JP2004171089A - Ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card causing no impossibility of noncontact communication by reinforcing the connection between an IC module and an antenna coil in the IC card having both functions of contact/noncontact. <P>SOLUTION: This IC card 1 has a connecting terminal assembly, and is constituted so that the IC module 10 having both functions of contact/noncontact is installed in embedded recessed parts 221 and 222, and a noncontact communication function part of the IC module is connected to an antenna coil 24 in a card base body. A thin plate-like reinforcing plate 218 for reinforcing the IC module and an antenna coil connecting part is inserted into the card base body under the embedded recessed parts in this IC card. The reinforcing plate is preferable by inserting one reinforcing under the second embedded recessed part 222, or may be inserted under the first embedded recessed part 221 as two separate reinforcing plates so as to reinforce the whole embedded recessed parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a non-contact IC card, and more particularly to an invention for improving the reliability of connection between an IC module and an antenna coil in a card base in an IC card for both contact and non-contact.
Therefore, the field of use of the present invention relates to the field of manufacture and use of non-contact IC cards.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A non-contact IC card includes an antenna sheet (generally, sometimes referred to as an “inlay”) in which a coil is formed inside the card in order to obtain power and signals from the outside in a non-contact manner based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. An IC chip that processes and stores signals to be received and transmitted is connected to a coil antenna and used as an integrated antenna sheet, or as an IC module with a substrate, mounted on the card surface, and mounted on the card surface. It may be connected to an antenna sheet.
In the case of a contact / non-contact type IC card, the contact terminal plate must be on the card surface, so that the latter is inevitable.
[0003]
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a contact / non-contact IC card, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the IC module part of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the back surface of the contact / non-contact IC module. In the present specification, the scale in the vertical direction of each cross-sectional view is shown larger than that in the horizontal direction for easy understanding.
As shown in FIG. 4, the contact / non-contact IC card 1 has a contact / non-contact IC module 10 mounted on an IC card base 21. The card surface side of the IC module 10 is a contact terminal plate, and has a terminal plate arrangement specified by ISO.
An antenna coil 24 provided in an IC card base 21 is connected to the IC module 10 and used for non-contact communication with an external device.
[0004]
As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5, the IC card base 21 is not limited to this, but as an example, a milky white core sheet 211, a milky white core sheet 212, a back side transparent over sheet 214, a front side transparent sheet And the overseat 215 are laminated.
The antenna coil 24 is formed on the surface of the milky white core sheet 211 by winding a thin winding several times in a plane or by etching a metal foil laminated on the core sheet. The parts 241 and 242 are formed so as to face below the first embedded recess 221 of the IC module mounting part.
FIG. 5 shows a case where the antenna coil 24 is provided by winding. The three elliptical shapes at the connection ends 241 and 242 of the antenna coil means that the leading end of the winding is folded in a zigzag shape three to four times to form a plate.
[0005]
Attachment of the IC module 10 to the IC card base is generally performed as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 5, a concave portion for embedding an IC module is counterbored in an IC module mounting portion and excavated.
The buried recess includes a first buried recess 221 and a second buried recess 222. The first buried recess 221 has a shape and depth capable of fitting a terminal board (printed circuit board) of the IC module 10. Is set to a depth at which the mold resin portion of the IC module 10 can be fitted. The entire thickness of the IC card is about 780 to 800 μm, and the second buried recess 222 is excavated to a depth of about 600 μm from the card surface, so that a thin base material remains on the lower surface of the second buried recess. Become.
[0006]
When excavating the buried recess, openings 151 and 152 for connecting the connection ends 241 and 242 of the antenna coil 24 and the non-contact terminals 141 and 142 of the IC module are also excavated at the same time. It is preferable that the openings 151 and 152 expose the connection end portions 241 and 242 because the contact area with the conductive adhesive (paste) filling the openings can be increased.
[0007]
When mounting the IC module 10 in the embedded recess 22, the hot-melt adhesive sheet 3 is attached to a portion suspended in the first embedded recess of the IC module, and thermosetting conductive adhesive is applied to the openings 151 and 152. After the agent (paste) is filled, the IC module 10 is placed on the embedding recess 22 and lightly heat-pressed.
As a result, the IC module 10 is fixed to the buried recess 22, and conduction between the non-contact interface portion of the IC module and the antenna coil 24 is secured by the conductive adhesive.
[0008]
As shown in the back view of the contact / non-contact IC module in FIG. 6, the antenna connection terminals 12 connected to the IC chip 2 from the mold portion 11 in which the contact / non-contact IC chip 2 is sealed with resin. The antenna connection terminals 12 and 13 are electrically connected to the antenna coil connection terminals in the card base via the conductive adhesive filled in the openings 151 and 152.
[0009]
Despite being a contact / non-contact IC card having such a structure, in a field where the IC card is used, stress such as bending is repeatedly applied to the IC card base. Poor connection may occur.
In particular, an IC module generally has an IC chip mounted on a printed circuit board made of a base material such as glass epoxy or BT resin (bismaleimide / triazine resin), and further secures physical strength and prevents corrosion. The IC chip is hardened with a strong encapsulating resin in order to fit. On the other hand, the card base is made of plastic such as vinyl chloride or PET-G, and is a flexible material as compared with IC modules.
[0010]
As described above, the IC card is mounted with the IC module embedded in the card base. When the IC card is bent from the boundary between the IC module and the card base due to the difference in rigidity, stress concentrates on the part. It's easy to do.
Referring again to FIG. 5, there is a slight gap 5 at the boundary between the IC module 10 and the IC card base 21 (the edge portion of the buried concave portion and the portion indicated by arrow A), and the portion is made of plastic having low rigidity. In addition, since the recesses 221 and 222 for embedding the IC module are dug, it is a thin layer and extremely easy to bend.
For this reason, when a stress is repeatedly applied, a crack is easily formed from this portion, and if an antenna line is present in the cracked portion, a disconnection occurs and non-contact communication becomes impossible.
[0011]
Conventionally, various proposals have been made to prevent disconnection of an antenna coil in an IC module and a card base and increase connection reliability.
For example, Patent Literature 1 describes that an IC module is mounted such that a resin layer of a sheet constituting a card base is interposed between an antenna connection terminal and the IC module. Patent Literature 2 describes that a stress absorbing hole is provided around a counterbore.
Although it is not a non-contact IC card, Patent Document 3 proposes an IC card having a thin plate-like reinforcing member on the back surface of an IC module to be mounted.
[0012]
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-11-353439 [Patent Document 2] JP-A-2000-207518 [Patent Document 3] JP-A-2002-92572
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Although a certain degree of reinforcing effect can be obtained by the technique of the above-mentioned patent document, it cannot be said that the handling of an IC card in the field where the card is used necessarily has a sufficient strength.
Further, the technique of Patent Document 3 cannot be said to have a sufficient effect even in the case of a non-contact type IC card having an antenna coil in a card base.
Then, the inventor of the present application has studied to achieve an IC card which can obtain a sufficient reinforcing effect in a contact / non-contact type IC card, and has completed the present invention.
[0014]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The gist of the present invention to solve the above problem is that an IC module having a contact terminal plate and having both functions of contact and non-contact is mounted in a buried recess, and a non-contact communication function part of the IC module is an antenna in a card base. An IC card connected to a coil is characterized in that a thin plate-like reinforcing plate for reinforcing an IC module and an antenna coil connecting portion is inserted into a card base below a buried recess.
[0015]
In the above, in order for the reinforcing plate to reinforce the entire buried recess, one reinforcing plate may be inserted below the second buried recess, and the reinforcing plate may connect the left and right IC modules and the antenna coil connection portion. In order to reinforce, two separate reinforcing plates may be inserted under the first embedded recess.
Further, the thin reinforcing plate can preferably be a stainless plate.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The IC card of the present invention is characterized in that a thin reinforcing plate for reinforcing an IC module mounting portion, which is a boundary portion between the IC module of the IC card and the plastic substrate, which is repeatedly subjected to stress as described above, is inserted into the base. .
Since the IC card of the present invention can take two kinds of embodiments, it will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the IC card of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the layer configuration of the IC card and the embedded recess.
[0017]
The first embodiment of the IC card according to the present invention is characterized in that one reinforcing plate 218 is used so as to reinforce the entire lower side of the IC module embedded recesses 221 and 222 as shown in FIG.
As the material of the reinforcing plate, various materials may be used as long as the material has higher rigidity than the card base material such as vinyl chloride. For example, a metal plate such as stainless steel or aluminum, a glass epoxy material, a BT resin plate, a paper phenol, a melamine plate, or the like may be used.
[0018]
FIG. 1 shows an example in which an enamel-coated wire such as a copper wire is used for the antenna coil 24. The diameter of the wire is generally about 0.10 to 0.11 mm.
The antenna coil connection ends 241 and 242 are formed by folding this wire 3 to 4 times in a zigzag shape, and the position is such that it is on the lower surface of the first embedded recess 221 on which the substrate of the IC module is mounted. Have been.
Openings 151 and 152 are excavated from the first buried concave surface to a depth where the antenna coil connection ends 241 and 242 are exposed or reach the center of the antenna coil connection end, and conductive holes are formed in the holes. As described above, the conductive paste is filled with the conductive paste so as to conduct to the antenna connection terminals 12 and 13 of the IC module 10.
[0019]
Since the lower portion of the buried recess 222 is originally a thin portion, the reinforcing plate 218 can also play a role of reinforcing the card base itself.
The entire thickness of the card base is about 800 μm, and the depth of the second buried recess from the card surface is about 600 μm. Therefore, the reinforcing plate is inserted into a plastic plate of about 200 μm.
In FIG. 1, the reinforcing plates 216 and 217 are preferably thin plates having a thickness of about 0.1 mm, and are illustrated to have the same thickness as the copper wire of the antenna coil.
[0020]
Since it is necessary to reinforce the stress concentration lines 4A and 4B generated at the boundary between the IC module 10 and the plastic IC card base 21, the reinforcing plate 218 is formed not only on the lower surface of the embedded recess but also on the left and right sides. .
Since the terminal board size of the IC module is about 11.8 mm × 13.0 mm, it is sufficient if the reinforcing plate has a shape of 15 mm × 15 mm.
[0021]
In the second embodiment of the IC card according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, a stress concentration line 4A is formed on the lower surface side of the IC module embedding recess 221 and at the boundary between the IC module 10 and the plastic IC card base 21. , 4B are characterized in that reinforcing plates 216, 217 are inserted.
In the case of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the reinforcing plates 216 and 217 are separately inserted into the card bases on both sides of the second embedded recess 222. As in the case of the first embodiment, a method in which a cutout portion is provided in the core sheet and a reinforcing plate is fitted into the cutout portion can be adopted as in the case of the first embodiment.
[0022]
【Example】
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
<Preparation of antenna sheet>
The antenna sheet was formed by enamel (polyurethane) -coated copper wire having a wire diameter of about 100 μm on the surface of a milky white vinyl chloride core sheet 211 having a thickness of 260 μm so as to make several turns around the card base material. The copper wire was fixed to the core sheet by a method in which the enamel coating of the wire was melted and fixed to the core sheet.
The connection end portions 241 and 242 of the antenna were formed by bending the copper wire material three times in a zigzag shape and solidifying the copper wire material so as to have a plane of about 2 mm square.
[0023]
<Preparation of card base>
As shown in FIG. 3, the card base 21 has a 260 μm thick milky white vinyl chloride core sheet 211 on which the antenna coil 24 is formed as a central layer, and on both sides thereof, a 360 μm thick milky white vinyl chloride core sheet 212 and a 100 μm thick A milky white vinyl chloride core sheet 213 is tied together, and a 50 μm thick transparent vinyl chloride oversheet 214 on the back side of the three-layer core sheet and a 50 μm thick transparent vinyl oversheet 215 on the front side are combined. Is what you do.
In the present embodiment, the entire lower portion of the module embedding recess 222 of the milky white vinyl chloride core sheet 213 on which the IC module 10 is mounted is cut out into a 15 mm square, and is sized with a 100 μm thick stainless steel plate (SUS304). Was used by fitting a reinforcing plate 218 of 15 mm × 15 mm.
[0024]
The stack of card base materials is introduced into a press machine, hot-pressed (conditions: 1.5 × 10 ⁶ Pa, 150 ° C., time 5 minutes), and then cooled to form an integrated card base. And cut into individual card sizes.
Thereafter, a buried recess 22 for mounting an IC module was excavated with a counterbore. The depth D1 of the first embedded recess 221 was 190 μm, and the area was 11.9 × 13.1 mm. The depth D2 of the second embedded recess 222 was set to 600 μm from the card surface, and the size was set to a size (8.0 × 8.0 mm) in which the mold part of the IC module could be fitted.
Then, semicircular holes 151 and 152 for antenna connection were excavated from the surface of the first buried recess to a radius of 70 μm using an end mill. Note that the semicircular diameter portions of the openings 151 and 152 face the second embedded recesses 222.
The depth D3 of the openings 151 and 152 was set to 360 μm from the card surface, so that the antenna coil connection ends 241 and 242 were exposed.
[0025]
The contact / non-contact type IC module 10 having a contact terminal plate size of 11.8 × 13.0 mm and a thickness of 180 μm was used. A hot-melt adhesive sheet having a thickness of 50 μm is adhered to the back surface of the IC module, and the openings 151 and 152 are filled with a conductive paste. Then, the IC module 10 is fitted into the embedded recess 22. The mounting of the IC module was completed by applying a slight heat pressure from above the IC module.
[0026]
The contact / non-contact IC card obtained in this manner was hardly broken at the antenna coil connection portion due to bending stress, and was able to withstand a long-term use test in the field.
Although the above-described embodiment is directed to an example of an antenna coil formed by a winding, disconnection occurs in the same manner in an etched antenna wire or a printed wiring, and the present invention can be similarly applied. Is obvious to those skilled in the art.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the IC card according to the present invention, since the reinforcing material is inserted into the card bases at both ends of the concave portion in which the IC module is embedded and where stress is concentrated, the rigidity of the portion is reduced. As a result, disconnection of the antenna coil can be prevented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of an IC card of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the IC card of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a layer configuration of an IC card and a buried recess.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a contact / non-contact IC card.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the IC module part of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a view showing the back of the contact / non-contact IC module;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contact / non-contact IC card 2 Contact / non-contact IC chip 3 Hot melt type adhesive sheet 4A, 4B Stress concentration line 5 Gap 10 Contact / non-contact IC module 11 Mold part 12, 13 Antenna connection terminal 21 IC Card base 22 Embedded recess 24 Antenna coil 151, 152 Opening 211, 212, 213 Core sheet 214, 215 Oversheet 216, 217, 218 Reinforcing material or reinforcing plate (stainless steel plate)
221 First buried recess 222 Second buried recess 241, 242 Antenna coil connection end

Claims (4)

An IC card having a contact terminal plate and having both contact and non-contact functions is mounted in an embedded recess, and a non-contact communication function part of the IC module is connected to an antenna coil in a card base. An IC card, wherein a thin reinforcing plate for reinforcing an antenna coil connection portion is inserted into a card base below a buried recess. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein one reinforcing plate is inserted under the second buried recess so that the reinforcing plate reinforces the entire buried recess. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing plate is inserted under the first buried recess as two separate reinforcing plates for reinforcing the left and right IC modules and the antenna coil connection portion. 4. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein the thin reinforcing plate is a stainless steel plate.

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