JP2005209171A - Manufacturing method of ic card or ic tag and extension plastic film used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method capable of simplifying a process, improving process tolerance and yield in the manufacturing method of an IC card and an IC tag having excellent durability without impairing a function even at the time of exposure to chemicals and high temperature. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing method of the IC card or the IC tag is characterized that it includes a process for performing heat adhesion of a plastic film (B) on an inlet sheet formed by providing an antenna circuit, the plastic film (A) or (B) is an extension plastic film having a heat adhesive layer at least on one side and an IC chip on one side of a plastic film (A) and the antenna circuit and the IC chip are sandwiched by performing heat adhesion of the plastic films (A) and (B) via the heat adhesive layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing an IC card or an IC tag and a stretched plastic film used therefor.

  In recent years, information management and operation systems using cards and tags with built-in IC chips have begun to spread. Cards and tags used for these are generally called "IC cards" and "IC tags", and record and retain a larger amount of information than conventional printing / writing and magnetic recording cards / tags. In addition, since it is useful in that it can be rewritten, it has begun to be used in various fields for managing and operating various information on people and goods.

  Information is input / output to / from the IC card / tag mainly by an electric or electromagnetic method. This input / output system includes a “contact type” in which the input / output device and the IC card / tag are electrically coupled through an external terminal provided on the outer surface thereof, and a “non-contact type” in which communication is performed by electromagnetic waves through a built-in antenna. The two methods are mainly used. Among them, the “non-contact type” is useful for various applications because of the ease of procedures at the time of information exchange and high mobility, and it is considered that the field of utilization will expand further in the future.

  On the other hand, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has been the mainstream as a plastic material constituting the card. However, in recent years, as plastics have been increasingly dehalogenated due to environmental problems, the card material is being replaced by polyester resin rather than PVC. The polyester-based material used here is a non-oriented polyester (PETG) non-oriented sheet copolymerized with 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) biaxial, which is amorphous and has processability close to PVC. Stretched films are mainly used. However, these current sheets and films have problems that are difficult to solve.

  First, the PETG non-oriented sheet does not have sufficient chemical resistance, and when the substrate is washed with an organic solvent or an alkaline solution in the pre-process for adhering the antenna circuit, it is excessively dry while being used as an IC tag. Depending on the cleaning agent, the substrate may be deteriorated or deformed when it is cleaned or bleached.

  Further, the sheet is not sufficient in heat resistance. Therefore, if you store the card or tag as a product in a cargo ship's hold and export it to the tropical region, or if you accidentally wash or dry the clothes while stored in a pocket of clothes, etc. For example, when left on a dashboard for a long time, deformation due to the dimensional change due to heat of the sheet, for example, curling or peeling between layers may occur and the appearance and function may be impaired.

  On the other hand, in the case of a biaxially oriented film, although it has sufficient performance in chemical resistance and heat resistance, it has a large elastic modulus and does not easily deform. Therefore, when the product is processed into a card or a tag, the unevenness due to the shape of the antenna circuit existing inside may be raised on the surface. If such irregularities are present on the surface of the product, it goes without saying that the appearance is not beautiful, and that the printing applied to the surface may be partially blurred by rubbing with other articles during storage or carrying. In some cases, such a problem occurs that the surface layer is peeled off from being caught on another article, or the card or tag itself is destroyed.

  Conventionally, in order to reduce the unevenness, the non-oriented sheet as described above is bonded to the upper and lower surfaces of the antenna circuit and the film laminate, and the unevenness is absorbed by this deformation. For this reason, the card and tag as a product have not yet completely solved the problems caused by the characteristics of the non-oriented sheet as described above.

  Biaxially oriented films do not have self-adhesive properties because of their high melting point and thermal softening point, and the surface molecular structure is dense and strong. The conventional PVC or PETG sheet is a heat press method. Then do not glue. For this reason, when a laminated body of an antenna and a film is formed with an IC chip or an antenna circuit sandwiched between films, or when a printed film is laminated on a card surface layer, a hot melt system is used between each film and sheet. It must be processed after inserting an adhesive. For this reason, the process of forming an IC card / tag using a biaxially oriented film is cumbersome, has poor workability and yield, and has a high manufacturing cost.

As a technique for using a film or sheet such as polyester for an IC card, (1) a technique for obtaining adhesion suitability by providing a heat-bondable layer on the surface layer of the sheet (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2); By using a stretched polyester film with antistatic properties to improve electrical characteristics (see, for example, Patent Document 3), and (3) using a white polyester film to which titanium oxide or carbon black is added for an IC card. Technology for optically concealing the internal structure of an IC card (see, for example, Patent Documents 4 to 6), (4) Technology for preventing curling when a card is constructed by improving the thermal mechanical properties of a stretched polyester film (For example, refer to Patent Documents 7 to 9), (5) By using a copolymerized polyester in a stretched film, it is possible to achieve moldability such as embossability. Technology (e.g., see Patent Document 10) to obtain the IC card, etc. is disclosed.
JP-A-7-17004 JP 2002-331633 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-25187 JP-A-11-161756 JP 2001-26087 A JP 2003-53831 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-254576 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-254621 JP 2000-141472 A JP 2001-283179 A

  These inventions are important techniques for improving the quality of IC cards and tags. However, in terms of both heat resistance, chemical resistance, and bonding processability, which are the problems of the present invention, all are insufficient.

In addition, the invention close to the gist of the present invention in terms of achieving both heat resistance, chemical resistance and laminating workability is disclosed by laminating a polyester resin copolymerized with cyclohexanedimethanol on a copolymerized polyester film. It has been reported (see, for example, Patent Document 11) that it is suitable as a protective film for an IC card surface layer with improved heat resistance, suitability for lamination, and embossability.
JP 2003-191419 A

  However, the film of the present invention is designed to be used for the surface layer of the current IC card made of PETG, and the problems of heat resistance and chemical resistance in the whole IC card derived from the properties of the PETG layer as described above are There was no improvement.

  In view of the background art as described above, “adhesion processing suitability” is not sufficient for products that sufficiently satisfy “heat resistance” and “chemical resistance” which are important as IC cards and IC tags. A production method that can be processed with a high yield and a simple process has not been disclosed so far.

  That is, the object of the present invention is to simplify the process, improve the processing accuracy, improve the yield in the manufacturing method of the IC card and the IC tag with excellent durability that does not impair the function even when exposed to chemicals and high temperatures. An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent manufacturing method that can be improved.

  In the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an IC card or an IC tag including a step of thermally bonding a plastic film (B) to an inlet sheet provided with an antenna circuit and an IC chip on one side of the plastic film (A). (A) or (B) is a stretched plastic film having a thermal adhesive layer on at least one surface, and the plastic film (A) and (B) are thermally bonded via the thermal adhesive layer to sandwich the antenna circuit and the IC chip. As a result, the above-mentioned problems have been solved.

By applying the production method of the present invention, the following conflicting effects that could not be solved by the conventional production method can be achieved.
(1) “Adhesive processing suitability” that could not be achieved by the conventional method using a stretched plastic film, as well as simplification in the IC card and IC tag manufacturing process, improvement in processing accuracy, and improvement in yield can be achieved. .
(2) “Heat resistance / chemical resistance” and “environmental suitability” that could not be achieved by the conventional method using vinyl chloride resin or amorphous polyester resin can be improved.

(Function)
When manufacturing an IC card or IC tag including a step of thermally bonding the plastic film (B) to an inlet sheet provided with an antenna circuit and an IC chip on one side of the plastic film (A), a thermal bonding layer is provided on at least one side. The plastic film (A) or (B) having the plastic film (A) and (B) is thermally bonded via a thermal bonding layer, and the antenna circuit and the IC chip are sandwiched, thereby making it possible to perform bonding process suitability and process. Simplification and improved processing accuracy can be improved. Furthermore, heat resistance, chemical resistance, and environmental suitability can be improved by using a stretched plastic film as this film. In addition, the problem of the design property that internal unevenness | corrugation, such as an antenna circuit appears on the surface by using the plastic film containing a fine cavity for the plastic film of this invention can be improved collectively.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[Plastic film]
It is extremely important that the plastic film used in the present invention is a plastic film stretched and oriented in at least one direction. Further, from the viewpoint of isotropic properties, those that are stretched and oriented in two directions are more preferable. A non-oriented plastic film is not preferable because sufficient performance cannot be obtained with characteristics such as heat resistance and chemical resistance. The method for stretching and orientation of the plastic film is not particularly limited, but it is possible to produce a non-oriented sheet by solidifying a polymer melt or solution and to use a known method for stretching and orienting it in one or two directions. it can. In the case where the film is stretched and oriented in two directions, it is preferable to use a sequential biaxial stretching method from the viewpoint of thickness accuracy, ease of cavity formation described later, productivity, and the like.

  Moreover, it is extremely important that the plastic film used in the present invention has a thermal adhesive layer on at least one side, and it is more preferable to have a thermal adhesive layer on both sides of the film from the viewpoint of simplifying the process. The thermal adhesive layer is preferably provided in advance by a coextrusion molding method or a coating method in the plastic film manufacturing process. When an IC card or IC tag is manufactured by performing a bonding process using a thermal adhesive layer integrated with a film in advance, performance and convenience such as process simplification and processing accuracy are remarkably improved.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the heat adhesive layer of the plastic film used for this invention is 1-500 micrometers in thickness. The lower limit of the thickness of the thermal adhesive layer is more preferably 5 μm, particularly preferably 10 μm, from the viewpoint of adhesive strength. On the other hand, the upper limit of the thickness of the heat bonding layer is more preferably 100 μm, particularly preferably 30 μm, from the viewpoint of planarity.

  Further, the thermal adhesive resin constituting the thermal adhesive layer is preferably one having a melting point of 200 ° C. or lower or substantially not observed, and more preferably substantially no melting point observed. When the melting point of the thermoadhesive resin exceeds 200 ° C., it is necessary to apply a high temperature to the film in order to soften the thermoadhesive layer and bond the two films. As a result, film deformation or the like occurs, the processing speed is remarkably reduced, or the IC chip may be damaged by heat. In addition, when the melting point is not substantially observed in the thermal adhesive layer, that is, when the thermal adhesive resin is substantially amorphous, it is possible to perform the laminating process in a wide temperature range, and various processes and materials It is more preferable because it can be adhered to.

  Further, it is important that the heat-adhesive resin constituting the heat-adhesive layer is a material that is fused to a plastic film to be bonded. When the object to be bonded is a polyester film, it is preferable from the viewpoint of adhesive strength to provide a thermal bonding layer of polyester resin. Specifically, polyethylene terephthalate resin or polyethylene naphthalate resin, polytrimethylene terephthalate resin copolymerized with isophthalic acid (IPA), neopentyl glycol (NPG), 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), etc. Polybutylene terephthalate resin or the like is preferably used as a main component, and polyethylene terephthalate resin obtained by copolymerizing NPG is more preferable from the balance of adhesiveness and heat resistance. The proportion of copolymerizing IPA, NPG, and CHDM is preferably 5 to 50 mol%, more preferably 10 to 40 mol%, and most preferably 20 to 35 mol% of the dicarboxylic acid component or glycol component.

  When the plastic film is a polyolefin film, a polyethylene resin, a low melting copolymer polypropylene resin, an ethylene vinyl acetate resin or the like is preferable, and a linear low density polyethylene resin is more preferable for the polyethylene resin.

  In addition, it is also preferable to include inorganic or organic inert fine particles in the thermal adhesive layer. By including such particles, it becomes possible to form minute irregularities on the surface of the thermal adhesive layer, thereby improving the slipperiness of the film surface and improving the blocking resistance of the film laminated with the thermal adhesive layer. It is possible to improve. The inert fine particles are not particularly limited as long as they do not interfere with the effects of the present invention, but inorganic particles such as silica, alumina, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, barium sulfate, and organic particles such as crosslinked acrylic or crosslinked polystyrene are widely used. It is preferably used from the viewpoint of properties. Further, from the viewpoint of the effect of slipperiness, it is preferable to contain inactive particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 10 μm in the thermal adhesive layer so as to be 0.001 to 10 wt%. In addition, the average particle diameter is obtained by taking a plurality of photographs of at least 200 particles by electron microscopy, tracing the outline of the particles on an OHP film, and converting the trace image into an equivalent circle diameter with an image analyzer. To calculate.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the plastic film used for this invention consists of a polyester-type resin or a polypropylene resin. These resins are suitable for use in the present invention because they are excellent in versatility and have high heat resistance, chemical resistance, mechanical strength, and the like. As will be described later, even when a large number of fine cavities are contained therein, the method for producing the void-containing film has been widely studied, so that it can be produced or obtained as an excellent material. Therefore, it is preferable. Among them, it is more preferable to use a film mainly composed of a polyester-based resin because higher heat resistance can be expected. Moreover, when a fine cavity is contained inside the film containing a polyolefin resin as a main component, the density of the film can be greatly reduced.

  The polyester resin preferably used here is an aromatic dicarboxylic acid or ester thereof such as terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, naphthalenedicarboxylic acid and ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, It is a polyester produced by polycondensation of glycols such as NPG and CHDM.

  Typical examples of such polyester include polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyethylene butylene terephthalate, polyethylene-2,6-naphthalate, and the like. This polyester may be a homopolymer or a copolymer of a third component. However, in the present invention, the ethylene terephthalate unit, propylene terephthalate unit, butylene terephthalate unit or ethylene-2,6-naphthalate unit in the acid component is 70 mol% or more, preferably 80 mol% or more, more preferably 90 mol% or more. In the glycol component, it is preferable from the viewpoint of heat resistance to use a polyester having a linear alkyl diol unit of 70 mol% or more, preferably 80 mol% or more, more preferably 90 mol% or more.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the plastic film used for this invention is a film containing many fine cavities inside. By using a cavity-containing film having cushioning properties as a base material, it is possible to absorb irregularities such as antennas present inside the card or tag, and these irregularities are raised on the surface of the card or tag. It can be reduced.

  Here, the void content in the film is preferably 5% by volume or more, more preferably 10% by volume or more, and further preferably 15% by volume. When the void content is less than 5% by volume, the cushioning property of the film is not sufficient, and the thickness range of the card or tag in which the uneven absorption effect as described above is normally used (for example, the total thickness in the case of a JIS X 6301 standard product card). 0.76 mm) is not preferable because it cannot be obtained sufficiently. Also, from the viewpoint of workability, the feeling of stiffness is high, and it is not preferable because a suitable flexibility cannot be ensured in the bonding or bonding process.

  On the other hand, the void content is preferably 50% by volume or less, more preferably 40% by volume or less, and further preferably 30% by volume or less. When the void content exceeds 50% by volume, the peel strength of the base material is insufficient, and the required fastness of the card cannot be obtained, or when a lexical phrase is written on the card surface with a writing instrument such as a ballpoint pen. It is not preferable because a partial dent is generated.

  The method for incorporating fine cavities inside the plastic film is not particularly limited, and a known method can be used. As a widely used method, a gas, a supercritical fluid, a foaming agent, etc. are introduced into a melted plastic resin and foamed in the molding process. There is a method of forming a cavity in the process of adding and stretching and orientation. Here, the latter method is preferable from the viewpoint of ease of introduction into the production process of the stretched oriented film, and it is more preferable to use a thermoplastic resin that is incompatible with the plastic resin constituting the film as the nucleating agent used there. .

  At this time, as a method of adjusting the void content of the plastic film to the above range, the content and type of the gas, foaming agent, particles, resin and the like introduced into the film are appropriately adjusted, and the orientation is oriented. It is also possible to adjust the temperature, deformation speed, deformation rate, etc. applied to the film in the process.

  The incompatible thermoplastic resin used here is not particularly limited, but it is necessary to select it in consideration of the heat resistance of the resin, suitable processing temperature, incompatibility, economy, and disposal properties. is there. When the plastic resin constituting the film is a polyester resin, it is preferable to use a polyolefin resin as the incompatible thermoplastic resin, and it is more preferable to mix and use a polystyrene resin. Examples of the polyolefin-based resin to be used include resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene, and polymethylpentene. Polymethylpentene resin is preferable because it is difficult to soften even at high temperatures and exhibits excellent void development. When a polymethylpentene resin is used as the polyolefin resin, it is not always necessary to use it alone, and another polyolefin resin may be added as a subcomponent. Examples of the resin used as the subcomponent include polyethylene, polypropylene, and those obtained by copolymerizing various components with these, but are not particularly limited.

  Moreover, when the plastic resin which comprises a film is polyolefin resin, it is preferable to use a polyester-type resin as an incompatible thermoplastic resin. Polyester resins used include polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene butylene terephthalate or polyethylene-2,6-naphthalate, as well as copolymers of isophthalic acid, cyclohexanedimethanol, neopentyl glycol, etc. Polymer may be used.

  The plastic film used in the present invention preferably has a deformation recovery rate in the thickness direction of 5 to 70%. The lower limit of the deformation recovery rate in the thickness direction is more preferably 15% from the viewpoint of cushioning, “thinness” of thickness by heat press processing when forming a laminate of an antenna and a film or an IC card, Particularly preferred is 25%.

  On the other hand, the upper limit of the deformation recovery rate of the film is more preferably 65%, particularly preferably 55%, from the viewpoint of absorbing the irregularities of the IC chip and the antenna circuit sandwiched between the laminate of the antenna and the film.

  In order to control the deformation recovery rate of the film within the range of 5 to 70%, a method of adjusting the content ratio of the voids inside the film and the film thickness, and the temperature and deformation applied to the film in the step of stretching and orienting the film A method of adjusting the rate, the heat treatment temperature after stretching orientation, and the like is preferable.

The plastic film used in the present invention preferably has an apparent density of 0.6 g / cm ³ or more, preferably 0.8 g / cm ³ or more, and 0.9 g / cm ³ or more. Further preferred. When the apparent density is less than the above, it is not preferable because the void content in the film is generally excessive and the film strength is lowered or the feeling of stiffness is remarkably insufficient. It is preferable that the apparent density of the film is 1.3 g / cm ³ or less, more preferably 1.2 g / cm ³ or less, and more preferably 1.3 g / cm ³ or less. When the apparent density exceeds the above, the void content in the film is generally insufficient, and the unevenness absorbability of the IC chip, the flexibility as a card, the suitability for printing and writing, and the like are not preferable. As a method for adjusting the apparent density to the above range, a method for adjusting the void content in the film, a method for adjusting the kind of resin used in the film, the crystallinity, and the like are suitable.

  The plastic film used in the present invention preferably has an optical density of 0.5 to 2.0, more preferably 0.8 to 1.6. If the optical density is less than 0.5, the antenna / film laminate, and thus the IC card / tag, cannot be sufficiently concealed and the internal structure of the antenna / IC chip can be seen through the card / tag surface. It is not preferable. Moreover, in order to produce a film having an optical density exceeding 2.0, a large amount of a concealing pigment such as titanium oxide must be contained. As a result, the strength of the film is remarkably lowered and productivity is lowered, which is not preferable.

  As a method of adjusting the optical density to 0.5 to 2.0, in addition to a method of adjusting the content of fine cavities inside the film, it is possible to contain an appropriate amount of pigment in the film. Examples of such pigments include titanium oxide, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, carbon black, bitumen, and ultramarine blue. In particular, when whiteness is required, it is preferable to use a white pigment, and it is more preferable to use titanium oxide from the viewpoint of concealment ability. Titanium oxide has two types of crystal forms, anatase type and rutile type, and no matter which crystal form is used, there is no particular difference in the effect of the present invention. When obtaining higher whiteness, it is preferable to use the anatase type in terms of color, and when obtaining higher concealability, it is preferable to use a rutile type having a large refractive index.

  The content of these pigments is preferably 1 to 30% by mass with respect to the entire film. The content of particles in the film is particularly preferably 2% by mass or more from the viewpoint of optical density, and 20% by mass from the viewpoint of surface peel strength when the film strength and antennas are bonded together, and productivity. It is particularly preferred that

  Moreover, 0.05-1.0 micrometer is preferable and the average particle diameter of these particle | grains has especially preferable 0.1-0.5 micrometer. In addition, when concealability is required over a wide wavelength range, it is also preferable to use a mixture of two or more types of particles having different average particle diameters. In addition, the average particle diameter is obtained by taking a plurality of photographs of at least 200 particles by electron microscopy, tracing the outline of the particles on an OHP film, and converting the trace image into an equivalent circle diameter with an image analyzer. To calculate. When different types of particles are used in combination, mapping processing is performed with an X-ray microanalyzer, and the type and location of the particles are discriminated by comparison with an electron micrograph.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness of the plastic film used for this invention is 25-500 micrometers. The lower limit of the thickness is more preferably 50 μm, and particularly preferably 75 μm. On the other hand, the upper limit of the thickness is more preferably 350 μm, and particularly preferably 250 μm. If the thickness is less than the above range, the unevenness caused by the internal structure of the card or tag cannot be sufficiently absorbed, and the effect of improving the design is not sufficient, which is not preferable. When the above range is exceeded, the ratio of the antenna / film laminate to the total thickness of the card or tag (for example, the total thickness of 0.76 mm for a JIS X 6301 standard product card) is significantly increased. For this reason, it is not preferable because the thickness of the mating material that forms the card / tag by being bonded together, such as a surface layer sheet for printing / decorating the surface of the card / tag, is not preferable.

  Moreover, in the plastic film used for this invention, you may provide an application layer in the surface of any one or both. Adhesion and antistatic properties can be improved by providing a coating layer comprising a composition containing an adhesion modifying resin or an antistatic agent. For example, as the adhesion modifying resin, a polyester resin is preferable, but other than this, a polyurethane resin, a polyester urethane resin, an acrylic resin, and the like can be used. Known compounds can be used as the crotch and antistatic agent. However, when a coating layer is formed on the surface provided with the thermal adhesive layer as described above or when a thermal adhesive layer is provided on the surface provided with the coating layer, the resin and additives of the coating layer and the thermal adhesive layer Depending on the combination, both performances may be hindered, and care must be taken in selecting materials, such as melting point, glass transition temperature, softening point, surface tension, and compatibility.

  As a method for providing this coating layer, commonly used methods such as gravure coating method, kiss coating method, dip method, spray coating method, curtain coating method, air knife coating method, blade coating method, reverse roll coating method are applied. it can. As a step of applying, any method such as a method of applying before stretching of the film, a method of applying after longitudinal stretching, and a method of applying to the film surface after the orientation treatment is possible.

[Production of plastic film]
The method for producing this plastic film will be described in detail as an example in which the present invention is carried out using a fine void-containing polyester film having a thermal adhesive layer.

  As a method for producing a film, after melting a raw material mixture composed of a target film composition and extruding it into a web-like sheet to form an unstretched film, the unstretched film is stretched in the longitudinal direction, Next, a general method of manufacturing by a so-called longitudinal and transverse sequential biaxial stretching method in which the film is stretched in the width direction and further subjected to heat setting treatment will be described.

  First, the process of supplying the target film raw material to an extruder and forming an unstretched sheet will be described in detail.

  The incompatible thermoplastic resin used as a cavity developing agent in the present invention (relative to the matrix polyester resin) needs to be prepared so that it can be mixed with the polyester resin, which is the main component of the film, in pellets. For example, a polyolefin resin such as a polymethylpentene resin has a lower density than a polyester resin. For this reason, re-separation of the resin pellets may occur after these resins are directly mixed and then charged into the extruder and melted, so care must be taken when producing the film of the present invention. . As a countermeasure, it is preferable to melt and mix a polyolefin resin and a polyester resin in advance and use them as incompatible resin master pellets. In addition, in the case of direct mixing regardless of this, it is also preferable to use a mixer that actively mixes in a process (for example, measurement of raw materials, in supply equipment) before being fed into the extruder.

The prepared raw materials such as drying and weighing are supplied to the extruder at the target composition ratio of the film. At this time, when adding the inert particles in addition to the raw material resin, it is preferable to supply the resin from a hopper at the top of the charging port and to supply the inert particles directly and continuously to the charging port. Thereby, segregation of inert particles can be prevented. If this is difficult due to equipment limitations, a method of preparing and mixing in advance as master pellets as in the case of the incompatible resin may be used.
In an extruder, it is heated to 260-300 ° C. and melt mixed. The molten resin is extruded into a sheet shape on a mirror-finished cooling roll adjusted to 20 to 40 ° C. to form an unstretched sheet.

  In the step of producing an unstretched sheet, a plurality of layers made of different raw material compositions can be supplied in a molten state to a manifold using a feed block or the like, and functional layers can be laminated by coextrusion. Thereby, it can be set as the highly functional film which laminated | stacked the cavity content layer, the easy-sliding layer, the high concealment layer, etc.

  In the film used in the present invention, it is preferable to laminate a layer having thermal adhesiveness on at least one surface in the step of forming the unstretched sheet by melt extrusion. The lamination can be performed by any of the known methods of co-extrusion of a plurality of molten resins, but co-extrusion is performed uniformly in the width direction of the web-like sheet so as not to cause uneven lamination thickness. is important. If this is insufficient, when manufacturing an IC card, an IC tag, or the like by thermal bonding, the uneven lamination thickness in the width direction becomes uneven adhesion, resulting in unstable product quality. It is important that the thickness unevenness in the width direction is such that the thickness ratio of each layer is 0.5 to 2.0, preferably 0.8 to 1.3, and preferably 0.9 to 1.1. Is more preferable. In order to adjust the thickness unevenness within these ranges, it goes without saying that a manifold or die suitable for the flow characteristics of the resin is used, and the temperature (that is, the viscosity) of the resin forming each layer is adjusted, This is possible by adjusting the flow rate (flow rate) of each resin.

  This polyester film unstretched sheet is then led to a longitudinal stretching step and stretched. The unstretched sheet is stretched in the longitudinal direction between two or many rolls having different peripheral speeds to form a uniaxially stretched film. As a heating means at this time, a method using a heating roll or a method using a non-contact heating method may be used, or they may be used in combination, but the film is heated to a temperature of 70 ° C. to 120 ° C. for stretching. It is important to quickly cool to 70 ° C. or lower after the orientation. The time for cooling to 70 ° C. after stretching is preferably 60 seconds or less, and more preferably 30 seconds or less. If the time required for cooling is longer than this range, the orientation of the longitudinally stretched film is re-relaxed and recrystallization occurs, making it difficult to perform lateral stretching in the next step, which is not preferable.

  Next, this uniaxially stretched film is introduced into a tenter and stretched in the width direction. In the tenter, the end of the film is held with a metal clip or the like, and then stretched 2.0 to 5.0 times perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the film. As a heating method at this time, a non-contact method using hot air or infrared rays is preferable, and the temperature of the film is controlled to a temperature of 80 ° C to 150 ° C.

  The biaxially stretched film is preferably subjected to heat treatment. Thereby, the heat shrinkage rate of the film can be reduced and the heat resistance can be improved. This heat treatment is preferably performed in a tenter, and the temperature is preferably in the range of 150 ° C to 250 ° C. In addition, since the film used in the present invention has a thermal adhesive layer, it is preferable to set the minimum temperature within the above temperature range in order to prevent unexpected adhesion to facilities and the like. It is important to keep the temperature up to 70 ° C. until the winding process.

  The void-containing polyester film thus obtained was subjected to surface treatment such as flame treatment, corona treatment, and actinic radiation treatment as necessary, and then the end portion was cut out and slit to an appropriate width, and wound into a roll. Product.

[Inlet sheet]
In general, an inlet sheet is one of members constituting an IC card or an IC tag, and includes an antenna circuit on the surface of a planar insulator such as a plastic sheet and an IC chip. Commercially referred to as an inlet sheet or antenna sheet, and sold as a pre-configured intermediate product, and a series of processes for manufacturing IC cards and IC tags from individual members such as antennas and IC chips In some cases, it may exist as an intermediate product.

  The inlet sheet used in the production method of the present invention is not particularly limited with respect to its shape, production form, supply mode, etc. as long as it is provided with an antenna circuit and an IC chip on a plastic film. However, in the present invention, the properties of the plastic film as the base material are important together with the plastic film to be bonded in the thermal bonding step, and it is preferable to use the plastic film as described above.

  The antenna circuit provided in the inlet sheet of the present invention is not particularly limited, and can be suitably used for any antenna such as an antenna formed by conductive printing or copper foil etching or a planar coiled metal conductor antenna. However. Since antennas made of metal conductors have large thickness and unevenness compared to others, when using a cavity-containing film with cushioning properties as a base material, unevenness hardly appears on the surface of cards and tags, and excellent design characteristics Demonstrate the improvement effect. The IC chip provided in the inlet sheet of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a semiconductor integrated circuit, and can be applied to an LSI chip in addition to a so-called IC chip. Moreover, it is not limited to the operation | movement and function, CPU (arithmetic unit) or memory (memory | storage device) may be sufficient. Further, this may be a single chip or a plurality of chips. However, some types of IC chips have a thickness of several hundred μm. When such a chip is used, since the shape of the IC chip appears as irregularities on the surface of the card or tag, it is necessary to devise a method for installing it on the inlet sheet. As a method of reducing the unevenness, in addition to the cushioning property of the cavity-containing film as in the case of the antenna circuit, a through hole or a recess is provided in the inlet sheet or the plastic film of the other party to be bonded to the inlet sheet, and installed in this part. Is also possible.

  Moreover, when using the film which has a heat bonding layer for the base material of the inlet sheet of this invention, it is preferable to provide an antenna circuit on the surface of a heat bonding layer. Since the thermal adhesive layer is melted and deformed in the adhesion process, when the antenna circuit is provided on this surface, the thermal adhesive layer absorbs the unevenness of the antenna circuit and the design of the IC card or IC tag can be improved. Further, when the antenna is fixed to the surface of the thermal adhesive layer, it can be bonded by heating. According to this method, compared to a method in which an adhesive containing a solvent or the like is applied, or a hot melt adhesive is separately sandwiched between the antenna and the base material, misalignment is less likely to occur. Antenna with high (high gain).

[Thermal bonding process]
The thermal bonding in the production method of the present invention can be performed by a known method of bonding a plastic film or sheet by heat, and bonding by a heat press or a laminator is preferably used. Generally, as a method excellent in processing speed and processing cost, it is preferable to carry out by a laminating method in a web form. However, in the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is preferable that the antenna circuit is installed in a state of being sufficiently buried in the plastic film in order to exhibit a higher designability improvement effect. For this reason, in the bonding step, a method of bonding by heat pressing is preferable.

  The conditions for embedding the antenna circuit by heat press are not uniquely determined and should be selected appropriately according to the material and adhesive of the plastic film to be used, but more than 15% of the thickness of the antenna circuit is buried in the film. It is preferable to process under such conditions, more preferably 30% or more is buried, and even more preferably 50% or more.

  The pressing temperature is generally preferably performed between the glass transition temperature and the melting point of the resin mainly constituting the film. For example, in the case of a polyester film, 80 to 140 ° C. is preferable and 100 ° C. or higher. More preferably, the temperature is 130 ° C. or lower. The press pressure is preferably 10 kPa to 10 MPa, more preferably 30 kPa or more, and more preferably 3 MPa or less. Moreover, as time to hold | maintain in a press state, 0.2 to 60 minutes are preferable, 0.5 to 30 minutes are more preferable, and 1.0 to 15 minutes are the most preferable. If the temperature, pressure, and time at which heat pressing is performed are less than the lower limit of the above range, the antenna circuit is not sufficiently buried and the design is not improved, or adhesion is insufficient and delamination occurs. It is not preferable. On the other hand, if the pressure or temperature exceeds the upper limit of the above range, the film layer containing the cavity will be crushed, and the thickness of the antenna-film laminate or IC card tag will be significantly thinner than the intended one. Or an IC chip or the like is damaged thermally or mechanically.

[IC card]
Since the IC card manufactured by the method of the present invention has an antenna, it is naturally preferable that the IC card is a “non-contact type” or a so-called “composite type” IC card. Note that the composite type means that both a contact type and a non-contact type input / output method are possible.

  As long as the IC card of the present invention is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention, the structure and other configurations are not particularly limited, but examples of the general configuration of an IC card include the following. Can be mentioned. That is, a configuration in which a film (top sheet) on which information or a pattern necessary for an IC card is printed is attached to one side or both sides of the inlet sheet via a thermal adhesive layer is preferable. In addition, it is preferable to use the stretched plastic film which has the heat bond proposed by this invention from the same meaning as this invention also as a film used for a top sheet here, and should contain many fine cavities in it. Is more preferable.

[IC tag]
The IC tag of the present invention is an IC tag using the laminate of the antenna and film of the present invention as a constituent member. Since the IC tag of the present invention includes a laminate of an antenna and a film, it is naturally preferable that it is a “non-contact type” or so-called “composite type” IC card. Note that the composite type means that both a contact type and a non-contact type input / output method are possible.

  As long as the IC tag of the present invention is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention of the present invention, the structure and other configurations are not particularly limited, but examples of the general configuration of the IC tag are as follows. The thing is mentioned. That is, a configuration in which a film or paper on which information or a pattern necessary for an IC tag is printed is attached to one side or both sides of the inlet sheet, and one surface is subjected to adhesive processing as necessary. Here, as the film to be bonded to the inlet sheet, it is preferable to use a polyester film or a polyolefin film in terms of heat resistance, chemical resistance, water resistance and strength, and is a stretched orientation film containing a white pigment. It is more preferable.

  Next, the connection between the technical requirements and the effects of the present invention will be described in detail using examples and comparative examples. In addition, the characteristic value used by this invention was evaluated using the following method.

[Evaluation methods]
(1) Intrinsic viscosity of polyester resin In accordance with JIS K 7367-5, a mixed solvent of phenol (60% by mass) and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (40% by mass) is used as a solvent at 30 ° C. It was measured.

(2) Thickness of plastic film Measured according to JIS K 7130 "Foamed plastic-film and sheet-thickness measuring method". An electronic micrometer (Millitron 1240, manufactured by Marl) was used as a measuring instrument, and 5 points (4 pieces) of a 5 cm square sample were measured for 5 points (20 points in total), and this average value was taken as the thickness.

(3) Apparent density of plastic film Measured according to JIS K 7222 “Foamed plastics and rubbers—Measurement of apparent density”. However, in order to simplify the notation, the unit was converted to g / cm ³ .

(4) Cavity content of plastic film The apparent density was calculated | required by the method of said (3) about the plastic film piece to measure. Next, this film piece was sufficiently finely pulverized by a freeze pulverizer. The crushed sample was degassed in a vacuum, remelted and then solidified into a sheet. This was taken out from the vacuum, sufficiently cooled until it reached room temperature, and then the apparent density was determined again. The difference in apparent density before and after deaeration was divided by the density after deaeration to obtain the cavity content.

(5) Deformation recovery rate of plastic film The film thickness was measured using a dial gauge (manufactured by Mitutoyo, upright dial gauge 7053, with 3 mmφ steel ball gauge). Next, a load of 5 N was applied to the gauge spindle, and the film was compressed with a probe to measure the thickness. Thereby, the thickness change amount (subduction amount) before and after weighting was obtained. Next, the load of 5N was removed, and the film thickness after 10 seconds was read from the dial gauge. The deformation recovery rate was obtained by dividing the amount of change in thickness (return amount) before and after drawing by the amount of subsidence when applied. The measured value was expressed as a percentage.

(6) Optical density of plastic film A spherical light diffusion chamber is attached to a spectrophotometer (Hitachi, U-3500 type) that has been carefully adjusted to zero point, and has a spectral transmittance at wavelengths of 400 nm, 700 nm, and 1000 nm. Was measured. Using the spectral transmittance (T, unit:%) of the wavelength having the largest transmittance as a representative value, the optical density (D) of the film was determined by the following equation.
D = log ₁₀ (100 / T)

(7) Melting | fusing point of a heat bonding layer The heat bonding layer was cut from the film using the microtome with a microscope. Using this as a sample, DSC was measured by JIS K 7121 “Method for Measuring Transition Temperature of Plastic Film”. The extrapolated melting start temperature of the DSC curve was taken as the melting point.

(8) Adhesive Layer of IC Card and IC Tag From the layer configuration of the IC card and IC tag, the number of adhesive layers that need to be added during the bonding process was determined. Note that the glue layer to be fixed to the paper label when configuring the IC tag is indispensable anyway and excluded from the count.

(9) Heat resistance of IC card The antenna / film laminate is placed on a clean and flat stainless steel plate (SUS304, thickness 0.8 mm) and heated in an air atmosphere using an oven (100 ° C., 24 Time). Visually evaluate the appearance of samples before and after heating (loss, discoloration, cloudiness, cracks, deformation, melting, fusion), and “○” if there is no difference between before and after heating. “△” or “×”.

(10) Chemical resistance of IC card and IC tag JIS K 7114 "Testing method for chemical resistance of plastic" was evaluated. The sample appearance (gloss loss, discoloration, cloudiness, cracking, swelling, deformation, dissolution, adhesion) after being immersed in the test solution at 50 ° C. for 7 days was visually evaluated. As the test solution, an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite (concentration 15%) was used for the IC card, and an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (concentration: 40 mass%) was used for the IC tag. “◯” indicates that no difference was observed before and after the immersion, and “Δ” or “×” indicates that the difference was recognized depending on the degree.

(11) Appearance of IC card and IC tag The visual appearance and tactile impression were investigated for 20 people who did not have knowledge as a person skilled in the art in the field of the present invention. The IC card was evaluated on both front and back surfaces, and the IC tag was evaluated on the surface after being attached to cardboard. The answers were obtained by two choices of “I care” or “I don't care” about the unevenness of the antenna circuit or IC chip, and the ratio that was judged “I care” was obtained.

[Production of polyester resin]
Polyester having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.62 dl / g, which contains 400 ppm of amorphous silica particles consisting of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol and having an average particle diameter (equivalent circle diameter by electron microscopy) of 1.5 μm, is pre-crystallized and then dried. A polyester raw material (hereinafter referred to as PES1) was prepared.

  Amorphous consisting of terephthalic acid units as dicarboxylic acid components, 70 mol% ethylene glycol units and 30 mol% neopentylglycol units as diol components, and an average particle diameter (equivalent circle diameter by electron microscopy) of 1.5 μm The polyester polyester containing 400 ppm of silica particles and having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.69 dl / g was dried to prepare a polyester raw material (hereinafter referred to as PES2).

[Production of master batch]
Using a vacuum oven, anatase-type titanium oxide particles TA having an average particle diameter (equivalent circle diameter by electron microscopy) of 0.2 μm were dried in a vacuum of 170 ° C. and 10 Pa. In addition, anatase-type titanium oxide particles TB having an average particle diameter (equivalent circle diameter by electron microscopy) of 0.4 μm were dried under the same conditions. The polyester raw material (PES1) was dried at 140 ° C. in a vacuum of 10 Pa for 8 hours. Supply 25% by mass of titanium oxide particles TA, 25% by mass of the same TB, and 50% by mass of PES1 raw material to a vent type twin screw extruder, knead at 270 ° C., extrude into strands, cool and cut and oxidize A titanium-containing masterbatch was prepared. This was precrystallized and then dried in a vacuum of 140 ° C. and 10 Pa for 8 hours to obtain a titanium oxide master batch MA.

  60% by mass of a polymethylpentene resin (Mitsui Chemicals, DX845), 15% by mass of a polypropylene resin (Grand Polymer, F132), and 25% by mass of a polystyrene resin (G797, manufactured by Nippon Polyste) are charged into the above extruder. An incompatible resin master batch MB was prepared by melt-mixing at 0 ° C.

  50% by mass of anatase-type titanium oxide particles and 50% by mass of polybutylene terephthalate resin (N1100, manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.) prepared in the same manner as above were supplied to a vent type twin screw extruder, kneaded at 270 ° C. It was extruded into a shape, cooled and cut to prepare a master batch containing titanium oxide. This was precrystallized and then dried in a vacuum of 140 ° C. and 10 Pa for 8 hours to obtain a titanium oxide master batch MC.

[Production of plastic film]
An example of producing a plastic film used in the present invention is shown below. Table 1 shows the characteristics of these films.
(Plastic film FA)
The polyester raw material PES1 was supplied to a single screw extruder A2 whose temperature was adjusted to 280 ° C. and melted. Furthermore, kneading was performed. The polyester raw material PES2 was supplied to a single screw extruder B different from the above and melted at 260 ° C. The molten resin supplied from each extruder is led to a T-die temperature-controlled at 275 ° C. through a gear pump type meter, and the thickness ratio is 1/8 so that the resin of the extruder B becomes both surfaces of the film. / 1 was laminated. This molten resin laminate was extruded onto a cooling roll adjusted to 30 ° C. to produce an unstretched film. The obtained unstretched film was uniformly heated to 65 ° C. using a heating roll, and longitudinally stretched 3.3 times between stretching rolls having different peripheral speeds. At this time, as an auxiliary heating device for heating the film, an infrared heater (rated output: 20 W / cm) provided with a gold reflecting film in the middle part of the stretching roll was placed at a position 2 cm from the film surface facing both surfaces of the film. The film temperature at the stretched part was adjusted to 92 ° C. The uniaxially stretched film thus obtained was guided to a tenter, heated to 105 ° C., transversely stretched 3.7 times, fixed in width, subjected to heat treatment at 220 ° C. for 5 seconds, and further at 180 ° C. in the width direction. 4%. The biaxially stretched film thus obtained was cooled to room temperature and then guided to a corona treatment device, and subjected to corona treatment (treatment voltage 3 kV, treatment current 500 mA) on both sides. As a result, a plastic film FA having a thickness of 75 μm was obtained.

(Plastic film FB)
Polyester raw material PES1, master pellet MA, and master pellet MB are fed to the vent type twin screw extruder A1 while being continuously measured so as to have a ratio of 78/12/10 (mass%) respectively, and then pre-mixed. It was supplied to the extruder A2. Moreover, the polyester raw material PES2 was supplied to an extruder B whose temperature was adjusted to 260 ° C. The molten resin supplied from the extruder A2 and the extruder B was laminated by adjusting the discharge amount of each extruder so that the thickness ratio was 9/1 and the total film thickness after stretching was 250 μm. Other conditions were the same as those of the plastic film FA, and a 250 μm-thick plastic film FB having a thermal adhesive layer on one side was obtained.

(Plastic film FC)
Polypropylene resin (Grand polymer, F132) and masterbatch MC are fed to the vent type twin screw extruder A1 and continuously mixed at 270 ° C. while continuously metering each in a ratio of 80/20 (mass%). , And supplied to the single screw extruder A2. Further, polyethylene resin (manufactured by Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd., 1018D) was supplied to Extruder B whose temperature was adjusted to 240 ° C. The molten resin supplied from the extruder A2 and the extruder B is not laminated by adjusting the discharge amount of each extruder so that the thickness ratio is 1/9/1 and the total film thickness after stretching is 190 μm. A stretched film was prepared. The obtained unstretched film was uniformly heated to 130 ° C. using a heating roll, and longitudinally stretched 4.8 times between stretching rolls having different peripheral speeds. Further, this uniaxially stretched film was led to a tenter, heated to 160 ° C., transversely stretched 8.8 times, fixed in width, and subjected to heat treatment at 180 ° C. for 5 seconds. As a result, a 190 μm-thick plastic film FC having a thermal adhesive layer on both sides was obtained.

(Plastic film FD)
Polyester raw material PES1, master pellet MA, and master pellet MB are fed to the vent type twin screw extruder A1 and premixed while continuously metering each so as to have a ratio of 70/10/20 (mass%). It was supplied to the extruder A2. Moreover, the PES1 raw material was supplied to Extruder B whose temperature was adjusted to 280 ° C. This was laminated by adjusting the discharge amount of each extruder so that the thickness ratio thickness ratio was 1/9/1 and the total film thickness after stretching was 200 μm so that the resin of the extruder B would be on both surfaces of the film. . Other conditions were the same as those of the plastic film FA, and a 200 μm-thick plastic film FD having a thermal adhesive layer on one side was obtained.

(Plastic film FE)
A biaxially stretched polyester film (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd., Cosmo Shine A4300, thickness 188 μm) was used as the plastic film FE.

(Plastic film FF)
Polypropylene synthetic paper (manufactured by YUPO Corporation, YUPO FPG130, thickness: 130 μm) was used as the plastic film FF.

(Plastic film FG)
Amorphous copolyester resin copolymerized with 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd., Cosmopet FP300) is supplied to a vent type twin screw extruder A1 whose temperature is adjusted to 200 ° C. and pre-melted. Then, it was supplied to a single-screw extruder A2 that was continuously temperature-controlled at 265 ° C. and melt-extruded. The molten resin supplied from the extruder A2 was discharged from a T-die via a gear pump type meter and extruded onto a cooling roll adjusted to 30 ° C. to produce an unstretched film. Thereby, a plastic film FG having a thickness of 200 μm was obtained.
Table 1 shows the characteristics of these plastic films.

[Manufacture of IC cards]
(Example 1)
A 3.2 mm square through hole was formed in the plastic film FA, and an IC chip (3 mm × 3 mm × 0.21 mm) was embedded with an epoxy resin adhesive. Also, a planar coil antenna (80 mm x 48 mm, 0.12 mm diameter adhesive resin-coated magnet wire) connected to this IC chip is fixed to one surface (upper surface) of the plastic film FA with an epoxy resin adhesive. And an inlet sheet was produced. A plastic film FD is placed on the lower surface of the inlet sheet, and a plastic film FB (with the heat-bonding layer surface facing the FE) and FE are sequentially laminated on the upper surface, and then heat-pressed at a temperature of 130 ° C. and a pressure of 200 kPa for 5 minutes. Glued. A region including an IC chip and an antenna was cut out of the adhesive body thus obtained into a rectangle of 85 mm × 54 mm to obtain an IC card.

(Example 2)
A plastic film FD was disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the inlet sheet and thermally bonded. Other conditions were the same as in Example 1 to obtain an IC card.

(Example 3)
The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FD. Further, the plastic film FB was disposed on the upper and lower surfaces so that the surface of the heat bonding layer faces the inlet sheet. Other conditions were the same as in Example 1 to obtain an IC card.

Example 4
The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FC. In addition, a plastic film FF was disposed on the upper and lower surfaces. This was heat-pressed at a temperature of 120 ° C. and a pressure of 1 MPa for 5 minutes for thermal bonding. Other conditions were the same as in Example 1 to obtain an IC card.

(Comparative Example 1)
The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FD. In addition, a plastic film FE was thermally bonded to the upper and lower surfaces through a hot melt adhesive (byron RV300, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Other than this, an IC card was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1.

(Comparative Example 2)
The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FE. Other than this, an IC card was obtained in the same manner as in Comparative Example 1.

(Comparative Example 3)
The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FG. The plastic film FG was thermally bonded to the upper and lower surfaces without using an adhesive. Other than this, an IC card was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1.

  Table 2 shows the configurations of the IC cards of the example and the comparative example.

[Manufacture of IC tags]
(Example 5)
An IC chip and a planar coiled antenna were fixed to one surface (adhesive layer surface) of the plastic film FB with an elastic resin adhesive to produce an inlet sheet. Further, a 3.2 mm square through-hole was formed in the plastic film FE, and the plastic film FE was disposed opposite to the FA so that the IC chip on the inlet sheet was accommodated here. These sheets were unwound from a roll, heated to a temperature of 135 ° C., and then thermally bonded at a pressure of 800 kPa using a laminator, and an area including an IC chip and an antenna was cut out from the obtained bonded body into a rectangle of 85 mm × 54 mm. . This was adhered to the back side of a postcard-sized coated paper printed by a conventional method using casein glue, and an adhesive layer was further provided on the back side of the coated paper to obtain an IC tag.

(Example 6)
In Example 5, the same FD was used instead of the plastic film FE. Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Example 5.

(Example 7)
In Example 5, the same FB was used instead of the plastic film FE. The film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FD. Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Example 5.

(Example 8)
In Example 5, the same FF was used instead of the plastic film FE. Moreover, the film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FC. Further, these were heat-pressed at a temperature of 120 ° C. and a pressure of 100 kPa for 5 minutes to be bonded. Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Example 5.

(Comparative Example 4)
In Example 5, the film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FD. Further, a plastic film FE was thermally bonded to the upper surface via a hot melt adhesive (byron RV300, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.). Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Example 5.

(Comparative Example 5)
In Comparative Example 4, the film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FE. Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Comparative Example 4.

(Comparative Example 6)
In Comparative Example 4, the film used for the inlet sheet was changed to a plastic film FG. The plastic film FG was thermally bonded to the upper and lower surfaces without using an adhesive. Other than this, an IC tag was obtained in the same manner as in Example 4.

  Table 3 shows the configuration of the IC tag of the example and the comparative example.

  Table 4 shows the evaluation results of the antenna / film laminate and the IC card / tag obtained in the above Examples and Comparative Examples.

In Comparative Example 1, Comparative Example 2, Comparative Example 4, and Comparative Example 5, each plastic film does not have thermal adhesiveness to each other, and thus an adhesive layer is required to form an IC card or IC tag. In these comparative examples, the cushioning property and deformation followability of the plastic film are not sufficient, and the unevenness caused by the IC chip and the antenna cannot be sufficiently absorbed. In Comparative Example 3 and Comparative Example 6, although the adhesive layer was unnecessary, the heat resistance and chemical resistance were not sufficient.
On the other hand, the IC card (Examples 1 to 4) and the IC tag (Examples 5 to 8) manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention sufficiently eliminated these drawbacks and were excellent. .

The production method of the present invention can be widely applied as a production method of an IC card or an IC tag produced by laminating plastic films.
In addition, the IC card obtained from the manufacturing method of the present invention is not only excellent in heat resistance, chemical resistance, physical durability and reliability of information retention, but also in high reliability with high processing accuracy by a simple method. Things are obtained. In particular, the method using a void-containing film has a beautiful appearance with reduced surface irregularities and excellent design, so that it can be used for information processing in economic and financial fields such as cash cards, credit cards, and prepaid cards. For entry and exit management and start-up operation of equipment and equipment used for identification and qualification of cards such as cards used, employee ID cards, student ID cards, various licenses, seal registration certificates, insurance cards, etc. While maintaining a large amount of information in an updatable manner, such as key cards involved, hospitals and libraries, cards that identify individuals at the counter business of various goods lending companies, etc. It is suitable for applications that can process information and require high reliability.

  Furthermore, the IC tag obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention is not only excellent in heat resistance, chemical resistance, physical durability and reliability of information retention, but also in a simple method with high processing accuracy and high reliability. It is. In particular, the method using a void-containing film has a beautiful appearance with reduced irregularities on the tag surface. Because of these characteristics, the IC tag obtained by the method of the present invention is attached with a string-like fixture, processed into a ring shape, adhesive processed, or attached to other slips, adhesive labels, various holders, etc. For example, it is useful to attach to a person or article and manage the information of the person or article and its movement information.

  Specific examples of IC tags include (1) tags that are fixed to a part of the body or clothes for the management of inpatients in hospitals, etc., (2) distribution / approach associated with commercial transactions such as apparel products, electrical appliances, pharmaceuticals and foods. Tags to be attached to products for inventory management, (3) Tags to be attached to luggage and manage movement / storage information for cargo transportation and delivery by truck, train, aircraft, ship, etc. (4) Small products and high prices at retailers Tags to be fixed to products to prevent or control crimes such as theft when handling products, (5) Installed on in-process products that are currently being manufactured at production sites such as factories, and products that are waiting to be shipped. Tags for management, (6) Attaching to pet animals and livestock, etc., identifying the individual, tag for managing the information of the individual and the owner, etc. Efficiently by a contact of the information input and output can process these information can be utilized in applications to perform information processing of a large number of people and goods.

Claims (7)

  An IC card or IC tag manufacturing method comprising a step of thermally bonding a plastic film (B) to an inlet sheet provided with an antenna circuit and an IC chip on one side of the plastic film (A), wherein the plastic film (A) or (B) is a stretched plastic film having a thermal adhesive layer on at least one surface, wherein the plastic film (A) and (B) are thermally bonded via the thermal adhesive layer to sandwich the antenna circuit and the IC chip. IC card or IC tag manufacturing method.   2. The IC card and IC tag manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plastic film (A) or (B) is a void-containing polyester film.   2. The IC card and IC tag manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plastic film (A) or (B) is a void-containing polyolefin film.   4. The IC card and the IC tag according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plastic films (A) and (B) has a deformation recovery rate in the thickness direction of 5 to 70%. Method.   The method of manufacturing an IC card and an IC tag according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at least one of the plastic film (A) or (B) has an optical density of 0.5 to 2.0. .   6. The method for manufacturing an IC card and an IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the thermal bonding step includes a step of performing thermal bonding by pressing or laminating at a pressure of 0.01 to 10 MPa. .   A stretched plastic film, wherein the plastic film (A) or (B) used in the production method according to claim 1 has a melting point of 200 ° C. or lower, or a thermal adhesive layer that does not exhibit a melting point.