RFID transponder

Abstract

An RFID transponder, comprising an antenna, comprising a radiating element an IC, and a ground plane arranged under the radiating element, the ground plane being solid without openings. The radiating element comprises a near field communication section extending over the edge of the ground plane for enabling near field communication of the antenna by the ground plane from backside of the RFID transponder.

Claims

1. An RFID transponder for printing and encoding, comprising a printable surface on a top side of the transponder, an antenna element under the printable surface, the antenna element comprising an antenna and an IC coupled to the antenna, the antenna comprising at least two radiating elements, a ground plane arranged under the radiating elements, the ground plane being solid without openings, only one of the radiating elements comprising a near field communication section extending over an edge of the ground plane for enabling near field communication of the antenna by the ground plane from a backside of the RFID transponder.

2. The RFID transponder as claimed in claim 1, wherein a spacer layer made of a dielectric material is arranged between the antenna element and the ground plane.

3. The RFID transponder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises two radiating elements arranged at a distance from each other, and the IC being situated between said two radiating elements.

4. The RFID transponder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two radiating elements are quadrangles.

5. The RFID transponder as claimed in claim 4, wherein the near field communication section is provided by prolongation of two parallel sides of one of the quadrangle, the near field communication section thus being situated at one edge of the radiating element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

(1) Some embodiments illustrating the present disclosure are described in more detail in the attached drawings, in which

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of an RFID transponder,

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of another RFID transponder,

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a third RFID transponder, and

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of a fourth RFID transponder.

(6) In the figures, some embodiments are shown simplified for the sake of clarity. Similar parts are marked with the same reference numbers in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of an RFID transponder. The RFID transponder 100 may comprise a printable surface or face element 1, an antenna element 2, and an IC 3. The RFID transponder 100 further comprises a ground plane 4 that is made of metal or some other electrically conductive material or composition. The ground plane 4 is solid without openings and arranged under the antenna element 2.

(8) Layers of the RFID transponder 100 are typically attached together with suitable adhesive layers and sealed by e.g. a silicone liner.

(9) The RFID transponder 100 may further comprise a spacer layer 7 that is arranged to make distance between the antenna element 2 and the ground plane 4. The spacer layer 7 is made of a dielectric material, such as polyethylene PE, polypropylene PP polyethylene terephthalate PET, in a solid or a foamed form.

(10) The printable surface 1 is arranged on the top side of the transponder 100. The surface 1 may be a thin material layer manufactured from e.g. paper or plastic based material, or a layer of paint(s) and/or lacquer(s).

(11) The antenna element 2 and the IC 3 (together with further electronic components, if any) may be arranged to a structural module such as an inlay 5 comprising a dielectric substrate.

(12) The edges or peripheral shape of the ground plane 4 is shown by dash line in Figures. The radiating element 2 comprises a near field communication section 6 that extends over the edge of the ground plane 4 for enabling near field communication of the antenna by the ground plane 4 from backside of the RFID transponder 100.

(13) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the antenna comprises two radiating elements 2 the shape of which is quadrangle and which are arranged at a distance from each other. The IC 3 is situated between the radiating elements 2. The near field communication section 6 is provided by prolongation of two parallel sides of one of the quadrangles, so the near field communication section 6 is situated at one edge of the radiating element 2.

(14) For example, if the reader antenna of an RFID printer-encoder, such as Zebra RZ600, is on the bottom side BOT of the RFID transponder 100, the near field communication section 6 makes it possible to couple said reader antenna with the antenna element 2 of the transponder although the reader antenna is situated opposite side of the ground plane 4 compared to the antenna element 2 of the transponder, thus enabling encoding the RFID transponder 100.

(15) The radiating element 2 as such may be of any type of radiating element suitable for the RFID transponder 100. Some further examples of the radiating element are a meandering element, a PIFA element and a loop element.

(16) Also the shape of the radiating element 2 as well as number of the radiating elements 2 may vary. For instance, the number of the radiating elements 2 may be one, two, three, four or even more.

(17) Furthermore, the coupling of the IC 3 and the radiating element 2 may vary: a galvanic, an inductive or capacitive coupling may be used.

(18) FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of another RFID transponder. According to an aspect, the near field communication section 6 is provided on at least two edges of the radiating element 2 by extending said edges over the edge of the ground plane 4. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, all the edges of the radiating elements 2 extends over the ground plane 4—except the edge being towards the IC 3. An advantage is that the RFID transponder 100 can be encoded in various types of encoders having diverse antenna configurations.

(19) It is to be noted that the IC 3 may also be arranged on/in the near field communication section 6.

(20) FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a third RFID transponder. In this embodiment, only one of plurality of radiating elements 2 comprises the near field communication section 6. This embodiment is quite similar to that shown in FIG. 1, except the near field communication section 6 being arranged at the end edge of the radiating element 2. An advantage is that the production of the RFID transponder may be implemented in simple and effective way.

(21) FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of a fourth RFID transponder. According to an aspect, the near field communication section 6 is provided by a projection extending from the radiating element 2 and having an elongated aspect ratio. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the projection comprises one bend. The projection may also be straight, meandering, curved etc. An advantage is that the near field communication section 6 may be designed so that its influence on the main antenna or the radiating element(s) is negligible.

(22) The invention is not limited solely to the embodiments described above, but instead many variations are possible within the scope of the inventive concept defined by the claims below. Within the scope of the inventive concept the attributes of different embodiments and applications can be used in conjunction with or replace the attributes of another embodiment or application.

(23) The drawings and the related description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. The invention may vary in detail within the scope of the inventive idea defined in the following claims.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

(24) 1 printable coating 2 an antenna element 3 IC 4 ground plane 5 inlay 6 near field communication section 7 spacer layer 100 RFID transponder BOT bottom side TOP top side