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Flexible tube comprising an electronic componentRelated Patent Categories: Registers, RecordsFlexible tube comprising an electronic component description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070164116, Flexible tube comprising an electronic component. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This invention relates to flexible plastic tubes, and more specifically tubes which are to be subjected to logistical monitoring, for themselves and/or for the products that they contain. [0002] The invention is advantageously applicable not only to the logistical monitoring of these tubes before their delivery to the packaging clients, but also to the monitoring of the products that they contain, as the latter are generally of greater value than the tubes and are therefore subject to counterfeit acts. PRIOR ART [0003] Flexible plastic tubes can already contain information entered by the flexible tube manufacturer during the production of the tube. Thus, application JP2003-165552 (LION Corp.) discloses a flexible tube equipped--near the final weld--with a bar code or a decoration representing a registered trademark for detection of the product name. The information can, if necessary, be discreet, for example if the printing is performed with thermochromic or "security" inks detectable only under heat, ultraviolet radiation, and so on. [0004] Such techniques require prior knowledge of the product information when the tube is produced. Therefore, it is not possible to characterise a product intended to be packaged in a standard tube that can be used for other products. For example, if a decoration is to be made using UV inks, it can be done during production of the tube, either on the web for laminated tubes, or on the extruded cylindrical body (plastic tubes) with conventional printing devices. However, once the tube has been delivered to the packaging client, the information can no longer be modified, unless the client is equipped with expensive printing devices. In practice, it is therefore difficult if not impossible to provide additional information, encoded or not, on the tube once it has been produced and delivered to the packager. [0005] A known technique for overcoming this problem consists of printing a label containing the desired information, encoded or not, and placing it either on a package that contains the flexible tubes delivered to the packager (for example, for checking the tubes), or directly on the skirt of the flexible tube (for example, for monitoring the product contained in the tubes). However, an important problem is raised by the use of a label: it is very easy to remove it and thus separate the information that it contains from the product that it is supposed to accompany. [0006] Patent application KR2003-025624 (ID TECK Co Ltd) discloses a cap equipped with a contactless electronic circuit that makes it possible, by means of remote read and write devices, to prevent counterfeiting of the product contained in the container closed by the cap. Due to its bulk, such a cap appears to be unsuitable for closing a flexible tube of standard size (diameter of the skirt typically between 15 and 60 mm, diameter of the neck typically between 5 and 15 mm). Moreover, once the container is open, the cap can easily be lost or exchanged. In this case, again, there is a risk of separation between the information and the product with which it is associated. [0007] Patent EP 0 697 342 discloses a flexible tube provided with an antitheft device, consisting of a passive field-disturbance element inserted between the layers of a multilayer structure inserted on the flexible tube (multilayer insert going from the skirt to the shoulder, multilayer lid, etc . . . ). [0008] German patent application DE 102 18 417 (TUBEX) discloses a dispenser consisting of a flexible tube overmolded with a flip-top cap assembled so as to be substantially permanent on the head of the tube, which dispenser is provided with a transponder or magnetic band-type electronic module placed, typically by means of a support acting as a label, in a location inaccessible from the head. [0009] The applicant aims to propose a technical device making it possible to ensure monitoring of the production of the tubes, and to offer the packaging clients the possibility of providing--after production of the tube--reliable information, encoded or not, on the product contained in the tube, regardless of whether the latter is equipped with a flip-top cap, and without the risk of losing the information throughout the life of the tube. SUBJECT MATTER OF THE INVENTION [0010] A first object of the invention is a flexible plastic tube head including a dispensing aperture defined by an edge and a shoulder connecting the edge to a flexible skirt, characterised in that it comprises, set in the mass of the plastic material forming the head, an electronic module intended to exchange information in a contactless manner with a read and or read/write device outside of the tube. [0011] The electronic component makes it possible to exchange information with an external device such as the type provided, for example, in smart cards, in particular RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) electronic components, which are described in detail below. This information can relate to the tube itself or to the product contained in the tube. Since the component is set in the mass of the plastic material forming the head, it can be used in an early stage of the production and be used for monitoring the production of the tube, upon production of the head, by indicating, for example, the plastic materials used, the skirt structure used, the presence of specific additives in the material of the head or the skirt, and so on. [0012] Once the tube has been produced and delivered to the packager, the electronic component can also be used to enable the packaged product to be traced (origin of its components, conditions of production, storage before first opening, etc . . . ). [0013] It is also possible to consider self-contained electronic components, for example, equipped with their own energy source and capable of performing functions actuated for example by information resulting from data processed by this same component. For example, this component could, on the basis of the measurement programmed remotely or controlled by a parameter related to the product or the packaging, actuate the display of information on the product or the packaging on the external wall of the package, for example by means of a coloured reagent or a diode or liquid crystal screen. [0014] The head of the tube has a dispensing aperture and a skirt, which dispensing aperture is defined by an edge connected to the skirt by a shoulder. The edge can be supported by the cylindrical wall of a neck intended to receive a cap, which neck is connected to the skirt by a shoulder having a substantially general conical shape. However, as in application WO 02 08079, it is possible for the tube head to have no cylindrical neck, and for the dispensing aperture to be placed, for example, at the base of a closure superimposed on the tube and connected to a cap by a hinge. In such a case, the base connects the edge defining the aperture to the flexible skirt and also serves as a shoulder. [0015] The tube head includes the electronic component, which is advantageously placed in the thickness of the shoulder or in that of the cap, if it exists. [0016] The edge of the aperture and the shoulder are preferably, at least over a portion of their thickness, made in one piece by molding the same plastic material, and the electronic component is set within the plastic material. This makes it possible to produce a shoulder with perfect continuity of the material between the skirt and the dispensing aperture in all or some of the thickness of the shoulder, and to simplify the production: it is not necessary to produce an intermediate part containing the component, transfer, assemble and then weld it to the rest of the tube. [0017] An RFID system includes a transceiver--which controls the data acquisition and communication system--connected to an antenna and an RFID component which consists of a transponder connected to an antenna. The transponder is a radiofrequency identification label electronically programmed to automatically transmit a signal in response to an interrogation signal that it receives. The antenna of the RFID component is a conductor connected to the label. It receives radio signals that activate the transponder in order to write or read data. The antenna can have a wide variety of forms. In general, it is in the form of coils printed with a conductive ink on a plastic support (typically an epoxy resin or a saturated polyester, for example, polybutylene terephthalate) to which the transponder is also attached. The coils can have a generally circular or polygonal shape, typically square or rectangular. In the latter case, when the length is notably greater than the width, the antenna has an overall elongate form: we will hereinafter refer to it as a "linear antenna" or an "elongate antenna". The connections between the transponder and the branches of the antenna are generally protected by a layer of a plastic material, in general an epoxy resin, forming an added thickness. [0018] The electronic component is preferably placed at the level of the shoulder of the tube, within the plastic material forming the head so as to prevent contact of the antenna and the label with the product that the tube is intended to contain. It is set in the mass, preferably without the use of adhesive materials, for example, during injection molding of the head. The conditions for placing the component in the cavity of the injection mold are dependent on the chosen shape of the antenna. Some of these are described in the examples below. [0019] Another object of the invention is a method for producing flexible tube heads characterised in that an electronic module is used, which is capable of exchanging, without electrical contact, information with a read and/or a read/write device, typically an RFID-type electronic component, in that the electronic component (hereinafter referred to as a "chip") is placed inside the cavity of the mold intended to form the head, then the head is molded, with the plastic material flowing so that it encloses the chip, thus making the head and chip assembly inseparable. [0020] The plastic material is preferably injection molded in the cavity of the mold. Compression molding can also be performed if the electronic components used are solid enough to be capable of resisting the mechanical stresses caused by this type of formation. Regardless of whether the molding is performed by injection or by compression, the component is deposited into the cavity of the mold intended to form the head. The latter includes at least two portions that are mobile with respect to one another: the die, of which the impression defines the external surface of the shoulder and the neck, and the punch, of which the head defines the internal surface of the shoulder and the neck. Very often, the neck must have a screw thread on its external wall, which makes it necessary to use a die which itself consists of a plurality of mobile portions which move away from one another--for example by radial movements--so as to facilitate the stripping of the threaded portion. [0021] To prevent any risk of chemical incompatibility with the product intended to be packaged by the tube, it is desirable to attach this component without the use of adhesive. It is desirable in this case to find a geometric chip configuration and a location in the mold cavity so that the chip will not have a tendency to move or be deformed during the molding. The examples given below show two embodiments in which the electronic component withstands the plastic material injection molding operation without substantial movement or deformation. Continue reading about Flexible tube comprising an electronic component... Full patent description for Flexible tube comprising an electronic component Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Flexible tube comprising an electronic component patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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