JP2012068810A - Ic tag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC tag that can maintain its functions and does not easily receive mechanical damage even when it is used while being attached on a product or a commodity that tends to be under bending stress.SOLUTION: A protective sheet 6 is disposed in between an IC inlet and a jacket material 7, with a plurality of cuts a1 and a2 provided in the protective sheet. The cuts a1 and a2 are disposed on both sides of the IC chip so as to have the IC chip between them. When a bending load is applied to the IC tag, the bending load is reduced by the cuts and the deformation curvature of the area between the cuts is made smaller than the deformation curvature of the entirety of the IC tag, which makes bending load applied to the IC chip 4 and its edge parts smaller. Thus, the IC chip 4 can be protected and its mechanical damage can be prevented.

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC tag. The IC tag of the present invention has excellent resistance to bending. For example, when attached to clothing or a flexible container, it can withstand harsh processes such as washing and dehydration and maintain its function.

  As is well known, an IC tag includes a linear antenna made of a conductor and an IC chip connected to the antenna as main components. Various information can be stored in the IC chip, and information can be exchanged with an external reader / writer through an antenna. In general, in order to protect the antenna and the IC chip, an exterior material is bonded to the front and back surfaces to form an IC tag.

  The IC tag is used to attach information to various products and store information related to the product or the product. The information stored in the IC chip includes, for example, product materials, processing methods, quality, production locations, producers and sellers, product handling methods, and precautions related thereto. These pieces of information are stored in the IC chip and read out as necessary during the product distribution process or after the sale.

  There are various products to which an IC tag is attached. For example, Patent Document 1 exemplifies clothing. The IC tag attached to the clothes is subjected to external forces such as pressure, hitting, and squeezing by washing and cleaning. Therefore, the IC tag must be able to withstand these external forces and prevent mechanical damage to the IC tag. For example, when attached to a flexible container, high temperature cleaning may be performed in the manufacturing process of this container or the filling and sealing process of products. Must be able to prevent.

  Patent Document 1 uses a urethane resin and a silicone film as an exterior material, and uses the flexibility and elasticity of the exterior material to prevent mechanical damage to the IC tag due to external forces such as pressure, knocking, and stagnation. is doing. However, since the material of the IC chip is a hard semiconductor, when it is bent by stagnation or the like, the load tends to concentrate on the edge part of the IC chip, that is, the boundary part between the hard IC chip and the flexible antenna part, It is difficult to prevent the antenna at this part from being broken.

  Patent Documents 2, 3, and 4 propose IC tags in which an IC chip is covered with a hard protective material, and other parts, that is, antenna portions are covered with a flexible protective material. However, in this IC tag, it is easy to concentrate on the bending load at the end of the hard protective material, and the antenna may break from this part.

JP 2005-56362 A JP 2007-4363 A Japanese Patent No. 4382833 Japanese Patent No. 4382802

Therefore, the present invention, even when used attached to products and products that are subject to bending stress,
An object of the present invention is to provide an IC tag that is less susceptible to mechanical damage and that can maintain the original function of the IC tag.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an IC inlet is constituted by an inlet base material, a linear antenna and an IC chip which are arranged on the inlet base material and connected to each other, and the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet are protected. An IC tag constructed by adhering a sheet to constitute a reinforcing inlet and embedding this reinforcing inlet in an exterior material, and in an IC tag having an elongated shape in plan view,
The IC tag is characterized in that a cut or a long hole extending in the short side direction is provided in the protective sheet on both sides of the IC chip in the longitudinal direction in plan view.

  In the present invention, since the cut or long hole extending in the short side direction is provided in the protective sheet, when the bending load is applied to the IC tag, the bending load is relieved by the cut and the long hole. For this reason, the deformation curvature of the region sandwiched between the notch and the long hole is smaller than the deformation curvature of the entire IC tag, that is, the IC chip disposed in this region, that is, the region sandwiched between the notch and the long hole, The bending load on the edge portion is also reduced. Therefore, according to the present invention, even when a bending stress is applied to a product or a product that is easily subjected to bending stress, the mechanical damage hardly occurs and the original function of the IC tag can be maintained. In addition, it is desirable that the cut and the long hole are longer than the length of the side of the IC chip. Further, it is desirable that the cuts and the long holes are arranged at positions separated from the edge portion of the IC chip so that the cuts and the bending of the long holes do not affect the IC chip. If the cut and the long hole are separated from the edge portion of the IC chip by a distance of 2 mm, the influence of bending can be prevented.

  A second aspect of the present invention relates to an IC tag provided with a reinforcing plate for protecting the IC chip.

That is, the invention according to claim 2 comprises an IC inlet composed of an inlet base material, a linear antenna and an IC chip arranged on the inlet base material and connected to each other, and the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet. A protective sheet is attached to the reinforcing tag to form a reinforcing inlet, and the reinforcing inlet is embedded in an exterior material, and an IC tag including a reinforcing plate that is difficult to bend at a position overlapping the IC chip in plan view, In an IC tag that is elongated in plan view,
The IC tag is characterized in that a cut or a long hole extending in the short side direction is provided in the protective sheet on both sides of the IC chip in the longitudinal direction in plan view.

  In addition, it is desirable to arrange | position a notch | incision and a long hole in the position spaced apart from the edge part of a reinforcement board. It is sufficient that the notch and the long hole are separated from the edge portion of the reinforcing plate by a distance of 2 mm.

  Next, the invention according to claim 3 is the IC tag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notch or the long hole has a length that does not reach the outer periphery of the protective sheet.

  According to this invention, since the cuts and the long holes do not reach the outer periphery of the protective sheet, even when bending stress is applied, the bending load on the IC chip arranged in the region sandwiched by the cuts and the long holes is further increased. It can be made smaller.

Next, an object of the present invention is to alleviate this bending stress and prevent mechanical damage to the IC chip even when a bending load is applied to the IC tag in the short side direction. In other words, the protective sheet is provided with cuts or long holes extending in the long side direction in plan view by connecting ends of the cuts or long holes provided on both sides of the IC chip. An IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

  Next, the invention according to claim 5 is the IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protective sheet is made of a material that is less likely to be stretched than an exterior material. Since the protective sheet is a material that is difficult to stretch compared to the exterior material, even if the exterior material expands during bending, the protective sheet can have sufficient tensile load resistance against the elongation, and its tensile stress. Can be prevented from acting on the boundary surface between the protective sheet and the IC inlet and peeling off. That is, when the IC tag is bent, the protective sheet is slightly stretched despite the fact that the outer packaging material is greatly expanded and bent. For this reason, a slight tensile stress of the protective sheet causes the boundary between the protective sheet and the IC inlet. It only takes the surface.

  Next, the invention according to claim 6 is the IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the IC inlet and the protective sheet are bonded with a heat-resistant adhesive, For this reason, even when a bending load is applied at a high temperature, the IC inlet and the protective sheet can be brought into close contact with each other to maintain the integrated structure of the IC tag.

  Next, the invention according to claim 7 is the IC tag according to claim 6, wherein the adhesive is made of a material that is easier to compress than the protective sheet. Since the adhesive between the protective sheet and the IC chip is a material that is easier to compress than the protective sheet, even if a compressive load is applied to the protective sheet due to bending, the adhesive absorbs the compressive load and the IC Inlet damage can be prevented.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when various bending loads are applied, the bending load is alleviated by the cuts and the long holes, and therefore, the bending load is disposed in the region sandwiched by the cuts and the long holes. It is possible to reduce the bending load on the IC chip and its edge portion and prevent the damage.

Schematic sectional view showing the layer structure of the IC tag according to the embodiment of the present invention Schematic sectional view showing the layer structure of an IC tag according to another embodiment of the present invention Schematic plan view showing an example of the position of the cut Schematic plan view showing an example of the position of the cut Schematic plan view showing an example of the position of the cut Schematic plan view showing an example of the position of the cut Schematic plan view showing an example of the position of the cut Schematic plan view showing an example in which a long hole is provided instead of a notch Illustration of swing bending test

  The IC tag of the present invention is composed of a reinforcing inlet and an exterior material as essential elements. The reinforcing inlet is composed of an IC inlet and a protective sheet. The IC inlet is composed of an inlet base material, an antenna, and an IC chip. In addition, a reinforcing plate or the like may be provided.

  The IC tag of the present invention has an elongated shape in plan view. Since it has an elongated shape, the bending load on the IC tag tends to work so as to bend its long side. Note that the IC tag of the present invention may be rectangular or oval in plan view.

  An IC inlet is configured by connecting an IC chip to an antenna. For example, a synthetic resin film is used as an inlet base material, and a linear antenna made of a conductor is formed on the inlet base material. An IC chip can be bonded onto the antenna using a conductive conductive adhesive. The material and processing method of the antenna are well known. For example, a metal foil is used as the material, and after the metal foil is bonded to the inlet base material, the antenna is formed by etching and processing into a linear antenna shape. can do. Moreover, it is good also as a linear antenna by printing conductive ink on an antenna shape. In addition, the shape of the antenna may be a linear conductor, and may be either a dipole antenna or a loop antenna. Is desirable. For example, the shape of the antenna can be configured as a polygonal line having a first straight line portion extending in a certain direction and a second straight line portion bent from the straight line portion and extending in the other direction. Of course, it can also be configured in a polygonal line shape having three or more straight portions. In addition, a closed loop can be formed in a part of the antenna.

  Further, the protective sheet is bonded to the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet, and the IC inlet in which the protective sheet is bonded to the front and back surfaces in this way is called a reinforcing inlet in this specification. In addition, as will be described later, the protective sheet needs to be provided with a plurality of cuts or long holes.

  It is desirable that the protective sheet is made of a material that does not easily stretch compared to the exterior material. As will be described later, since the exterior material is made of rubber or elastomer, a normal synthetic resin film is sufficient. Among them, a film having a higher tensile strength and a higher elastic modulus than the exterior material is desirable. For example, a material having an elastic modulus of 400 MPa is preferable, and a polyethylene terephthalate sheet, a polyimide sheet, a polyphenylene sulfide sheet, a polyetherimide sheet, a polyethylene naphthalate sheet, and the like can be used.

  In addition, a sheet having substantially the same shape as the IC inlet can be used as the protective sheet. You may comprise so that the edge part of a protection sheet may be exposed from an exterior material as a sheet | seat larger than this. Moreover, it can also be comprised so that it may embed | buy inside this exterior material as a small area, and a protection sheet may not be exposed to the outer surface of an IC tag.

  This protective sheet can be adhered to the IC inlet using an adhesive. When a compression load is applied to the IC tag due to bending, an adhesive made of a material that is easier to compress than the protective sheet is used to absorb the compression load by this adhesive and prevent the compression load from being applied to the IC chip. It is desirable to do. Among these, an adhesive having a smaller elastic modulus than the protective sheet is desirable. Examples of such an adhesive include thermoplastic adhesives such as ethylene vinyl acetate adhesives, polyolefin adhesives, polyamide adhesives, synthetic rubber adhesives, acrylic adhesives, polyurethane adhesives; or And thermosetting adhesives such as epoxy adhesives, urethane adhesives, and silicon adhesives.

  Further, a thermosetting adhesive having heat resistance can be preferably used in order to prevent the protective sheet and the IC inlet from being peeled off at a high temperature washing step or the like.

  Next, the exterior material protects the IC inlet from the external environment. For example, the IC inlet is protected from external force and dirt. The exterior material is preferably an elastic body made of rubber or elastomer that is easily bent, and is preferably a thermoplastic elastomer or a thermosetting elastomer having an elastic modulus of about 1 MPa to 200 MPa. Among these, a thermosetting elastomer can be preferably used for use in a high temperature environment.

Thermoplastic elastomers include polyolefin-based thermoplastic elastomers, 1,2-polybutadiene-based thermoplastic elastomers, styrene-based thermoplastic elastomers, PVC-based thermoplastic elastomers, urethane-based thermoplastic elastomers, polyester-based thermoplastic elastomers, polyamide-based thermoplastics. An elastomer etc. can be illustrated.

  As the thermosetting elastomer, vulcanized rubber or thermosetting resin-based elastomer can be used, and examples thereof include silicone rubber, fluorine rubber, urethane rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber, nitrile rubber, and polyisobutylene. .

  The exterior material may be configured to have a larger area than the reinforcement inlet, and may be embedded with the exterior material so that the reinforcement inlet is not exposed to the outside. Further, as described above, it is also possible to configure so that the end portion of the protective sheet is exposed from the exterior material.

  Next, the reinforcing plate serves to prevent a bending load from being applied to the IC chip and to reduce the load on the antenna at the bent portion. For this reason, unlike an IC chip, a plate-like material that can be bent when subjected to a bending load and is less likely to bend than an exterior material or a protective sheet is suitable for the reinforcing plate. An example of such a material is a synthetic resin plate having relatively high rigidity. Moreover, even if it is the same material as an exterior material, if it has a high hardness compared with an exterior material or a protection sheet, it can be used as a reinforcement board. For example, it is a hard plate material composed of materials such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, polyphenylene sulfide, polyetherimide, polyethylene naphthalate, and epoxy resin.

  The reinforcing plate is desirably arranged at a position overlapping the IC chip in plan view. Although it may be the same size as the IC chip, it is preferable to use a reinforcing plate larger than the IC chip so as to cover the IC chip. By arranging the reinforcing plate so as to cover the IC chip, when the bending load is applied to the IC tag, the bending load can be prevented from being applied to the IC chip, and the end of the reinforcing plate is slightly The load on the antenna can be reduced by bending into a curved surface. This reinforcing plate can be disposed between the IC inlet and the protective sheet, between the protective sheet and the exterior material, or outside the exterior material. The reinforcing plate can be bonded using a heat resistant adhesive. Moreover, it is also possible to adhere | attach by the self-fusion of material itself according to the material.

  Next, the layer configuration of a typical IC tag according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, and then the position of the cut will be described for an IC tag having a cut in the protective sheet.

  FIG. 1 of the drawings is a schematic sectional view showing a layer structure of an IC tag according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, the inlet base material 1 is disposed in the center of the layer structure. The inlet base material 1 is comprised from synthetic resin films, such as a polyethylene terephthalate film, for example. A linear antenna 2 is provided on one side of the inlet base 1. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 shows the linear antenna 2 from the right end to the left end. However, as will be described later, the linear antenna 2 is arranged in a polygonal line shape. An IC chip 4 is bonded to the center of the linear antenna 2 via an anisotropic conductive adhesive 3. In this embodiment, an IC inlet is constituted by the inlet base material 1, the linear antenna 2, the anisotropic conductive adhesive 3 and the IC chip 4.

  Next, protective sheets 6 and 6 are bonded to the upper and lower surfaces of the IC inlet via thermosetting adhesives 5 and 5. The protective sheets 6 and 6 have the same area and shape as the IC inlet and are bonded so as to cover the IC chip. The IC inlet in which the protective sheets 6 and 6 are bonded to each other in this way is hereinafter referred to as a reinforcing inlet.

  Exterior materials 7 and 7 are bonded to the front and back surfaces of the reinforcing inlet.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a layer structure of an IC tag according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, reinforcing plates 8 and 8 are further provided on both upper and lower surfaces of the exterior materials 7 and 7. Has been placed. Others are the same as the IC tag of FIG.

  Next, an example of the position of the cut will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, the protective sheets 6 and 6 are provided with two cuts a1 and a2.

  These two notches a1 and a2 are arranged so as to sandwich the IC chip 4 as shown in FIG. The arrangement direction is the long side direction (longitudinal direction) of the IC tag. The position is a position 2 mm or more away from the edge portion of the IC chip 4. When the IC tag includes the reinforcing plates 8 and 8, it is desirable that the positions of the cuts a1 and a2 are 2 mm or more away from the edge portions of the reinforcing plates 8 and 8.

  Next, the shape of the cuts a1 and a2 is a shape extending in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the IC tag, that is, in the short side direction. Further, the length is longer than the length of the side of the IC chip 4 and does not reach the outer periphery of the protective sheets 6 and 6. And the length of the perpendicular drawn from both ends of the cuts a1 and a2 to the long sides of the protective sheets 6 and 6 is shorter than the length of the perpendicular drawn from the IC chip 4 to the long sides of the protective sheets 6 and 6. Yes.

  For this reason, even when a bending load is applied to the IC tag, the bending load is alleviated by the cuts a1 and a2. For this reason, the deformation curvature of the region sandwiched between the cuts a1 and a2 is smaller than the deformation curvature of the entire IC tag, and the IC chip 4 disposed in this region, that is, the region sandwiched between the cuts a1 and a2. The bending load with respect to the surface becomes small, and the mechanical damage can be prevented.

  As the cuts provided in the protective sheets 6 and 6, in addition to the two cuts a <b> 1 and a <b> 2 sandwiching the IC chip 4, other cuts can be provided. 4 to 7 show examples of such cuts. That is, in the IC tag of FIG. 4, in addition to the two cuts a1 and a2, a cut a3 that connects the ends of the two cuts a1 and a2 and a cut a3 parallel to the long side is provided. It has been. Further, in the IC tag of FIG. 5, in addition to the two cuts a1 and a2 and the cut a3 that connects the ends of the cuts a1 and a2, a U-shaped cut a4 is provided via the linear antenna 2. Is provided. Further, in the IC tag of FIG. 6, in addition to the two cuts a1 and a2, cuts a5 and a6 parallel to the long side are provided in the direction away from the IC chip 4 from both ends of the cuts a1 and a2. It has been. Further, in the IC tag of FIG. 7, in addition to the two cuts a1 and a2, cuts a7 and a8 parallel to the long side are provided in the direction approaching the IC chip 4 from both ends of the cuts a1 and a2. It has been.

  As described above, the example in which the cuts are provided in the protective sheets 6 and 6 has been described, but long holes may be provided instead of the cuts. FIG. 8 shows an example in which long holes b1 and b2 are provided instead of the cuts a1 and a2. Also in this example, the long holes b1 and b2 are arranged so as to sandwich the IC chip 4, and the arrangement direction is the long side direction (longitudinal direction) of the IC tag. The position is a position separated from the edge portion of the IC chip 4 by 2 mm or more. Further, the shape of the long holes b1 and b2 is a shape extending in the short side direction of the IC tag, and the length is longer than the length of the side of the IC chip 4 and does not reach the outer periphery of the protective sheets 6 and 6. That's it. And the length of the perpendicular drawn from both ends of the long holes b1 and b2 to the long sides of the protective sheets 6 and 6 is shorter than the length of the perpendicular drawn from the IC chip 4 to the long sides of the protective sheets 6 and 6. ing.

  Next, the present invention will be described by way of examples.

  The layer structure of the IC tag according to this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view thereof.

  As the inlet substrate 1, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film having a thickness of 50 μm was used. An etching antenna 2 made of copper (thickness: 18 μm) was provided on one surface of the inlet base material 1, and an IC chip (G2XM manufactured by NXP) 4 was ACP mounted to form an IC inlet.

  Then, a PET film having a thickness of 100 μm was used as the protective sheets 6 and 6, and the protective sheets 6 and 6 were adhered to the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet so as to include the entire surface of the IC inlet, thereby forming a reinforcing inlet. The IC inlet and the protective sheet were bonded by interposing a 30 μm thick core adhesive layer made of the thermosetting adhesive 5. In addition, the reinforcing inlet has a rectangular shape of 56 mm × 14 mm in plan view, and the IC chip 4 is configured to be located at the center of the long side. Further, the protective sheets 6 and 6 are provided with two cuts a1 and a2 at positions on both sides of the IC chip 4 so as to extend perpendicular to the long side direction, and these two cuts a1. , A2 is provided so as to extend in the long side direction. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the cuts a1, a2 and a3 are U-shaped as a whole. The cuts a1 and a2 are arranged at a position 2 mm away from the end of the IC chip 4.

  Next, exterior materials 7 and 7 made of urethane elastomer were bonded to both the front and back surfaces of the reinforcing inlet to produce a soft IC tag (Example) having an outer diameter of 60 mm × 20 mm and a thickness of 1.2 mm.

  Next, for comparison, soft IC tags (comparative examples) were manufactured in the same manner as in the examples using the protective sheets 6 and 6 without the cuts a1, a2 and a3.

  Then, swing bending tests were performed using the IC tags of Examples and Comparative Examples, and the bending resistance of these IC tags was evaluated.

  That is, each of the short sides of the IC tag was clamped, and the IC tag was bent by the clamp as shown in FIG. The distance between the short sides is 10 mm.

  Next, as shown by the arrows in FIG. 9, whether or not the function of the IC tag is impaired after one of the short sides is slid in the front-rear direction to repeatedly apply a sliding bending load to the IC tag. Inspected for. The inspection of the IC tag was performed by reading information stored in the IC chip through the antenna and evaluating whether or not the reading was possible. Moreover, this test | inspection was performed every 500 times of sliding, and it measured from 10000 times every 2000 times from exceeding 2000 times. In addition, about the IC tag of a comparative example, since damage was observed by the frequency | count of sliding 2000 times, it does not test | inspect after this. The results are shown in Table 1.

表中、○は読み取りが可能であったこと、×は不可能であったことを意味する。

In the table, ○ means that reading was possible, and x means impossible.

As can be seen from this result, the IC tag of the example could be normally read even after 10,000 times of sliding. In contrast, the IC tag of Comparative Example 1 could not read information after 2000 times of sliding. From this result, it can be understood that the bending resistance of the IC tag varies greatly depending on the presence or absence of the cuts a1, a2, and a3.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inlet base material 2 Linear antennas 21 and 22 Linear portion 2x of linear antenna Linear portion 3 intersecting with bending axis 3 Anisotropic conductive adhesive 4 IC chip 5 Thermosetting adhesive 6 Protective sheet 7 Exterior material 8 Reinforcement Plates a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7, a8 Notches b1, b2

Claims (7)

An IC inlet is composed of an inlet base material, and a linear antenna and an IC chip arranged on the inlet base material and connected to each other, and a reinforcing sheet is formed by adhering a protective sheet to the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet. An IC tag configured by embedding this reinforcing inlet in an exterior material, and in an IC tag having an elongated shape in plan view,
An IC tag, wherein a cut or a long hole extending in the short side direction is provided in the protective sheet on both sides of the IC chip in the longitudinal direction in plan view. An IC inlet is composed of an inlet base material, and a linear antenna and an IC chip arranged on the inlet base material and connected to each other, and a reinforcing sheet is formed by adhering a protective sheet to the front and back surfaces of the IC inlet. In the IC tag, the reinforcing inlet is embedded in an exterior material and includes a reinforcing plate that is difficult to bend in a position overlapping the IC chip in a plan view.
An IC tag, wherein a cut or a long hole extending in the short side direction is provided in the protective sheet on both sides of the IC chip in the longitudinal direction in plan view.   The IC tag according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notch or the long hole has a length that does not reach an outer periphery of the protective sheet.   The notch or long hole extending in the long side direction in a plan view is provided in the protective sheet by connecting ends of the cut or long hole provided on both sides of the IC chip. The IC tag according to any one of?   The IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protective sheet is made of a material that is difficult to stretch as compared with an exterior material.   6. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the IC inlet and the protective sheet are bonded with a heat-resistant adhesive.   The IC tag according to claim 6, wherein the adhesive is a material that is more easily compressed than the protective sheet.

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