JP3198712U - Wireless communication tag - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a wireless communication tag capable of easily confirming a state of a connection part and suppressing damage to the connection part. An antenna conductor and a reinforcing layer are formed on an upper surface and a lower surface of a flexible base film, respectively. The RFIC element 12 is mounted on the upper surface of the base film 14. At this time, the two I / O terminals provided in the RFIC element 12 are connected to the meander patterns MP1 and MP2 forming the antenna conductor 16, respectively. When viewed from above, the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 is circular, and the RFIC element 12 is surrounded by the outline of the reinforcing layer 18. Further, the two I / O terminals provided in the RFIC element 12 are exposed on the upper surface side of the base film 14. It is possible to suppress the breakage of the connecting portion between the RFIC element 12 and the antenna conductor 16 and easily find out that the breakage has occurred. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication tag, and relates to a wireless communication tag including a base sheet on which an antenna conductor is formed and an RFIC element that has a connection terminal connected to the antenna conductor and is mounted on the base sheet.

  In order to manage linens such as uniforms and sheets, RFID tags (wireless communication tags) may be attached to the linens. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of coating an RFIC chip with a resin. According to this method, the RFIC chip can be protected from the stress and solvent during cleaning.

JP 2012-18629 A

  However, in the method of Patent Literature 1, since the height of the covering portion is high, it is easy to feel uncomfortable when the RFID tag is touched with a finger. In addition, depending on the type of solvent, the covering portion may swell during cleaning, and at that time, the connection portion between the RFIC chip and the antenna may be damaged.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication tag that can easily check the state of the connection part and suppress damage to the connection part.

  The wireless communication tag according to the present invention is connected to a flexible base sheet, an antenna conductor provided on the base sheet, a reinforcing layer provided on one main surface of the base sheet, and the antenna conductor. An RFIC element having a connection terminal and mounted on the other principal surface of the base sheet, wherein the contour of the reinforcing layer is circular in plan view, and the RFIC element is reinforcing layer in plan view The connection terminal is exposed on the other main surface side of the base sheet.

  Preferably, the RFIC element has a communication frequency in the UHF band, and the antenna conductor is a dipole type.

  Preferably, the antenna conductor has a meander pattern extending meandering away from the RFIC element, and a folded pattern connected to the meander pattern and extending toward the RFIC element.

  Preferably, the antenna conductor has a loop pattern surrounding the RFIC element in plan view.

  Preferably, the reinforcing layer is a flat plate.

  Preferably, the RFIC element includes an RFIC chip, a substrate on which the RFIC chip is mounted, and a sealing layer that seals the RFIC chip.

  Preferably, the wireless communication tag is attached to the linen.

  The wireless communication tag manufacturing method includes a first step of forming an antenna conductor on a flexible base sheet, and a second step of forming a reinforcing layer on one main surface of the base sheet after the first step. And a third step of mounting an RFIC element having a connection terminal connected to the antenna conductor on the other principal surface of the base sheet after the second step, wherein the second step The reinforcing layer is formed so that the contour of the reinforcing layer is circular in plan view. In the third step, the RFIC element is surrounded by the contour of the reinforcing layer in plan view and the connection terminal is exposed on the other main surface side of the base sheet. An RFIC element is mounted as described above.

  Since the RFIC element is surrounded by the contour of the reinforcing layer in plan view, stress concentration at the connection portion between the RFIC element and the antenna conductor is reduced. Thereby, the breakage of the connecting portion is suppressed. Moreover, since the outline of the reinforcing layer is circular in plan view, when an external force along one main surface of the base sheet is applied to the reinforcing layer, the stress of the reinforcing layer with respect to the external force is dispersed. This makes it difficult for the reinforcing layer to peel off. Further, the reinforcing layer is formed on one main surface of the base sheet, and the connection terminal of the RFIC element is exposed on the other main surface side, so that the breakage of the connection portion can be easily found.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

(A) is a top view which shows an example of the state which looked at the RFID tag of this Example from the top, (B) is sectional drawing which shows the II cross section of the RFID tag of this Example, (C) These are bottom views which show an example of the state which looked at the RFID tag of this Example from the bottom. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the structure of the RFIC element applied to the RFID tag shown in FIG. It is a circuit diagram which shows the equivalent circuit of the RFID tag of this Example. (A) is an illustration which shows the process of forming an antenna conductor in a base film, (B) is an illustration showing the process of forming a reinforcement layer in a base film, (C) is on a base film It is an illustration figure which shows the process of mounting an RFIC element. (A) is a top view which shows an example of the state which looked at the RFID tag of another Example from the top, (B) is sectional drawing which shows the II-II cross section of the RFID tag of another Example, ( C) is a bottom view showing an example of a state in which an RFID tag of another embodiment is viewed from below. It is a top view which shows an example of the state which looked at the RFID tag of the other Example from the top. Furthermore, it is a circuit diagram which shows the equivalent circuit of the RFID tag of another Example.

  The wireless communication tag of this invention is typically an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag having a communication frequency in the UHF band, and is attached to a linen such as a uniform or a sheet that requires cleaning.

  1A to 1C, 2 and 3, an RFID tag 10 of this embodiment includes a rectangular parallelepiped RFIC (Radio Frequency Integration Circuit) element 12 and a belt-like base film 14. Including. The antenna conductor 16 and the reinforcing layer 18 are formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the base film 14, respectively. The RFIC element 12 is mounted on the center of the upper surface of the base film 14 so that the antenna conductor 16 functions as a dipole antenna.

  The base film 14 is made of a resin such as polyimide and has heat resistance and flexibility. The antenna conductor 16 is made of a metal such as Cu and has heat resistance and flexibility. Further, the reinforcing layer 18 preferably has a higher elastic modulus than the base film (especially a low Young's modulus) and high adhesion to the base film (if the base film is a resin, the reinforcing layer is also a resin), For example, a resin such as silicon is used as a material and has heat resistance.

  In this embodiment, an X axis, a Y axis, and a Z axis are assigned to the length direction, the width direction, and the thickness direction of the base film 14, respectively. Hereinafter, a surface facing the positive side in the Z-axis direction is referred to as an “upper surface”, a surface facing the negative side in the Z-axis direction is referred to as a “lower surface”, and a surface facing in the direction orthogonal to the Z-axis is referred to as a “side surface”.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, the RFIC element 12 includes an RFIC chip 12e for processing an RFID signal and a power supply circuit board 12c for mounting the RFIC chip 12e. On the lower surface of the RFIC element 12, two I / O terminals 12a and 12b arranged along the X axis are provided. The I / O terminals 12a and 12b are respectively connected to the I / O terminals 12h and 12i of the RFIC chip 12e via a power feeding circuit 12fct (see FIG. 3) provided on the power feeding circuit board 12c.

  The antenna conductor 16 has a meander pattern MP1 that meanders to the positive side in the X-axis direction with a position slightly on the positive side in the X-axis direction from the center of the top surface, and further extends in the X-axis direction slightly from the center of the top surface. A meander pattern MP2 meandering from the negative position to the negative side in the X-axis direction. The tip of the meander pattern MP1 reaches a position in the vicinity of the positive end in the X-axis direction and in the vicinity of the negative end in the Y-axis direction. The tip of the meander pattern MP2 reaches a position in the vicinity of the negative side end in the X-axis direction and in the vicinity of the negative side end in the Y-axis direction.

  The antenna conductor 16 further has a folded pattern RP1 extending to the negative side in the Y-axis direction with the tip position of the meander pattern MP1 as a base end, and a folded pattern extending to the positive side in the Y-axis direction with the tip position of the meander pattern MP2 as a base end. Pattern RP2. The tips of the folded patterns RP1 and RP2 are open ends.

  The reinforcing layer 18 is formed in a flat plate shape at the center position of the lower surface of the base film 14. When viewed in a plan view, the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 forms a perfect circle. As described above, the RFIC element 12 is mounted on the center of the upper surface of the base film 14. The diameter of the perfect circle that defines the reinforcing layer 18 exceeds both the width and length of the RFIC element 12. Therefore, when viewed in plan, the RFIC element 12 is surrounded by the contour of the reinforcing layer 18.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, the I / O terminals 12a and 12b of the RFIC element 12 are connected to the base end of the meander pattern MP1 and the base end of the meander pattern MP2, respectively. A conductive bonding material 22 is used to connect the I / O terminal 12a and the meander pattern MP1, and a conductive bonding material 24 is used to connect the I / O terminal 12b and the meander pattern MP2. The bonding materials 22 and 24 are made of Ag or solder.

  The antenna conductor 16 also has a loop pattern LP1 extending in a loop so as to connect a position near the base end of the meander pattern MP1 and a position near the base end of the meander pattern MP2. When viewed in plan, the RFIC element 12 is surrounded by the loop pattern LP1.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the power supply circuit board 12c of the RFIC element 12 is formed in a plate shape using ceramic or resin as a material. The RFIC chip 12e mounted on the upper surface of the feeder circuit board 12c is sealed with a resin sealing layer 12d. The side surface of the power supply circuit board 12c is orthogonal to the X axis and the Y axis, and the side surface of the sealing layer 12d is flush with the side surface of the power supply circuit board 12c.

  The above-described I / O terminals 12a and 12b are formed on the lower surface of the feeder circuit board 12c. In addition, I / O terminals 12f and 12g are formed on the upper surface of the feeder circuit board 12c. I / O terminals 12h and 12i are formed on the lower surface of the RFIC chip 12e. The I / O terminals 12h and 12i are respectively connected to the I / O terminals 12f and 12g by a conductive bonding material (not shown).

  An equivalent circuit of the RFID tag 10 is shown in FIG. The power feeding circuit 12fct is provided on the power feeding circuit board 12c. One end of the capacitor C1 is connected to the I / O terminal 12a, and the other end of the capacitor C1 is connected to the I / O terminal 12f and thus the I / O terminal 12h. Further, one end of the capacitor C2 is connected to the I / O terminal 12b, and the other end of the capacitor C2 is connected to one end of the inductor L2. The other end of the inductor L2 is connected to the I / O terminal 12g and thus the I / O terminal 12i. One end of inductor L1 is connected to the other end of capacitor C1, and the other end of inductor L1 is connected to the other end of capacitor C2.

  Inductor L0 is an inductor component of loop pattern LP1, and is magnetically coupled to inductors L1 and L2. This enables matching in a wide band.

  Then, with reference to FIG. 4 (A)-FIG.4 (C), the manufacturing method of the RFIC element 12 is demonstrated. First, the antenna conductor 16 having the loop pattern LP1, the meander patterns MP1 to MP2, and the folded patterns RP1 to RP2 is formed on the upper surface of the base film 14. Specifically, a metal foil such as a Cu foil is attached to the upper surface of the base film 14, and this metal foil is patterned based on a thin film process.

  Subsequently, a silicon-based resin having heat resistance is potted at the center of the lower surface of the base film 14, and a flat jig is pressed against the resin. Thereby, a flat reinforcing layer 18 is formed. The formed reinforcing layer 18 has a perfect circular outline in plan view. Further, the diameter of the contour exceeds both the width and the length of the RFIC element 12.

  When the formation of the reinforcing layer 18 is completed, the RFIC element 12 is mounted on the center of the upper surface of the base film 14 by a reflow method. Specifically, the bonding materials 22 and 24 are printed on the I / O terminals 12a and 12b, and the RFIC element 12 is attached to the base film 14 so that the I / O terminals 12a and 12b are connected to the meander patterns MP1 and MP2. The base film 14 placed on the center of the upper surface and on which the RFIC element 12 is placed is heated in a reflow furnace. Thus, the RFID tag 10 is completed.

  When the RFIC element 12 is placed at the center of the upper surface of the substrate film 14, the reinforcing layer 18 formed at the center of the lower surface of the substrate film 14 functions as a cushion material.

  As can be seen from the above description, the antenna conductor 16 and the reinforcing layer 18 are respectively formed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible base film 14. The RFIC element 12 is mounted on the upper surface of the base film 14. At this time, the I / O terminals 12a and 12b of the RFIC element 12 are connected to meander patterns MP1 and MP2 forming the antenna conductor 16, respectively. When viewed from above, the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 is circular, and the RFIC element 12 is surrounded by the outline of the reinforcing layer 18. Further, the I / O terminals 12 a and 12 b of the RFIC element 12 are exposed on the upper surface side of the base film 14.

  Since the RFIC element 12 is surrounded by the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 in plan view, stress concentration (stress concentration generated during cleaning) at the connection portion between the RFIC element 12 and the antenna conductor 16 is reduced. Thereby, the breakage of the connecting portion is suppressed. Further, since the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 is circular in plan view, when an external force along the lower surface of the base film 14 is applied to the reinforcing layer 18, the stress of the reinforcing layer 18 with respect to the external force is dispersed. This makes it difficult for the reinforcing layer 18 to peel off. Further, since the reinforcing layer 18 is formed on the lower surface of the base film 14 and the I / O terminals 12a and 12b of the RFIC element 12 are exposed on the upper surface side of the base film 14, it is possible to easily find the breakage of the connection portion.

  In addition, by forming the reinforcing layer 18 in a flat plate shape, and making its height (thickness) smaller than the height of the RFIC element, it is difficult for a strange feeling to occur even if the reinforcing layer 18 is touched with a finger. It becomes difficult to peel from the material film. Furthermore, by forming the folded patterns RP1 and RP2 on a part of the antenna conductor 16, the meander pattern MP1 or MP2 is not easily cut even when an external force that twists the base film 14 in the direction around the X axis is applied. Further, by forming the loop pattern LP1 so as to surround the RFIC element 12 in plan view, the stress concentration on the connection portion between the RFIC element 12 and the antenna conductor 16 is reduced.

  The power supply circuit board 12c is made of ceramic or resin, and the RFIC chip 12e is sealed with a sealing layer 12d. For this reason, the RFIC element 12 is robust in spite of its small size, and has sufficient resistance to stress generated during cleaning or the like.

  In this embodiment, the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 in a plan view has a perfect circle shape. However, the outline of the reinforcing layer 18 in plan view may be elliptical. In this case, preferably, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the major axis of the ellipse extends along the X axis.

  In this embodiment, a single folded pattern RP1 is formed continuously with the meander pattern MP1, and a single folded pattern RP2 is formed continuously with the meander pattern MP2. However, as shown in FIG. 6, two folding patterns RP11 and RP12 sandwiching the meander pattern MP11 in the Y-axis direction are formed, and two folding patterns RP21 and RP22 sandwiching the meander pattern MP21 in the Y-axis direction are formed. May be. Thereby, the tolerance with respect to the external force which twists the base film 14 in the direction around the X axis is further improved.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the power feeding circuit board 12c is provided with the power feeding circuit 12fct shown in FIG. 3, but the power feeding circuit fct may be omitted. In this case, the impedance between the RFIC chip and the antenna conductor may be matched by the loop pattern on the antenna conductor side, and the equivalent circuit is configured as shown in FIG.

10 ... RFID tag (wireless communication tag)
12 ... RFIC element 12a, 12b ... I / O terminal (connection terminal)
12c ... Feed circuit board (board)
12d ... Sealing layer 12e ... RFIC chip 12fct ... Feed circuit 14 ... Base film (base sheet)
16 ... Antenna conductor 18 ... Reinforcement layer MP1, MP2, MP11, MP21 ... Meander pattern RP1, RP2, RP11, RP12, RP21, RP22 ... Folding pattern LP1 ... Loop pattern

Claims (7)

A substrate sheet having flexibility;
An antenna conductor provided on the base sheet;
A reinforcing layer provided on one main surface of the base sheet;
An RFIC element having a connection terminal connected to the antenna conductor and mounted on the other main surface of the base sheet,
A wireless communication tag comprising:
The outline of the reinforcing layer is circular in plan view,
The RFIC element is surrounded by the outline of the reinforcing layer in plan view,
The wireless communication tag, wherein the connection terminal is exposed on the other main surface side of the base sheet.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the RFIC element has a UHF band as a communication frequency, and the antenna conductor is a dipole type.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the antenna conductor has a meander pattern extending meandering in a direction away from the RFIC element, and a folded pattern connected to the meander pattern and extending toward the RFIC element.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the antenna conductor has a loop pattern surrounding the RFIC element in plan view.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing layer is a flat plate.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the RFIC element includes an RFIC chip, a substrate on which the RFIC chip is mounted, and a sealing layer that seals the RFIC chip.   The wireless communication tag according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication tag is attached to linen.

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