Introduction to the process flow of RFID tag production and its related equipment

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Introduction to the process flow of RFID tag production and its related equipment [Copy link]

Although the production chain of RFID tags is not long, it requires a lot of equipment. From the manufacturing process, it is divided into several major processes: chip manufacturing, antenna manufacturing, chip flipping or bonding, synthetic material printing, lamination or film synthesis. 1. Antenna printing The antenna can use traditional etched antenna or printed antenna. The etched antenna can be aluminum foil or copper foil. The manufacturer needs a set of screen printing equipment and a set of etching equipment. At present, due to the high price of conductive ink and the strength of the printed antenna itself, the etched antenna is still the main product in the market. Antenna corrosion is very polluting to the environment, so many companies are committed to the development of printed antennas. The latest conductive silver paste has passed the trial printing of flat-pressed round and flat-pressed flat screen printers, and will be available in the near future. The price is much lower than the existing silver paste. The printing of anti-corrosion ink for etched antennas is relatively simple, and can be used with a rotary (round-pressed round) screen printer. However, the printing of conductive silver paste has high requirements for screen printers. Major foreign companies use flat-screen flat-pressed flat or flat-pressed round types. Another advantage of this flat screen is that the printing layer can be made very thin, saving silver paste, which is not possible with a round screen. There are not many such screen printers that have really passed the test. In terms of printing speed, color registration accuracy, and drying tower performance, the screen printing lines of Germany's KINZEL Siebdruckmaschinen GmbH and KLEMM GmbH are first-class, but KLEMM has gone bankrupt. This printing line also has a detection function to detect the resistance of the antenna and whether there is a short circuit or open circuit problem. The problematic antenna is marked to avoid wasting chips. 2. Chip flip chip production belongs to the high-tech field. So far, only a few companies have been able to do it well, mainly TI, Siemens Infineon, Philips and other manufacturing giants. The most advanced in China is Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics. So far, no factory in China has the ability to embed chips. However, several companies are preparing chip embedding equipment, including American and German Neubauer equipment. There are also two companies in China that are stepping up assembly, and it is estimated that they will be available soon. Bonding a connection bridge with a chip is also a production method for smart tags. It has a low threshold and great flexibility. The printed antenna can be completed in one go, which is different from the flip-chip antenna that needs to be printed three times. But once this method is enabled, it is like riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off, because this bridge is very expensive, the bonding equipment is very slow, and the cost cannot be reduced in the end. If blank labels are mass-produced, personalized reading and writing will not be a problem. The specific method to be adopted should be decided by the user according to his or her own affordability. At present, the prices of both methods are relatively high, and it can be said that each has its own strengths. Once the price of one production method is reduced, the other will have to find a way to survive on its own. I believe that the supplier of this equipment will consider it. 3. Synthetic material printing No matter which printing machine is used, roll-to-roll production and 500mm printing width are basic requirements, otherwise the automation of the entire production line will be reduced. 4. Lamination/filming equipment The equipment with the strongest integration and processing capabilities is the RFID synthesis production line of Germany's Biomadi and KINZEL GmbH. Inlay pre-detection, synthesis, inline die-cutting, re-detection, waste cutting and reconnection can be completed inline. The synthesis processes of the two companies are slightly different. Biomadi synthesizes the single Inly with the chip attached into the printed surface material. The working width of the equipment is about 10 cm, which is suitable for small batch production. KINZEL's lamination and coating line is based on the same working width (500mm) of the screen printing and flip chip equipment, and the whole Inly is die-cut, laminated, synthesized, or laminated and die-cut at one time. The composite material can be paper or PVC. This process reduces the damage caused by the unwinding and rewinding of the bare open wire during the slitting process, which is especially important for the more sensitive silver paste printed antenna, and the production speed is also much higher. Another thing to remind everyone is that if the whole antenna with the chip is to be cut into single strips or sheets, please use a slitting machine without surface contact, otherwise you will increase the scrap rate yourself. The production of RFID tags is so simple and so complicated. Wish you all good luck!

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