JP2000067199A - Ic card and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the IC card which has a flat card external shape by efficiently stores internal components such as an IC chip in a card base material while absorbing steps and is tough against various external forces and its manufacture. SOLUTION: The IC card 4 is constituted by adhering and integrating a 1st card base material 1 where internal components 5 and 6 including an IC are mounted, an adhesive layer 3 in an uneven shape complying at least partially with the uneven shape of the 1st card base material accompanying the mounting of the internal components, and a 2nd card base material 2. The components can be efficiently stored while their steps are absorbed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card having an electronic component such as an IC chip as a built-in component and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, from the viewpoints of information processing and confidentiality, IC cards having storage devices such as IC memories and control elements, which have dramatically increased storage capacities, are being used instead of magnetic cards.

[0003] Such an IC card is constructed by sandwiching a built-in component between front and back card bases made of a rigid electrically insulating plastic sheet. The thing built in the card base material is, for example, a plastic flexible substrate, a rigid substrate obtained by hardening glass fiber or the like with an epoxy resin, or the like. A circuit pattern formed by etching a copper foil is formed on these substrates, and electronic components such as a memory chip and an IC chip such as a microprocessor for controlling the memory chip are mounted thereon. Eventually, the circuit board on which these built-in components are mounted is sandwiched between the card bases on the front side and the back side, and is integrally formed by pressure bonding or heat and pressure fusion. An adhesive may or may not be used during the bonding and fusing.

[0004] Some of these are installed in financial institutions, etc.
There is a contact type IC card in which an input / output terminal for inserting into an input / output terminal of a processor of an IC card reader / writer to obtain electrical connection is exposed on the surface of a card base material. In recent years, in transportation, etc., communication such as reading and writing with the outside and obtaining electric power for activation are also performed wirelessly.
For example, a non-contact type I with a built-in spiral antenna coil
C-cards have also come to be seen and tend to be widely used.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned IC card has the following problems. In such a card manufacturing method, the built-in components including the IC chip built into the card include an IC chip, a capacitor, an antenna coil, an anisotropic conductive adhesive sheet, an electric circuit pattern, and the like. Because there is a step with a different height, this is sandwiched between rigid card bases from both sides, and from the outside, a card is formed by heat and pressure fusion with a substantially flat heating metal plate and integrated.
Excessive pressure is concentrated on high IC chips, etc.
There have been problems such as damage to the IC chip and failure in electrical connection.

Conventionally, various proposals have been made for mounting a built-in component having a step, such as an IC chip, in a card base material. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-479 discloses that a concave portion for accommodating an IC module is provided in a card base material, and then the gap between the IC module and the card base material is adjusted with an adhesive. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 6-176214 discloses that an embossed portion is provided in a region outside a module portion. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-131788 discloses that a spacer member having a height higher than the mounting height of a module is provided. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-69692 discloses polishing a sealing surface for flattening an IC module. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-303695 discloses the use of a mounting substrate having an uneven surface and a cover molded article having unevenness opposite to the unevenness of the mounting substrate.

[0007] In the method of providing unevenness on the card base material, sufficient accuracy cannot be obtained, and a paste-like adhesive is used to partially adjust the gap. The process becomes complicated, such as filling and fixing the gaps, and it cannot be said that it is efficient.

In view of this situation, the present invention efficiently stores a built-in component such as an IC chip in a card base material while absorbing a step between components and the like, flattens the outer shape of the card, and reduces various external forces. An object of the present invention is to provide a robust IC card and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0009]

An IC card according to the present invention comprises: a first card base on which a built-in component including an IC is mounted; and an unevenness of the first card base accompanying the mounting of the built-in component. This is an IC card in which an adhesive layer having an irregular shape at least partially corresponding to the shape in advance and a second card base are bonded and integrated.

It is preferable to have a gap in at least a part of the adhesive layer because it is difficult to apply an extra external force to an electronic component such as an IC. The first card base may be an intermediate base, and a third card base may be further provided on the opposite side where the second base is bonded. The method of manufacturing an IC card according to the present invention is a method of bonding an IC card to a first card base having an irregular shape due to mounting of a built-in component, the adhesive having a concave and convex shape at least corresponding to the irregular shape of the first card base. IC for forming an agent layer on the first or second card base or on another support, and bonding and integrating the first card base and the second card base via the adhesive layer This is a method for manufacturing a card.

The method of forming the adhesive layer is preferably a screen printing method, in order to form the uneven shape. The method of forming the uneven shape of the adhesive layer may be a molding method. The adhesive of the adhesive layer may be a heat-sensitive film adhesive.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a card is bonded by using an adhesive layer which corresponds in volume to the shape of the built-in component of the card. Absorption and flattening are achieved. Built-in components such as IC card modules are precisely formed in dimensions by applying precision printing technology and computer-controlled laser processing, etc. By making it compatible, the IC chip can be easily and efficiently and stably mounted and fixed.

There are two methods for obtaining an adhesive layer having an uneven shape in advance. One is a method using a screen printing method. In this method, the formation of the uneven shape and the formation of the adhesive layer itself are performed simultaneously. Another is the typing method. In this method, a sheet-like film adhesive layer is formed in advance,
An uneven shape is formed on the layer by a mold or the like.

First, a method using a screen printing method will be described below. An adhesive is applied by a screen printing method on a support such as release paper or on a card substrate on which no built-in components or the like are mounted, using a coating head made by screen engraving in a desired pattern. The shape of the adhesive layer does not necessarily have to be completely the same as the shape of the built-in component. In other words, due to the flow of the adhesive that occurs during heat fusion bonding, even if there is a slight inconsistency in the shape difference between the adhesive surface and the built-in component, it is expected that the flow will flow into the irregularities and gaps of the built-in component and quickly flatten. Is also good.

As the coating amount per unit area, the amount of the adhesive is reduced at the portion corresponding to the convex portion of the built-in component, and the amount of the adhesive is increased at the portion corresponding to the concave portion. When the adhesive is selected such that the adhesive layer flows at a temperature equal to or lower than the thermal deformation temperature of the front and back base sheets at the time of heat fusion bonding, the gap between the built-in component and the base sheet is filled and the external form is flat. An IC card is obtained.

In case the applied adhesive is excessive, a relief area may be provided. That is, it is also possible to disperse the pressure by providing an empty space in the coating portion in advance and, at the time of pressurization, excess adhesive flowing into the empty space.

A plate for screen printing is obtained by applying a photosensitive emulsion to a screen made of nylon, tetron, silk, stainless steel or the like and baking and developing a pattern having a desired shape. In addition, a metal mask such as a nickel plate is subjected to plate making by etching, laser processing, or the like, and an adhesive is coated in a dot-like or solid form at a necessary portion. The coating amount per unit area is adjusted by the adhesive volume of the dots.

Another type forming method will be described below. As a form of the adhesive before the molding, a cut sheet or a wound sheet of the film adhesive may be used. Further, a substrate coated on a support in a flat film shape over almost the entire surface using other general coating means can also be used. That is, the adhesive layer can be used alone or in a state with a support. Such a sheet-like adhesive layer is subjected to molding according to the shape of a built-in component by using a plate, a real product, or the like made of metal, wood, plastic, ceramic, or the like. For example, a mold or an engraving roll can be used to obtain a desired type of film adhesive. Necessary molding work can also be performed by using a combination of a calender roll, an embossing roll, an engraving roll, a cooling roll, a plasma fluorine processing roll, a silicon rubber roll, a laser marker, a mold press, and the like. In addition, each step can be continuously performed by performing the bonding step immediately after the molding step. When bonding the molded adhesive layer to the front and back card base materials, it is more preferable to perform registration using a register mark or the like for registration.

Further, a combination of the type of the adhesive, the number of coatings, and the method can facilitate the formation of a high coating amount and a pattern. These include roll coater, comma coater, gravure coater, meyer bar coater, air knife coater, T-die coating, curtain coater, rotary screen coater, dip coater, knife coater, cast coater, spray coating, single sided, double sided, coating After the flat coating, a combination of uneven coating such as molding can be performed.

The method of applying an adhesive to the support is preferable because the handling of the adhesive is facilitated. Examples of such a support include a plastic sheet, release paper, paper, cloth, nonwoven fabric, cushioning material, foam, synthetic paper, laminated paper, metal sheet, or a composite thereof. In addition, the front or back card base material may be used as a support, and such a support may be used as a part of a card component when bonding an IC card. Alternatively, a release paper may be used as a support, and the support may be separated during the bonding step, for example, after temporary press bonding.

The adhesive used in the present invention preferably has a lower softening point, but has a Vicat softening point of 200 ° C. or lower, preferably 180 ° C. or lower, more preferably 150 ° C. or lower.
The following thermoplastic polymer materials are good. For example, vinyl acetate resin, vinyl chloride resin, acrylic resin, olefin resin, diene resin, natural rubber, gelatin, glue, abietic resin, cellulose derivative resin, polyester resin, epoxy resin, vinyl butyral resin, urethane resin, Polyamide resins, alkyd resins, melamine resins, urea resins, phenol formalin resins, petroleum resins, maleic acid copolymers, and the like, alone, mixtures, and copolymers.

When the softening point is high and close to the thermal deformation temperature of the card base material, the front and back card base materials are easily affected by deformation and the like at the time of thermocompression bonding. Therefore, the softening point is lowered by using a plasticizer or the like. Is preferred. If the softening point is too low, for example, a softening point of 0 ° C. or less is not preferable because the state of the applied mold and the stability of the molded mold are lacking. However, it can be improved by using a support, and by performing a bonding step as soon as possible after the formation and application of the adhesive layer. It can also be improved by using a curing agent to increase the softening point or by adding a pigment or the like to improve cohesion.

These may be used alone or as a mixture, and may be subjected to hot melt coating, water-based or solvent-based coating and, if necessary, hot-air drying to obtain a film-like adhesive layer. Process to the required shape during or after coating.
The coating amount depends on the final thickness of the target IC card, but is usually 5 to 1000 g / m ² in dry weight and 5 in thickness.
１０００1000 μm.

Materials added to the adhesive layer include dispersants,
Thickeners, fats and oils, crosslinkers, curing agents, plasticizers, release agents, antioxidants, stabilizers, ultraviolet absorbers, stilts, foamed particles, conductive agents, fiber fillers, rubbery particles, colored pigments, opacity Materials, catalysts, and the like are appropriately used as long as the insulating property is not impaired. 10 ¹⁰ preferably 1 in volume resistivity
0 ¹² Ωcm or more is good.

The curing agent may be added within a range where heat fusion is possible. For example, there are an epoxy resin, an isocyanate compound, a metal crosslinking agent, and the like. The cross-linking reaction proceeds after bonding by moisture in the air, and a sufficient flow for bonding is obtained when bonding also a moisture-curable isocyanate group-containing urethane resin or the like obtained with a required hardness with a time delay.
It is preferably used because it hardens over time to obtain the required strength. In addition, a method in which a curing agent is partially sprayed and used to reinforce only a specific portion is also used.

As the front and back card base material used in the present invention, a combination of card base materials having a softening temperature higher than that of the adhesive material is preferable because required bonding strength can be obtained without impairing the card appearance. For example, polyethylene terephthalic acid resin, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin, polybutylene resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polycarbonate resin, metal sheet, paper, synthetic paper, etc. may be used alone or as a mixture, or a composite material thereof. Desired patterns, explanatory characters, and the like are printed on the surface of the card base material by offset printing or silk screen printing. Cards are formed after punching, but printing is performed before and after punching.

When the card substrate on which the built-in components are mounted is an intermediate substrate, various substrates on which electric components are mounted are used. As such a substrate, various synthetic resin film substrates, insulating substrates such as paper and synthetic paper are used. In such a case, another card substrate is adhered to the side of the intermediate substrate on which the built-in component is not mounted. As this other card base, the same one as the front and back card base described above can be used.

In the present invention, the adhesive layer is pressed between a front and back card base material at a position corresponding to the built-in component for an IC card by a thermocompression roller or a flat plate at a position corresponding to the shape. The temperature of the adhesive is 50 to 200 ° C., the pressing condition is 1 to 100 kg / cm ² , and the pressing time is 1 to 10
It is about 00 seconds. It is also possible to provide deaeration holes in the card base material under reduced pressure or on the front and back sides and bond them to prevent entrapment of bubbles. The adhesive develops rigidity after heat melting, after flow, and after solidification. Cooling is performed in a pressurized state to maintain the overall flatness.

Further, laminating of transparent over sheet, counterbore processing, hybrid IC processing, bar code,
It is processed into a multifunctional IC card through steps such as numbering processing, magnetic stripe processing, and photo pasting.

According to the present invention, when bonding to a card base on which a built-in component having a different height for an IC card is mounted, a layer corresponding to these is provided as an adhesive layer to absorb steps. Excellent flatness and beautiful print finish,
Provided is an IC card and a method for manufacturing the same, which does not increase the manufacturing cost and reduces damage caused by external force of the IC chip due to external force.

[0031]

[Example 1]

(1) A 35 μm thick copper foil antenna circuit etching method was applied to a 100 μm thick opalescent polyethylene terephthalate film having a card substrate thickness for the back surface. Separately, an IC chip (4 mm) on which connection bumps having a height of 50 μm are printed.
× 4 mm, 250 μm thickness) was connected to the antenna terminal using a 50 μm thick anisotropic conductive film adhesive. The step in the thickness direction was 310 μm. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the back surface card substrate 1 on which the IC chip is mounted. It can be seen that the IC chip 5 and the antenna unit 6 are mounted on the back card substrate 1.

(2) The thickness of the card substrate for the surface is 100 μm.
A milk-white polyethylene terephthalate film was coated with a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resin (average degree of polymerization 400, Vicat softening point 65
(° C) in MEK is applied using a screen printing plate that mimics the electric circuit on the back side while inserting the registration mark to form an adhesive layer, and an adhesive layer with a pattern corresponding to the unevenness of the electric built-in parts is provided. Was. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of the surface card substrate 2 provided with the adhesive layer.
At this time, screen coating is performed so that a plurality of voids a are provided in the adhesive layer 3. This gap a
Corresponds to the blank portion of the coating portion provided in advance as described above, and at the time of bonding, the adhesive flows to close these voids.

(3) The front and back card substrates 1 and 2 are
At 20 ° C. for 20 seconds and a pressure of 20 kg / cm ² , they were adhered to the registration mark. (4) In the integrated IC card, even on the chip where the internal component has the largest internal step, there was no swelling on the card base material, and the chip breakage rate during offset printing was hardly observed. A cross-sectional view of the bonded IC card 4 is shown in FIG.

Example 2 (1) Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin (Vicat softening point 41
° C) The aqueous dispersion was applied on a double-sided release paper with a screen plate imitating a built-in component such as an IC chip to provide an adhesive layer having a pattern corresponding to the unevenness of the built-in component. (2) A 35 μm thick copper foil antenna circuit was formed on an opalescent polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of 100 μm by using a copper foil antenna circuit. Separately, an IC chip (4 mm) on which connection bumps having a height of 50 μm are printed.
× 4 mm, 250 μm thickness) was connected to the antenna terminal using a 50 μm thick anisotropic conductive film adhesive. The step in the thickness direction was 310 μm.

(3) An IC card was obtained by laminating the front card substrate and the back card substrate of (2) using the adhesive of (1). (4) In the IC card, even in the chip where the inner step of the built-in component is the largest, there was no swelling on the card base, and the chip breakage rate during offset printing was hardly observed. The conditions such as the cross section of the IC card were the same as in FIG.

Example 3 (1) A backing card base material was formed on a 100 μm thick milky white polyethylene terephthalate film by a 35 μm thick copper foil antenna circuit etching method. Separately, an IC chip (4 mm) on which connection bumps having a height of 50 μm are printed.
× 4 mm, 250 μm thickness) was connected to the antenna terminal using a 50 μm thick anisotropic conductive film adhesive. The step in the thickness direction was 310 μm. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the back surface card substrate 1 on which the IC chip is mounted. It can be seen that the IC chip 5 and the antenna unit 6 are mounted on the back card substrate 1.

(2) An ethylene isobutyl acrylate copolymer resin film (250 μm thick, Vicat softening point of 38 ° C.) was molded with a fluorine-engraved engraving roll imitating a built-in component, and a pattern corresponding to unevenness was used. A film adhesive (adhesive layer) was obtained. The adhesive layer was affixed to the same card substrate for surface as in Example 1 while registering with the register mark. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the surface card base material 2 provided with the adhesive layer.

(3) The front and back card substrates 1 and 2 are
At 20 ° C. for 20 seconds and a pressure of 20 kg / cm ² , they were adhered to the registration mark. (4) In the integrated IC card, even on the chip where the internal component has the largest internal step, there was no swelling on the card base material, and the chip breakage rate during offset printing was hardly observed. FIG. 2C shows a cross-sectional view of the bonded IC card 8. In the IC card, even in the chip having the largest step among the built-in components, there was no swelling on the card base, and the chip breakage rate during offset printing was hardly observed.

Example 4 Polybutene film (thickness 3
An integrated IC card was obtained in the same manner as in Example 3 except that a sheet preliminarily molded with 50 μm and a Vicat softening point of 104 ° C. was bonded by using a hot press. In the IC card, even in the chip where the inner step of the built-in component was the largest, there was no swelling on the card base, and the chip was hardly damaged during offset printing.

[Comparative Example 1] When the polybutene film (Vicat softening point: 104 ° C.) was not used, a portion corresponding to the position of the chip swelled on the back card base material to impair the aesthetic appearance, and the chip was not printed during offset printing. Was as high as 10%.

[0041]

According to the present invention, an IC card and other built-in components are efficiently accommodated in a card base material while absorbing the steps between the components, thereby flattening the outer shape of the card and being robust against various external forces. And a method for producing the same.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an IC card in each step of manufacturing an IC card in which an adhesive layer is formed by a screen printing method.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an IC card in each step of manufacturing an IC card in which unevenness of an adhesive layer is formed by a molding method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Back card base 2 Front card base 3,7 Adhesive layer 4,8 IC card a Void

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A first card base on which a built-in component including an IC is mounted, and an uneven shape at least partially corresponding to the uneven shape of the first card base accompanying mounting of the built-in component. An IC card in which the adhesive layer and the second card base material are bonded and integrated. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the adhesive layer has a void. 3. The first card substrate is an intermediate substrate,
3. The IC card according to claim 1, further comprising a third card base on an opposite side surface to which the second base is adhered. 4. An adhesive layer having an uneven shape corresponding to at least the uneven shape of the first card base material on the first card base material having the uneven shape accompanying mounting of the built-in component. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first card base and the second card base are formed on the second card base or another support, and bonded and integrated via the adhesive layer. The method for producing an IC card according to claim 1. 5. The method for manufacturing an IC card according to claim 4, wherein the method for forming the adhesive layer is a screen printing method. 6. The method for manufacturing an IC card according to claim 4, wherein the method for forming the uneven shape of the adhesive layer is a molding method. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the adhesive of the adhesive layer is a heat-sensitive film adhesive.