Resonant frequency tag and method for controlling tag frequency

• US 20040177492A1
• Filed: 03/13/2003
• Published: 09/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CHECKPOINT SYSTEMS, INC. (CCL Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: CHECKPOINT SYSTEMS, INC. (CCL Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Bonnin, Luis Francisco, Mazoki, Gary, Matsumoto, Takeshi, Appalucci, Lawrence, Eckstein, Eric, Lendering, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 6,925,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 29/602.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0726 the arrangement including a circuit for tuning the resonance frequency of an antenna on the record carrier
• 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: G08B 13/2414 using inductive tags
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2437 Tag layered structure, processes for making layered tags
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/40 Structural association with built-in electric component, e.g. fuse
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 41/041 Printed circuit coils apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits in general H05K3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 5/003 Printed circuit coils
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48091 Arched
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01079 Gold [Au]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/19041 being a capacitor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/30107 Inductance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/3011 Impedance
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/435 Solid dielectric type
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49004 including measuring or testing of device or component part
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49018 with other electrical component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4902 Electromagnet, transformer or inductor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49071 by winding or coiling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49073 : by assembling coil and core
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49117 : Conductor or circuit manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49128 : Assembling formed circuit to base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/4913 : Assembling to base an electrical component, e.g., capacitor, etc.
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49155 : Manufacturing circuit on or in base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49162 : by using wire as conductive path

Abstract

A method of making a resonant frequency tag which resonates at a predetermined frequency comprises the steps of forming a first conductive pattern comprising an inductive element and a first land, the first land having a first end connected to one end of the inductive element, and a second end spaced a predetermined distance from the first end; separately forming a second conductive pattern comprising a second land and a link element, the second land having a predetermined width; placing the second conductive pattern proximate to the first conductive pattern at a first predetermined location so that the second land overlies at least a portion of the first land with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element with a first predetermined capacitance which with the inductive element forms a resonant circuit; measuring the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit and comparing the measured frequency with the predetermined frequency; if the resonant frequency does not match the predetermined frequency within a selected tolerance, moving the second conductive pattern so that the second land moves along the length of the first land to thereby change the capacitance of the capacitive element; repeating the last two steps until a match occurs; and securing the second conductive pattern to the first conductive pattern.

Claims

1. A method of making a resonant frequency tag which resonates at a predetermined frequency, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming a first conductive pattern comprising an inductive element and a first land, the first land having a first end connected to one end of the inductive element, and a second end spaced a predetermined distance from the first end;

(b) separately forming a second conductive pattern comprising a second land and a link element, the second land having a predetermined width;

(c) placing the second conductive pattern proximate to the first conductive pattern at a first predetermined location so that the second land overlies at least a portion of the first land with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element with a first predetermined capacitance which with the inductive element forms a resonant circuit;

(d) measuring the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit and comparing the measured frequency with the predetermined frequency;

(e) if the resonant frequency does not match the predetermined frequency within a selected tolerance, moving the second conductive pattern so that the second land moves along the length of the first land to thereby change the capacitance of the capacitive element;

(f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until a match occurs; and

(g) securing the second conductive pattern to the first conductive pattern.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first land has a width which decreases when moving along the length from one end to the other end.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the second land is generally rectangular and has a length which exceeds the greatest width of the first land.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second conductive pattern is secured to the first conductive pattern by one of an adhesive and hot pressing.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the second conductive pattern is secured to the first conductive pattern by applying pressure, the amount of applied pressure being varied to control the resonant frequency of the tag.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second conductive pattern, once formed, is initially held on a carrier sheet.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second conductive pattern includes a dielectric layer which is placed between the second land and the first land prior to securing the second conductive pattern to the first conductive pattern.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the link element comprises a first section connected to the second land and a second section, the first and second sections of the link element being spaced apart by a gap of a predetermined minimum width and further comprising an integrated circuit including at least a first lead electrically connected to the first section of the link element and a second lead electrically connected to the second section of the link element.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the integrated circuit is secured to one of the first and second sections of the link element.

10. A method of making a series of resonant frequency tags which each resonate at substantially the same predetermined frequency, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming a series of first conductive patterns, the first conductive patterns all being substantially the same, each first conductive pattern comprising an inductive element and a first land, the first land having a first end connected to one end of the inductive element and a second end spaced a predetermined distance from the first end;

(b) separately forming a series of second conductive patterns, the second conductive patterns all being substantially the same and each second conductive pattern comprising a second land and a link element, the second land having a predetermined width;

(c) securing a second conductive pattern to a first conductive pattern of the series at a first predetermined location so that the second land overlies at least a portion of the first land with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element of a first tag of the series, the capacitive element having a first predetermined capacitance;

(d) measuring the resonant frequency of the tag and comparing the measured frequency with the predetermined frequency; and

(e) if the measured resonant frequency matches the predetermined frequency within a predetermined tolerance, securing a second conductive pattern to the subsequent first conductive pattern of the series at the first predetermined location so that the second land overlies at least a portion of the first land with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element of a subsequent tag, the capacitive element having the first predetermined capacitance and then repeating steps (d) and (e) for the remainder of the series and if the measured resonant frequency does not match the predetermined frequency within the predetermined tolerance, securing a second conductive pattern to a subsequent first conductive pattern of the series at a second predetermined location, different from the first predetermined location so that the second land overlies at least a portion of the first land with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element of a subsequent tag, the capacitive element having a second predetermined capacitance and then repeating steps (d) and (e) for the remainder of the series.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein each first land has a width which decreases when moving along the length from one end to the other end.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein each second land is generally rectangular and has a length which exceeds the greatest width of the first lands.

13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein each second conductive pattern is secured to the first conductive pattern by one of an adhesive and hot pressing.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein each second conductive pattern is secured to the corresponding first conductive pattern by applying pressure, the amount of pressure being varied to control the resonant frequency of each tag.

15. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the second conductive patterns, once formed, are initially held on a carrier sheet.

16. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein each second conductive pattern includes a dielectric layer which is placed between the second land and the first land prior to securing the second conductive pattern to the corresponding first conductive pattern.

17. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein each link element comprises a first section connected to the second land and a second section, the first and second sections of each link element being spaced apart by a gap of a predetermined minimum width and further comprising an integrated circuit including at least a first lead electrically connected to the first section of each link element and a second lead electrically connected to the second section of the link element.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein an integrated circuit is secured to one of the first and second sections of each link element.

19. A method of making a series of N resonant frequency tags, N being an integer greater than 1, with each of the N tags having a resonant frequency which differs from the resonant frequency of every other tag in the series by at least a predetermined minimum frequency range, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) forming N first conductive patterns, the first conductive patterns all being substantially the same and each first conductive pattern comprising an inductive element and a first land with a first end of the first land being connected to one end of the inductive element and a second end of the first land being spaced from the first end by a predetermined distance;

(b) separately forming N second conductive patterns, the second conductive patterns all being substantially the same and each second conductive pattern comprising a second land and a link element, the second land having a predetermined width; and

(c) sequentially securing a second conductive pattern to each of the first conductive patterns at a location so that the second land of each second conductive pattern overlies a portion of the first land of the corresponding first conductive pattern with a dielectric therebetween to establish the plates of a capacitive element for each resonant frequency tag, the location of each second conductive pattern relative to the first land of a corresponding first conductive pattern and thus the amount by which each second land overlies the first land being different for each resonant frequency tag of the series so that the capacitance of the capacitive element of each resonant frequency tag is different from the capacitance of the capacitive element of every other resonant frequency tag of the series by at least a minimum value to thereby cause each resonant frequency tag to resonate at a different frequency from every other resonant frequency tag of the series.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein each first land has a width which decreases when moving along the length from one end to the other end.

21. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein each second conductive pattern is secured to the corresponding first conductive pattern by one of an adhesive and hot pressing.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein each second conductive pattern is secured to the corresponding first conductive pattern by applying pressure, the amount of pressure being varied to control the resonant frequency of the tag.

23. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the second conductive pattern, once formed, is initially held on a carrier sheet.

24. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the second conductive pattern includes a dielectric layer which is placed between the second land and the first land prior to securing the second conductive pattern to the substrate.