Antenna configuration and use thereof

• US 8,098,208 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2007
• Issued: 01/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG (Leonhard KURZ Stiftung & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG (Leonhard KURZ Stiftung & Company KG)
• Inventors: Ficker, Jurgen, Wild, Heinrich, Clemens, Wolfgang, Lehnberger, Walter, Lorenz, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): Wimer, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US12/302,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20090231203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,697 Days
• Field of Search: 343/702, 343/741, 343/742, 343/866, 343/867, 343/895, 343/795, 343/841, 340/572.7, 340/572.8
• US Class Current: 343/841
• 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 19/07779 the inductive antenna being a coil
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07783 the coil being planar
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2225 used in active tags, i.e. provided with its own power source or in passive tags, i.e. deriving power from RF signal
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49018 with other electrical component

Abstract

The invention relates to an antenna configuration, comprising at least one electrically insulating carrier substrate and at least one electrically conductive layer applied on at least one side of the carrier substrate, the electrically conductive layer having a first area region and a second area region, and the first area region of the electrically conductive layer having the form of at least one antenna structure. The at least one antenna structure is present in a manner electrically insulated from the second area region of the electrically conductive layer, and the second area region of the electrically conductive layer is subdivided, at least in regions directly adjacent to the at least one antenna structure, into island regions that are at least electrically insulated from one another. The at least one antenna configuration is suitable for use for contactlessly coupled transponders, in particular for RFID Tags or Smart Tags.

Claims

1. An antenna configuration comprising:

at least one electrically insulating carrier substrate having opposing sides ; and

at least one electrically conductive layer on at least one of the sides of the carrier substrate, wherein the electrically conductive layer has a first area region and a second area region, the first area region of the electrically conductive layer comprising at least one antenna structure electrically insulated from the second area region of the electrically conductive layer by an insulation trench in the conductive layer, and wherein the second area region of the electrically conductive layer is subdivided, at least in regions directly adjacent to the at least one antenna structure, into island regions that are electrically insulated from one another, wherein the second region subdivisions are arranged to minimize antenna power impairment due to interference caused by reflection of electromagnetic material and/or disturbing eddy currents in the second region.

2. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein, as seen perpendicularly to the plane of the electrically conductive layer, each island region has a maximum dimension that is ≦

50% of a maximum dimension of the at least one antenna structure.

3. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 2, wherein as seen perpendicularly to the plane of the electrically conductive layer, each island region has a maximum dimension that is ≦

10% of the maximum dimension of the at least one antenna structure.

4. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein as seen perpendicularly to the plane of the electrically conductive layer, the electrically conductive layer is subdivided into island regions up to at least a distance A away from the at least one antenna structure as seen from each point of the at least one antenna structure, the distance A being at least 50% of the maximum dimension of the at least one antenna structure.

5. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the electrical insulation trench is between the at least one antenna structure and the second area region of the electrically conductive layer and comprises one of a severance of the electrically conductive layer or a reduced thickness of the electrically conductive layer.

6. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 including a further electrical insulation trench between the adjacent island regions, which, as seen perpendicularly to the at least one electrically conductive layer, has a width of less than 100 μ

m.

7. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 6, wherein the further electrical insulation trench comprises one of a severance of the electrically conductive layer or a reduced thickness of the electrically conductive layer.

8. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one electrically conductive layer is over all of the at least one side of the carrier substrate.

9. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one antenna structure comprises a spiral having at least one turn which encloses a first portion of the second area region.

10. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 9 wherein the at least one turn is enclosed by a further second area region portion subdivided into further island regions.

11. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one antenna structure comprises a dipole having one of a T-shape, L-shape, U-shape or combination thereof.

12. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the carrier substrate has a thickness within the range of 10 μ

m to 5 mm.

13. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the carrier substrate comprises a plastic film composed of one or more of PET, PP, PPS, PES, PEN, polyimide, and/or a paper or cardboard layer.

14. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the carrier substrate comprises at least two different layers.

15. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one electrically conductive layer has a thickness within the range of 10 nm to 100 μ

m.

16. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one electrically conductive layer is one of a metal, a metal alloy, a conductive paste, a conductive ink, a conductive organically based material, or a doped or undoped semiconducting material.

17. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one electrically conductive layer comprises at least two different electrically conductive layer portions.

18. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one island region of said island regions comprises one of an alphanumeric character, a symbol, a geometrical figure or a figurative representation.

19. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of said island regions form at least one of a lettering, a logo, a company emblem, an image or a graphical pattern.

20. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one electrically conductive layer comprises at least one second electrically conductive layer on a second side opposing the one side of the carrier substrate and wherein the at least one antenna structure is in one of the at least one first electrically conductive layer and/or the at least one second electrically conductive layer.

21. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 20 further including an electrically conductive connection contact for electrically interconnecting the at least one first electrically conductive layer and the at least one second electrically conductive layer, the latter otherwise being electrically insulated from the at least one first electrically conductive layer.

22. A method of employing the antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 comprising contactlessly coupling the at least one antenna structure of claim 1 to a plurality of radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags or RF antitheft protection tags.

23. A method of employing the antenna configuration as claimed in either of claims 9 and 10 comprising coupling the at least one antenna structure of either of claims 9 and 10 to an RFID circuit for forming an RFID tag operating at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.

24. A method of employing the antenna configuration as claimed in claim 11 by forming the antenna as part of an RFID tag operating in one of the ultrahigh-frequency ranges of 800 to 950 MHz or 2 to 2.5 GHz, or by capacitively coupling the at least one antenna structure of claim 11 to a circuit.

25. A method of employing the antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 by forming the at least one antenna structure into an RFID antenna and integrating the at least one antenna structure into a packaging.

26. A method of employing antenna structure as claimed in claim 1 including incorporating the at least one island region as a component of a circuit.

27. The method of employing the component of claim 26 including forming the component as at least a portion of a sensor, a battery, a photovoltaic cell, an electrical switch, or an electrode for an optical element.

28. The antenna configuration as claimed in claim 1 wherein the insulation trench, as seen perpendicularly to the at least one electrically conductive layer has a width of less than 100 μ

m.