portion of the release pin 21, and the article 23 (attachment) on the conveyor 22 is attached. Can be attached to the body) by the label attaching part 5.

    The label sticking unit 5 includes a sticking drive control unit 24 and a suction plate 25. The suction plate 25 sucks the RFID label 10 on its bottom surface, moves in the direction of the article 23, and puts the RFID label 10 on the article 23. It can be pasted. As a label attaching method, the RFID label 10 may be blown off from the suction plate 25 to the article 23 by air pressure.

    The control unit 6 controls the printing unit 2, the data writing / reading unit 3, and the label pasting unit 5 through the above-described print drive control unit 7, reader / writer drive control unit 18, and pasting drive control unit 24.

    In the label affixing device 1 having such a configuration, a bar code or other predetermined information is printed on the label paper 11 of the RFID label 10 by the printing unit 2, and the label paper 11 (IC chip 13) of the RFID label 10 by the data writing / reading unit 3. ) Can be written, or the electronic data from the IC chip 13 can be read, and the RFID label 10 can be peeled off from the mount 16 by the label peeling part 4 and stuck on the article 23 by the label sticking part 5. it can.

    However, since the reader / writer 19 of the IC tag 12 is installed near the thermal head 8 of the printing unit 2, there is a problem that electronic data can be written or read only to the IC tag 12 built in the RFID label 10.

Further, when the RFID label 10 is transferred together with the mount 16 between the thermal head 8 and the platen roller 9 in the printing unit 2, the IC tag 12 is caused by the printing pressure between the two members or by the thermal energy of the thermal head 8. There is a problem that the portion may be damaged or the joint portion between the IC chip 13 and the chip antenna 14 may be separated and cut.
Further, in the IC tag 12, the chip antenna 14 portion is a step, so that there is a problem in the printing quality on the surface of the label paper 11, the RFID label 10 is meandering, and the platen roller 9 is locally There is a problem that a typical wear may occur.
The IC tag 12 is considerably more expensive than the conventional label paper 11 that performs only printing. However, in the form of the RFID label 10 in combination with the label paper 11, the label paper 11 and the IC tag are used. There is a problem in that it is difficult to recycle it.

JP 2004-59112 A

    The present invention has been considered in view of the above problems, and can transmit and receive information to and from an RFID label in which an IC tag is incorporated as in the past, and a label sheet that does not incorporate an IC tag, It is an object of the present invention to provide a label sticking device and a label sticking method capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the adherend when the IC tag is attached to an adherend.

    Moreover, this invention makes it a subject to provide the label sticking apparatus and label sticking method which can avoid the damage of the various forms of the RFID label (IC tag) in a printing part.

    Moreover, this invention makes it a subject to provide the label sticking apparatus and label sticking method which can avoid local abrasion of the platen roller in a printing part, or meandering of label paper.

    Moreover, this invention makes it a subject to provide the label sticking apparatus and label sticking method which can make reuse of an IC tag easy.

    That is, the present invention attaches an IC tag reader / writer or its communication antenna to the suction plate of the label affixing portion, that is, separates printing on label paper and transmission / reception of electronic data with the IC tag. The first invention is a label affixing device that has an adsorbing plate that adsorbs a label and is capable of adhering the adsorbed label to an adherend. The labeling device is characterized in that electronic data is transmitted / received to / from the IC tag related to the adherend on the suction plate.

    The second invention is a label affixing method that has an adsorbing plate that adsorbs a label and allows the adsorbed label to be affixed to an adherend, after the printing step for performing printing on the label, A transmission / reception process for transmitting / receiving electronic data to / from an IC tag related to the adherend is provided, and the transmission / reception process is performed on the suction plate.

    A reader / writer capable of transmitting and receiving the electronic data to and from the IC tag can be provided on the suction plate.

    A reader / writer communication antenna capable of transmitting and receiving the electronic data to and from the IC tag can be provided on the suction plate.

    The IC tag may be provided on the adherend.

    The adherend may be an article storage container.

    The IC tag may be stored in a tag storage recess formed in the storage container.

    The IC tag may be attached to the storage container after being stored in a protective cover.

In the label sticking device and the label sticking method according to the present invention, the part that transmits and receives electronic data to and from the IC tag is separated from the part that prints on the label paper (printing part), that is, the suction plate in the label sticking part. Since it is separated into different places, information can be written to or read from an RFID label incorporating an IC tag as in the past, and a label paper not incorporating an IC tag is attached to an adherend incorporating the IC tag. Information can be written to or read from the adherend when it is attached to the substrate.
Furthermore, since label paper that does not incorporate an IC tag can be used, adverse effects on the IC tag due to printing pressure or thermal energy in the printing unit can be avoided, and the IC tag can be moved to a labeling operation while the IC tag remains normal. can do.

    In the present invention, since the IC tag reader / writer or its communication antenna is attached to the suction plate of the label sticking portion, sticking of the label paper to the adherend and transmission / reception of information by a single suction plate. A labeling device and a labeling method that can be performed simultaneously have been realized.

Next, a label sticking device 30 and a label sticking method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the same parts as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a label sticking device 30, and the label sticking device 30 is provided with a data writing / reading unit 3 (data transmission / reception unit) at a portion of the suction plate 25.
That is, when the communication antenna 20 of the reader / writer 19 is incorporated in the suction plate 25 and the label plate 11 is attached to the adherend by the suction plate 25, writing or reading of electronic data to the IC tag 12 (data) Transmission / reception).

However, in the illustrated example, unlike the conventional label affixing device 1 (FIG. 3), the IC tag 12 is not attached to the label paper 11, that is, the RFID label 10 is not used and the attachment is performed. The IC tag 12 is attached to a folding container 31 (storage container) as a body.
An arbitrary number of articles 23 can be stored in the foldable container 31, and electronic data written to the IC tag 12 is related to the articles 23 and the foldable container 31.
The entire IC tag 12 is covered with a protective cover or protective pouch 32 made of a synthetic resin or other material, and this is attached to the label attaching portion on the upper surface of the folding container 31.
Further, as indicated by phantom lines in FIG. 1, the IC tag 12 may be housed in a tag housing recess 33 formed substantially at the center of the upper surface of the foldable container 31.

    In the label affixing device 30 having such a configuration, after the bar code or other information is printed on the surface of the label paper 11 by the printing unit 2 (printing process), the label paper 11 peeled from the mount 16 by the label peeling unit 4 is labeled. When the suction plate 25 in the sticking unit 5 is sucked and the label paper 11 is stuck on the folding container 31 (label sticking step), electronic data is written to or read from the IC tag 12 on the folding container 31 in the suction plate 25. (Transmission / reception process).

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing this process. In FIG. 2 (1), the suction plate 25 sucks the label paper 11 on its bottom surface and is positioned above the IC tag 12 of the folding container 31. Yes.
In FIG. 2 (2), the suction plate 25 presses and sticks the label paper 11 to the foldable container 31, and at the same time, the electronic data is written to the IC tag 12 on the foldable container 31 through the label paper 11 or necessary. If so, read it. Since the pressing pressure of the label paper 11 against the folding container 31 by the suction plate 25 at the time of the pasting is smaller than the printing pressure in the printing unit 2, various conventional damages of the IC tag 12 can be avoided. Can do.
In FIG. 2 (3), when the suction plate 25 is separated upward from the foldable container 31, the label paper 11 is attached to the foldable container 31 in a state of covering the IC tag 12. It is transported to the destination, and predetermined delivery processing or electronic data processing is performed.
Thereafter, the foldable container 31 and the IC tag 12 are collected, and the IC tag 12 can be reused in the label sticking device 30 or the same kind of label sticking device or reader / writer.

Thus, the data transmission / reception operation can be performed simultaneously with the operation of attaching the label paper 11 on the suction plate 25, and the RFID label 10 similar to the conventional one can be applied in the same manner.

It is a schematic side view of the label sticking apparatus 30 by the Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows a label sticking process and a transmission / reception process roughly. It is a schematic side view of the conventional label sticking apparatus 1.

Explanation of symbols

1 Labeling device (Figure 3)
2 Printing section 3 Data writing / reading section (data transmission / reception section)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 Label peeling part 5 Label sticking part 6 Control part 7 Print drive control part 8 Thermal head 9 Platen roller 10 RFID label 11 Label paper 12 IC tag (RFID inlet)
13 IC chip 14 Chip antenna 15 Substrate 16 Mount 17 Position detection mark 18 Reader / writer drive controller 19 Reader / writer
20 Communication Antenna 21 Peeling Pin 22 Conveyor 23 Article (Adherent)
24 sticking drive control part 25 suction plate 30 label sticking apparatus (Example, FIG. 1)
31 Foldable container (storage container, adherend)
32 Protective cover or protective pouch 33 Recess for tag storage

Claims (8)

A label attaching device having an adsorption plate for adsorbing a label, and capable of adhering the adsorbed label to an adherend,
The label sticking apparatus, wherein electronic data exchanged with an IC tag related to the adherend is performed on the suction plate. The label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a reader / writer capable of transmitting and receiving the electronic data to and from the IC tag is provided on the suction plate. The label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a communication antenna of a reader / writer capable of transmitting and receiving the electronic data to and from the IC tag is provided on the suction plate. The label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the IC tag is provided on the adherend. The label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adherend is a storage container for an article. 6. The label sticking device according to claim 5, wherein the IC tag is stored in a tag storing recess formed in the storing container. 6. The label sticking apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the IC tag is attached to the storage container after being stored in a protective cover. A label affixing method having an adsorbing plate for adsorbing a label, and capable of adhering the adsorbed label to an adherend,
After the printing step for performing printing on the label, a transmission / reception step for performing transmission / reception of electronic data with the IC tag related to the adherend is provided,
This transmission / reception process performs this in the said adsorption | suction board, The label sticking method characterized by the above-mentioned.

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