RFID tag application and production technology
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What is RFID technology?
For many people, it is not unfamiliar to RFID. The full name of RFID is RadioFrequencyIdentification, and Chinese translation is radio frequency identification. It is a non-contact automatic identification technology that automatically identifies target objects and acquires relevant data through RF signals.
Its first application in history dates back to the Second World War (in the 1940s) when it was used to distinguish between opposing aircraft. By the end of the 1970s, the US government had used RFID technology in the Los Alamos Science Laboratory for civilian use and was first used commercially on livestock. In the 1980s, several companies in the United States and Europe began to produce RFID tags. And today. RFID technology has been widely used in various fields, typical applications include: logistics and supply management, manufacturing and assembly, air baggage handling, mail / express parcel processing, document tracking / library management, animal identification. Sports timing, access control / electronic tickets and automatic road tolls. The RFID industry has unlimited potential and its applications cover the fields of manufacturing, logistics, medical care, transportation, retail, and defense. Experts predict that the global RFID market will reach $300 billion in 2010.
The most basic RFID system consists of three parts:
1. Tag (Radio Card): It consists of a coupling component and a chip. The tag contains a built-in antenna for communication with the RF antenna. Each tag has a unique electronic code that is attached to the object to identify the target object.
2. Reader: A device that reads (and sometimes writes) tag information and can be designed to be handheld or fixed.
3. Antemm: Send RF signals on the tag and reader.
The basic working process of the RFID system is: the reader transmits a certain frequency of the radio frequency signal through the transmitting antenna, and generates an induced current when the radio frequency card enters the working area of the transmitting antenna, and the energy of the radio frequency card is activated; the radio frequency card passes the information such as its own code through the card. The built-in antenna is sent out: the carrier signal received from the RF card received by the system receiving antenna is transmitted to the reader via the antenna adjuster, and the reader demodulates and decodes the received signal, and then sends it to the background main system for processing. Correlation processing; the main system judges the legality of the card according to the logic operation, performs corresponding processing and control for different settings, and issues a command signal to control the action of the actuator. Some systems also connect to an external computer (host computer system) through the RS232 or RSR4855 interface of the reader for data exchange.
In general, the frequency transmitted by an RFID reader is called the operating frequency or carrier frequency of the RFID system. The RFID carrier frequency basically has three ranges: low frequency (30 to 300 kHz), high frequency (3 to 30 MHz), and ultra high frequency (30 to 3 GHz). Common operating frequencies are low frequency 125 kHz and 134.2 kHz, high frequency 13.56 MHz, ultra high frequency 433 MHz, 860 to 930 MHz, 2.45 GHz, and the like.
RFID application on labels
RFID tags are a typical combination of substrates and electronics, enabling communication between substrates and computers. The RFID tag refers to an electronic chip containing the product information and an associated antenna and power source on the substrate, receives a radio signal such as a microwave emitted from a dedicated reader through the antenna, and reflects the data information contained in the tag chip. Finally, it is sent to the host computer for processing. Thereby achieving product non-contact identification, search and management, breaking the limitations of traditional barcode recognition, can be widely used in supermarkets, logistics, warehousing and other applications. It is understood. At present, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retail giant, is pushing the application of RFID tags.
Relative to the barcode. RFID tags have the following advantages:
1. RFID can work in a variety of harsh environments. The adaptability of the environment: the target object is automatically identified by the RF signal. No need for visible light source: it is penetrating. Data can be read directly from external materials. Protect the outer packaging. Save time out of the box.
2. It can recognize objects moving at high speed. This brings great convenience to the identification work.
3. Multiple tags can be identified at the same time. The operation is quick and convenient, and is suitable for batch identification occasions.
4. The tags can store data ranging from 512 bytes to 4 megabytes depending on the type of merchant. And support for writing data. No need to recreate new labels.
5. Passive RFID tag energy comes from the electromagnetic wave signal received by the antenna. No power is required.
Due to the advantages of RFID tags. It has developed rapidly in foreign countries and has been widely used in many fields such as industrial automation, commercial automation, transportation control management. Such as traffic monitoring systems such as cars or trains. Highway automatic toll collection system, item management. Production automation line. Access control systems, financial transactions, warehousing management, livestock management, vehicle burglary, etc. Lufthansa is trying to replace the airline ticket with an RFID tag. Thus changing the traditional way of ticket purchase and sale. Today is today. New applications of radio frequency identification technology are still emerging.
Printing method of RFID tag
RFID has its great superiority. There is a tendency to replace barcodes, but an important factor hindering their application is cost. Foreign experts pointed out. The price of RFID tags now ranges from $0.15 to $10, which is not acceptable for most merchants and consumers. and so. Many companies are now working on reducing the cost of RFID. After many companies' experiments. Printed to make conductive antennas. Can reduce the cost of RFID tag production. This is a big innovation in RFID. At the same time, RFID tags also bring unlimited business opportunities to the printing industry.
First of all. The easiest way to make an RFID tag is to first place the integrated circuit chip. The antenna and power supply are made into a chip layer. Then do the bottom layer and the printing surface layer separately, and finally combine the three layers together. Obviously. This method of making RFiD tags is relatively easy to implement. However, the cost is also high and it is difficult to popularize it. In order to promote the application of RFID tags more widely, some new RFID tag printing technologies and equipment have been continuously developed.
Later. It has been found that conductive tags can be used to print RFID tags. Conductive ink is a printing ink that allows current to flow, using this conductive ink. Can print wires, circuit components or antennas on soft or hard substrates. The printed antenna receives the stream of radio information from the reader. And through effective experiments, it shows that at the frequencies of ultra high frequency (860MHZ ~ 950MHz) and microwave (2450MHz). An antenna printed with conductive ink has the same function as a conventional copper coil antenna; near the high frequency of 13.56 MHz. Additional processing steps such as raising the temperature or plating. The conductive ink antenna can be made to work as a copper coil antenna.
But. When printing with conductive ink. It is not only a problem of real restoration of images, but also requires a certain printing accuracy. That is to say, there must be a certain cross-sectional area. Printed wires and circuit components must meet the requirements of the circuit. If you use a very thin ink to print, though. But the area printed will be large. That is to say, the line is printed wide. However, the smart label itself is in a light, thin and small development trend. Can't print too wide. So the distance between the line and the line is required to be small. Each line must have a certain print thickness. At present, the thickness of printed antennas at home and abroad is 0.01~0.04mm. So if you want to print the antenna. At present, the most effective way is to use screen printing. And the printing thickness of the screen printing machine is required to be very uniform.
The process of printing an RFID tag by screen printing is substantially identical to other screen printing methods. Because the printed image area of RFID tags is often small. And must have good printing accuracy when printing. This adds a lot of difficulty to screen printing RFID tags. Therefore, the following should be noted when using screen printing RFID tags:
1. When choosing a wire mesh. The mesh uses a hexagonal hole shape. This is advantageous for the complete transfer of conductive ink. The use of solvent-based inks for conductive inks is better.
2. Create excellent ink drying conditions (such as: reduce the wind speed in the oven. Heating temperature is 140 ° C. Heating time is between 30 seconds and 120 seconds. Temperature or time is not suitable. The antenna substrate will be deformed beyond the standard ). Conducive to the precise shaping of the contour of the printed coil.
3. Maintain a clean printing environment. In the process of printing the antenna. No impurities are required to be added to the ink. Otherwise it will affect the conductive effect. The workshop environment requires no dust. Dust, etc. Otherwise, conductive dust will connect them between the two wires.
In the past. Conductive inks are only screen printed. Now we can extend the conductive ink to offset printing and flexographic printing. Gravure. This can greatly improve the efficiency of label production and effectively reduce production costs. In addition. There are reports that South Korea develops inkjet printing manufacturing processes to produce RFID products. Reduced by one tenth compared to the original manufacturing cost. Each identification tag is 1 to 5 yen ($0.000). It is believed that with the continuous improvement of production methods and the reduction of production costs, RFID will play an increasingly important role in people's daily lives.