Abstract:
An RFID tag is constructed by pasting a first component and second component together. The first component includes a tabular first base made of dielectric and a metal layer covering one of the front and back of the first base. The second component includes a sheet-like second base, a metal pattern provided on the second base and electrically connected to the metal layer of the first component to constitute a communication antenna, a circuit chip connected to the metal pattern which carries out a radio communication through the communication antenna, and an adhesive material layer which bonds the second base to the other of the front and back of the first base. The metal layer of the first component and the metal pattern of the second component are electrically connected by the conductive component.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an RFID tag set made up of two or more components for constructing an RFID (Radio_Frequency_IDentification) tag which exchanges information with an external device in a non-contact manner through a combination of the components, an RFID tag obtained by the RFID tag set and RFID tag components built in the RFID tag set. Note that among those skilled in the technical field of the present application, the “RFID tag” used in the present specification is regarded as an inner component (inlay) for the “RFID tag,” and so it may be referred to as an “inlay for radio IC tag.” Or this “RFID tag” may be referred to as a “radio IC tag. ” Furthermore, this “RFID tag” also includes a non-contact type IC card.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Various types of RFID tags that exchange information with an external device represented by a reader/writer by radio in a non-contact manner are proposed in recent years. As a kind of this RFID tag, there is a proposal of an RFID tag having such a structure that a radio frequency communication antenna pattern and IC chip are mounted on a base sheet made of plastics or paper and such a type of RFID tag is designed to be used in a mode in which the RFID tag is pasted to an article and information on the article is exchanged with an external device to thereby identify the article.  
         [0005]     Articles to which RFID tags are pasted may include metallic articles such as steel products and when RFID tags are pasted to such metallic articles, radio waves for communication of the RFID tags may be blocked by the metallic articles, causing the communication distance to be reduced. For this reason, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-298106 proposes an RFID tag including an antenna pattern provided on a tabular substrate and a metal film provided on the back of the substrate and the RFID tag having such a structure can produce an effect of extending the communication distance.  
         [0006]     However, this RFID tag described in this Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-298106 requires a tabular substrate having a thickness of λ/12 or more to produce the required effect and in the case of, for example, a UHF band (950 Hz band), λ≦30 cm, and the thickness of the substrate becomes approximately 2.5 cm or more. This causes the RFID tag to become too thick, making it difficult to use the RFID tag as a tag to be pasted to an article.  
         [0007]     Furthermore, in the above described mode of use, descriptions such as the name and code of the article are supposed to be printed on the surface of the RFID tag and there is also a proposal of a printer, etc., for printing such descriptions, but the RFID tag having the substrate described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-298106 also has a problem that the presence of such a substrate makes difficult printing using a conventionally proposed printer.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and provides an RFID tag set capable of creating an RFID tag having a long communication distance and with ease of printing, such an RFID tag and RFID tag components to create such an RFID tag.  
         [0009]     The present invention provides an RFID tag set made up of a plurality of components to be combined to constitute an RFID tag, including  
         [0010]     a first component having a tabular first base made of dielectric and a metal layer extending over one side of the first base,  
         [0011]     a second component having a sheet-like second base, a metal pattern provided on the second base and electrically connected to the metal layer of the first component to constitute a loop antenna, a circuit chip connected to the metal pattern which carries out a radio communication through the loop antenna, and an adhesive material layer for bonding the second base to the other side with respect to the one side of the first base and  
         [0012]     a conductive component for electrically connecting the metal layer of the first component to the metal pattern of the second component.  
         [0013]     According to the RFID tag set of the present invention, it is possible to easily constitute an RFID tag by bonding the first component and second component using the adhesive material layer and connecting the metal layer of the first component and metal pattern of the second component using the conductive component. The RFID tag has a communication antenna made up of the metal layer of the first component and the metal pattern of the second component connected together, and therefore it is possible to obtain a long communication distance though this RFID tag is pasted to a metallic article and adopt a sufficiently thin base as the first base and second base. Furthermore, it is possible to easily construct an RFID tag with an article name, etc., printed by printing the second component using a conventional printer, etc., and then combining it with the first component, etc.  
         [0014]     In the RFID tag set according to the present invention, it is preferable to adopt a mode in which  
         [0015]     “the adhesive material layer is bonded to the second base by covering the metal pattern,  
         [0016]     the metal layer has an end which extends to the other side of the first base and  
         [0017]     the conductive component is a conductive adhesive material constituting part of the adhesive material layer and bonded to the metal pattern of the second component, which bonds the metal pattern to the end of the first base.” 
         [0018]     According to the RFID tag set in this preferred mode, the metal layer of the first component and the metal pattern of the second component are connected through bonding between the first component and the second component to constitute an RFID tag, and therefore it is possible to easily create an RFID tag.  
         [0019]     Furthermore, in the RFID tag set according to the present invention, it is also possible to adopt a mode in which  
         [0020]     “the second component includes the metal pattern on one side of the second base and the adhesive material layer on the other side with respect to the one side and  
         [0021]     the conductive component is a conductive adhesive tape which electrically connects the metal layer of the first component and metal pattern of the second component by being pasted to the first component and the second component extending over both components” or  
         [0022]     “the second component includes the metal pattern on one side of the second base and the adhesive material layer on the other side with respect to the one side,  
         [0023]     the metal layer includes ear sections which stick out of the first base and  
         [0024]     the conductive component is a conductive adhesive material bonded to the ear sections and pasted to the metal pattern with the ear sections folded onto the second component bonded to the first component by the adhesive material layer,” or  
         [0025]     “the second component includes the metal pattern on one side of the second base and the adhesive material layer on the other side with respect to the one side and  
         [0026]     the conductive component is a metal clip which electrically connects the metal layer of the first component and the metal pattern of the second component by wrapping around the second component on the first component side.” 
         [0027]     According to the RFID tag set in these modes, it is possible to easily create an RFID tag using a procedure consisting of two stages; first, bonding of the first component and the second component, and second, electrical connection using a conductive adhesive tape, ear section and metal clip.  
         [0028]     The RFID tag according to the present invention is provided with  
         [0029]     a first component having a tabular first base made of dielectric and a metal layer extending over one side of the first base,  
         [0030]     a second component having a sheet-like second base, a metal pattern provided on the second base and electrically connected to the metal layer of the first component to constitute a loop antenna, a circuit chip connected to the metal pattern which carries out a radio communication through the loop antenna, and an adhesive material layer which bonds the second base to the other side with respect to the one side of the first base and  
         [0031]     a conductive component which electrically connects the metal layer of the first component and the metal pattern of the second component.  
         [0032]     Furthermore, the RFID tag component according to the present invention is an RFID tag component bonded to a first component including a tabular first base made of dielectric and a metal layer extending over one side of the first base to constitute an RFID tag, provided with  
         [0033]     a sheet-like second base,  
         [0034]     a metal pattern provided on the second base and electrically connected to the metal layer of the first component to constitute a loop antenna,  
         [0035]     a circuit chip connected to the metal pattern which carries out a radio communication through the loop antenna and  
         [0036]     an adhesive material layer which bonds the second base to the other side with respect to the one side of the first base.  
         [0037]     Here, only basic modes of the RFID tag and RFID tag component according to the present invention have been mentioned, but this is only to avoid overlapping explanations and the RFID tag and RFID tag component according to the present invention include not only the basic modes but also various modes corresponding to the modes of the aforementioned RFID tag set.  
         [0038]     As explained above, the present invention makes it possible to create an RFID tag having a long communication distance and with ease of printing. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0039]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the basic structure of a first embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention;  
         [0040]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detailed structure of the first embodiment of the RFID tag set according to the present invention;  
         [0041]      FIG. 3  illustrates a first embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention;  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  illustrates a second embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention;  
         [0043]      FIG. 5  illustrates a second embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention;  
         [0044]      FIG. 6  illustrates a third embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention;  
         [0045]      FIG. 7  illustrates a third embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention;  
         [0046]      FIG. 8  illustrates a fourth embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention; and  
         [0047]      FIG. 9  illustrates a fourth embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0048]     With reference now to the attached drawings, embodiments according to the present invention will be explained below.  
         [0049]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the basic structure of a first embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention.  
         [0050]     This RFID tag set  10  is constructed of a first component  100  shown in part (B) of  FIG. 1  and a second component  200  shown in part (A) of  FIG. 1  and the first component  100  has a basic structure with a ground pattern  102  provided on a base board  101 . On the other hand, the second component  200  has a basic structure with an antenna pattern  202  and an IC chip  203  provided on a base sheet  201 . This RFID tag set  10  is a set intended to create an RFID tag which will be described later and the RFID tag is obtained by pasting the two components together in such a way that the first component  100  is located “below” and the second component  200  is located “above.” Hereinafter, the present specification will refer to the second component as the “upper” side and the first component as the “lower” side.  
         [0051]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detailed structure of the first embodiment of the RFID tag set according to the present invention and the horizontal direction of this figure corresponds to the horizontal direction in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0052]     The first component  100  shown in part (B) of the figure which makes up the RFID tag set  10  corresponds to an example of the first component in the present invention and is constructed of a base board  101  made of dielectric as thin as approximately 1 mm, a ground pattern  102  made of a Cu thin film covering the undersurface of the base board  101 , an end of which reaches the top surface side, a PET film  103  which covers the ground pattern  102  and an insulating adhesive material  104  applied to the undersurface of the PET film  103 . This first component  100  is pasted to a mount  105  through the adhesive material  104  in a detachable manner. Here, the base board  101  corresponds to an example of the first base in the present invention and the ground pattern  102  corresponds to an example of the metal layer in the present invention.  
         [0053]     On the other hand, the second component  200  making up the RFID tag set  10  shown in part (A) of this figure corresponds to an example of the second component in the present invention and also corresponds to an embodiment of the RFID tag component in the present invention and an antenna pattern  202  made of a Cu thin film is provided on the undersurface of the base sheet  201  made of a PET material and an IC chip  203  is mounted on the antenna pattern  202  and electrically connected thereto. The base sheet  201  corresponds to an example of the second base in the present invention, the antenna pattern  202  corresponds to an example of the metal pattern in the present invention and the IC chip  203  corresponds to an example of the circuit chip in the present invention.  
         [0054]     An insulating adhesive material  204  is applied to the undersurface of the base sheet  201  so as to cover the antenna pattern  202  and a conductive adhesive material  205  is applied to both ends of the antenna pattern  202 . These adhesive materials  204 ,  205  constitute examples of the adhesive material layer in the present invention and moreover the conductive adhesive material  205  also corresponds to an example of the conductive component in the present invention. The second component  200  is pasted to a mount  206  through the adhesive materials  204 ,  205  in a detachable manner. The mount  206  has a large area and many second components  200  are pasted to this mount  206 .  
         [0055]     Furthermore, the top surface of the base sheet  201  is covered with printing paper  207  and when the mount  206  with the second component  200  pasted thereto is loaded into a printer, various descriptions are printed on the printing paper  207 .  
         [0056]     After the printing paper  207  of the second component  200  is printed, the second component  200  is peeled off the mount  206  and pasted to the first component  100  to thereby obtain the first embodiment of the RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0057]      FIG. 3  illustrates a first embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0058]     As described above, the RFID tag  20  of this first embodiment is constructed of the RFID tag set  10  of the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  and the first component  100  and second component  200  are pasted together by the insulating adhesive material  204 . Furthermore, the conductive adhesive material  205  connects the antenna pattern  202  of the second component  200  and the ground pattern  102  of the first component  100 , and as a result a loop antenna is constituted. The IC chip  203  communicates with an external device through this loop antenna.  
         [0059]     This RFID tag  20  is peeled off the mount  105  and pasted to an article to function as a tag to identify the article. Furthermore, even if the article is a metallic article, a high gain can be obtained by the above loop antenna. Even when the base board  101  is as thin as approximately 1 mm, it is possible to obtain a sufficiently long communication distance.  
         [0060]     Another embodiment according to the present invention will be explained below.  
         [0061]      FIG. 4  illustrates a second embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention.  
         [0062]     The RFID tag set  11  shown in this  FIG. 4  is provided with a second component  210  shown in part (B) of the figure which is different from the second component of the first embodiment and a first component  100  shown in part (A) of the figure which is equivalent to the first component in the first embodiment. This second component  210  also corresponds to an example of the second component in the present invention and also corresponds to an embodiment of the RFID tag component according to the present invention.  
         [0063]     Furthermore, the RFID tag set  11  is also provided with a conductive adhesive tape which corresponds to an example of the conductive component in the present invention, but the illustration thereof is omitted in this  FIG. 4 . Furthermore, the basic structure of the respective components of this RFID tag set  11  is substantially the same as the basic structure shown in  FIG. 1  and the illustration of the basic structure will also be omitted.  
         [0064]     The overlapping explanations of the first component  100  will be omitted and the detailed structure of the second component  210  will be explained.  
         [0065]     This second component  210  is provided with an antenna pattern  212  made of a Cu thin film on the top surface of a base sheet  211  made of a PET material and an IC chip  213  is mounted on the antenna pattern  212  and electrically connected thereto. The base sheet  211  corresponds to an example of the second base in the present invention, the antenna pattern  212  corresponds to an example of the metal pattern in the present invention and the IC chip  213  corresponds to an example of the circuit chip in the present invention.  
         [0066]     An insulating adhesive material  214  is applied to the undersurface of the base sheet  211  to constitute an example of the adhesive material layer in the present invention. As in the case of the first embodiment, the second component  210  is pasted to a mount  215  through the adhesive material  214  in a detachable manner.  
         [0067]     Furthermore, the top surface of the base sheet  211  is covered with a PET film  216  which protects the antenna pattern  212  and IC chip  213 , but both ends of the antenna pattern  212  stick out of the PET film  216 . Moreover, the top surface of the PET film  216  is covered with printing paper  217  and various descriptions are printed on this printing paper  217  by a printer as in the case of the first embodiment.  
         [0068]     After printing is performed on the printing paper  217  of this second component  210 , the second component  210  is peeled off the mount  215  and pasted to the first component  100 . A conductive adhesive tape is pasted to the first component  100  and second component  210  and the second embodiment of the RFID tag according to the present invention is thus obtained.  
         [0069]      FIG. 5  illustrates a second embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0070]     The RFID tag  21  according to this second embodiment is constructed of the RFID tag set  11  according to the second embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  and the first component  100  and second component  210  are pasted together through the adhesive material  214  and a conductive adhesive tape  300  is pasted to the first component  100  and second component  210  extending to both components. The conductive adhesive tape  300  is a conductive adhesive material  302  applied to a band-shaped tape base  301  and this conductive adhesive tape  300  connects the antenna pattern  212  of the second component  210  and the ground pattern  102  of the first component  100 , and as a result a high gain loop antenna is constituted as in the case of the first embodiment.  
         [0071]      FIG. 6  illustrates a third embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention.  
         [0072]     The RFID tag set  12  shown in this  FIG. 6  is provided with a first component  110  shown in part (B) of the figure which is different from the first component according to the first embodiment and second embodiment and a second component  210  shown in part (A) of the figure which is equivalent to the second component of the second embodiment. This first component  110  also corresponds to an example of the first component in the present invention. Furthermore, the basic structure in each component of this RFID tag set  12  is also substantially the same as the basic structure shown in FIG.  1  and the illustrations of the basic structure will be omitted.  
         [0073]     Overlapping explanations of the second component  210  will be omitted and the detailed structure of the first component  110  will be explained.  
         [0074]     This first component  110  is provided with a base board  111  made of dielectric as thin as approximately  1  mm, a ground pattern  112  made of a Cu thin film which covers the undersurface of the base board  111 , a PET film  113  which covers the undersurface of the ground pattern  112  to reinforce the ground pattern  112 , and an insulating adhesive material  114  applied to the undersurface of the PET film  113 , and this first component  110  is also pasted to a mount  115  through the adhesive material  114  in a detachable manner. Here, the base board  111  corresponds to an example of the first base in the present invention and the ground pattern  112  corresponds to an example of the metal layer in the present invention.  
         [0075]     The ground pattern  112  of this first component  110  includes ear sections  112 a which stick out of the base board  111  and conductive adhesive materials  116  are applied to the top surface of these ear sections  112 a. This conductive adhesive material  116  corresponds to an example of the conductive component in the present invention.  
         [0076]     The second component  210  is pasted to this first component  110  and then the ear sections  112 a are folded so as to wrap around the second component  210  to thereby obtain a third embodiment of the RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0077]      FIG. 7  illustrates a third embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0078]     The RFID tag  22  according to this third embodiment is constructed of the RFID tag set  12  according to the third embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  and the first component  110  and second component  210  are pasted together by an adhesive material  214 . Furthermore, the antenna pattern  212  of the second component  210  and the ground pattern  112  of the first component  110  are connected through a conductive adhesive material  116 , and as a result a high gain loop antenna is constituted as in the case of the first embodiment.  
         [0079]      FIG. 8  illustrates a fourth embodiment of an RFID tag set according to the present invention.  
         [0080]     The RFID tag set  13  shown in this  FIG. 8  is provided with a first component  120  shown in part (B) of the figure which is different from the first component of the first embodiment to third embodiment and a second component  210  shown in part (A) of the figure which is equivalent to the second component of the second embodiment. This first component  120  also corresponds to an example of the first component in the present invention. Furthermore, the basic structure of each component of this RFID tag set  13  is also substantially the same as basic structure shown in  FIG. 1  and the illustrations of the basic structure will be omitted.  
         [0081]     Overlapping explanations of the second component  210  will be omitted and the detailed structure of the first component  120  will be explained below.  
         [0082]     This first component  120  is provided with a base board  121  made of dielectric as thin as approximately  1  mm, a ground pattern  122  made of a Cu thin film which covers the undersurface of the base board  121  and an insulating adhesive material  124  applied to the undersurface of the ground pattern  122 , and this first component  120  is also pasted to a mount  125  through the adhesive material  124  in a detachable manner. Here, the base board  121  corresponds to an example of the first base in the present invention and the ground pattern  122  corresponds to an example of the metal layer in the present invention.  
         [0083]     The ground pattern  122  of this first component  120  is connected to a metal clip  123  and this metal clip  123  corresponds to an-example of the conductive component in the present invention.  
         [0084]     The second component  210  is pasted to this first component  120  and then the metal clip  123  is folded so as to wrap around the second component  210  and the fourth embodiment of the RFID tag according to the present invention is thus obtained.  
         [0085]      FIG. 9  illustrates a fourth embodiment of an RFID tag according to the present invention.  
         [0086]     The RFID tag  23  according to this fourth embodiment is constructed of the RFID tag set  13  of the fourth embodiment shown in  FIG. 8  and the first component  120  and second component  210  are pasted together through an adhesive material  214 . Furthermore, an antenna pattern  212  of the second component  210  and a ground pattern  122  of the first component  120  are connected through a metal clip  123 , and as a result a high gain loop antenna is constituted as in the case of the first embodiment.  
         [0087]     The above explanation shows the ground pattern covering the undersurface of the base board as an example of the metal layer in the present invention, but the metal layer in the present invention need not cover the entire surface of the first base and can be any pattern if it at least extends over a sufficiently wide area.