WO2010079459A1

WO2010079459A1 - Method for making an object with an rfid device applied thereto and corresponding object

Info

Publication number: WO2010079459A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/050063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marcello Lolli
Original assignee: Smart Res Societa' Per Azioni
Priority date: 2009-01-08
Filing date: 2010-01-08
Publication date: 2010-07-15
Also published as: IT1398560B1; ITMO20090002A1

Abstract

A method for making an object (10) with an RFID device (12) applied thereto, comprises the following steps: - printing a graphic element (13) on a support (15) that is suitable for enabling a subsequent transfer of the graphic element (13) to a surface (11a) of said object (10); - applying to said graphic element (13) an RFID device (12); transferring the assembly consisting of said graphic element (13) and said RFID device (12) from said support (15) onto a surface (Ha) of said object (10) so that said RFID device (12) is interposed between said graphic element (13) and said surface (Ha). An object (10) comprising an RFID device (12) applied thereto, said RFID device (12) is applied to a surface (Ha) of said object and is covered by a graphic element (13). A transferring support (15) for making an object (10) comprising an RFID device (12) applied thereto, on which at least one graphic element (13) is printed to which an RFID device (12) is applied.

Description

Method for making an object with an RFID device applied thereto and corresponding object

The present invention relates to a method for making a product with an incorporated RFID device, in particular an electronic ticket for making use of services, such as, for example, a railway ticket, an urban public transport ticket, an admittance ticket to exhibitions, museums, etc. Electronic tickets of contactless type are known, i.e. tickets that are readable at a distance by a reading device, which are made by inserting an RFID device, consisting of an antenna to which a microchip is connected, between two layers of printed paper or printed plastic that is normally autoadhesive . The antenna of the RFID device can be made of engraved metal, metal wire or can be printed with conductive ink. The registered coupling of the two layers of paper or of plastic with images printed in front of and behind the RFID device is a particularly complicated process that requires extremely precise and very expensive equipment.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method that enables an object to be made simply and cheaply, in particular an electronic ticket, with an RFID device applied thereto. Another object of the present invention is to make an object with an RFID device applied thereto, in particular an electronic ticket, that is simple to make and not very expensive . The objects of the invention are achieved with a method according to claim 1, with an object according to claim 9 and with a transferring support according to claim 15. The invention will now be disclosed in detail, with reference to the attached drawings that illustrate . an embodiment thereof by way of non- limiting example, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic ticket according to the prior art;

1091033 PCT-EN. doc Figures 2 to 5 illustrate the method according to the invention;

Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of an electronic ticket according to the invention; Figure 7 is a very schematic view of a device for making an electronic ticket according to the invention. In Figure 1 there is illustrated an electronic ticket 1 according to the prior art comprising a first layer 2 of paper or plastics and a second layer 3, which is also made of paper or plastics, between which an RFID device 4 is inserted that consists of an antenna 5 connected to a microchip 6. The first layer 2 and the second layer 3 are glued together, thus obtaining a ticket 1 into the interior of which the RFID device is incorporated. The first layer 1 and the second layer 2 are normally provided, on the respective faces facing the outside of the ticket 1, with messages, and/or images and/or printed decorations. Assembling the ticket 1 requires great precision to obtain perfect alignment between the first layer 1, the second layer 2 and the RFID device, so as to obtain a ticket that is devoid of defects . This requires the use of complex and costly apparatuses that adversely affect the cost of production of the ticket.

The inventor of the present application has discovered that it is possible to make an object with an RFID device applied thereto, without it being necessary to insert the RFID device between two layers of paper or plastics, but by applying simply the device to one of the external faces of the object. This is made more easy, for example by using RFID devices on a UHF band with an antenna in a loop or other configuration, that are of significantly reduced dimensions, for example with a diameter of about ten millimetres or slightly more and can thus be applied to an external face of the object as if they were a hologram or any other decoration.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc In Figures 2 to 6 there is illustrated an object 10 with an RFID device applied thereto according to the invention, for example an electronic ticket, and the method for making the object 10. The electronic ticket 10 comprises a single layer 11 of paper or plastic that can be printed even simultaneously on both sides with messages and/or images and/or decorations and/or holograms. To one side of the ticket 10 an RFID device 12 is applied, to which a printed graphic element 13 is applied, which may consist of an image, or a hologram, or a message on a monochrome or polychrome background. The ticket 10 can be completed by a layer 14 of transparent or non-transparent protective material applied to the side of the ticket to which the RFID device 12 is applied. The application of the RFID device 12 to the ticket 10 is illustrated in Figures 2 to 5.

In a first step (Figure 2) , on a transferring support 15 a graphic element 13 is printed, for example in one or more colours, for example through silkscreen printing, for example on transfer paper. In the case of printing in several colours, the order of printing of the colours is reversed, such that the first colour applied is the colour intended for constituting the external surface of the graphic element 13, when the latter is applied to the ticket 10. The transferring support 15 is a support that is suitable for enabling a subsequent transfer of the graphic element 13 to the surface of an object just by simple pressure of the support onto said surface, to which an adhesive substance can be possibly applied. Alternatively, a layer of adhesive 16 can be applied to the graphic element 13 (Figure 3) , which is activatable, for example, through heat, UV rays, ultrasound, electron bombardment, or chemical reaction; or the last ink used to print the graphic element 13 can have adhesive properties, which are activatable, for example, by heat, UV rays, ultrasound electron bombardment, or chemical reaction. In a further step (Figure 4) the RFID

1091033 PCT-EN. doc device 12 is formed or applied to the graphic element 13, or to the layer of adhesive 16, if a layer of adhesive 16 is applied to the graphic element 13. The RFID device 12 consists, for example, of an antenna 17 made of copper wire connected to a microchip 18 by means of a modular connecting element 19. Alternatively, the antenna 17 can be made of engraved metal or be printed with conductive ink. Lastly, the assembly consisting of the graphic element 13, the possible layer of adhesive 16 and of the RFID device 12, is applied to the surface 11a of the ticket 10, with the RFID device 12 facing said surface 11a. In this manner, when the transfer is complete, the graphic element 13 will face the exterior of the ticket 10 and the RFID device will be covered and protected by said graphic element 13. A protective film 14, which may be transparent, can be possibly applied to the graphic element 13.

Alternatively, the graphic element 13 can be printed directly onto the protective film 14, which can, for example, be a holographic film, which is then transferred to the ticket 10 together with the image 13 and the RFID device

12.

The method according to the invention can be used, in addition to being used to make electronic tickets, also for applying an RFID device to any other type of object, such as, for example, a card, a label, a sheet, a container, a bracelet, a key ring, a pendant, a fabric, etc. If the method according to the invention is used to apply an RFID device to credit and cashpoint cards, the dimension and format of the RFID device to be transferred can be compatible with that of the contact microchip module found in said credit and cashpoint cards, such that the RFID device can be applied using the same equipment. In Figure 7 there is illustrated, schematically, an apparatus 20 that is suitable for implementing the method according to the invention. The apparatus 20 comprises a first reel 21 on which the transferring support 15, in the

1091033 PCT-EN. doc shape of a ribbon, is wound, onto which the graphic elements

13 were printed to each of which an RFID device 12 was applied, with the possible interposing of a layer of adhesive 16. In Figure 7, the assembly consisting of a graphic element 13 with an RFID device applied thereto is indicated with the reference number 22. The transferring support 15 is unwound from the first reel 21, guided above a substrate 24 intended for receiving said assembly 22, near said substrate 24, and passed under a transferring device 23 that presses the assembly 22 onto the substrate 24 to transfer the assembly 22 from the transferring support 15 to the substrate 24. If the layer of thermoplastic adhesive 16 is present, the transferring device, in addition to pressing the assembly 22 onto the substrate 24, heats the assembly 22 by heat generating means, or subjects the assembly 22 to the action of ultrasound, or to the action of UV rays, or to electron bombardment, by, respectively, ultrasound generators, UV rays or electrons, or to the action of any other means that is suitable for enabling the transfer, by activating the adhesive 16 that makes the assembly 22 adhere to the substrate 24, detaching the assembly 22from the transferring support 15 and thus transferring the assembly 22 from the transferring support 15 to the substrate 24. The transferring support 15, after transferring the assemblies 22 to the substrate 24, is rewound onto a second reel 25. The substrate 24 can have the shape of a ribbon, which is unwound from a third reel 26 and, after receiving the assemblies 22, is rewound onto a fourth reel 27. Subsequently, the electronic tickets 10 can be cut from the substrate 24 to which the assemblies 22 were transferred, and possibly completed with a transparent protective film

14.

Alternatively, the substrate 24 can comprise a plurality of discrete substrate elements, contained in a magazine element (which is not shown) from which the single substrate elements are extracted and taken to a transferring position,

1091033 PCT-EN. doc in which the transferring device 23 transfers onto each substrate element one of said assemblies 22. Lastly, the substrate element with the assembly 22 applied thereto is sent to a collecting container (which is not shown) . Further, the transferring support 15, instead of being ribbon-shaped, may have the shape of discrete supporting elements, on each of which at least a graphic element 13 is printed to which an RFID device 12 is applied. The apparatus 20 can be completed by a test device 28, which is suitable for checking that the RFID devices 12 operate correctly and for blocking the transfer of an assembly 22 onto the substrate 24 if an operating fault of the respective RFID device is detected. The apparatus 20 can be further provided with sensor means 25 that is suitable for enabling the assemblies 22 to be transferred to the substrate 24 in a preset position.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc

Claims

1. Method for making an object (10) comprising an RFID device (12) applied thereto, characterised in that it comprises the following steps: - printing a graphic element (13) on a support (15) that is suitable for enabling a subsequent transfer of the graphic element (13) to a surface (lla) of said object (10) ; - applying to said graphic element (13) an RFID device (12) ; transferring the assembly consisting of said graphic element (13) and of said RFID device (12) from said support (15) onto a surface (lla) of said object (10) so that said RFID device (12) is interposed between said graphic element (13) and said surface (lla) .

2. Method according to claim 1, further comprising interposing between said graphic element (13) and said RFID device (12) a layer (16) of adhesive substance that is activatable by heat, or UV rays, or ultrasound, or electron bombardment, or chemical reaction.

3. Method according to claim 1, or 2 , further comprising applying to said transferring support (15) a film (14) of protective material, before said printing, and transferring said film (14) to said surface (lla) together with said graphic element (13) and with said RFID device (12) .

4. Method according to claim 3, wherein said film (14) is a holographic film.

5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein said object (10) is a ticket, a card, a label, a sheet, a container, a bracelet, a key ring, a pendant, a garment.

6. Method according to any preceding claim, wherein said RFID device (12) is a UHF RFID device.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc

7. Method according to any preceding claim, wherein said RFID device (12) comprises an antenna (17) made of copper wire, engraved metal or conductive ink.

8. Method according to claim 7, wherein said antenna (17) has a loop configuration.

9. Object (10) comprising an RFID device (12) incorporated therein, characterised in that said RFID device (12) is applied to a surface (lla) of said object and is covered by a graphic element (13) .

10. Object (10) according to claim 9, further comprising a layer (14) of protective material applied above said graphic element (13) .

11. Object (10) according to claim 9, or 10, characterised in that it is a ticket, a card, a label, a sheet, a container, a bracelet, a key ring, a pendant, a garment.

12. Object (10) according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein said RFID device (12) is a UHF RFID device.

13. Object (10) according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein said RFID device (12) comprises an antenna (17) made of copper, engraved metal wire or conductive ink.

14. Object (10) according to claim 13, wherein said antenna (17) has a loop configuration.

15. Transferring support (15) for making an object (10) comprising an RFID device (12) applied thereto, characterised in that on said transferring support (15) at least a graphic element (13) is printed to which an RFID device (12) is applied.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc

16. Transferring support (15) according to claim 15, characterised in that it has the shape of a ribbon on which a plurality of graphic elements is printed (13), to each of which an RFID device (12) is applied.

17. Apparatus for making an object (10) with an RFID device

(12) incorporated therein, characterised in that it comprises first guide means (21, 25) , for a support (15) , to which assemblies (22) are applied comprising a graphic element (13) and an RFID device (12), second guide means (26, 27) for a substrate (24) intended for receiving said assemblies (22) , said first guide means (21, 25) and said second guide means (26, 27) being arranged so as to guide said support (15) above said substrate (24) near said substrate (24) , transferring means (23) for transferring said assemblies (22) from said support (15) to said substrate (24) so that said RFID device (12) faces said substrate (24) .

18. Apparatus (20) according to claim 17, wherein said transferring means (23) comprises pressure transferring means .

19. Apparatus according to claim 17, or 18, wherein said transferring means comprises heat-generating means, or ultrasound generating means, or UV ray generating means, or electron generating means.

20. Apparatus (20) according to claim 17, or 18, or 19, further comprising checking means (28) for checking the correct operation of said RFID device (12) .

21. Apparatus (20) according to any one of claims 17 to 20, further comprising sensor means (25) suitable for enabling said assemblies (22) to be transferred to said substrate (24) in a preset position.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc

22. Apparatus (20) according to any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein said substrate (24) has the shape of a ribbon, or the shape of discrete substrate elements.

1091033 PCT-EN. doc