RFIDs of the Future

© Fraunhofer

Early this year saw the start of a research project on the "Development of Modular In-mould Transponders (MIT)". Numerous project partners from research and industry joined forces here to make RFID transponders suitable for processing in injection moulded packaging material.

The research landscape today scarcely sees any pure RFID projects anymore. Scientists are now researching into "RFIDs of the future". Here RFIDs will increasingly become a technology used to group goods and objects into virtual worlds thereby making it possible to digitally control processes ever more frequently. Part of these developments include in-mould transponders, as researched by the joint "Development of In-mould Transponders" project to be concluded by October 2011.

Integration means Reliability

By inseparably incorporating identification chips and their antennas into reusable plastic crates it should be possible to make RFID-based logistics even more reliable than with adhesive smart labels. The development will be particularly effective for the logistics of fresh goods or the transportation of meat as load carriers here are subject to strict cleaning processes that can damage conventional tags.

The objective here is therefore to in-mould the transponders completely. With MITs the antennas are affixed directly onto a film/foil substrate which is subsequently inserted into the injection mould as a label printed on one side (barcode, logos, product info etc.). To produce the transponder a chip module is affixed to the antenna, although ohmic contact is not necessarily required here due to capacitive or inductive coupling. This simplifies assembly especially in high-volume roll-to-roll processing. The tolerances here are so great that modules could even be attached by hand.

Chip cards are a somewhat specialised application for those technologies striven for in the project - but this would be particularly interesting because polypropylene has not been used in this way before.

The majority of applications here target the use of transponders in fairly large injection-moulded components, in particular in plastic crates for reusable container systems. Furthermore, the technology is also aimed at the automotive sector - for instance for tracking dashboards in the production process or for storing information on the required recycling process after scrapping.

Endless Possibilities

The possibilities of injection moulding technology seem almost endless. No type of plastic item seems impossible and its versatile and innovative processing means the most varied requirements of all the different user sectors can be covered. Consequently, injection-moulded packaging is forecast great potential - potential that can increase still further through developments of this kind. Injection moulding technology, particularly in the packaging sector, plays a key role on all scales.

This means the development of the market for injection-moulded packaging is rated very positively. Another key factor that has a positive impact on market developments is the continually rising proportion of plastic products. With its great dimensional precision and flexibility injection moulding as a superior technology boasts advantages over comparable rival technologies.

It can therefore be anticipated that injection moulding technology will play a disproportionately large role in the rising growth rates in the packaging industry.

The MIT research project is a collaboration with the industrial partners PAV Card, Melzer Maschinenbau, Design- und Siebdruck Freudenberg and ID-Systec. Research partners are the Institute for Polymer Technology and the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology ISIT.