JP4648972B2 - Flat washer type tag - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a product using a so-called RFID tag. In particular, the present invention relates to a washer type tag in which an RFID tag is attached to a flat washer.

  In recent years, so-called RFID tags have become widespread and are widely used for logistics and product management. Although this RFID tag is generally very small, it is generally easy to attach it to a product. Note that the RFID tag is often called a wireless tag, an IC tag, a non-contact tag, or the like.

  However, it is necessary to attach each product by an optimum method in consideration of the attachment position and detection method. Such work can often be very cumbersome.

  Therefore, if an RFID tag is attached in advance to a general-purpose component, it is convenient because an RFID tag can be automatically attached if a product using the general-purpose component is assembled.

  Moreover, if it is a general purpose part, RFID can be easily attached by replacing | exchanging the part of the existing product, and it is anticipated that convenience will improve very much.

  For example, it would be desirable if an RFID tag attached to a bolt, nut, screw or the like could be realized.

<Example of prior art>
For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique for preventing forgetting to tighten a screw by providing an IC tag on a screw tool. This utilizes the fact that the IC tag is destroyed by tightening the screw.

  Patent Document 2 below describes that an RFID tag is attached to the surface of a ball screw.

  Patent Document 3 below discloses a fastener incorporating an RFID. For the built-in, a configuration is disclosed in which “a rod-shaped magnetic core is disposed so that the center portion of the screw extends from the head portion to the shaft portion, and the antenna coil and the RFID chip are disposed in the head portion”.

JP 2006-097813 A JP 2006-057693 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-076966

  As can be easily understood, if the RFID tag is attached to the surface of the bolt or nut as in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is expected that the screw tightening operation will be restricted and the convenience will deteriorate. On the other hand, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 3, an RFID tag is incorporated, but the device configuration tends to be complicated, and the production process is thought to be complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a general-purpose component incorporating an RFID tag. In particular, the present invention proposes a mechanism for incorporating an RFID tag in a washer.

(1) In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention extends in the axial direction from a metal surface forming portion provided with a through-hole through which the shaft body penetrates in the center portion, and an outer peripheral edge portion of the surface forming portion. a flat washer body forming the housing part by a metallic peripheral forming portion, is yield capacity in the housing portion, and a flat washer tag with an annular RFID tag having a hole through which the shaft body to the center portion The surface forming portion has a material and a thickness that allow the RFID tag accommodated in the accommodating portion via the surface forming portion to perform electromagnetic wave communication with an external communication device by electromagnetic induction. The RFID tag accommodated in the accommodating portion is connected to an external communication device via the surface forming portion in a state where the shaft body is penetrated from the outside into the through hole and the RFID tag hole portion. in is configured to perform wireless communication of the electromagnetic induction, The flat washer main body has a metal disc provided with a through hole through which the shaft body penetrates in the center portion, and a cylindrical metal collar portion extending in the axial direction from the outer peripheral edge of the disc, The disc forms the surface forming portion, the collar portion forms the circumference forming portion, an RFID tag is accommodated in a housing portion formed by the surface forming portion and the circumference forming portion, and the flat washer main body open portion is sealed with a lid having a through hole through which the shaft body to the center portion made of metal, with flat washer-type tag in which the RFID tag is characterized Rukoto fixed to the receptacle by its lid is there.

( 2 ) Further, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an intermediate cylinder that is sandwiched between the disk and the lid and surrounds the through hole from the periphery in ( 1 ) above. A flat washer type tag characterized by being arranged.

( 3 ) Further, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides the above-described ( 1 ), wherein the RFID tag is accommodated in the accommodating portion by caulking by a peripheral edge portion of the collar portion while being accommodated in the accommodating portion. It is a flat washer type tag characterized by being fixed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a washer-type tag with a built-in RFID tag can be easily configured. If this washer-type tag is used in the same manner as a general washer, an RFID tag can be easily attached to various devices.

It is the top view and side view of the flat washer type tag of the reference example 1. It is explanatory drawing of a RFID tag. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of a flat washer tag of Reference Example 2. FIG. It is side surface sectional drawing of the flat washer type | mold tag of Example 1. FIG. It is side surface sectional drawing of the flat washer type | mold tag of Example 2. FIG. It is side surface sectional drawing of the flat washer type | mold tag of Example 3. FIG. It is a figure explaining the communication principle in the data carrier structure concerning this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[ Reference Example 1]
< Flat washer type tag using circular grooves>
FIG. 1 shows a plan view and a side view of the flat washer tag 10 of the first reference example.

  This flat washer type tag 10 applies the property that the magnetic resistance to electromagnetic induction is very small due to the characteristics of the alloy component of a metal that is not easily rusted (for example, SUS: 304 is suitable), and penetrates the metal by electromagnetic induction. The flat washer tag 10 can perform data communication with an internal 125 kHz tag.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this flat washer type tag 10 is provided with a screw through hole 12a through which a screw (bolt) passes through a disc 12 having a plate thickness of 2 to 3 mm and a diameter of 30 mm to 50 mm. Of course, the diameter of the through hole 12a is a diameter that matches the diameter of the screw (bolt) that the flat washer type tag 10 is desired to pass.

Further, a circular groove 12b is formed in the circular plate 12 forming the flat washer type tag 10 by excavation processing concentrically with the screw through hole 12a. The depth of the circular groove 12b is about -0.5 mm of the disc thickness. Accordingly, the thickness of the bottom of the circular groove 12b is 0.5 mm. Incidentally, the circular groove 12b corresponds to one preferred example of the yield capacity portion.

The disk 12 is preferably made of SUS304 as described above. The same applies to each Reference Example 2 and Examples 1 to 3 described later.

  Further, the outer diameter of the circular groove 12b is about -1.0 mm of the disk diameter. As a result, the thickness of the side wall of the circular groove 12b is 0.5 mm, similar to the thickness of the bottom. The inner diameter of the circular groove 12b only needs to be larger than the diameter of the screw through hole 12a. However, since the IC chip 14 is inserted into the circular groove 12b as will be described later, the value of the inner diameter is set so that the value of the outer diameter-inner diameter is sufficiently large for the IC chip 14 to enter.

The disk 12 having the screw through holes 12a and the circular grooves 12b as described above is particularly referred to as a “flat washer case”. This corresponds to a flat washer type tag. Incidentally, because the bolt is equivalent to a preferred example of the shaft.

What is characteristic in this reference example 1 is that the IC chip 14 is inserted into the circular groove 12b. In the first reference example, the composite unit of the IC chip 14 and the antenna 16 is inserted into the circular groove 12b. This composite unit is referred to as an RFID tag 20 in Reference Example 1.

  The RFID tag 20 is a composite unit of the IC chip 14 and the antenna 16. The antenna 16 is a loop antenna in which a conducting wire is wound in an annular shape. This antenna 16 is a loop antenna having a diameter so as to enter the circular groove 12b. The IC chip 14 and the antenna 16 are electrically connected by bonding.

The RFID tag 20 in the first reference example performs communication using an electromagnetic induction wave including 125 kHz. This also applies to the following Reference Examples 2 and Examples 1 to 3 .

A plan view showing an example of the RFID tag 20 is shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the IC chip 14 is connected to the outside of the antenna 16 by bonding. In the first reference example, the case where the IC chip 14 is located outside the antenna 16 has been described. However, the IC chip 14 may be located inside the antenna 16.

  The inventors of the present application used two types of antenna 16 having an outer diameter / inner diameter of 24 mm / 19 mm and 46 mm / 42 mm. Those having an outer diameter / inner diameter of 24 mm / 19 mm are for screws of sizes M5, M6, and M8. Also,. Those having an outer diameter / inner diameter of 46 mm / 42 mm were used for screws of sizes M10, M12, M14, and M16. As the types of adaptive tags, it is preferable to use the following three types according to the application.

(1) Read-only tag: 10 digit fixed value (unique) , (2) One-time tag: User can write data only once (Q5: 256 bits, etc.) , (3) Read / write: user freely readable and writable ones (TITAN: 1k bits, etc.), of course, it is also preferable to use the tags for various existing standards.

<Weatherproof filler>
The RFID tag 20 is sealed with a weatherproof filler after being inserted into the circular groove 12b. For example, black pitch or the like is suitable as a weather resistant filler. In addition, it is also preferable to use a silicon filler, an acrylic filler, or the like.

<Marking>
In addition, the same value as the value written in the tag is printed on the disk constituting the flat washer type tag 10 according to the first reference example. Thus, any chance, even if a failure occurs in the RFID tag 20, it is possible to know the contents of the naked eye. This marking is particularly effective in the case of the read-only tag.

[ Reference Example 2]
<Modified example in which Reference Example 1 is realized by press working>
In the reference example 1, the circular groove 12b is formed by excavation, but it is also preferable to form a similar shape by pressing. FIG. 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of a flat washer tag 40 similar to Reference Example 1 formed by press working. The flat washer tag 40 has basically the same structure as the flat washer tag 10 shown in FIG.

However, the circular groove 12b is formed in the circular plate 12 of FIG. 1 by excavation, whereas the circular plate 42 of FIG. 3 has a large point that the circular groove 42b is formed by pressing. Is different. Both (FIGS. 1 and 2) differ in the formation method of the circular grooves (12b , 42b) in this way, but the other is the same configuration. For example, screw through holes 12a and 42a are provided at the center. Further, the RFID tag 20 is inserted into the circular grooves 12b and 42b and sealed with a filler. This disk 42 is also preferably made of SUS304.

According to this reference example 2, since the circular groove 42b is formed by press working, the flat washer tag 40 can be produced more easily.

< Example using flat washer back cover>
In the above-described Reference Example 1 and 2, but flat washer case in which a Enmizo 12b and 42b are used (screw holes 12a is opened circular groove 12b is a disc 12 provided), in the first embodiment As shown in FIG. 4, an example using a disc 62 provided with a collar 62b (referred to as a flat washer cover) will be described.

Figure 4 is a circular plate 62 having a flange portion 62b, and the flat washer back cover 64 to fitting engagement with the flange portion 62b, a side cross-sectional view of a flat washer-type tag 60 is shown consisting of.

  The flat washer back cover 64 corresponds to a preferred example of the lid body in the claims. Moreover, the collar part 62b is corresponded to a suitable example of the circumference formation part of a claim.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the flat washer tag 60 employs a structure in which the RFID tag 70 is sandwiched between a disc 62 having the flange portion 62 b and a flat washer back cover 64.

Other structures are the same as in Reference Example 1, 2. For example, the disk 62 is provided with a screw through hole 62a. The disc 62 and the flat washer back cover 64 are preferably made of SUS304. The screw through hole 62a corresponds to a preferred example of the surface forming portion within the scope of the claims.

The RFID tag 70 of the first embodiment may be the same as the RFID tag 20 used in the reference examples 1 and 2, but the relationship between the structure sandwiched by the disc 62 and the flat washer back cover 64 is used. In addition, it is preferable to process into a flat disk shape in advance. For example, if a flat donut-shaped RFID tag 70 is formed by molding with an acrylic or silicon resin, it is very easy to sandwich the RFID tag 70 between the disc 62 and the flat washer back cover 64. It becomes. The RFID tag 70 preferably performs communication using an electromagnetic induction wave including 125 kHz.

  The RFID tag 70 is obtained by molding the antenna 16 and the IC chip 14 with a synthetic resin. The disk 62 and the flat washer back cover 64 are preferably bonded and fixed with an adhesive.

According to the first embodiment, the RFID tag 70 can be easily fixed by providing the collar 62b on the disc 62 and fitting the flat washer back cover 64 with the collar 62b. As a result, production efficiency can be improved.

< Example of flat washer back cover fixed by 3- point spot welding>
In the first embodiment, the flat washer back cover 64 is bonded and fixed with an adhesive. However, fixing by spot welding may be desirable depending on the use environment. In a second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an example of fixing the flat washer back cover 84 by spot welding.

5 shows a disk 82 having a flange portion 82b, and the flat washer rear lid 84 to fitting engagement with the flange portion 82b, further, the intermediate flat washer which is inserted between the flat washer back cover 84 and the disc 82 86, a side cross-sectional view of a flat washer-type tag 80 is shown. The intermediate flat washer 86 corresponds to an intermediate cylinder within the scope of the claims.

This intermediate flat washer 86 is a flat washer having an inside diameter identical with the screw through-hole 82a, and the intermediate flat washer 86 and the screw through hole 82a is positioned so as to coaxially. That is, the screw (bolt) that passes through the flat washer tag 80 passes through the screw through hole 82a and the intermediate flat washer 86 (the “screw through path”).

  The disc 82, the flat washer back cover 84, and the intermediate flat washer 86 are preferably made of SUS304.

In the production of flat washer type tag 80 of the second embodiment, firstly an intermediate flat washer 86 and the circular plate 82 is spot welded to three positions of the annular portion in contact. Next, the RFID tag 90 is inserted into the gap between the intermediate flat washer 86 and the flange portion 82 b of the disc 82. Then, a flat washer back cover 84 is disposed so as to overlap with the intermediate flat washer 86 (see FIG. 5), and spot welding is similarly performed at three locations of the annular portion where the intermediate flat washer 86 and the flat washer back cover 84 are in contact. . In this way, the flat washer tag 80 of the second embodiment is completed. The RFID tag 90 has the same configuration as the RFID tags 20 and 70 of Reference Examples 1 and 2 and Example 1 described above, and performs communication using electromagnetic induction waves including 125 kHz.

According to the second embodiment, since the intermediate flat washer 86 and the disc 82 are spot-welded, the flat washer tag 80 can be quickly manufactured. Similarly, the intermediate flat washer 86 and the flat washer back cover 84 are fixed by spot welding, so that the production efficiency can be improved.

<Example of fixing the flat washer back cover by caulking>
In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, an example will be described in which the flat washer back cover 104 is fixed by caulking the flange portion 102 b of the disc 102. FIG. 6 shows a side cross-sectional view of a flat washer-type tag 100 including a disc 102 having a collar portion 102b and an RFID tag 110 fixed by caulking the collar portion 102b. The disc 102 is provided with a screw through hole 102a for allowing a screw (bolt) to pass therethrough as in the embodiments described so far.

  The disc 102 is preferably made of SUS304.

As described in the first embodiment, the RFID tag 110 according to the third embodiment is molded in advance with a resin or the like and has a disk shape. As a result, the flange portion 102b on the inside by caulking (see FIG. 6), it is possible to easily fix the RFID tag 1 1 0. The RFID tag 110 performs communication using electromagnetic induction waves including 125 kHz.

In the production of flat washer type tag 100 of the present embodiment 3, RFID tag 110 that forms the molded disc shape in advance resin or the like, it mounted for fitting engagement with the flange portion 102b of the disc 102. That is, press-contact insertion joining is performed. Thereafter, the collar portion 102b is fixed by caulking.

Thus, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to easily fix the RFID tag 1 1 0 by caulking, it is possible to configure a more productive flat washer tag 100 (FIG. 6).

<Description of electromagnetic induction method>
The electromagnetic induction method used in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The data carrier structure A includes an RFID tag 20 and a metal layer 5 that protects the RFID tag 20, and the RFID tag 20 communicates with a terminal device 6 such as a reader / writer (R / W) machine via the metal layer 5. The reader / writer corresponds to a preferred example of the communication device in the claims.

  For example, when a read signal is transmitted as an electromagnetic wave H1 from the antenna coil of the terminal device 6 to the data carrier structure A, a skin current I is generated inside the metal layer 5 by the electromagnetic wave H1, and the data carrier structure A is generated by the skin current I. Electromagnetic wave H2 is generated inside.

That is, the electromagnetic wave H <b> 1 transmitted from the terminal device 6 can transmit the electromagnetic wave H <b> 2 by electromagnetic induction through the metal layer 5. Conversely, the response electromagnetic wave from the antenna coil 16 of the RFID tag 20 is also transmitted to the terminal device 6 by the electromagnetic induction action through the metal layer 5.

  The frequency of the electromagnetic wave used for communication is variously selected in the range of several hundred Hz to several MHz. When the high-frequency electromagnetic wave is irradiated to the metal layer 5, the skin is contained in the metal layer 5 as described above. Although the current I is generated, it has been found that the thickness d of the skin current I is inversely proportional to the half power of (πfμρ). Here, f is the frequency of the electromagnetic wave, μ is the dielectric constant of the metal layer 5, and ρ is the resistivity of the metal layer 5.

  In order to perform communication by electromagnetic induction through the metal layer 5, the thickness t of the metal layer 5 needs to be t ≦ d. If d is constant, the communication sensitivity becomes smaller as the value of t is smaller. It turns out that it improves.

  However, the smaller the value of the thickness t of the metal layer 5 (that is, the thinner it is), the lower its strength is. When a certain limit is reached, the function of protecting the RFID tag 20 cannot be performed. Therefore, in order to enable communication by electromagnetic induction while achieving practical protection strength, it is necessary to select a metal material that can increase the thickness d of the skin current I.

  Therefore, the present inventors have formed metal layers 5 for protecting the RFID tag 20 with various thicknesses using various metal materials, and according to experiments conducted by electromagnetic induction action, the materials of the metal layers 5 are As a result, it has been found that austenitic stainless steel, white copper, titanium and the like are suitable for such purpose. Also, brass or the like can be used.

  On the other hand, iron, aluminum, copper, nickel, etc. have a small value of the thickness d of the skin current I, and it has been found that communication is difficult unless the metal layer 5 is made as thin as the foil.

  Table 1 shown below is an experimental result of measuring a non-contact communicable distance for the data carrier structure A using the austenitic stainless steel plate (SUS301, SUS304, SUS316) and the ferritic stainless steel plate (SUS430) as the metal layer 5. is there.

The experiment was carried out on the RFID tag 20 having the concentric disk-shaped antenna coil 16 on the tags 1 and 2 (see Table 1) having two types of data carrier structures A having an outer diameter of 50 mm and 20 mm. Using a (R / W) machine, a reading distance (a distance between each data carrier structure A and the terminal device 6) at which information can be read accurately was measured.

  In Table 1, the value obtained by multiplying the thickness of each metal plate by the number of laminated layers is shown as the total thickness of the metal layer 5, and the size of each metal plate is sufficiently large so that the magnetic flux does not leak from the end. . Further, “×” in the reading distance indicates a case where reading is not possible.

  In order to change the thickness of the metal layer 5, various experiments were performed by adopting a method of stacking a plurality of thin metal plates. However, in the case of the same layer thickness, the communication distance was shorter in the lamination than in the single layer. This is presumed to be because, in the case of lamination, an air layer is interposed between the metal plates, so that the electromagnetic induction action is multi-stage and the attenuation of electromagnetic waves is large.

  Table 2 shown below shows the results of experiments conducted in the same manner as in Table 1 for iron plates, copper plates, white copper plates, nickel plates, titanium plates, aluminum plates, and brass plates.

  As shown in Tables 1 and 2, it can be seen that austenitic stainless steel, white copper, titanium, and the like are suitable for the data carrier structure A of the present invention as the metal layer 5.

<Summary>
According to each of the above-described embodiments, it is possible to make a metal machine, tool, mold, and other metal objects into an IT by simply attaching the washer type tag.

  As an application example of the present invention, the present invention can be applied to a so-called product using an RFID tag, and in particular, can be used for a washer type tag in which an RFID tag is attached to a flat washer.

A ... data carrier structure 1, 2 ... tag 4 ... terminal device 5 ... metal layer 6 ... terminal device 10 ... flat washer tag 12 ... disc 12a ... screw through hole 12b ... circular groove 14 ... IC chip 16 ... antenna 20 ... RFID tag 40 ... flat washer tag 42 ... disk 42a ... screw through hole 42b ... circular groove 60 ... flat washer type tag 62 ... disk 62a ... screw through hole 62b ... collar 64 ... flat washer back cover 70 ... RFID tag 80 ... flat washer type tag 82 ... circular plate 82a ... screw through hole 82b ... collar 84 ... flat washer back cover 86 ... intermediate flat washer 90 ... RFID tag 100 ... flat washer type tag 102 ... disc 102a ... screw through hole 102b ... Brim 110 ... RFID tag

Claims (3)

A metal surface forming portion provided with a through hole in the central portion for penetrating the shaft body;
A flat washer body in which a housing portion is formed by a metal circumferential forming portion extending in an axial direction from an outer peripheral edge portion of the surface forming portion;
Wherein the yield capacity in the accommodating portion, a flat washer tag having an annular RFID tag and has a hole through which the shaft body to the center portion, the surface forming section, through the said surface forming part The RFID tag housed in the housing part has a material and thickness capable of electromagnetic wave communication with an external communication device by electromagnetic induction action,
In a state where the shaft body is penetrated from the outside into the through hole and the hole portion of the RFID tag, the RFID tag housed in the housing portion acts as an electromagnetic induction between the external communication device via the surface forming portion. Is configured to perform electromagnetic wave communication ,
The flat washer main body is a metal disk provided with a through-hole through which the shaft body penetrates in the center ,
A cylindrical metal collar extending in an axial direction from an outer peripheral edge of the disk, the disk forming the surface forming part, and the collar forming the circumference forming part; An RFID tag is housed in a housing portion formed by a forming portion and a circumference forming portion, and an open portion of the flat washer body is sealed with a lid body that is made of metal and has a through hole that penetrates a shaft body in a central portion. flat washer-type tag in which the RFID tag is characterized Rukoto fixed to the receptacle by the cover member. The flat washer type tag according to claim 1 , wherein an intermediate cylinder is disposed so as to be sandwiched between the disc and the lid and to surround the through hole from the periphery. 2. The flat washer tag according to claim 1 , wherein the RFID tag is fixed in the housing portion by caulking with a peripheral edge portion of the collar portion in a state of being housed in the housing portion.

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