U.S. patent application number 15/185392 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-23 for radio frequency identification device.
The applicant listed for this patent is WAYS TECHNICAL CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to SHIH-WEN LIAO.
Application Number | 20170337460 15/185392 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57197630 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170337460 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
LIAO; SHIH-WEN |
November 23, 2017 |
RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION DEVICE
Abstract
An RFID device includes: at least one solar cell including a
substrate, a first conductive layer, an electron supplying layer,
an electron receiving layer and a second conductive layer
sequentially stacked thereon; and a RFID tag coupled to the solar
cell through a telecommunication connection structure, and
including a first antenna, a second antenna and a RFID chip, and
the RFID chip includes a first RFID module, a second RFID module
and a radio frequency determination module. The first antenna and
the first RFID module are capable of passively receiving a driving
signal of an external device and returning tag data, and the radio
frequency determination module is capable of automatically
determining the external driving signal, and the second RFID module
and the second antenna actively transmit the tag data to the
external device according to the electric power supplied by the
solar CELL.
Inventors: |
LIAO; SHIH-WEN; (Taoyuan,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
WAYS TECHNICAL CO., LTD. |
Taoyuan |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
57197630 |
Appl. No.: |
15/185392 |
Filed: |
June 17, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06K 19/07749 20130101;
G06K 19/0704 20130101; G06K 19/07773 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06K 19/07 20060101
G06K019/07; G06K 19/077 20060101 G06K019/077 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 17, 2016 |
TW |
105207178 |
Claims
1. A radio frequency identification (RFID) device, comprising: at
least one solar cell, including: a substrate; a first conductive
layer, disposed on the substrate; an electron supplying layer,
disposed on the first conductive layer; an electron receiving
layer, disposed on the electron supplying layer; and a second
conductive layer, disposed on the electron receiving layer; and a
RFID tag, installed on the substrate, and coupled to the solar cell
through a telecommunication connection structure, and the RFID tag
including a first antenna, a second antenna and a RFID chip
including a first RFID module coupled to the first antenna, a
second RFID module coupled to the second antenna, a radio frequency
determination module coupled to the first RFID module and the
second RFID module, and the first antenna and the first RFID module
passively receiving a driving signal from an external device and
returning tag data, and the second RFID module and the second
antenna actively transmitting the tag data to the external device
according to electric power supplied by the solar cell when the
radio frequency determination module automatically determines an
external driving signal, and a switching unit installed between the
RFID chip and the first antenna and the second antenna, and
provided for manually switching between the first antenna and RFID
module or the second antenna and RFID module to transmit the tag
data.
2. (canceled)
3. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the solar cell
further comprises a mixed electron supplying/receiving layer
disposed between the electron supplying layer and the electron
receiving layer.
4. The RFID device according to claim 3, further comprising a
bonding layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the
substrate, and disposed between the RFID tag and the substrate.
5. The RFID device according to claim 4, further comprising a first
protective layer, disposed on the solar cell and the RFID tag.
6. The RFID device according to claim 5, further comprising a
second protective layer disposed on another side of the substrate
opposite to the bonding layer.
7. The RFID device according to claim 5, wherein the first
protective layer further has a notch formed at a position
corresponsive to the RFID tag.
8. The RFID device according to claim 6, further comprising an
encapsulation layer disposed between the bonding layer and the
first protective layer, or disposed between the first protective
layer and the second protective layer.
9. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a
hard or soft opaque substrate.
10. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is
a hard or soft transparent substrate.
11. The RFID device according to claim 10, wherein the substrate is
a translucent plastic substrate or translucent glass substrate.
12. The RFID device according to claim 11, wherein the translucent
plastic substrate is made of a material selected from the group
consisting of PET, PE, PMMA, PI, PA, PU and acrylic.
13. The RFID device according to claim 11, wherein the translucent
plastic substrate has a thickness from 10 um to 500 um.
14. The RFID device according to claim 4, wherein the bonding layer
is made of a material selected from the group consisting of
acrylic, epoxy resin, silicon dioxide and any combination
thereof.
15. The RFID device according to claim 4, wherein the bonding layer
has a thickness from 1 um to 5 um.
16. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the first
conductive layer is partially etched to selectively form a
conductive circuit.
17. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the first
conductive layer is partially etched to selectively form the
antenna.
18. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the first
conductive layer is made of an organic material, an inorganic
material, or a combination thereof.
19. The RFID device according to claim 18, wherein the organic
material is one selected from the group consisting of PEDOT, carbon
nanotube, and a combination thereof.
20. The RFID device according to claim 18, wherein the inorganic
material is a metal or a metallic oxide.
21. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the first
conductive layer has a transmittance from 70% to 95%.
22. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the first
conductive layer has a thickness from 100 nm to 10 um.
23. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the second
conductive layer and the telecommunication connection structure are
formed by screen printing a silver paste conductive coating.
24. The RFID device according to claim 1, wherein the second
conductive layer and the telecommunication connection structure has
a thickness from 1 um to 50 um.
25. The RFID device according to claim 6, wherein the first
protective layer and the second protective layer are made of a
transparent plastic or glass and has a thickness from 50 um to 500
um.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to radio frequency
identification (RFID) devices, more particularly to an RFID device
combined with a solar cell and provided for active and passive data
transmissions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In recent years, non-contact identification devices for
transmitting radio signals become increasingly popular, and these
devices generally come with a main body and an external read/write
device for exchanging information to achieve the effects of
information transmission and identification. Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) tag is a new radio transmission device used
extensively in many areas such as logistics management, merchandise
management, medical management, etc. Due to the non-contact
characteristic and the simple application, RFID systems have
gradually replace traditional contact identification systems such
as barcode scanning identification systems.
[0003] The so-called RFID tag generally includes a RFID chip and an
antenna coupled to the RFID chip. Radio signals are transmitted
from the RFID chip to an external read/write device through the
antenna for transmitting and receiving data to achieve the
identification effect.
[0004] The RFID tag is mainly divided into an active RFID tag and a
passive RFID tag. For the active RFID tag, electric power can be
supplied from an external power supply (such as a battery or a
cell) to the RFID tag; and for the passive RFID tag, electric power
of radio waves of the external read/write device is supplied to the
RFID tag directly.
[0005] Since the RFID tag is thin, its application is convenient.
The passive RFID tag is used mostly, but the passive RFID tag can
just be used for signal transmissions within a short distance for a
short time. If the distance of a read/write device is far from the
RFID tag, then the signal transmission will become very weak.
Therefore, the passive RFID tag always has the issue of
insufficient transmission distance. Although the active RFID tag
can be used as a device to substitute the passive RFID tag for
long-distance signal transmissions, most power supply devices of
the traditional active RFID tag are battery manufactured by old
manufacturing processes, and thus the active RFID tag not just
comes with a large volume only, but also consumes much power.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop a RFID device capable of
overcoming the transmission distance, volume, and power-saving
issues concurrently.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In view of the problems of the prior art, it is a primary
objective of this disclosure to provide an RFID device combined
with a solar cell and a RFID tag and provided for active and
passive data transmissions.
[0007] To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the
present invention provides an active RFID device, comprising: at
least one solar cell, including: a substrate; a first conductive
layer, disposed on substrate; an electron supplying layer, disposed
on the first conductive layer; an electron receiving layer,
disposed on the electron supplying layer; and a second conductive
layer, disposed on electron receiving layer; and a RFID tag,
installed on the substrate and coupled to the solar cell through a
telecommunication connection structure, and the RFID tag including
a first antenna, a second antenna and a RFID chip, and the RFID
chip including a first RFID module coupled to the first antenna, a
second RFID module coupled to the second antenna, and a radio
frequency determination module coupled to the first RFID module and
the second RFID module, and the first antenna and the first RFID
module passively receive a driving signal of an external device and
return tag data, and the radio frequency determination module
automatically determines the received external driving signal, and
the second RFID module and the second antenna actively transmit the
tag date to the external device according to the electric power
supplied by the solar cell.
[0008] Preferably, the RFID tag further comprises a switching unit
installed between the RFID chip and the first antenna and the
second antenna, and provided for manually switching the first
antenna or the second antenna to transmit the tag data.
[0009] Preferably, the solar cell further comprises a mixed
electron supplying/receiving layer disposed between the electron
supplying layer and the electron receiving layer.
[0010] Preferably, the RFID device further comprises a bonding
layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the
substrate, and disposed between the RFID tag and the substrate.
[0011] Preferably, the RFID device further comprises a first
protective layer disposed on the solar cell and the RFID tag.
[0012] Preferably, the RFID device further comprises a second
protective layer disposed on another side of the substrate opposite
to the bonding layer.
[0013] Preferably, the first protective layer further has a notch
formed at a position corresponsive to the RFID tag.
[0014] Preferably, the RFID device comprises an encapsulation layer
disposed between the bonding layer and the first protective layer,
or disposed between the first protective layer and the second
protective layer.
[0015] Preferably, the substrate is a hard or soft opaque
substrate.
[0016] Preferably, the substrate is a hard or soft transparent
substrate.
[0017] Preferably, the substrate is a translucent plastic substrate
or translucent glass substrate.
[0018] Preferably, the translucent plastic substrate is made of
PET, PE, PMMA, PI, PA, PU or acrylic.
[0019] Preferably, the translucent plastic substrate has a
thickness from 10 um to 500 um.
[0020] Preferably, the bonding layer is made of acrylic, epoxy
resin, silicon dioxide or any combination of the ABOVE.
[0021] Preferably, the bonding layer has a thickness from 1 um to 5
um.
[0022] Preferably, the first conductive layer is partially etched
to selectively form the conductive circuit.
[0023] Preferably, the first conductive layer is partially etched
to selectively form the antenna.
[0024] Preferably, the first conductive layer is made of an organic
material, an inorganic material or a combination of the two.
[0025] Preferably, the organic material is PEDOT, carbon nanotube,
or a combination of the two.
[0026] Preferably, the inorganic material is a metal or a metallic
oxide.
[0027] Preferably, the first conductive layer has a transmittance
from 70% to 95%.
[0028] Preferably, the first conductive layer has a thickness from
100 nm to 10 um.
[0029] Preferably, second conductive layer and telecommunication
connection structure is formed by screen printing a silver paste
conductive coating.
[0030] Preferably, the second conductive layer and the
telecommunication connection structure have a thickness from 1 um
to 50 um.
[0031] Preferably, the first protective layer and the second
protective layer are made of transparent plastic or glass and have
a thickness from 50 um to 500 um.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0032] FIG. 1 is a first schematic view of an RFID device in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 2 is a second schematic view of an RFID device in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 3 is a third schematic view of an RFID device in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0035] FIG. 4 is a fourth schematic view of an RFID device in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0036] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an RFID device in accordance
with a second embodiment of the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an RFID device in accordance
with a third embodiment of the present invention; and
[0038] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an RFID device in accordance
with a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0039] The technical contents of this disclosure will become
apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments
accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows.
It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein
are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
[0040] With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 for the first to fourth
schematic views of an RFID device in accordance with the first
embodiment of the present invention respectively, the RFID device
is integrated with an RFID tag and a solar cell, so that the RFID
tag is capable of actively transmitting signals through the
electric power of the solar cell to send tag data to an external
device, and the RFID tag further includes another set of antenna
and transmission module for passively receiving a driving signal of
the external device and further obtaining the electric power to
return the tag data. Therefore, the present invention has
considered and achieved the effects of covering the transmission
distance, reducing the volume, and saving power concurrently. The
RFID device comprises a solar cell 10, an RFID tag 20 and a
telecommunication connection structure 30, and the RFID tag 20 is
coupled to the solar cell 10 through the telecommunication
connection structure 30.
[0041] Specifically, the solar cell 10 comprises a substrate 11, a
first conductive layer 12, an electron supplying layer 13, an
electron receiving layer 14 and a second conductive layer 15 and
further comprises a mixed electron supplying/receiving layer 16.
The first conductive layer 12 is disposed on the substrate 11; the
electron supplying layer 13 is disposed on the first conductive
layer 12; the electron receiving layer 14 is disposed on the
electron supplying layer 13; the second conductive layer 15 is
disposed on the electron receiving layer 14, and the mixed electron
supplying/receiving layer 16 is disposed between the electron
supplying layer 13 and the electron receiving layer 14, wherein the
first conductive layer 12 is preferably disposed on the substrate
11 through a bonding layer 40. The RFID tag 20 is installed on the
substrate 11 and coupled to the first conductive layer 12 of the
solar cell 10 the through the telecommunication connection
structure 30, wherein the RFID tag 20 is preferably disposed on the
substrate 11 through the bonding layer 40. The RFID tag 20
comprises a first antenna 21, a second antenna 22 and a RFID chip
23, and the RFID chip 23 comprises a first RFID module 231 coupled
to the first antenna 21, a second RFID module 232 coupled to the
second antenna 22, and a radio frequency determination module 233
coupled between the first RFID module 231 and the second RFID
module 232, and the first antenna 21 and the first RFID module 231
are provided for passively receiving a driving signal of an
external device and returning tag data. The radio frequency
determination module 233 is capable of automatically determining
the external driving signal, and the second RFID module 232 and the
second antenna 22 actively transmit the tag data to the external
device according to the electric power supplied by the solar cell
10. In short, the RFID tag 20 has both ACTIVE and passive
functions, and when the passive function is performed, the power
consumption of the solar cell 10 can be reduced. In addition, the
RFID tag 20 further comprises a switching unit 24 installed between
the RFID chip 23 and the first antenna 21 and the second antenna 22
as shown in FIG. 4, and the switching unit 24 is provided for users
to manually switch to the first antenna 21 or the second antenna 22
in order to select the passive or active signal transmission
function to transmit the tag data.
[0042] Wherein, the first conductive layer 12 is partially etched
to selectively form the conductive circuit, or the first conductive
layer 12 is partially etched to selectively form the antenna.
[0043] Wherein, the substrate 11 is a hard or soft opaque substrate
or transparent substrate. If the transparent substrate is adopted,
then it may be a translucent plastic substrate or a translucent
glass substrate made of PET, PE, PMMA, PI, PA, PU or acrylic and
has a thickness from 10 um to 500 um, but the invention is not
limited to such arrangements only. The first conductive layer 12 is
made of an organic material, an inorganic material, or a
combination of the two, and the organic material is PEDOT, carbon
nanotube, or a combination of the two, and the inorganic material
is a metal or a metallic oxide, and the first conductive layer 12
has a transmittance from 70% to 95% and a thickness from 100 nm to
10 um, but the invention is not limited to such arrangements only.
The second conductive layer 15 and the telecommunication connection
structure 30 are formed and screen printed by a silver paste
conductive coating and has a thickness from 1 um to 50 um, but the
invention is not limited to such arrangement only. The bonding
layer 40 is made of acrylic, epoxy resin, silicon dioxide, or any
combination of the above and has a thickness from 1 um to 5 um, but
the invention is not limited to such arrangements only.
[0044] With reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 for an RFID device in
accordance with the second, third, and fourth embodiments of the
present invention respectively, the second embodiment has a
plurality of solar cells 10 and the RFID device of the second
embodiment further comprises a first protective layer 50 and an
encapsulation layer 60, and the first protective layer 50 is
disposed on the solar cell 10 and the RFID tag 20, and the
encapsulation layer 60 is disposed on between the bonding layer 40
and the first protective layer 50, and the encapsulation layer 60
is capable of packaging the solar cell 10 and the RFID tag 20
between the bonding layer 40 and the first protective layer 50.
Compared with the second embodiment, the first protective layer 50
of the third embodiment further includes a notch 51 formed at a
position corresponsive to the RFID tag 20 and provided for
accommodating the RFID tag 20. Compared with the third embodiment,
the RFID device of the fourth embodiment further comprises a second
protective layer 70 disposed on another side of the substrate
opposite to the bonding layer 40, and the encapsulation layer 60 is
disposed between the first protective layer 50 and the second
protective layer 70, so that the RFID tag 20 is packaged between
the first protective layer 50 and the second protective layer 70.
Preferably, the first protective layer 50 and the second protective
layer 70 are made of transparent plastic or glass and have a
thickness from 50 um to 500 um, but the invention is not limited to
such arrangement only.
[0045] In summation of the description above, the RFID device of
the present invention integrates the RFID tag with passive and
active functions and the solar cell, so that the solar cell formed
by a miniaturization process can reduce the total volume, and can
convert light energy into electric energy to be supplied to the
RFID tag, so as to achieve the energy saving effect In addition,
the RFID device is capable of executing a corresponsive function to
cope with different distances, so as to transmit the tag data in
the best mode.
[0046] The present invention breaks through the prior art and
definitely achieves the intended effects, and the invention is
novel and is not apparent to or easily perceived by persons having
ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the present invention is
novel, inventive, useful, and in compliance with patent application
requirements, and thus is duly filed for patent application.
[0047] While the ideas and technical characteristics of this
disclosure have been described by means of specific embodiments,
numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by
those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and
spirit of this disclosure set forth in the claims.
* * * * *