Inductive Coupling in Documents

• US 20080169905A1
• Filed: 09/27/2005
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Slatter, David Neil
• Granted Patent: US 7,855,646 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07756 the connection being non-galvanic, e.g. capacitive

Abstract

5 A document comprises a substrate. The substrate comprises a coupling circuit having conductive tracks printed on the substrate. The coupling circuit comprises a first coupling part (40) for coupling to a memory tag (14) and of a size to receive a memory tag within the first coupling part, a second coupling (41) part for coupling to a reader, the first coupling part being smaller than the second coupling part, and a connecting part (42) to connect the first coupling part and the second coupling part.

Claims

1. A document comprising a substrate,

the substrate comprising a coupling circuit having conductive tracks printed on the substrate,

the coupling circuit comprising

a first coupling part for coupling to a memory tag and of a size to receive a memory tag within the first coupling part,

a second coupling part for coupling to a reader, the first coupling part being smaller than the second coupling part, and

a connecting part to connect the first coupling part and the second coupling part.

2. A document according to claim 1 wherein the first coupling part is substantially circular.

3. A document according to claim 2 wherein the first coupling part has a diameter of about 2 mm.

4. A document according to claim 1 wherein the second coupling part is substantially circular.

5. A document according to claim 4 wherein the second coupling part has a diameter in the range 5 mm to 15 mm and preferably about 10 mm.

6. A document according to claim 1 wherein the coupling comprises an electrical connection between the first coupling part and the second coupling part.

7. A document according to claim 6 wherein the connecting part comprises a first line and a second line, the first line connecting a first end of the first coupling part to a first end of the second coupling part and the second line connecting a second end of the first coupling part to a second end of the second coupling part, the connecting part having a crossover wherein the first line crosses the second line.

8. A document according to claim 1 wherein the coupling comprises a first coupling loop connected to the first coupling part and a second coupling loop connected to the second coupling part, and wherein the first coupling loop and second coupling loop are inductively coupled.

9. A document according to claim 8 wherein the first coupling part and the first coupling loop are printed on one side of the substrate and wherein the second coupling part and second coupling loop are printed on the other side of the substrate.

10. A document according to claim 1 wherein the first coupling part is laterally spaced from the second coupling part.

11. A document according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of coupling circuits, wherein the first coupling parts of each coupling circuit overlie one another and wherein where the second coupling parts of each coupling circuit are spaced from one another.

12. A document according to claim 11 wherein one of said plurality of coupling circuits is provided on one side of the substrate and another of plurality of coupling circuits is provided on the other side of the substrate.

13. A document according to claim 1 comprising a memory tag located within the first coupling part.

14. A document comprising a substrate,

the substrate comprising a coupling circuit having conductive tracks printed on the substrate,

the coupling circuit comprising

a first coupling part for coupling to a memory tag,

a second coupling part for coupling to a reader, the first coupling part being smaller than the second coupling part, and

a connecting part to connect the first coupling part and the second coupling part,

the document further comprising a memory tag located within the first coupling part.

15. A document comprising a substrate and a memory tag provided on the substrate, the document further comprising coupling means printed on the substrate to provide inductive coupling between a first coupling part of the coupling means and the memory tag and between a second coupling part of the coupling means and a read/write device, wherein the first coupling part is smaller than the second coupling part and the memory tag is located within the first coupling part.

16. A method of providing a document comprising providing a substrate and printing conductive tracks thereon to form a coupling circuit,

the coupling circuit comprising

a first coupling part for coupling to a memory tag,

a second coupling part for coupling to a reader, the first part being smaller than the second part, and

a connecting part to connect the first coupling part and the second coupling part

comprising the further step of attaching a memory tag to the substrate within the first circuit part.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the step of providing the connecting part comprises

printing a first line to connect a first end of the first coupling part to a first end of the second coupling part,

providing a non-conducting layer over the first line,

printing a second line to connect a second end of the first coupling part to a second end of the second coupling part,

wherein the second line is printed over the non-conducting layer to provide a crossover wherein the first line crosses the second line.

18. A method according to claim 17 comprising printing a first coupling part and a first coupling loop connected to the first coupling part on one side of the substrate and printing a second coupling part and a second coupling loop connected to the second coupling part on the other side of the substrate.