JP7480569B2 - RF tag label - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to RF tag labels, which are label media used in automatic identification technology that uses short-range wireless communication (RFID: Radio Frequency Identification).

RF tag labels (also called radio frequency tag labels or IC tag labels), which are used in automatic identification technology that uses short-range wireless communication, are attached to items that require automatic identification.

When attaching an RF tag label to an item, the entire back surface of the RF tag label may be attached to the item, but in the case of an item that may obstruct communication, the RF tag label may be attached to the item with part of it spaced apart.

In view of this, the applicant has provided in Patent Document 1 a label sheet configured to allow the RF tag label to be peeled off so that a partial glue area where the adhesive layer is exposed and a glue-blocking area where the adhesive layer is not exposed are generated on the back side of the RF tag label. According to Patent Document 1, the RF tag label can be attached to an article that has communication-blocking properties by utilizing the adhesive layer in the partial glue area with the glue-blocking area side protruding (Figure 6 in Patent Document 1).

JP 2019-40010 A

However, when an RF tag label is affixed to an item with part of it detached, the part that is detached from the item may come into contact with another item (e.g., a product shelf), causing the RF tag label to peel off from the item. In addition, when part of the RF tag label is detached from the item, it is easily used as a handle for the item to which it is affixed, and when an item is lifted using the RF tag label that is detached from the item, the RF tag label may peel off from the item, or the RF tag label may be damaged, causing the item to fall.

Therefore, the objective is to provide an RF tag label that will not peel off or become damaged even if it is attached to an object with a portion of it separated.

A first invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is an RF tag label comprising a surface sheet which forms the surface, a lamination adhesive layer formed on the back surface of the surface sheet, an inlay in which an antenna and an IC chip connected to the antenna are mounted on a base sheet, an attachment adhesive layer formed on the back surface of the inlay, and a release paper which protects the attachment adhesive layer, wherein a cut line is processed into the release paper using a part of the attachment adhesive layer to divide the width direction into an attachment portion which is brought into close contact with an article and a separation portion which is separated from the article, wherein the breaking strength of the base sheet is made greater than a force corresponding to the mass of the article to be affixed, and the strength of the base sheet at which it elongates by 10% or more is made greater than a force corresponding to the mass of the article, and further wherein, when an adhesion strength measurement method conforming to JIS Z0237 is used, the strength of the attachment adhesive layer in a 180 degree method is made 10 N or more.

The second invention is characterized in that, in the RF tag label described in the first invention, the antenna mounted in the inlay has a pair of planar elements that face each other across an impedance matching circuit to which an IC chip is connected, and part or all of one of the planar elements is included in the attachment portion. The second invention is an invention that prevents communication characteristics from deteriorating even when the label is attached to an article made of a metal material.

The third invention is characterized in that in the RF tag label described in the first or second invention, the surface sheet is provided only in the spaced apart portion, and the planar element, the base sheet, and the attachment adhesive layer included in the attachment portion are made transparent. The third invention is an invention that allows the surface of an article overlapping the attachment portion to be visually confirmed.

The RF tag label of the present invention is configured to have characteristics in the breaking strength and 10% or more elongation strength of the base sheet, as well as the strength of the 180-degree method of the adhesive layer for application, so that it will not peel off or be damaged even if it is applied to an article with a portion of it separated.

1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an RF tag label according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an inlay to be laminated on an RF tag label. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an RF tag label attached to an article. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an RF tag label according to a modified example.

From here, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the drawings are schematic diagrams drawn to facilitate understanding of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram explaining the RF tag label 1 according to this embodiment, where Figure 1(a) is a diagram explaining the surface of the RF tag label 1, and Figure 1(b) is a diagram explaining the layer structure of the RF tag label 1.

As shown in Fig. 1(a), the RF tag label 1 according to this embodiment has an antenna 121 used for transmitting and receiving radio signals and an IC chip 124 electrically connected thereto. As shown in Fig. 1(b), the RF tag label 1 is configured by laminating, in order from the front side, a surface sheet 10 which forms the front side of the RF tag label 1, a lamination adhesive layer 11 formed on the back side of the surface sheet 10, an inlay 12 mounting an antenna 121 and an IC chip 124, an attachment adhesive layer 13 formed on the back side of the inlay 12, and a release paper 14 which protects the attachment adhesive layer 13.

To enable the RF tag label 1 to be affixed to an article with a portion separated, a cut line 15 is processed only into the release paper 14, dividing the RF tag label 1 widthwise into an affixed portion 1b that adheres to the article using a portion of the affixing adhesive layer 13 and a separated portion that separates the RF tag label 1 from the article. In Fig. 1, the portion of the RF tag label 1 to the right of the cut line 15 is the affixed portion 1b, and the portion of the RF tag label 1 to the left of the cut line 15 is the separated portion 1a.

Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the inlay 12 to be laminated on the RF tag label 1. The inlay 12 to be laminated on the RF tag label 1 is a sheet medium in which an antenna 121 formed using conductive paste, metal foil, etc., and an IC chip 124 electrically connected to the antenna 121 are mounted on one side of a base sheet 120. The inlay 12 is laminated with the surface on which the IC chip 124 is mounted facing the surface sheet 10 so that the IC chip 124 can be protected by the surface sheet 10 and the lamination adhesive layer 11.

In this embodiment, the frequency used by the RF tag label 1 is in the UHF band, and the antenna 121 mounted on the inlay 12 is structured such that a pair of planar elements 122 face each other across an impedance matching circuit 123 connected to an IC chip 124. The pair of planar elements 122 are linear antenna elements used to supply power and transmit and receive radio waves, and the impedance matching circuit 123 is an antenna element with inductance used to adjust the resonant frequency.

In this embodiment, all of the planar elements 122b arranged to the right of the impedance matching circuit 123 are included in the attachment portion 1b, and the planar elements 122a arranged to the left of the impedance matching circuit 123 and the impedance matching circuit 123 are included in the separated portion 1a. Note that the present invention can also be configured such that only a portion of the planar elements 122b are included in the attachment portion 1b.

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the RF tag label 1 in a state where it is attached to an object. As shown in Figure 3, the RF tag label 1 is attached to the object 3 with the separation portion 1a separated from the object 3 by using the attachment adhesive layer 13 that forms the back surface of the attachment portion 1b, which is exposed by peeling off the release paper 14 that forms the back surface of the attachment portion 1b along the cut line 15.

The reason why part or all of one planar element 122 is included in the attachment portion 1b is so that the communication characteristics of the RF tag label 1 do not deteriorate even if the article to which the RF tag label 1 is attached is made of metal. This is because when the RF tag label 1 is attached to an article made of metal, one planar element 122 included in the attachment portion 1b is electrically joined (capacitively coupled) to the article made of metal, and the article made of metal functions as part of the antenna 121 implemented in the RF tag label 1.

As shown in Figure 3, if the RF tag label 1 is attached to an article with the separating portion 1a separated, the RF tag label 1 may come into contact with another article, or may be used as a handle for the article, causing the RF tag label 1 to peel off from the article or become damaged (torn).

To prevent this, in the RF tag label 1 according to this embodiment, the breaking strength of the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12 laminated on the RF tag label 1 is increased, and further, in order to increase the adhesive strength of the attachment adhesive layer 13, the respective conditions for the breaking strength of the RF tag label 1 and the adhesive strength of the attachment adhesive layer 13 are specified. Note that it is desirable that the lamination adhesive layer 11 laminated on the RF tag label 1 also satisfies the following conditions.
[Conditions related to the breaking strength of the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12]
The breaking strength of the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12 is greater than the force corresponding to the mass of the article to which the RF tag label 1 is affixed, and the strength at which the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12 stretches by 10% or more is greater than the force corresponding to the mass of the article to which the RF tag label 1 is affixed.
[Conditions related to adhesive strength of adhesive layer 13]
When following the adhesive strength measurement method conforming to JIS Z0237, the strength of the 180-degree method for the attachment adhesive layer 13 laminated to the RF tag label 1 must be 10 N or more.

Materials for the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12 that satisfy the above conditions can be PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), paper, or PP (polypropylene). To form the adhesive layer 13 for application that satisfies the above conditions, adhesives such as acrylic emulsion, acrylic solvent type, or rubber solvent type can be used. Materials for the surface sheet 10 can be PET, paper, or PP.

As explained above, the attachment portion 1b of the RF tag label 1 is the portion that is attached to an object, and the separation portion 1a of the RF tag label 1 is the portion that is separated from the object. Since information about the object (handling instructions, lot number, etc.) is printed on the outside of the object to which the RF tag label 1 is affixed, it is desirable to be able to see the surface of the object that overlaps with the attachment portion 1b of the RF tag label 1 even when the attachment portion 1b of the RF tag label 1 is affixed to the object.

Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining an RF tag label 2 according to a modified example. In Figure 4, the same elements as those in the RF tag label 1 described above are given the same reference numerals. In the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example, the surface of an article overlapping with the attachment portion 1b of the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example can be visually confirmed.

The laminated structure of the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example is almost the same as that of the RF tag label 1 described above, but in order to make it possible to visually confirm the surface of an article that overlaps with the attachment portion 1b of the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example, the surface sheet 20 and the lamination adhesive layer 21 are provided only in the separation portion 1a in the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example. In addition, in order to achieve the above object, in the RF tag label 2 according to the modified example, at least a part of the antenna 121 (here, the planar element 122b) included in the attachment portion 1b, the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12, and the attachment adhesive layer 13 are made transparent.

As a technique for making a part of the antenna 121 included in the attachment portion 1b transparent, a technique for forming the planar element 122b using only thin wires with a width of 0.5 millimeters or less can be used. In addition, by using a transparent plastic material that satisfies the above-mentioned conditions for the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12, the base sheet 120 of the inlay 12 can be made transparent. Similarly, by using a highly transparent adhesive that satisfies the above-mentioned conditions for forming the attachment adhesive layer 13, the attachment adhesive layer 13 can be made transparent.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1, 2 RF tag label 10 Surface sheet 11 Lamination adhesive layer 12 Inlay 120 Base sheet 121 Antenna 122 Planar element 123 Impedance matching circuit 124 IC chip 13 Attachment adhesive layer 14 Release paper 15 Cut line

Claims (3)

A surface sheet that will become the surface, a lamination adhesive layer formed on the back surface of the surface sheet, an inlay in which an antenna and an IC chip connected to the antenna are mounted on a base sheet, an attachment adhesive layer formed on the back surface of the inlay, and a release paper that protects the attachment adhesive layer are laminated in this order.
a cut line is formed on the release paper by utilizing a part of the adhesive layer for application, dividing the adhesive layer in a width direction into an application part for adhering to an article and a separation part for separating the adhesive layer from the article;
The breaking strength of the base sheet is made greater than the force corresponding to the mass of the article to which it is to be attached, the strength at which the base sheet elongates by 10% or more is made greater than the force corresponding to the mass of the article, and further, when the adhesive strength is measured according to an adhesive strength measurement method in accordance with JIS Z0237, the strength of the adhesive layer for application in the 180 degree method is made 10 N or more.
The RF tag label is characterized by the above. The RF tag label according to claim 1, characterized in that the antenna mounted on the inlay has a pair of planar elements that face each other across an impedance matching circuit to which an IC chip is connected, and part or all of one of the planar elements is included in the attachment portion. An RF tag label as described in claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the surface sheet is provided only in the spaced portion, and a part of the antenna, the base sheet and the adhesive layer included in the attachment portion are made transparent.

Images