Patent ID: 7546671

Claim:
Method of forming an inlay substrate comprising a substrate, a site on a surface of the substrate for a transponder chip and an antenna wire having two end portions, the method comprising: mounting a portion of the antenna wire, other than the end portions thereof, to the surface of the substrate; and leaving the end portions of the antenna wire un-mounted, as free-standing loops adjacent the site on the substrate; wherein mounting the antenna wire to a surface of the substrate comprises: providing an embedding tool, and with the embedding tool performing the following steps: at a starting point on the surface of the substrate, commencing mounting the antenna by lowering an embedding tool down onto the surface of the substrate to urge the wire into the substrate; moving the embedding tool in x and y directions respectively parallel to the surface of the substrate a short distance sufficient to ensure embedding, to a second point, and then stopping embedding and raising up the embedding tool; forming a first free-standing loop in the wire, between the second point and a third point which is adjacent the site on the inlay substrate; lowering the embedding tool and resuming embedding from the third point to a fourth point along a prescribed path, parallel to the surface of the substrate, to form a desired pattern for the antenna; at the fourth point, stopping embedding and raising up the embedding tool; forming a second free-standing loop in the wire, between the fourth point and a point which is adjacent the site on the substrate; and lowering the embedding tool and moving the embedding tool in the x and y directions parallel to the surface of the substrate a short distance sufficient to ensure embedding, to a sixth point, and then stopping embedding and raising up the embedding tool.