JP2013140466A - Data recording device of working tool, and reader/writer used in the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data recording device of a small working tool capable of being attached to an RFID tag, reading data recorded in the RFID tag, and writing data to the RFID tag.SOLUTION: The data recording device of a working tool 60 is composed of an RFID tag 10, a reader/writer, and a computer. A small RFID tag having an operation frequency band of a short wave range (HF band) or a microwave band (UHF band) is used as the RFID tag 10. A holding member housing the RFID tag 10 is attached to the working tool 60 by laser welding. An antenna whose antenna section 31 is connected to a connection cable 32 is used as an antenna unit. The data reading and writing are performed by bringing the antenna section 31 close to the RFID tag 10 housed in the holding member.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data recording device for a work tool that is attached to an RFID tag on a small work tool, and that data can be written to and read from the RFID tag, and a reader / writer used therefor.

  In recent years, in identification, management, etc. of articles such as instruments, tools, accessories, etc., a tag in which an IC chip is mounted on an antenna in which a conductive metal foil or copper wire is wound in a coil shape, and data are stored in the IC chip. An RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that includes a reader / writer for writing and reading and performs data communication without contact is widely used.

  However, in an RFID system, the magnetic flux generated by the tag antenna when the RFID tag is affixed to a conductive object, a metal body, or an object with high magnetic permeability (hereinafter all referred to as a metal body) and embedded. However, there is a problem that the sensitivity of the tag is greatly reduced and the data cannot be communicated with the reader / writer, or the communication distance is greatly shortened.

  Therefore, in order to solve such problems, the present applicant attaches an RFID tag to a working tool such as a metal surgical instrument or tool, and makes it possible to write and read data on the RFID tag. A data recording device for working tools has been developed (see Patent Document 1).

  In this work tool data recording device, a mounting hole is formed in a work tool such as a metal surgical instrument or tool, and a ceramic RFID tag is fitted, attached, or a holding member is fixed to the work tool. A ceramic RFID tag is attached to the holding member.

JP 2007-183840 A

  In the above-mentioned data recording apparatus for work tools, an RFID tag having a short wave band (HF band) with an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz is used. In order to ensure a practical reading distance, an outer diameter of φ6. A 3 mm ceramic RFID tag is used.

  However, since it is difficult to further reduce the size of the ceramic RFID tag, it cannot be attached to a small working tool such as a small ophthalmic surgical instrument or a brain surgical surgical instrument among surgical instruments. Data management was not possible.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object thereof is to attach an RFID tag to a small work tool such as a small ophthalmic surgical instrument or a brain surgical instrument. Another object of the present invention is to provide a data recording device for a work tool that can read data recorded on an RFID tag and a reader / writer used therefor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer that is a component of a data recording device for a work tool and can reliably read data recorded on an RFID tag attached to a small work tool.

In order to achieve the above object, a data recording apparatus for a working tool according to the present invention integrates an ultra-small IC chip and an antenna for wireless communication, and operates at a short frequency band (HF band) or an ultra high frequency band (UHF). A reader / writer comprising an antenna unit having an antenna portion formed by forming an antenna coil with a pattern on a printed circuit board, or winding a copper wire to form an antenna coil, and a controller And a computer.

  Here, the RFID tag is housed in a holding member and attached to the work tool.

Moreover, it is preferable that the holding member is attached to the work tool by a joining method such as adhesion, brazing, soldering or welding.
In particular, it is preferably attached by laser welding.

  The holding member has a thin plate shape and is formed with a storage recess at the center.

  Further, the antenna unit is characterized in that a connection cable is connected to the antenna portion.

Furthermore, the antenna unit is preferably an antenna unit in which a ferrite core is disposed inside the antenna pattern in order to reduce the size of the antenna unit.

The reader / writer according to the present invention is characterized by comprising an antenna unit having an antenna portion in which an antenna coil is formed in a pattern on a printed board and a controller.

  Here, the antenna unit is characterized in that a connection cable is connected to the antenna portion.

Furthermore, the antenna unit is preferably an antenna unit in which a ferrite core is disposed inside the antenna pattern in order to reduce the size of the antenna unit and increase the efficiency of the antenna.

It is a block diagram of the data recording apparatus of the working tool of this invention. It is a perspective view of an RFID tag. (A) of a holding member is a top view, (B) is a side view. It is a perspective view of the state where the RFID tag is attached to the holding member. It is a perspective view of the state which attached the holding member equipped with the RFID tag to the ophthalmic insulator. It is a perspective view of the antenna unit of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the antenna part of the antenna unit shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the state which reads the RFID tag attached to the ophthalmic insulator with the antenna unit shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, it is the perspective view which expanded and showed the part which attached the RFID tag.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a data recording apparatus for a working tool according to the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the work tool data recording apparatus 1 of the present invention includes an RFID tag 10, a reader / writer 20, and a computer 50.

  In the present invention, as an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag 10, an ultra-small IC chip and an antenna for wireless communication are integrated, and the operating frequency is in the short wave band (HF band) or the ultra high frequency band (UHF band). Is used.

  Here, in the case of a UHF band RFID tag, a large antenna cannot be arranged because the tag size is small. Therefore, normally, like the HF band RFID tag, the coils are opposed to each other, and communication is performed by applying the principle of electromagnetic induction.

When such an RFID tag is used in a state surrounded by a conductor, the reading and writing performance is extremely deteriorated.
The reason for this is that because there is a conductor around, the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit formed by the IC chip of the RFID tag and the antenna is shifted, and electromagnetic energy from the reader / writer antenna is not sufficiently transmitted. This is because the conductor present around the RFID tag acts like a short ring and consumes electromagnetic energy transmitted from the reader / writer.

  In view of such a cause, in the present invention, by reducing the antenna size of the RFID tag, a large ratio (distance to the conductor / antenna size) can be obtained even if the distance between the antenna and the surrounding conductor is small. As a result, the influence of surrounding conductors can be minimized.

In addition, the antenna size on the reader / writer side is also made smaller corresponding to the antenna size of the RFID tag, so that the coupling coefficient of both antenna coils is increased.
Furthermore, if a core with a high magnetic permeability is arranged as the core material of the antenna coil on the reader / writer side, it is possible to concentrate the magnetic flux and increase the efficiency.

As shown in FIG. 2, the RFID tag 10 is obtained by coating an IC chip mounting body in which an antenna coil 10b formed by a pattern on a substrate 10a and an IC chip 10c are joined and integrated with a synthetic resin 10d.
The size of the RFID tag 10 is vertical (L) = 0.5 to 2.0 mm, horizontal (W) = 1.0 to 4.0 mm, and thickness (T) = 0.2 to 1.0 mm. In particular, it is possible to realize extremely small tags of L = 0.5 to 1.0 mm, W = 1.0 to 2.0 mm, and T = 0.2 to 0.4 mm.
As the substrate 10a, an ordinary printed circuit board material, a high frequency substrate material, a fluorine resin substrate material, a ceramic substrate material, or the like is used.

The RFID tag 10 has a structure in which an antenna coil 10b is formed by a pattern on a substrate 10a, and an IC chip 10c is placed on the substrate 10a and connected to the antenna coil 10b. In order to protect the IC chip 10c and the antenna coil 10b, the surfaces thereof are coated with a heat resistant resin 10d.
In the RFID tag 10 of the present invention, since the heat resistant temperature is 180 to 210 ° C., the RFID tag 10 has sufficient durability even at the highest temperature used in the sterilizer.

  By attaching the RFID tag 10 to the holding member 11 shown in FIG. 3, the RFID tag 10 is protected from external impact, high pressure and high temperature applied from repeated sterilizers.

As shown in FIG. 3, the holding member 11 has a thin plate shape made of a highly rust-proof metal such as stainless steel, and corresponds to the size of the RFID tag 10. 0 mm, width 3.0-6.0 mm and thickness 0.3-1.5 mm are used.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the holding member 11 has a storage recess 11a formed in the center, and the RFID tag 10 is stored in the storage recess 11a.

  Here, when the RFID tag 10 is housed in the housing recess 11a of the holding member 11, the periphery of the RFID tag 10 is surrounded by a highly conductive substance, so that the resonance frequency of the antenna circuit of the RFID tag 10 is shifted. End up. Therefore, in the RFID tag 10 of the present invention, the antenna circuit is designed in advance so as to correct the deviation amount of the resonance frequency.

  First, the RFID tag 10 is housed in the housing recess 11a of the holding member 11, and the housing recess 11a is filled with a melted synthetic resin to constitute the tag mounting body 12 as shown in FIG.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the tag mounting body 12 is placed on the flat portion 60a of the ophthalmic insulator 60 and attached to the ophthalmic insulator 60 by laser welding.

  Here, since the holding member 11 is laser-welded, the tag mounting body 12 can be firmly attached to the ophthalmic insulator 60 and is not easily detached.

  Further, by adopting the form of the tag mounting body 12, the RFID tag 10 can be attached in a short time at a site such as a hospital without once taking the surgical instrument of the ophthalmic insulator 60 to the factory. Therefore, the system of the present invention has high convenience because it hardly affects the normal medical service in a hospital or the like.

The reader / writer 20 includes an antenna unit 30 and a controller 40. In the present invention, as the antenna unit 30, as shown in FIG. 6, an antenna unit 31 having a rigid holding rod 32 connected thereto is used. .

  As shown in FIG. 7, the antenna unit 31 has an antenna coil 34 formed in a pattern on a printed circuit board 33, and a ferrite core 35 is disposed on the inside thereof.

If the antenna portion 31 is extremely small, a sufficient inductance cannot be obtained with the shape as it is. Therefore, it is usually necessary to connect an inductor in series. As described above, if the inductor is added, the antenna circuit can be matched, but there is a problem that the loss increases.
Therefore, in the present invention, by arranging the ferrite core 35 in the antenna coil 34, necessary inductance is ensured, the lines of magnetic force are increased, and the loss is minimized.
Here, the ferrite core 35, it is preferable to adopt a magnetic permeability mu = 10 to 10 ^5. In addition, it is possible to manufacture the thing of the high magnetic permeability close | similar to 10 < ⁵ > by employ | adopting manufacturing methods, such as vapor deposition and sputtering.

A matching circuit 36 is connected on the printed circuit board 33 in order to convert the antenna coil 34 into 50Ω.
A connection cable 37 connected to both ends of the matching circuit 36 is inserted into the holding rod 32.

The feature of this antenna circuit is that the electromagnetic wave energy radiated from the antenna can be kept small because the radiation area of the antenna is extremely small.
Therefore, the electromagnetic interference (EMI) level is low and the design has little influence on the environment, and it is technically easy to conform to the EMI standards required by each country.

  In the present invention, the RFID tag 10 is surrounded by metal. However, the antenna of the RFID tag 10 is sufficiently reduced in size and placed sufficiently away from surrounding metal, and the antenna size on the reader / writer side is the same. By reducing the size, the magnetic field lines are efficiently transmitted to the antenna of the RFID tag 10.

In the following embodiment, the distance (D1 + D2) between the outermost circumference of the antenna of the RFID tag 10 and the surrounding metal is set to about 0.2 mm, but it should be set in the range of 0.2 to 1.0 mm. preferable.
In the embodiment, the antenna has a lateral width of 1.4 mm, and the distance (D1 + D2) between the outermost circumference of the antenna and the surrounding metal is 0.2 mm. Therefore, the ratio R between the distance from the conductor and the antenna size R Is about 0.14. According to the test, the ratio R needs to be about 0.12 to 0.16. Therefore, if the antenna size of the tag is reduced, the distance (D1 + D2) between the outermost periphery of the antenna and the surrounding metal is also reduced. Is possible.

Furthermore, by placing a core material with high permeability on the reader / writer antenna, the magnetic lines of force are concentrated in the center and the magnetic lines of force to the surrounding metal parts are reduced, so it is more efficient than an antenna without a core material. It is expensive.
With this configuration, it is possible to perform stable communication with the RFID tag 10 surrounded by metal.

  In this system, a small pen-type antenna is adopted and combined in order to realize a miniaturization of the system. Of course, the RFID tag 10 can be read and written even if a small to large stationary antenna is used. It is.

  The work tool data recording apparatus 1 according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and exhibits the expected actions and effects when used as described below.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8, the holding rod 32 of the antenna unit 30 is gripped, and the antenna unit 31 is brought close to the portion of the ophthalmic insulator 60 to which the tag mounting body 12 is attached.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the antenna unit 31 is brought close to the RFID tag 10 housed in the holding member 11 to read and write data.

(Example)
In order to confirm the effect of the present invention, a UHF band tag having a length of 1.0 mm, a width of 1.6 mm, and a thickness of 0.3 mm is used as the RFID tag 10, and a holding member 11 is 2.6 mm in length and 4.0 mm in width. A tag mounting body 12 is configured by using a thin plate-like holding member made of stainless steel having a thickness of 0.4 mm and housing the RFID tag 10 in the holding member 11. In addition, the distance (D1 + D2) between the antenna outermost periphery of the RFID tag 10 and the surrounding metal was set to about 0.2 mm.
When the antenna unit 31 of the antenna unit 30 was brought close to the tag mounting body 12, sufficient data communication could be performed when the distance between the antenna unit 31 and the RFID tag 10 was 2.5 mm.
In the system of the present invention, the antenna unit 31 is configured to be used in the vicinity of the RFID tag 10, so that the communication distance of 2.5 mm is a sufficient distance that does not hinder the use.

  In the above description, the ferrite core 35 is arranged in the antenna coil 34 in order to secure the necessary inductance, increase the magnetic field lines, and minimize the loss. However, when the loss is not so much a problem. Alternatively, a configuration in which inductors are connected in series may be employed. Moreover, you may employ | adopt the structure of using a multilayer substrate etc. as a coil of multiple turns.

As described above, according to the data recording apparatus 1 of the present invention, the RFID tag 10 can be attached to a small-sized ophthalmic surgical instrument, a brain surgical instrument or the like, which has been impossible in the past, and the RFID Since the data recorded in the tag 10 can be read, the RFID tag 10 can be attached to almost 100% of the equipment used in the hospital for individual management.

  Further, since the RFID tag 10 and the antenna unit 30 are extremely small, the data recording apparatus itself is also very compact.

Therefore, according to the data recording apparatus 1 of the present invention, it is possible to easily introduce an individual management system for surgical instruments even in a privately managed hospital and a small clinic, preventing nosocomial infections, By introducing an individual management system for instruments, it is possible to achieve what is desired in the medical industry, such as prevention of nosocomial infections, prevention of surgical errors, and effective management of assets.

  The present invention can be applied not only to an individual management system for surgical instruments but also to management of other small work tools.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Data recording apparatus 10 of working tool RFID tag 11 Holding member 11a Storage recessed part 20 Reader / writer 30 Antenna unit 31 Antenna part 33 Printed circuit board 34 Antenna coil 35 Ferrite core 37 Connection cable 40 Controller 50 Computer 60 Working tool

Claims (12)

  An ultra-small IC chip and an antenna for wireless communication are integrated to form an RFID coil with an operating frequency of a short wave band (HF band) or an ultra-high frequency band (UHF band) and an antenna coil in a pattern on a printed circuit board. Alternatively, a data recording device for a work tool comprising a reader / writer constituted by an antenna unit having an antenna unit formed by winding a copper wire to form an antenna coil and a controller, and a computer.   The work tool data recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the RFID tag is housed in a holding member and attached to the work tool.   The work tool data recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the holding member is attached to the work tool by bonding, brazing, soldering, or welding.   4. The work tool data recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the holding member is attached to the work tool by laser welding.   5. The data recording apparatus for a working tool according to claim 2, wherein the holding member has a thin plate shape and has a storage recess formed at a central portion.   In a state where the RFID tag is housed in the holding member, the distance between the antenna end of the RFID tag and a surrounding conductor is set to 0.2 mm or more, and the influence from the conductor is minimized. A data recording device for a working tool according to claim 2.   7. The data recording apparatus for a work tool according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit has a connection cable connected to an antenna unit. The work tool data according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the coupling coefficient of both antenna coils is increased by making the size of the antenna coil of the antenna unit correspond to the size of the antenna coil of the RFID tag. Recording device.   9. The data recording apparatus for a work tool according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit has an antenna portion in which a ferrite core is disposed inside an antenna coil.   A reader / writer comprising an antenna unit having an antenna portion in which an antenna coil is formed in a pattern on a printed board and a controller.   The reader / writer according to claim 10, wherein the antenna unit has a connection cable connected to an antenna unit.   The reader / writer according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the antenna unit includes an antenna portion in which a ferrite core is disposed inside an antenna coil.

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