RFID enabled corrugated structures

• US 6,667,092 B1
• Filed: 09/26/2002
• Issued: 12/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Paper Company
• Original Assignee: International Paper Company
• Inventors: Brollier, Brian W., Soehnlen, John Pius
• Primary Examiner(s): Loney, Donald J.
• Application Number:
  US10/256,940
• Time in Patent Office: 453 Days
• Field of Search: 428/182, 428/184, 428/34.2, 340/571, 340/572.1, 206/459.1, 206/807, 493/52, 156/205, 156/250, 156/510
• US Class Current: 428/182
• CPC Class Codes: B31F 1/2822 involving additional operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/02 characterised by the selection of materials, e.g. to avoid wear during transport through the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07745 Mounting details of integrated circuit chips
• 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: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 206/807 Tamper proof
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1016 Transverse corrugating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1052 with cutting, punching, tearing or severing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/12 Surface bonding means and/or assembly means with cutting, punching, piercing, severing or tearing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1303 Paper containing [e.g., paperboard, cardboard, fiberboard, etc.]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24694 Parallel corrugations

Abstract

A corrugated structure has a first and a second linerboard, with a corrugated medium sandwiched between the first and second linerboards. An RF processor is coupled between one of the linerboards and the corrugated medium. The processor may be positioned on an inlet or label, which may also include an antenna. A method of forming a corrugated structure having an embedded RFID processor includes providing a linerboard and a corrugated medium, positioning an RF processor between the linerboard and the corrugated medium, and affixing the linerboard and corrugated medium together with the RF processor positioned therebetween. An assembly line for forming a corrugated structure includes a supply of a first linerboard, a second linerboard, a corrugating material stock, and inlets that have an RF processor and antenna coupled to the inlets. The assembly line also includes a corrugator, a single facer, a double facer, an inlet applicator, and a cutter. The inlet applicator is for coupling the inlets to the corrugated medium.

Claims

1. A corrugated structure comprising:

a linerboard;

a corrugated medium coupled to the linerboard; and

an RF processor coupled between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

2. The corrugated structure of claim 1, wherein the linerboard comprises a first and a second linerboard, and the corrugated medium is coupled between the first and second linerboard.

3. The corrugated structure of claim 2, wherein an adhesive is positioned between the first and second linerboards and the corrugated medium.

4. The corrugated structure of claim 2, wherein the RF processor is positioned between the second linerboard and the corrugated medium.

5. The corrugated structure of claim 1, wherein the RF processor is positioned on a label having an adhesive coupled to a side thereof, with the adhesive side of the label applied to the linerboard.

6. The corrugated structure of claim 5, wherein the corrugated medium comprises a plurality of flutes and an adhesive is positioned at the tips of the flutes.

7. The corrugated structure of claim 1, wherein the RF processor is positioned on an inlet having an adhesive coupled to a side thereof, with the adhesive of the inlet applied to the linerboard.

8. The corrugated structure of claim 7, wherein an adhesive is coupled to both sides of the inlet, with one side of the inlet adhered to the corrugated medium and the other side of the inlet adhered to the linerboard.

9. The corrugated structure of claim 2, further comprising a second corrugated medium and a third linerboard, with the second corrugated medium coupled between the first and third linerboards.

10. The corrugated structure of claim 9, wherein the RF processor is positioned between the second linerboard and the corrugated medium.

11. The corrugated structure of claim 1, wherein the corrugated medium comprises a plurality of flutes and the RF processor is a computer chip, with the computer chip positioned between two of the plurality of flutes of the corrugated medium.

12. The corrugated structure of claim 1, further comprising an antenna, wherein the antenna is onboard the RF processor.

13. The corrugated structure of claim 1, wherein the RF processor is positioned on an inlet and is electrically coupled to an antenna.

14. The corrugated structure of claim 13, wherein the inlet is coupled to a substrate that is one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium.

15. The corrugated structure of claim 14, wherein an adhesive layer is coupled to the inlet and the adhesive layer adheres the inlet to the substrate.

16. The corrugated structure of claim 14, wherein the antenna is one of an inductive antenna or a capacitive antenna, and the antenna is positioned on the substrate.

17. The corrugated structure of claim 16, wherein the antenna is a conductive ink that is positioned on the substrate and electrically coupled to the processor on the inlet.

18. The corrugated structure of claim 14, wherein the antenna is one of an inductive antenna or a capacitive antenna, and the antenna is positioned on the inlet.

19. The corrugated structure of claim 16, wherein the antenna is a conductive material that is printed, stamped, laminated, or sprayed on the substrate.

20. The corrugated structure of claim 13, wherein the inlet is coupled to a label having an adhesive layer, and the label is coupled to one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium by the adhesive layer.

21. The corrugated structure of claim 20, wherein the adhesive layer of the label is positioned on both sides of the label for adhering the label to both the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

22. The corrugated structure of claim 1, further comprising a sensor electrically coupled to the RF processor and positioned between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

23. The corrugated structure of claim 22, wherein the sensor is an RF micro electromechanical system sensor.

24. The corrugated structure of claim 22, wherein the sensor is a temperature, pressure, or humidity sensor.

25. The corrugated structure of claim 1, further comprising at least one sheet of material fixed to the linerboard.

26. A method of forming a corrugated container with RFID components comprising;

providing the corrugated structure of claim 1;

cutting the corrugated structure into a blank;

scoring the corrugated structure to produce fold lines; and

assembling the blank into the shape of a container.

27. A method of forming a corrugated structure having an embedded RFID processor comprising:

providing a linerboard;

providing a corrugated medium;

positioning an RF processor between the linerboard and the corrugated medium; and

affixing the linerboard and the corrugated medium together with the RF processor positioned between the linerboard and the corrugated medium to form a corrugated structure.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising positioning the RF processor on an inlet having an adhesive applied to one side thereof and the positioning step includes applying the adhesive side of the inlet to one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising adhering the inlet to a label having an adhesive applied to one side thereof, and the positioning step includes applying the adhesive side of the label and the adhesive side of the inlet to one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the RF processor comprises a computer chip and the corrugated medium includes a plurality of flutes, and the positioning step includes positioning the RF chip between two of the plurality of flutes.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the linerboard comprises a first and a second linerboard, and the affixing step includes sandwiching the corrugated medium between the first and second linerboards.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the positioning step includes positioning the RF processor between the second linerboard and the corrugated medium.

33. The method of claim 27, further comprising applying an adhesive to one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium.

34. The method of claim 27, further comprising cutting the corrugated structure with a cutter into a plurality of blanks.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising registering the cutting step with the positioning step so that a single RF processor is coupled to each blank.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the registering step includes reading the RF processor using an RFID reader to sense the position of the processor, and further comprising coordinating the sensed position of the processor with the cutter to cut each corrugated blank.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the corrugated structure includes registration indicia which is readable by a registration device, and the registering step includes reading a position of the registration indicia, and correlating the reading of the registration indicia with the positioning of the RF processor and the cutting of the corrugated structure.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the processor has an onboard antenna and further comprising coupling the processor to an inlet and the positioning step includes positioning the inlet between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising coupling the inlet to a label, wherein the positioning step includes positioning the label between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

40. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

providing an inlet; and

attaching the RF processor to the inlet, wherein the positioning step comprises positioning the inlet with the RF processor between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

41. The method of claim 27, further comprising coupling an antenna to the RF processor.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the coupling step comprises positioning the antenna on one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium and electrically associating the RF processor with the antenna.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the coupling step comprises printing the antenna on one of the linerboard or the corrugated medium with a conductive ink and electrically associating the RF processor with the antenna.

44. The method of claim 42, further comprising positioning the processor on an inlet and positioning the inlet over the antenna.

45. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

coupling the processor and the antenna to an inlet and positioning the inlet between the linerboard and corrugated medium.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising coupling the inlet to a label, wherein the label is positioned between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

47. The method of claim 27, further comprising electrically coupling a sensor to the RF processor between the linerboard and the corrugated medium.

48. An assembly line for forming a corrugated structure comprising:

a supply of a first linerboard;

a supply of a second linerboard;

a supply of a corrugating material stock;

a supply of inlets comprising an RF processor and an antenna coupled to the processor;

a corrugator for corrugating the corrugating material stock into a corrugated medium;

a single facer for joining the first linerboard to the corrugated medium;

a double facer for joining the second linerboard to the corrugated medium on a side of the corrugated medium opposite the first linerboard to form a corrugated structure, said double facer positioned downstream from the single facer;

an inlet applicator for coupling the supply of inlets to one of the first linerboard or the second linerboard, said inlet applicator positioned upstream of the double facer; and

a cutter for cutting the corrugated structure into blanks.

49. The assembly line of claim 48, further comprising a registration mechanism for registering the cutter and inlet applicator so that a single RF inlet is positioned on each blank.

50. The assembly line of claim 48, further comprising a preheater positioned downstream from the double facer for heating the second linerboard;

an adhesive applicator positioned adjacent the single facer for adhering the first linerboard to the corrugated medium;

an adhesive applicator positioned adjacent the double facer for adhering the second linerboard to the corrugated medium; and

a drying device for drying the corrugated structure.

51. The assembly line of claim 50, wherein the inlet applicator is positioned downstream from the preheater, but upstream of the double facer.

52. The assembly line of claim 48, wherein the inlet applicator is positioned upstream of the corrugator and further comprising a registration mechanism for registering the inlet applicator to apply inlets so that the processor is positioned between the flutes of the corrugated medium.

53. The assembly line of claim 48, wherein the supply of inlets comprise a roll of inlets having a pressure sensitive adhesive, and the inlet applicator applies the inlets to the first linerboard, with the pressure sensitive adhesive adhering the inlet to the first linerboard.

54. The assembly line of claim 53, further comprising a preheater positioned downstream from the double facer for heating the second linerboard;

an adhesive applicator positioned adjacent the single facer for applying adhesive to the corrugated medium for adhering the first linerboard to the corrugated medium; and

a drying device for drying the corrugated structure.

55. The assembly line of claim 54, wherein the inlet applicator is positioned upstream of the preheater.

57. The assembly line of claim 54, wherein the antenna is a capacitive antenna that comprises two conductive areas on the second liner board, with a gap positioned between the two conductive areas, and the inlet applicator positions the supply of inlets such that the RF processor of each inlet is positioned at least partially within the gap.

56. An assembly line for forming a corrugated structure comprising:

a supply of a first linerboard;

a supply of a second linerboard having positioned thereon an antenna in a regular pattern;

a supply of a corrugating material stock;

a supply of inlets comprising an RF processor;

a corrugator for corrugating the corrugating material stock into a corrugated medium, said corrugator positioned downstream from the supply of corrugating material stock;

a single facer for joining the first linerboard to the corrugated medium;

a double facer for joining the second linerboard to the corrugated medium on a side of the corrugated medium opposite the first linerboard to form a corrugated structure;

an inlet applicator for positioning the inlet on the second linerboard in electrical communication with the antenna, said inlet applicator positioned upstream of the double facer; and

a cutter for cutting the corrugated structure into blanks.

58. The assembly line of claim 56, wherein the antenna is an inductive loop that comprises two poles, and the inlet applicator positions the supply of inlets such that the RF processor on each inlet is in electrical communication with the poles of the inductive loop.