BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an UID tag for a tire. More particularly, the invention relates to an UID tag configured for a tire and capable of withstanding the vulcanization process and the aging tests of the tire.

2. Description of Related Art

Tires are used to bear the gross weight of a vehicle and provide traction between the vehicle and the road so that the vehicle can run under the driver's control. Basically, a tire is a rubber covering fitted around the rim of a wheel. The strength, elasticity, and toughness of rubber enable a tire to resist vibrations and forces transmitted from the road surface, to dampen the impact on a vehicle, to protect the components of a vehicle from damage attributable to a bumpy road, to adapt to high-speed driving, and to reduce noise.

From the perspective of future tire suppliers, the functions of tires must be expanded to include those supported by information technology, such as functions related to product traceability, aftersales services, recycling (both identification and traceability, with a view to preventing improper remanufacture of waste tires), and the prevention and investigation of major traffic accidents. To achieve this end, a tire must include an unique ID electronic tag (so called UID tag) as one of its components. The UID tag of a tire should be so designed that it cannot be easily removed, or peeled away, from the tire and will not fall off on its own. Moreover, the aforesaid expanded applications require the UID tag of a tire to be implanted or half-implanted into the tire during the tire manufacturing process. It follows that an UID tag must be able to resist the vulcanization environment of the tire manufacturing process and pass tire aging tests in order to be approved for use in a tire.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic tag for a tire, wherein the electronic tag can withstand vulcanization in the tire manufacturing process and endure tire aging tests.

To achieve the above goal, the present invention provides an UID tag for a tire, comprising a tag unit, a pliable protective layer, and a vulcanizable bonding layer. The pliable protective layer is provided on two opposite sides of the tag unit. The vulcanizable bonding layer is provided on one or each of the two opposite sides of the pliable protective layer to bond the UID tag tightly to the tire during a vulcanization process. The tag unit comprises a circuit substrate provided with an antenna circuit, and an integrated circuit (IC) chip electrically connected to the antenna circuit.

Further, the tag unit is provided with at least two partially overlapping signal amplification plates on one side.

Further, the signal amplification plate has a long arm and a short arm that constitute a square hook shape; and, the two signal amplification plates are arranged in a bilateral configuration like the form of mirror images of each other, with one long arm stacked one the other.

Further, the signal amplification plate is in the shape of a plate, a knitted web, a mesh, or a line.

Further, the tag unit is provided with a signal amplification plate on one side.

Further, the signal amplification plate is in the shape of a knitted web, a mesh, or a line.

Further, the signal amplification plate is 50 μm to 200 μm thick.

Further, the signal amplification plate may be a metal plate or composite plate formed by weaving metal threads, etching (to form the desired circuit), cutting a metal sheet, coating a plastic substrate with silver paste, or electroplating or electrolessly plating a substrate.

Further, the circuit substrate is disc-shaped or rectangular.

Further, one side of the vulcanizable bonding layer is provided with a positioning adhesive layer at each of two opposite ends so that the tag unit can be attached to a predetermined bonding position on a tire via the positioning adhesive layers.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention additionally provides an UID tag for a tire, comprising a tag unit, a pliable protective layer, and a vulcanizable bonding layer. The pliable protective layer is provided on two opposite sides of the tag unit. The vulcanizable bonding layer is provided on one or each of the two opposite sides of the pliable protective layer to bond the UID tag tightly to the tire during a vulcanization process. The tag unit includes a flexible circuit substrate on which an antenna circuit is provided, a chip package electrically connected to the antenna circuit, and a circuit protection layer provided on one side of the flexible circuit substrate and one side of the chip package, respectively.

Further, the tag unit is provided with at least two partially overlapping signal amplification plates on one side.

Further, the signal amplification plate has a long arm and a short arm that constitute a square hook shape; and, the two signal amplification plates are arranged in a bilateral configuration like the form of mirror images of each other, with one long arm stacked one the other.

Further, the signal amplification plate is in the shape of a plate, a knitted web, a mesh, or a line.

Further, the tag unit is provided with a signal amplification plate on one side.

Further, the signal amplification plate is in the shape of a knitted web, a mesh, or a line.

Further, the signal amplification plate is 50 μm to 200 ρm thick.

Further, the signal amplification plate may be a metal plate or composite plate formed by weaving metal threads, etching (to form the desired circuit), cutting a metal sheet, coating a plastic substrate with silver paste, or electroplating or electrolessly plating a substrate.

Further, one side of the vulcanizable bonding layer is provided with a positioning adhesive layer at each of two opposite ends so that the tag unit can be attached to a predetermined bonding position on a tire via the positioning adhesive layers.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has advantages as follows:

The UID tag for a tire of the present invention can resist the vulcanization process of the tire manufacturing process and the tire aging tests.

