WO2021215590A1

WO2021215590A1 - Wireless tag apparatus for attachment of things

Info

Publication number: WO2021215590A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/011214
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eun Kyeong KWON
Original assignee: Dnx Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-04-20
Filing date: 2020-08-24
Publication date: 2021-10-28
Also published as: KR102198428B1

Abstract

A wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object is provided. The wireless tag apparatus includes a tag body configured to be attached to an object and transmit, through wireless communication, identification information of the object when a user contacts the object, a case configured to protect the tag body, and a sensor extension extending from the tag body and exposed to an outside of the case to be attached to the object, and configured to expand a sensing range in which the tag body senses a contact with the object. The wireless tag apparatus is configured to expand the sensing range of sensing a touch of a wireless tag attached to the object and improve the performance of the tag.

Description

WIRELESS TAG APPARATUS FOR ATTACHMENT OF THINGS

Example embodiments relate to a wireless tag technology for attachment of things, and more particularly, to a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing or object that is configured to readily and conveniently attach a tag to an existing thing or object irrespective of a type, a size, a shape, and an area of the thing or object, thereby expanding a touch range of the tag attached to the thing or object.

As the Internet of things (IoT) technology develops, an environment has evolved into one where users are able to readily search for or control the states of various devices anytime and anywhere. Things of the IoT, hereinafter simply referred to as objects, are connected via the Internet and sensors, and they exchange information associated with temperature, humidity, positions, and heat, for example. This has been enabled further through Bluetooth or near field communication (NFC), sensing techniques, wired and wireless communication and network infrastructure, IoT service interface techniques, and the like.

In such an IoT environment, an act of touching or contacting an object may be used as one of the methods to identify the object or obtain desired information of the object in real time. That is, by touching or contacting a nearby object, it is possible to obtain space information, behavior information, intention and desire information, traffic information, location information, and usage information of the object. For example, iBeacon may be applied as a representative method to obtain space information.

A beacon may refer to a wireless communication device configured to automatically recognize a smart device and transmit necessary data, based on a Bluetooth 4.0 protocol, or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The beacon may operate at a distance up to 70 meters (m), and be highly accurate in terms of 5 to 10 centimeter (cm) unit distinguishment. It may also consume less power, and thus be suitable for the implementation of the IoT. The beacon may provide space information, and be used by being attached to various objects or devices.

For example, Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0817649 (2008.03.21) discloses a radio frequency identification tag with improved directivity and coverage distance stability. According to the related art, the tag, or a wireless integrated circuit (IC) tag, includes a microstrip antenna. The microstrip antenna includes a radiation electrode provided with an IC chip, a ground electrode, and a flexible dielectric disposed between the radiation electrode and the ground electrode. The radiation electrode and the ground electrode are approximately the same in size. The IC chip is not connected to the ground electrode, but to the radiation electrode. The radiation electrode is provided with a slit for impedance matching, and each terminal of the IC chip is connected to each of feeding portions of the radiation electrode that are opposed to each other with the slit therebetween.

For another example, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0111608 (2005.11.25) discloses a wireless transmission tag including a memory, a control circuit connected to the memory, an antenna connected to the control circuit, and a power source configured to supply power to the control circuit. According to the related art, the power source is connected to a sensor configured to activate the power source to supply power to at least a portion of the control circuit in response to an external stimulus. The wireless transmission tag starts transmitting data only when activated by a predefined stimulus.

[Prior art documents]

[Patent documents]

(Patent document 0001) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0817649 (2008.03.21)

(Patent document 0002) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0111608 (2005.11.25)

An aspect provides a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing or hereinafter an object. The wireless tag apparatus may attach a tag to an object readily and conveniently irrespective of a type, a size, a shape, an area, and the like of the object, thereby expanding a touch range of the tag attached to the object.

Another aspect provides a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object. The wireless tag apparatus may be readily attachable to an object and expand a contact sensing range in which a user contacts the object, and thus sense a natural object contacting act of the user and improve the performance of a touch tag.

Another aspect provides a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object. The wireless tag apparatus may be manufactured to be small in size and attachable to and detachable from a surface of an object based on a shape of the object without a need to replace or change the existing object. In addition, the wireless tag apparatus may transmit, through wireless communication, identification information of the object immediately when a user touches or contacts the object to which a tag is attached, and automatically collect information of the object in contact and behavior and situation information.

According to an example embodiment, there is provided a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object, the wireless tag apparatus including a tag body configured to be attached to an object and transmit, through wireless communication, identification information of the object while a user contacts the object, a case configured to protect the tag body, and a sensor extension extending from the tag body and exposed to an outside of the case to be attached to the object, and configured to expand a sensing range in which the tag body senses a contact with the object.

The tag body may include a sensor configured to sense a contact of the user with the object or an approach of the user to the object.

The tag body may include a wireless communicator configured to wake up and transmit the identification information of the object when the contact or the approach is sensed through the sensor and the sensor extension.

The tag body may sense the presence or absence of the contact with the object and a time of the contact through the sensor and the sensor extension, and transmit additional information associated with an estimated situation along with the identification information of the object through the wireless communicator.

The tag body may be attached or re-attached to the object through a double-sided tape or an adhesive.

The case may be provided in a form that surrounds the tag body, and a portion or an entire portion thereof may be formed with or coated with a conductive material such that the case is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) of the tag body to expand the sensing range.

The sensor extension may be embodied as a flexible PCB (FPCB)-type conductor or a conductive fiber, and one end thereof may be electrically connected to the PCB of the tag body through a connector to expand the sensing range of the sensor.

The sensor extension may be attached along a surface of the object, and embodied with different lengths, different areas, and different design forms according to a shape of the surface of the object onto which the sensor extension is to be attached.

Example embodiments described herein may have the following advantageous effects. However, it should not be construed that a certain example embodiment has all the following effects or has only the following effects, and thus the scope of the example embodiments described herein should not be construed as being limited by the following effects.

According to example embodiments described herein, a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing or hereinafter an object may immediately provide information as to whether an object is used or not by a user only by being attached to the object readily and conveniently without new or additional developments or changes of existing objects, and may provide information associated with a user's movement in a space, a user's behavioral lifestyle pattern, a user's usage pattern for the object, or the like. Thus, it is possible to create new services rapidly in various fields, such as, for example, care for elderly people who live alone, home healthcare, or the like.

According to example embodiments described herein, a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object may be readily attachable or detachable, irrespective of a size, a shape, or an area of an existing object, by changing a length, a width, and a design of a portion to be attached to a surface of the object with which a user is frequently in contact, and may readily detect a user's contact or approach.

According to example embodiments described herein, a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object may expand a sensing range in which a user's contact or approach is to be sensed, and thus improve tag performance. When being in contact with a user, sensing the contact and wireless communication may be performed simultaneously.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing or hereinafter an object according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement structure of the wireless tag apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a tag body of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an image of an example of a product which is a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 5a and 5b are diagrams illustrating examples showing that a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object is attached to a medical box according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 6a and 6b are diagrams illustrating examples showing that a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object is attached to a remote controller according to an example embodiment.

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein will be apparent after an understanding of the present disclosure of this application. For example, the sequences of operations described herein are merely examples, and are not limited to those set forth herein, but may be changed as will be apparent after an understanding of the present disclosure, with the exception of operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, and are not to be construed as being limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided merely to illustrate some of the many possible ways of implementing the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein that will be apparent after an understanding of the disclosure of this application.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting the disclosure.

Terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be used herein to describe components. Each of these terminologies is not used to define an essence, order, or sequence of a corresponding component but used merely to distinguish the corresponding component from other component(s).

For example, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

Throughout the disclosure, when an element, such as a layer, region, or substrate, is described as being "on," "connected to," or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly "on," "connected to," or "coupled to" the other element, or there may be one or more other elements intervening therebetween. In contrast, when an element is described as being "directly on," "directly connected to," or "directly coupled to" another element, there can be no other elements intervening therebetween. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any one and any combination of any two or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the," are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

The example embodiments to be described herein may be recorded in non-transitory computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations of the above-described example embodiments. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of example embodiments, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM discs, DVDs, and/or Blue-ray discs; magneto-optical media such as optical discs; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory (e.g., USB flash drives, memory cards, memory sticks, etc.), and the like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The above-described devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described example embodiments, or vice versa.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms, including technical and scientific terms, used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains based on an understanding of the present disclosure. Terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, are to be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and are not to be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing, or hereinafter an object, according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless tag apparatus 100 attachable to an object includes a tag body 110, a case 120, and a sensor extension 130.

The tag body 110 may be attached to the object, and transmit identification information of the object to a wireless communication receiver through wireless communication when a user contacts the object.

The tag body 110 may communicate with the wireless communication receiver through short-range wireless communication, such as, for example, radio-frequency identification (RFID), near field communication (NFC), Zigbee, Bluetooth, and WiFi. The wireless communication receiver may be a user terminal (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, and the like) or a wearable device in which a wireless communication reception function is provided.

According to an example embodiment, the tag body 110 may store the identification information that identifies the object to which the tag body 110 is attached, and wake up immediately when the user contacts or approaches the object and wirelessly transmit the stored identification information of the object. The tag body 110 may be formed in a circular shape, but not limited thereto. For example, the tag body 110 may be formed in a polygonal shape. The tag body 110 may be accommodated in the case 120 and thus be protected from an external environment.

The case 120 includes an upper case 120a and a lower case 120b, and is provided in a form that surrounds entirely the tag body 110 to protect the tag body 110. According to an example embodiment, the case 120 may be formed with polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), silicone, rubber material, and the like, and be conveniently and readily attached to a surface of an existing object. A portion or an entire portion of the case 120 may be formed with a conductive material, or coated or painted with a conductive material. Thus, the case 120 may be electrically connected to the tag body 110, thereby expanding a contact sensing range of the tag body 110. The upper case 120a and the lower case 120b of the case 120 may be detachably connected to each other for the replacement of a battery of the tag body 110.

The sensor extension 130 may be formed by extending from the tag body 110 and be exposed to an outside of the case 120 to expand an object attachment range and expand the contact sensing range of the tag body 110. According to an example embodiment, the sensor extension 130 may be attached to a surface of an existing object irrespective of a size, a shape, or an area of the existing object, and be embodied in the form of a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) or thin-film band of various lengths, areas, and designs according to the shape of the surface of the object to which the sensor extension 130 is to be attached.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement structure of a wireless tag apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the wireless tag apparatus 100 attachable to an object includes the tag body 110, the case 120 configured to surround the tag body 110 to protect the tag body 110, and the sensor extension 130.

The wireless tag apparatus 100 may be attached to a surface of an object. The wireless tag apparatus 100 may be attached or re-attached to the object using a double-sided tape, an adhesive, or the like. According to an example embodiment, the wireless tag apparatus 100 may be attached to a portion of an object that is frequently touched or contacted by a user. For example, for a refrigerator, the wireless tag apparatus 100 may be attached to a handle of the refrigerator.

The case 120 of the wireless tag apparatus 100 may be attached to the surface of the object, and the tag body 110 may be included inside the case 120. The tag body 110 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) 210. A battery 220 is disposed on one side of the PCB 210, and other components including a sensor, a processor, a storage, a wireless communicator, and a clock generator are disposed on another side of the PCB 210, and thus they are electrically connected to one another. The components disposed on the PCB 210 may receive operating power through the battery 220.

The sensor extension 130 of the wireless tag apparatus 100 may be electrically connected to the tag body 110, and extend to a portion with which the object is in contact to be attached thereto. The sensor extension 130 may be connected to the sensor disposed on the PCB 210 of the tag body 110, and extend long from the sensor to be exposed to an outside of the case 120. Thus, the sensor extension 130 may extend a sensing range in which the sensor senses a contact or an approach of the user with or to the object. According to an example embodiment, the sensor extension 130 may sense the contact and the approach of the user and transmit a sensed signal obtained by the sensing to the sensor of the tag body 110.

The wireless tag apparatus 100 may be electrically connected to the sensor extension 130 from one side of the PCB 210 through a connector 230. According to an example embodiment, the sensor extension 130 may be embodied in the form of a thin-film FPCB and thus be readily attached along a surface of an object. The sensor extension 130 may also expand an attachment range in which the wireless tag apparatus 100 is to be attached to the object, in addition to the sensing range in which the contact or approach of the user with or to the object is to be sensed. Thus, even though the user does not intentionally explore and contact a portion to which a tag is attached, the wireless tag apparatus 100 may detect a contact of the user from a natural act of touching or contacting the object, thereby improving the performance of the tag.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a tag body of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3, the tag body 110 includes the PCB 210 and the battery 220. On the PCB 210, a sensor 310, a processor 320, a storage 330, and a wireless communicator 340 are disposed. The sensor 310 may be electrically connected to the sensor extension 130 described above.

The sensor 310 may sense a contact with an object to which the wireless tag apparatus 100 is attached, a time of the contact, and the like. According to an example embodiment, the sensor 310 may be embodied as various sensors, for example, a contact sensor, a proximity sensor, and the like. The sensor 310 may sense a state in which a user comes into contact with the object or approaches the object, and detect a tag touch by the user. The sensor 310 may be electrically connected through the connector 230 to the sensor extension 130 exposed to an outside of the case 120. The sensor extension 130 may be embodied by an electric conductor or a conductive fiber in the form of an FPCB, and expand a sensing range in which the sensor 310 senses the tag touch.

The sensor 310 with the sensing range expanded by the sensor extension 130 may transmit a sensed contact signal to the processor 320 when a contact of the user with the object or an approach of the user to the object is sensed in the sensing range. The sensed contact signal may wake up the processor 320.

The processor 320 may operate by receiving the sensed contact signal and estimate a contact situation from the sensed contact signal. The processor 320 may store information obtained in such a process in the storage 330, or read additional information associated with the estimated situation along with identification information of the object from the storage 330 to transmit the information to the wireless communicator 340.

For example, when the sensor 310 is a motion sensor, the processor 320 may process the sensed contact signal as a motion value obtained when the user moves the object during such an object contacting process. For another example, when the sensor 310 is a pressure sensor, the processor 320 may process the sensed contact signal as a pressure value applied by the user to the object during the object contacting process.

According to an example embodiment, the processor 320 may be embodied by a central processing unit (CPU), and the storage 330 may be included as a component embedded in the CPU.

The storage 330 may store information to be transmitted to a wireless communication receiver during the object contacting process of the user. According to an example embodiment, the storage 330 may store the identification information of the object including, for example, information associated with a type of the object, an attachment place, an attachment location, a number of times of contacts, a contact time, and the like.

The wireless communicator 340 may transmit, through wireless communication, sensor data that is obtained by processing the sensed contact signal by the processor 320, along with the identification information of the object. The sensor data may include a motion value, brightness, temperature, humidity, and the like. The wireless communicator 340 may transmit the identification information of the object through a wireless communication method, for example, NFC, Bluetooth, Beacon, WiFi, LTE, 5G, and the like.

The battery 220 may be disposed on the PCB 210, and supply operating power to each component of the tag body 110.

Referring to FIG. 4, the wireless tag apparatus 100 may be provided in a one-chip form and formed small in size by disposing components of the tag body 110 on the PCB 210. In the wireless tag apparatus 100, the tag body 110 may be protected by the case 120, and the battery 220 may be replaced by separating or detaching the upper case 120a and the lower case 120b of the case 120 from each other. In the wireless tag apparatus 100, the sensor extension 130 may extend from one side of the tag body 110 to expand a sensing range of a tag touch. One end of the sensor extension 130 may be connected to the PCB 210 of the tag body 110, and at the same time be exposed to an outside of the case 120 to extend in the form of an FPCB. Thus, the sensor extension 130 may be provided in the form that is readily contactable or approachable by a user and is conveniently attachable to an object. Although the tag body 110 of the wireless tag apparatus 100 is illustrated in a circular form, forms or shapes are not limited to the illustrated example, and it may be provided in various forms or shapes, for example, a quadrangle, corresponding to a size or shape of an object.

FIGS. 5a and 5b are diagrams illustrating examples showing that a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object is attached to a medical box according to an example embodiment. Illustrated are a front view and a rear view of an existing medical box to which the wireless tag apparatus 100 is attached.

Referring to FIGS. 5a and 5b, the sensor extension 130 may be attached to a certain portion of a medical box 500 with which a hand of a user frequently comes into contact when using the medical box 500, for example, a front side of the medical box 500, as illustrated in FIG. 5a. In addition, the case 120 containing therein the tag body 110 may be attached to a rear side of the medical box 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5b. The sensor extension 130 may be formed by extending long from the tag body 110, and thus be readily attached along a surface of the medical box 500. The sensor extension 130 may be attached to the surface of the medical box 500 to expand a sensing range in which a contact of the user with an object is to be sensed. Thus, immediately when the user contacts the medical box 500, the sensor extension 130 may be naturally contacted thereby, and a sensed contact signal therefrom may be transmitted to the sensor 310 of the tag body 110. The tag body 110 may transmit, to a wireless communication receiver of the user through the wireless communicator 340, identification information of the medical box 500 which is an object being in contact through the sensor extension 130, and behavior information associated with, for example, a number of times of taking pills, a time for taking pills, and the like.

FIGS. 6a and 6b are diagrams illustrating examples showing that a wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object is attached to a remote controller according to an example embodiment. Illustrated are a front view and a rear view of an existing remote controller to which the wireless tag apparatus 100 is attached.

Referring to FIGS. 6a and 6b, the sensor extension 130 may be attached to a certain portion of a remote controller 600 with which a hand of a user frequently comes into contact when using the remote controller 600, for example, one of both sides of the remote controller 600 that comes into contact when the user grabs the remote controller 600 to use it. For example, the sensor extension 130 may be attached to the one side of the remote controller 600 along a longitudinal direction of the one side. In addition, the case 120 containing therein the tag body 110 may be attached to a rear side of the remote controller 600. The sensor extension 130 may be exposed to an outside of the case 120 and electrically connected to one end of the PCB 210 of the tag body 110 provided inside the case 120. Thus, immediately when the user contacts the remote controller 600, the sensor extension 130 may be naturally contacted thereby and a sensed contact signal therefrom may be transmitted to the sensor 310 of the tag body 110. The tag body 110 may transmit, to a wireless communication receiver of the user through the wireless communicator 340, identification information of the remote controller 600 which is an object being in contact through the sensor extension 130, and device usage information of, for example, a television (TV), an air-conditioner, or the like.

According to an example embodiment described herein, a wireless tag apparatus attachable to a thing or an object may be attached to a surface of any object, for example, a doorknob, a fridge handle, a toilet seat, or the like. The wireless tag apparatus may sense a situation in which a user contacts or approaches the object through a sensor and use a sensed contact signal as a wake-up signal to save the use of a battery. In addition, the wireless tag apparatus may automatically transmit identification information unique to the object and sensor data through wireless communication in a process in which the user contacts or approaches the object.

Although a few example embodiments have been shown and described, the present disclosure is not limited to the described example embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these example embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

A wireless tag apparatus attachable to an object, comprising:

a tag body configured to be attached to an object, and transmit, through wireless communication, identification information of the object while a user contacts the object;

a case configured to protect the tag body; and

a sensor extension extending from the tag body and exposed to an outside of the case to be attached to the object, and configured to expand a sensing range in which the tag body senses a contact with the object.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tag body comprises:

a sensor configured to sense a contact of the user with the object or an approach of the user to the object.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 2, wherein the tag body comprises:

a wireless communicator configured to wake up and transmit the identification information of the object when the contact or the approach is sensed through the sensor and the sensor extension.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 3, wherein the tag body is configured to sense the presence or absence of the contact with the object and a time of the contact through the sensor and the sensor extension, and transmit additional information associated with an estimated situation along with the identification information of the object through the wireless communicator.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tag body is configured to be attached or re-attached to the object through a double-sided tape or an adhesive.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 1, wherein the case is provided in a form that surrounds the tag body, and a portion or an entire portion thereof is formed with or coated with a conductive material such that the case is electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) of the tag body to expand the sensing range.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sensor extension is embodied as a flexible PCB (FPCB)-type conductor or a conductive fiber, wherein one end thereof is electrically connected to a PCB of the tag body through a connector to expand the sensing range of the sensor.
The wireless tag apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor extension is configured to be attached along a surface of the object, and embodied with different lengths, different areas, and different design forms according to a shape of the surface of the object onto which the sensor extension is to be attached.