WO2008150215A1

WO2008150215A1 - Tape comprising rfid devices

Info

Publication number: WO2008150215A1
Application number: PCT/SE2008/050457
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolf Andersson
Original assignee: Smurfit Kappa Sverige Ab
Priority date: 2007-04-25
Filing date: 2008-04-22
Publication date: 2008-12-11

Abstract

A tape (1 ) comprises a first surface (2) and, opposite thereto, a second surface. At least one of said surfaces (2) is coated with an adhesive for applying the tape (1 ) to an object (6) and at least one RFID device (5) is arranged on one of the surfaces (2) of the tape (1 ). The adhesive is contact adhesive. A structure (6) of fibre-based material comprises a first outer side (8) and a second outer side (12), and an inventive tape (1 ) is secured to the first or the second outer side (8, 12) of the structure (16). A method of manufacturing the tape (1 ) and a method of manufacturing the structure (6) of fibre-based material are also disclosed.

Description

TAPE COMPRISING RFID DEVICES

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a tape comprising a first surface and, opposite thereto, a second surface, at least one of said surfaces being coated with an adhesive for applying the tape to an object and at least one RFID device being arranged on one of the surfaces of the tape.

The invention also relates to a structure of fibre-based material comprising a first outer side and a second outer side, and a tape comprising a first and a second surface, one of said surfaces being coated with an adhesive and at least one RFID device being arranged on said tape. Furthermore the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a tape and a method of manufacturing a structure of fibre-based material.

Technical Background

Various techniques have been developed to identify and track objects, for instance boxes containing foodstuffs and other products. The most common ones involve applications for identification of bar codes and optical scanning of such codes for identification of relevant characteristics such as size, model, price etc.

A newer technique is Radio Frequency Identification Technology, usually known as RFID tags. RFID devices are thin transponders which comprise an integrated circuit with radio frequency circuits (RF), control logic, memory and antenna, all mounted on a substrate.

RFID tags are currently utilised on tapes that are used in manufacture of corrugated cardboard boxes for use in packaging, logistics and distribution. WO 2006/119279 discloses a reinforcing tape with a plurality of RFID devices attached to at least one major surface of the tape. The tape is provided with hot melt adhesive. Also reinforced structures are disclosed, such as corrugated cardboard, which comprises a reinforced tape with attached RFID devices on at least one layer of the corrugated cardboard so that the reinforced tape and at least one RFID device are positioned between a first and a second layer of the corrugated cardboard. The method of manufacturing such structures is also described in this document.

A problem of this prior art technique for applying reinforcing tapes with integrated RFID tags especially for manufacture of boxes and the like of corrugated cardboard is that the use of hot melt adhesive requires the use of heat in application of the tape. That part of the manufacturing process in which the application of tape occurs, the "wet" part of the process, also involves heat. This limits the types of RFID tags that can be used for application and results in increased costs since additional steps are necessary in the manufacturing process.

Summary of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an improvement of the above described prior art technique. A special object of the present invention is to provide a corrugated cardboard structure and, in particular, a tape with integrated RFID devices that can be applied in a quick and cost effective way in the manufacturing process.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, these objects are achieved by a tape comprising a first surface and, opposite thereto, a second surface. At least one of said surfaces is coated with an adhesive for application of the tape to an object and at least one RFID device is arranged on one of the surfaces of the tape. The adhesive is contact adhesive.

This is advantageous by the possibility of applying the tape in a simple and effective manner without necessitating supply of heat or glue.

Furthermore this gives the advantage that several types of RFID tags can be used, in contrast to prior art technique.

The tape may be arranged with a plurality of RFID devices at a distance from each other along the length of the tape, the distances being adjusted to the size of objects to which the tape is to be applied, which is advantageous since a smaller number of RFID devices along the length of the tape results in a lower cost of manufacture for the tape.

The tape may be configured so that the RFID devices are arranged on the adhesive coated surface of the tape, which is advantageous since the RFID devices can be applied more easily to the tape and by the RFID device, after application of the tape to an object, being protected by the tape.

A structure of fibre-based material is provided according to a second aspect of the invention. The structure has a first and a second outer side and the tape is contact adhesively secured to the first or the second outer side of the structure.

This method is advantageous since it can be integrated in the manufacturing process for the structure so that no extra operations will be required.

The structure advantageously comprises corrugated cardboard, the tape being secured to the outer side of the first or the second fibre material layer of the corrugated cardboard structure.

The RFID devices may be arranged between the tape and the first or the second layer of the corrugated cardboard structure, which protects the RFID device from wear.

A method of manufacturing a tape is provided according to a third aspect of the invention. The method is characterised by providing a web of material with a first surface and, opposite thereto, a second surface, coating at least one of said surfaces with an adhesive for contact adhesive application of the tape to an object, and arranging at least one RFID device on the first or the second surface of the tape.

The RFID devices may be arranged on the surface of the tape that is coated with adhesive, which is advantageous by application of the RFID devices on the tape being facilitated and by the RFID devices, after application of the tape to an abject, being protected by the tape.

A method of manufacturing a structure of fibre-based material is provided according to a fourth aspect of the invention. The method is characterised in that the contact adhesive surface of the tape is secured to the first or the second outer side of the structure.

The RFID devices are arranged on the adhesive surface of the tape, which is advantageous by the method in application being facilitated. The advantages of the first and the second aspect of the invention also apply to the third and the fourth aspect of the invention.

The above advantages and features of the invention are further described in the detailed description and in the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Additional objects and advantages as well as features of the invention - and some embodiments thereof - will be evident from the following description of a number of implementations which are given with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically a corrugated cardboard structure provided with a tape which is fitted with a suitable number of RFID devices.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a sheet of corrugated cardboard according to the present invention. Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view from the inside of a corrugated cardboard box provided with an inner tape which is fitted with a suitable number of RFID devices.

Detailed Description of the Invention Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a corrugated cardboard structure in the form of a box 6 provided with a tape 1. As will be seen in more detail in Fig. 2, the tape 1 has a first surface 2 and a second surface 3. The second surface 3 is provided with a contact adhesive glue 4. RFID devices 5 are arranged on the sticky surface 3 of the tape 1. The box 6 has a first layer of fibre material 7 with an outer side 8 and an inner side 9. The inner side 9 is attached to one side of a corrugated intermediate layer 10, which on its opposite side is attached to a second layer of fibre material 11. Also the second layer 11 has an outer side 12 and an inner side 13. The tape 1 is contact adhesively secured to the outer side 12 of the second layer 11 of the box 6.

Alternatively, the tape 1 may be applied to the outer side 8 of the first fibre material layer 7 of the box, so that the tape will be positioned on the inside of the box 6, which is shown in Fig. 3. Which side is chosen may be due to the contents of the box, at what point of time in the manufacturing process the tape 1 is applied, and whether the tape 1 is subjected to wear or in some other manner risks being damaged more on one side than on the other.

The box shown in Fig. 1 is provided with three RFID devices 5, but of course the number can be greater or smaller, due to, for instance, the amount of information to be available, what reading equipment is to be used and the contents to be packaged in the box 6. The RFID devices 5 can be attached to the contact adhesive surface of the tape 1 , be integrated in the web of material of the tape 1 or be applied to the non-contact adhesive surface of the tape 1. The side to be chosen depends on the field of application. If the RFID devices 5 are placed on the sticky surface 3 of the tape 1 , the RFID devices 5 can be protected by the tape 1 when the tape has been applied to the box 6.

Moreover the RFID devices 5 may be placed so closely on the tape 1 that there is an RFID device 5 on each of the four sides of the box 6. Alternatively the RFID devices may be placed so that there is only one device on each box. The distance to be chosen is determined, for example, by the contents to be packaged in the boxes. Contents like tins make it impossible to read the RFID devices 5 at a great distance, which may necessitate closer arrangement of RFID tags 5. On the other hand, it may be desirable to have as few RFID tags 5 on the tape 1 and on each case 6 as possible in order to keep the cost down. A further aspect that may influence the number and location of RFID tags 5 is how the reading device is arranged relative to the box.

For application of the tape 1 to the box 6, a taper of the type Wellpack Taper, marketed by the applicant, can be used. In this manner, the attachment of the RFID devices can be done in an existing step in the manufacturing process for the boxes 6, whereby the production rate remains unaffected. The Wellpack Taper is intended for application of tape in the "dry" part of the manufacturing process for corrugated cardboard boxes, that is after joining of the various layers 7, 10, 11 of the corrugated cardboard. The tape 1 will therefore be applied to one of the outer sides 8, 12 of the corrugated cardboard, not between the layers of material 7, 11.

The tape 1 can be a reinforcing tape for reinforcement around box handles, a pull-tape for opening the box 6, a sealing tape or some other type of tape which in any case is to be used on the box 6. The tape 1 may, however, also be used merely for application of RFID devices 5 and may, in that case, be of a simpler kind.

The tape 1 is supplied in the form of a roll with the RFID devices 5 arranged at suitable distances for the box size that is to be manufactured. The RFID devices 5 are suitably applied to the tape 1 in connection with the manufacture of the tape 1. The tape 1 can be manufactured by a wider web of material being provided with contact adhesive glue 4 and then being cut in the longitudinal direction into a plurality of strips of tape of suitable width. Before the tape 1 is wound to form a roll, the RFID devices 5 are applied to the tape 1 at predetermined, preferably regular, intervals in the longitudinal direction of the tape 1. The tape 1 provided with RFID may then be mounted in the taper like any tape whatsoever and be applied in the traditional way.

It will be appreciated that many modifications of the described embodiments of the invention are conceivable within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

For instance, other tapers than the one mentioned above may be used. In the embodiment described above, the box 6 is made of corrugated cardboard. However, the invention is also applicable to structures, such as boxes, of other fibre-based materials, for instance solid board.

Claims

1. A tape comprising a first surface (2) and, opposite thereto, a second surface (3), at least one of said surfaces (2, 3) being coated with an adhesive (4) for applying the tape (1) to an object (6) and at least one RFID device (5) being arranged on one of the surfaces (2, 3) of the tape, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that said adhesive (4) is contact adhesive.

2. A tape as claimed in claim 1 , in which a plurality of RFID devices (5) are arranged at a distance from each other along the length of the tape (1), the distances being adjusted to the size of objects (6) to which the tape (1) is to be applied.

3. A tape as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which said at least one RFID device (5) is arranged on the adhesive coated surface (3) of the tape (1).

4. A structure of fibre-based material comprising a first outer side (8) and a second outer side (12), and a tape (1) comprising a first and a second surface (2, 3), one of said surfaces (2, 3) being coated with an adhesive (4) and at least one RFID device (15) being arranged on said tape (1 ), c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the tape (1) is contact adhesively secured to the first or the second outer side (8, 12) of the structure (6).

5. A structure as claimed in claim (4), in which the fibre-based material is a corrugated cardboard structure (6) comprising a first fibre material layer (7) with an outer and an inner side (8, 9), said inner side (9) being connected parallel to at least one corrugated intermediate fibre material layer (10), a second fibre material layer (11) with an outer and an inner side (12, 13), said inner side (13) being connected parallel to at least one of said corrugated intermediate fibre material layers (10), the tape (1) being contact adhesively secured to the outer side (8, 12) of at least one of the first and the second fibre material layer (7, 11) of the corrugated cardboard structure (6).

6. A structure as claimed in claim 5, in which said at least one RFID device (5) is arranged between the tape (1) and the first or the second fibre material layer (7, 11) of the corrugated cardboard structure (6).

7. A method of manufacturing tape (1), comprising the steps of providing a web of material (1 ) with a first surface (2) and, opposite thereto, a second surface (3), coating at least one of said surfaces (2, 3) with an adhesive (4) for contact adhesive application of the tape (1) to an object (6), and arranging at least one RFID device (5) on the first or the second surface (2, 3) of the tape (1).

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, in which said at least one RFID device (5) is arranged on the adhesive coated surface (3) of the tape (1).

9. A method of manufacturing a structure (6) of fibre-based material, comprising the steps of providing a fibre-based material with a first outer side (8) and a second outer side (12), providing a tape (1) comprising a first and a second surface (2, 3), one of said surfaces (2, 3) being coated with a contact adhesive (4), on which tape (1) at least one RFID device is arranged and, securing the adhesive surface (3) of the tape (1) to the first or the second outer side (8, 12) of the fibre-based material.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, in which the step of providing a fibre-based material comprises the steps of providing a first fibre material layer (7) with an outer and an inner side

(8, 9), said inner side (9) being connected parallel to at least one corrugated intermediate fibre material layer (10), and providing a second fibre material layer (11) with an outer and an inner side (12, 13), said inner side being connected parallel to at least one of said corrugated intermediate fibre material layers (10) for providing a corrugated cardboard structure (6), the contact adhesive surface (3) of the tape (1) being secured to at least the outer side (8, 12) of at least one of the first and second fibre material layers (7, 11) of the corrugated cardboard structure.

11. A method as claimed in claim 9 or 10, in which said at least one RFID device (5) is arranged on the adhesive surface (3) of the tape (1 ).