WO2001082221A1

WO2001082221A1 - Electronic tag

Info

Publication number: WO2001082221A1
Application number: PCT/JP2001/003334
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nobukatsu Nishida
Original assignee: Sagawa Printing Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2000-04-21
Filing date: 2001-04-19
Publication date: 2001-11-01
Also published as: JP2002007992A; AU4878901A

Abstract

An electronmagnetic induction contactless electronic tag of disposal or short-term recyclable type that can be produced at low cost and does not adversely affect the environment when thrown away. On one side of a sheet material (1), a loop coil antenna (2) and an IC chip module (3) connected to the loop coil antenna and having at least a memory are provided. The loop coil antenna is provided by printing one side of the sheet material with a carbon-based conductive ink.

Description

Akitoda Electronic Tag Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic tag capable of reading and writing data without contact using an electromagnetic induction method. Background art

A conventional non-contact electromagnetic induction tag without a built-in battery is provided with a loop coil antenna and an IC chip module connected to the loop coil antenna and having at least a memory on one side of a sheet material made of plastic film or the like. It is made up of broken pieces. Electronic tags of this type have begun to be used in the logistics field, FA field, and transportation / leisure field, but due to high manufacturing costs and low production volume, collection and reuse are currently assumed. .

However, in the future, as the production volume of RFID tags increases and the manufacturing cost decreases, it is expected that the demand for disposable or short-term reuse of RFID tags will increase. However, in this type of electronic tag, the loop coil antenna is formed by etching a copper film or an aluminum foil on a plastic film, or by printing a silver or copper paste on the plastic film. I have.

Therefore, when the electronic tag is disposed, heavy metals such as copper and silver contained in the electronic tag may adversely affect the environment. In particular, since this type of RFID tag is used in large quantities and is expected to be thrown away, it is possible that environmental pollution from disposal of RFID tags may become a social problem. In addition, conventional electronic tags have the disadvantage that they are still costly to be disposable. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a disposable or short-term reusable electromagnetic induction type non-contact electronic tag that can be manufactured at low cost and does not adversely affect the environment when disposed. Disclosure of the invention

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a loop coil antenna and an IC chip module connected to the loop coil antenna and having at least a memory are provided on one side of a sheet material. In an electronic tag for reading and writing data by contact, an electronic tag is provided in which the loop coil antenna is formed of a carbon-based material.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carbon-based material comprises a carbon-based conductive ink or a conductive paste containing strips of carbon fibers, and the loop coil antenna includes the conductive ink or the conductive ink. The sheet material is printed on one side of the sheet material, and more preferably, the sheet material is paper or plastic film or a combination thereof.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carbon-based material is made of carbon fiber or a carbon fiber sheet, and the loop coil antenna is formed by bonding the carbon fiber or the carbon fiber sheet with an adhesive. The sheet material is attached to one surface of the sheet material, and more preferably, the sheet material is made of paper, plastic film, or a combination thereof.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the carbon-based material is made of carbon fiber, and the loop coil antenna incorporates the carbon fiber formed into a coil shape in the sheet material. More preferably, the sheet material is made of paper or a plastic film or a combination thereof.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an electric power having a frequency of 13.56 MHz is provided. Data is read and written using magnetic waves. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electronic tag according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an electronic tag according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an electronic tag according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an electronic tag according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing both an electronic tag according to the present invention and a reader / writer that is used with the electronic tag and reads and writes data from / to the electronic tag.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view briefly explaining the state of data transmission between the reader / writer and the electronic tag of FIG. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an electronic tag according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, on one side of a sheet material 1, a loop coil antenna 2 and an IC chip module 3 connected to the loop coil antenna 2 are provided.

The loop coil antenna 2 is formed from a carbon-based material. In this embodiment, as the carbon-based material, a conductive paste containing carbon-based conductive ink or a strip of carbon fiber is used, and the loop coil antenna 2 uses the conductive ink or conductive paste as a sheet material. It consists of one printed on one side. The sheet material 1 may be any material that is electrically insulative and suitable for printing a conductive paste containing carbon-based conductive ink or carbon fiber strips. It consists of paper or plastic film or their combination (composite sheet).

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the loop coil antenna 2 faces outward from the inner starting end 4a. A coil body 4 spirally extending to the outer end 4b, and a lead wire 5 having one end 5a connected to the outer end 4b of the coil body 4 and extending at right angles across each loop of the coil body 4. Coil. The lead wire 5 is fixed on each loop of the coil body 4 in an electrically insulated state. The other end 5 b of the coil lead wire 5 extends inside the coil body 4 to a position facing the inner starting end 4 a of the coil body 4 at right angles.

In this embodiment, the coil body 4 is formed of a square coil, but the shape of the coil body 4 is not limited to this, and the coil body 4 may be an elliptical coil or a circular coil, or may be a complex polygon. Coil.

The IC chip module 3 is electrically connected to the inner starting end 4a of the coil body 4 and the other end 5b of the lead wire 5 by a conductive adhesive.

2 to 4 are plan views of an electronic tag according to another embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 only in the type of carbon-based material forming the loop coil antenna and the configuration of the loop coil antenna. . Therefore, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the same components as those in FIG.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, carbon fiber is used as the material mainly composed of carbon, and the loop coil antenna 2 ′ is made of carbon fiber adhered to one surface of the sheet material 1 via an adhesive.

As shown in Fig. 2, the loop coil antenna 2 'spirally spreads outward from the inner starting end 6a, and then traverses each loop of the spiral at right angles from the outer end 6b of the spiral to the inner end 6a. It is formed as a coil 6 extending up to c. The portion of the coil 6 crossing each loop is fixed to each loop in an electrically insulated state.

In this case, the shape of the coil 6 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 2, and the coil 6 may be an elliptical coil or a circular coil, or a complicated polygonal coil. You can also.

The IC chip module 3 is electrically connected to the inner start end 6a and the inner end 6c of the coil 6 by a conductive adhesive.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a carbon fiber sheet is used as the material mainly composed of carbon, and the loop coil antenna 2 "is formed by attaching a carbon fiber sheet cut into a coil shape to one side of the sheet material 1 with an adhesive. It is made of what you wear.

As shown in Fig. 3, the loop coil antenna 2 "spirally spreads outward from the inner starting end 7a, and then, from the outer end 7b of the spiral, crosses each loop of the spiral at right angles to the inner end 7a. It is formed as a coil 7 extending up to c. A portion crossing each loop of the coil 7 is fixed to each loop in an electrically insulated state. However, the coil 6 may be an elliptical coil or a circular coil, or may be a complex polygonal coil.

The IC chip module 3 is electrically connected to the inner start end 7a and the inner end 7c of the coil 7 by a conductive adhesive.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, carbon fiber is used as the material mainly composed of carbon, and the loop coil antenna 2 ′ ″ ′ is formed by incorporating coil-shaped carbon fiber into the sheet material 1. . The incorporation of the carbon fiber formed into a coil into the sheet material 1 may be performed, for example, by forming the sheet material from paper and making a paper into which carbon fibers are formed, or by forming the carbon material into a coil shape. This is done by creating a composite sheet material with fibers sandwiched between two sheets. In FIG. 4, a loop coil antenna 2 ′ ′ ′ includes a coil body 8 spirally extending from an inner starting end 8 a to an outer ending 8 b in a sheet material 1, and one surface of a sheet material 1. A carbon fiber, one end of which is electrically connected to the inner start end 8a and the outer end 8b of the coil portion 8, and the other end is electrically connected to the IC chip module 3, respectively. Two leader lines 9a, 9 b and is formed as a coil consisting of Note that the shape of the coil body 8 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 4, and the coil body 8 may be an elliptical coil or a circular coil, or may be a complex polygonal coil.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electronic tag according to the present invention and a reader / writer used together with the electronic tag to read / write data from / to the electronic tag. As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic tags 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10'" according to the present invention are composed of loop coil antennas 2, 2 ', 2 ", 2"' and an IC connected thereto. It has a chip module 3. The IC chip module 3 has a transmission / reception unit 11, a control unit 12, and a memory 13. The reader / writer 20 includes a control unit 21 And a transmitting / receiving unit 22 and a coil antenna 23. In this case, the reader Z-ray 20 is not limited to this configuration, and a suitable known reader Z-ray is used. be able to.

Data transmission between the reader / writer 20 and the electronic tags 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10' '' is bidirectional, but is performed in a half-duplex system in which communications are alternately performed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view briefly explaining the state of data transmission between the reader and receiver in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, a constant frequency, in this embodiment, 13.56 MHz electromagnetic wave is radiated from coil antenna 23 forming a resonance circuit of reader / writer 20. When the electronic tags 10, 10 ′, 10 ″, and 10 ′ ″ move in the direction of arrow A and enter this electromagnetic field, this electromagnetic wave is generated by the electronic tag 10 forming a resonance circuit that resonates at that frequency. Received by the loop coil antenna 2, 2 ', 2 ", 2"', thereby providing a stable electromagnetic induction between both coils 23, 2, 2 ', 2 ", 2"' by electromagnetic induction. A connected state is obtained.

At this time, when the reader / writer 20 changes the electromagnetic field, the change in the electromagnetic field is detected as an electromotive force due to electromagnetic induction by the resonance circuit of the electronic tag 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10'''. Changes in the frequency, phase, amplitude, etc. are transmitted as data from the reader / writer 20 to the electronic tags 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10"' (Fig. 6 arrow B). Then, the transmission / reception unit 11 of the electronic tag 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10"' converts and outputs the AC electromotive force generated in the resonance circuit as DC power, and the control unit 12 receives the output and issues a command. Read / write data to / from the memory 13 according to When data is transmitted from the electronic tags 10, 10 ', 10 ", 10"' to the reader / writer 20, the coil antennas 2, 2 ', 2 ", 2" of the electronic tags 10, 10', 10 ", 10 '" are transmitted. , ", The electromagnetic waves (frequency 13.56 MHz) generated by the current flowing through the coil are received by the coil antenna 23 forming the resonance circuit of the reader / writer 20, and the two coils 2, 2 ', 2", 2 "' , 23 enter the electromagnetic coupling state. Then, at this time, when the electronic tags 10, 10 ′, 10 ″, and 10 ′ ″ change the electromagnetic field, the change in the electromagnetic field is generated by the resonance circuit of the reader / writer 20 as an electromotive force due to electromagnetic induction. Detected and changes in frequency, phase, amplitude, etc. are transmitted as data (arrow C in Fig. 6).

As described above, in the electronic tag according to the present invention, the loop coil antenna is formed by printing a conductive paste containing carbon-based conductive ink or a strip of carbon fiber on a sheet material, or by using carbon fiber or carbon fiber. It is formed by attaching a carbon fiber sheet to a sheet material using an adhesive, and does not contain heavy metals such as copper and silver. Therefore, the electronic tag according to the present invention is superior to conventional ones in terms of manufacturing cost and environmental protection.

Further, the electronic tag according to the present invention can be used as an IC card, a prepaid card, a commuter pass, or the like, and can be applied to various fields such as a logistics field, an FA field, a transportation field, and a security field.

As described above, the configuration of the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment. However, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to that of this embodiment. For example, as a carbon-based material forming a loop coil antenna, a new material is used. Carbon nanotubes, which have recently attracted attention, can also be used. Industrial applicability

As described above, according to the present invention, a loop coil antenna can be formed by a simple method using a carbon-based material, so that an electronic tag can be manufactured at a very low cost. Since the loop coil antenna does not contain heavy metals such as copper and silver, there is no adverse effect on the environment when disposing of the electronic tag.

That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a disposable or short-term reusable non-contact electronic tag at low cost without causing environmental pollution.

Claims

A loop coil antenna and an IC chip module connected to the loop coil antenna and having at least a memory are provided on one side of the sheet material. Data is read and written in a non-contact manner by an electromagnetic induction method. An electronic tag, wherein the loop coil antenna is formed of a carbon-based material. The carbon-based material is a carbon-based conductive ink or a conductive paste containing strips of carbon fiber, and the loop coil antenna is configured to transfer the conductive ink or the conductive paste to the sheet material. 2. The electronic tag according to claim 1, wherein the electronic tag is printed on one side. 3. The electronic tag according to claim 2, wherein the sheet material is made of paper, a plastic film, or a combination thereof. The carbon-based material is made of carbon fiber or a carbon fiber sheet, and the loop coil antenna is made of one in which the carbon fiber or the carbon fiber sheet is adhered to one surface of the sheet material via an adhesive. The electronic tag according to claim 1, wherein The electronic tag according to claim 4, wherein the sheet material is made of paper, a plastic film, or a combination thereof. The carbon-based material is made of carbon fiber, and the loop coil antenna is formed by incorporating the carbon fiber formed into a coil shape into the sheet material. The electronic tag according to claim 1, wherein

7. The electronic tag according to claim 6, wherein the sheet material is made of paper, a plastic film, or a combination thereof.

8. The electronic tag according to claim 1, wherein data is read and written using electromagnetic waves having a frequency of 13.56 MHz.