Attachment of RFID modules to antennas

• US 7,242,996 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2003
• Issued: 07/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitac Information Technology Corporation (MiTAC Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: ID Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: Roesner, Bruce B.
• Primary Examiner(s): CABRERA, ZOILA E
• Application Number:
  US10/692,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20040215350A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• Field of Search: 700/117, 700108-110, 156/264, 156/299, 156/555, 156/302, 156/556, 340/572.8, 340/572.1
• US Class Current: 700/117
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07718 the record carrier being manufactured in a continuous process, e.g. using endless rolls
• 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 19/0775 arrangements for connecting the integrated circuit to the antenna
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07786 the antenna being of the HF type, such as a dipole
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/563 Encapsulation of active face of flip-chip device, e.g. underfilling or underencapsulation of flip-chip, encapsulation preform on chip or mounting substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67144 Apparatus for mounting on conductive members, e.g. leadframes or conductors on insulating substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2221/68322 Auxiliary support including means facilitating the selective separation of some of a plurality of devices from the auxiliary support
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2221/68354 used to support diced chips prior to mounting
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/16 of an individual bump connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73203 Bump and layer connectors
• 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 2924/01004 Beryllium [Be]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01033 Arsenic [As]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01039 Yttrium [Y]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01076 Osmium [Os]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01082 Lead [Pb]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01322 Eutectic Alloys, i.e. obtained by a liquid transforming into two solid phases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/12042 LASER
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/14 Integrated circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1433 Application-specific integrated circuit [ASIC]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/30105 : Capacitance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1075 : of plural laminae from single stock and assembling to each other or to additional lamina
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1092 : All laminae planar and face to face

Abstract

Systems and techniques to assemble RFID tag can be employed in a manufacturing endeavor. An RFID tag assembling system includes an RFID module conveyor that moves a first substrate having multiple RFID modules, an RFID antenna conveyor that moves a second substrate having multiple RFID antennas with respect to and into alignment with the first substrate, and a joiner in proximity to the first substrate to separate the RFID modules from the first substrate and attach the RFID modules to the RFID antennas on the second substrate. The substrates can be reel-form substrates, and RFID tags can be formed in parallel. The system can also include an RFID module tester, and the RFID modules can be tested in parallel.

Claims

1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag assembling system comprising:

an RFID module conveyor that moves a first substrate having multiple RFID modules;

an RFID module tester in proximity to the RFID modules;

an RFID antenna conveyor that moves a second substrate having multiple RFID antennas;

a joiner in proximity to the first and second substrates; and

a control system coupled with the conveyors and the tester and comprising a machine-readable medium embodying information indicative of instructions that when performed by the control system results in operations comprising

moving the first substrate with respect to the tester,

identifying good RFID modules using the tester,

aligning the good RFID modules with the RFID antennas, and

forming RFID tags from the good RFID modules and the RFID antennas.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the joiner further comprises an adhesive applier.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the joiner comprises a vacuum head, a sheering tool, and a placement arm.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the RFID module tester comprises multiple heads to test multiple RFID modules per test operation.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive applier in proximity to the RFID modules.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the joiner comprises a cutter in proximity to the first substrate, aligning the good RFID modules comprises aligning the good RFID modules and the RFID antennas with respect to the cutter, and forming the RFID tags comprises separating the good RFID modules from the first substrate using the cutter.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first substrate comprises a reel-form substrate.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the RFID antenna conveyor comprises multiple redirecting members that feed the second substrate into a curved path allowing two or more of the RFID modules to be aligned with two or more of the RFID antennas per alignment operation.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein aligning the good RFID modules with the RFID antennas comprises aligning a skipped RFID antenna with a next available good RFID module following a passed-over bad RFID module.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein aligning and forming is performed in batches, and the next available good RFID module is selected from a next batch following a batch having the bad RFID module.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein aligning the good RFID modules with the RFID antennas comprises aligning a next available good RFID module with an RFID antenna when a bad RFID module is passed over.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the reel-form substrate has two or more RFID modules side-by-side.

13. A method comprising:

obtaining information identifying which RFID modules on a first reel-form substrate are functional;

selecting RFID module to RFID antenna assignments based on a pattern of bad RFID modules identified in the information;

aligning the identified RFID modules with RFID antennas on a second reel-form substrate; and

forming RFID tags on the second reel-form substrate from the identified RFID modules of the first reel-form substrate and the RFID antennas;

wherein aligning and forming comprises aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second reel-form substrates have RFID modules and RFID antennas side-by-side.

15. A method comprising:

obtaining information identifying which RFID modules on a first reel-form substrate are functional;

aligning the identified RFID modules with RFID antennas on a second reel-form substrate; and

forming RFID tags on the second reel-form substrate from the identified RFID modules of the first reel-form substrate and the RFID antennas;

wherein aligning and forming comprises aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel;

wherein aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel comprises differentially aligning and forming the RFID tags in response to identified bad modules.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein obtaining the information identifying functional RFID modules comprises testing the RFID modules on the first reel-form substrate to identify the RFID modules that are fully functional for a predetermined application.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising programming the RFID modules for the predetermined application.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein testing the RFID modules comprises testing the RFID modules in parallel.

19. A machine-readable medium embodying information indicative of instructions that when performed by one or more machines result in operations comprising:

obtaining information identifying which RFID modules on a first reel-form substrate are functional;

selecting RFID module to RFID antenna assignments based on a pattern of bad RFID modules identified in the information;

aligning the identified RFID modules with RFID antennas on a second reel-form substrate; and

forming RFID tags on the second reel-form substrate from the identified RFID modules of the first reel-form substrate and the RFID antennas;

wherein aligning and forming comprises aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first and second reel-form substrates have RFID modules and RFID antennas side-by-side.

21. A machine-readable medium embodying information indicative of instructions that when performed by one or more machines result in operations comprising:

obtaining information identifying which RFID modules on a first reel-form substrate are functional;

aligning the identified RFID modules with RFID antennas on a second reel-form substrate; and

forming RFID tags on the second reel-form substrate from the identified RFID modules of the first reel-form substrate and the RFID antennas;

wherein aligning and forming comprises aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel;

wherein aligning and forming the RFID tags in parallel comprises differentially aligning and forming the RFID tags in response to identified bad modules.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein obtaining the information identifying functional RFID modules comprises testing the RFID modules on the first reel-form substrate to identify the RFID modules that are fully functional for a predetermined application.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the operations further comprise programming the RFID modules for the predetermined application.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein testing the RFID modules comprises testing the RFID modules in parallel.