JP2007055611A - Ic card mailing enclosure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card mailing enclosure capable of preventing an IC module from being damaged by a "mail sorting machine" when mailing a contact-type IC card to a user. <P>SOLUTION: The IC card mailing enclosure 3 is an enclosure for sealing and sending a contact-type IC card 1. The IC card is mounted on an IC card enclosure mount. While the IC card enclosure mount is enclosed in a mailing envelope of the substantially same size capable of containing the mount, the enclosure 3 which is the other enclosure inserted in the envelope is worked at a position facing an IC module 1m of the IC card 1 mounted on the IC card enclosure mount 2 so that a portion corresponding to the IC module is increased in thickness from 0.10 mm to 5.0 mm. The enclosure may be thick-walled, hardened, provided with a protective member formed of a plastic resin, paper or a metal affixed or fixed to the corresponding portion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an enclosure used when a contact type IC card is mailed as mail.
In particular, when an issuer sends a contact type IC card to a user, it relates to an enclosure that is mailed together with a mount on which the IC card is attached. The present invention relates to an enclosure considering that an IC module is not damaged.
The inclusion for IC card mailing includes various inclusions inserted into the envelope together with the IC card encapsulation mount. Specifically, IC card protection paper, advertising materials, informational letters, application forms, It is intended for all address printing papers.

  Most IC cards, including credit cards, are manufactured by a card manufacturer and then loaded by a credit card company or a subcontractor commissioned by a credit card company to load various credit card applications, create files, and allocate memory areas. , Parameter setting, writing of personal information, etc., writing processing inside the IC (integrated circuit), face photo printing on the card base, printing of membership number, name, expiration date, embossing, magnetic stripe A so-called issuance process such as information writing is performed, and the user who has received this is immediately ready to use it at a store in the market.

  Such issued cards may be handed over to credit card companies as they are, but in most cases, they are affixed to IC card enclosures and various inclusions (IC card protection paper, advertisements) Materials, guides, application forms, address printing forms, etc.) and sent to the user as mail.

By the way, when processing these mails, large post offices process them through a machine called a “postal sorting machine” that automatically sorts the delivery destination of a large number of mails by postal code. . The device may be used for sorting ordinary ordinary mail, and the IC card, which is also a precision electronic device, is handled harshly, and the IC module of the IC card may be damaged.
An object of the present application is to prevent the above-described damage even when an IC card-enclosed mail piece is processed by such a “post sorter”.

By the way, the “postal sorting machine” also has the following structure, although the structure varies depending on the model.
(1) Mechanism for holding and transporting mail pieces from the front and back with rubber belts (2) Front and back roller transport mechanisms to prevent slipping and tilting due to the weight of the mail pieces when they are lifted upwards (3) Transporting mail items Drive roller mechanism for switching paths (4) Conveyance mechanism using rollers and rubber belts for changing the direction of mail

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the roller transport mechanism (2) of a typical mail sorting machine, FIG. 9 (A) is a perspective view of the transport mechanism, and FIG. 9 (B) is a plan view seen from above.
The postal matter 10 is transported by being sandwiched between rubber rollers attached to the roller shafts 20 and 21. The roller shaft 20 has three surface rubber winding rollers 20a, 20b and 20c, and the roller shaft 21 also has three surface rubber winding rollers 21a, 21b and 21c.
As shown in FIG. 9B, the rollers 20a and 20b, 20b and 20c are held on the shaft 20 at an interval of about 30 mm, and the rollers 21a, 21b and 21c are also held on the shaft 21 at the same interval. Each rubber-rolled roller has a width of about 7 mm. Since the roller shaft 20 and the roller shaft 21 are arranged so as to be displaced by about 10 mm, the roller pairs of the rollers 20a and 21a, 20b and 21b, and 20c and 21c do not directly contact each other even in the absence of the mail piece 10. Has been. Although the roller arrangement varies slightly depending on the manufacturer and model, it is usual to adopt such a structure in order to prevent slippage at a place where the mail is lifted and conveyed.

When the IC card is placed in a mail, the above transport mechanism applies an external force load such as point pressure, linear pressure, bending, etc. to the IC module part of the IC card. There is a risk of damage due to inability to withstand.
Although the enclosed enclosure helps to reduce the load on the IC module to some extent, it is not created for the purpose of protecting the IC part, so it may be sufficient depending on the size, material, thickness, number of pages, etc. of the enclosure In many cases, the protective effect cannot be obtained.

  Because this postal sorting machine may be used not only for specific collection and delivery stations, but also for post offices that are relaying, even if only a specific post office is requested not to use a postal sorting machine, Since such a request cannot be made to the relay post office, measures to protect the IC module from the external force load of the mail sorting machine are indispensable.

  Although prior arts that take such countermeasures are not detected in IC card mailings, there are many prior patent documents regarding IC card encapsulation mounts as follows.

JP 05-96885 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-191509 JP 2000-272632 A JP 2004-82581 A

  Even if a contact IC card is enclosed in an envelope as a postal item and mailed, and even if it is processed by a mail sorting machine, the IC card IC can be used by using the IC card postal package that has been processed in the envelope. The problem is to prevent the module from being damaged.

  The first of the gist of the present invention for solving the above problems is an enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact IC card, the IC card being attached to an IC card encapsulation mount, and the IC card encapsulation mount. In a state of being enclosed in a postal envelope of approximately the same size that can be stored, this enclosure, which is another enclosure inserted into the envelope, faces the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. The IC card mailing enclosure is characterized in that a size portion corresponding to the IC module is processed to be thick at a thickness of 0.10 mm to 5.0 mm at the position portion to be processed.

  The second of the gist of the present invention for solving the above problems is an enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact type IC card, wherein the IC card is attached to an IC card encapsulation mount, and the IC card encapsulation mount is mounted. In a state of being enclosed in a postal envelope of approximately the same size that can be stored, this enclosure, which is another enclosure inserted into the envelope, faces the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. The IC card mailing enclosure is characterized in that a portion corresponding to the IC module is processed at a position corresponding to the IC module so as to be harder than other parts of the enclosure.

  The third of the gist of the present invention for solving the above problems is an enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact IC card, the IC card being attached to an IC card encapsulation mount, and the IC card encapsulation mount. In a state of being enclosed in a postal envelope of approximately the same size that can be stored, this enclosure, which is another enclosure inserted into the envelope, faces the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. IC card mailing inclusions characterized in that a plastic resin, paper, or metal protective member is affixed or fixed to the position portion corresponding to the IC module, It is in.

  Even if the contact type IC card is enclosed in an envelope as a postal item and mailed, and the normal card sorting process is performed with a postal sorting machine, the IC card IC module is damaged if the IC card postal package is enclosed. Not receive.

Hereinafter, the IC card enclosure of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an IC card enclosure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a use state of the IC card enclosure, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, and FIG. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the IC card encapsulation mount, Fig. 6 is a state diagram of the IC card mounted on the IC card encapsulation mount, and Fig. 7 is the IC card in the envelope. FIG. 8 is a plan view of another form of the IC card encapsulation mount.

For ease of understanding, the conventional IC card mailed state will be described first.
The IC card built-in mail item 10j is enclosed in a vacant envelope 5 as shown in FIG. 4 and mailed from the IC card issuer to the user.
An IC card encapsulation mount 2 as shown in FIG. 5 is inserted into the open window envelope 5 for use. Since the IC card encapsulation mount 2 is large enough to be accommodated in the open window envelope 5, it is smaller than the inner dimension of the envelope, but is sized to be determined at a predetermined position within the envelope. Therefore, the position is not fixed and the envelope does not move greatly in the vertical and horizontal directions.

In the case of FIG. 5, it is a single-sheet IC card encapsulation mount 2, but it may be a double-fold mount. The IC card 1 is held by fitting two diagonal portions of the IC card into a notch 6 provided by punching or the like in the encapsulating mount 2.
FIG. 6 is a state diagram in which the IC card 1 is attached to the IC card encapsulation mount 2. In the case of FIG. 6, two IC cards 1 are held. As shown in FIG. 8, the IC card encapsulation mount 2 may have a form in which a weak adhesive tape 4 is used in addition to the notch 6. In this case, the IC card can be held in a more stable state.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the IC card 1 is attached to the IC card encapsulating mount 2 and encapsulated in the empty window envelope 5, and the outer line of the encapsulating mount 2 indicates the outer shape of the mail envelope 5.
In the envelope 5 for mailing, still another enclosure 3j is enclosed. These are advertising materials, guides for handling, application forms, address printing sheets, and the like. These are collectively packaged for IC card mailing. The address such as the user's address and name is printed on any of these addresses and sealed so as to be positioned at the window of the mail envelope 5. Conventionally, in such a state, the IC card 1 is enclosed in the envelope 5 and mailed. Since no special measures are taken to protect the IC module 1m portion of the IC card 1, it is considered that the above-mentioned problem has occurred due to the processing of the “postal sorting machine”.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an IC card enclosure according to the present invention.
The IC card enclosure 3 of the present invention is a position facing the IC module 1m of the IC card 1 in a state in which the IC card 1 is attached to the IC card encapsulation mount 2 and enclosed in the mail envelope 5 together. There is a feature that the portion 3m is processed to be thick or hard. Moreover, in order to make it the state which serves as both thick and hard, you may make it the state which affixed or fixed to the said part the planar protection member 8 made from a plastic resin, paper, or metal.
The IC card enclosure 3 of the present invention is made the same size as the IC card encapsulation board 2 or substantially the same size when folded. This is because it is necessary to fit in the same position in a state of being enclosed together in the envelope 5 for mailing. In the present invention, the processed portion of the encapsulated material 3 or the protection member 8 has a feature that the IC module 1m of the IC card 1 is protected.

In the case of only thickening, there are a process of thickening the base material with a thickness of 0.10 mm to 5.0 mm and a process of laminating a material having the same quality as the base material to make it thick. When the thickness is made extremely thicker than the normal state of the inclusion, for example, when it is 5.0 mm or more, it is considered that it is susceptible to the influence of the “mail sorting machine”, and the value within the above numerical range is appropriate. .
In addition, if the substrate is made of paper, it is hardened by applying resin or impregnating it, or compressing the thickened part with a press to return it to the same thickness as other parts. Can be. Hard in this case is difficult to make extremely hard, and is usually in the range of 4.0 to 10.0 kN / m as measured by a tensile strength measuring instrument.

A simple and general method is to attach or fix a flat protective member 8 made of plastic resin, paper, or metal to the IC module 1m portion. In this case, various materials having a thickness of about 0.10 mm to 5.0 mm can be used.
As plastic resin, sheets of various plastic resins such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), vinyl chloride, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyimide, polyamide, etc. can be used. As paper, paperboard, cardboard, card paper, resin coating Paper, resin-impregnated paper, etc. can be used. Moreover, aluminum, copper, iron, nickel, stainless steel, etc. can be used as a metal. These materials can be attached to the part with an adhesive or an adhesive, or can be fixed with an adhesive tape.

The size of the portion to be thickened and hardened or to which the protective member is attached is at least about the size of the IC module 1m. This is because the pressure of the “postal sorting machine” roller is locally concentrated to avoid damage to the IC module 1m.
In general, it is preferable to increase the size of the IC module 1m in the vertical and horizontal directions by about 2 to 10 mm in consideration of the positional deviation in the envelope 5 between the IC card encapsulation mount 2 and the IC card encapsulation 3. The portion that is thickened and hardened or has a protective member attached may not be in direct contact with the terminals of the IC module 1m. This is because even the surface of the encapsulated material 3 through the paper substrate exhibits a certain effect. However, it is preferable that the protective member 8 is on the side facing the IC module 1m. This is because the area on which the contact pressure of the roller is applied can be expanded and the concentrated load on the IC chip can be prevented by using the protective member 8.

  When the address such as the user's address and name is printed on the inclusion 3, thick-wall processing of the printed part must be avoided. This is because if the printed portion is thick, it prevents good printing. However, there is no problem in processing the back side of the printing portion after printing, but the resin impregnation or the like also affects the surface.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a use state of the IC card enclosure 3, and the outer line of the IC card enclosure 2 shows the outer shape of the mail envelope 5. The IC card 1 is held on an IC card encapsulation mount 2. Another envelope 3 is sealed in the mail envelope 5. These are advertising materials, guides for handling, application forms, address printing sheets, etc., but may also be specially manufactured protection sheets for IC cards. These are collectively referred to as IC card mailing inclusion 3. The address such as the user's address and name is printed on any of these addresses so that it is located at the window of the mail envelope 5.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, showing a cross section that crosses the IC module portion of the IC card of FIG. 2. The two IC cards 1 are enclosed in an envelope 5 while being held on an IC card encapsulation mount 2. The IC card enclosure 3 of the present invention is inserted facing the IC card 1 side. A protective member 8 is affixed to the opposite side of the encapsulant 3 at the portion of the IC card encapsulant 3 that faces the IC module 1m of the IC card 1 so as to protect the IC module 1m.

A high-quality paper (90 kg / 46 size) was used as the IC card encapsulating board 2 and a board having notches 6 as shown in FIG. 5 was prepared so that two contact IC cards could be held.
Prepare the IC card protective paper as the IC card enclosure 3 using the same high-quality paper as the encapsulating mount 2, and place the IC card protective paper in the open window envelope 5 together with the IC card enclosing mount 2. When encapsulated, the protective member 8 made of a PET sheet (thickness: 200 μm) having a size of 20 mm × 23 mm was attached to two locations on the paper substrate surface of the portion facing the IC module 1 m portion of the IC card 1.

Two contact-type IC cards 1 are attached to the above-mentioned IC card encapsulation mount 2 so that the protective member 8 of the IC card encapsulation 3 is positioned to face the IC module 1m as shown in FIGS. It was set as the postal matter enclosed in the envelope 5 for mail. This mail piece was repeatedly sorted (5 times each) with a prototype testing machine having a structure similar to that of a “mail sorting machine”, but the IC module 1 m was not damaged (number of samples: 10).
On the other hand, in the conventional mailing method that does not use the IC card enclosure 3 of the present invention, one IC module 1m was damaged in the same number of treatments and the same number of samples. However, the conventional method also uses the IC card enclosure 3j to which the protective member 8 is not attached, so as to have the same thickness as the test product. From the above results, it was confirmed that the IC card encapsulant of the present invention functions effectively for protecting the IC module.

It is a top view which shows the enclosure for IC cards of this invention. It is a figure which shows the use condition of the enclosure for IC cards. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. It is an external view of the conventional mail with a built-in IC card. It is a top view of an IC card encapsulation mount. It is the state figure which attached the IC card to the IC card enclosure mount. It is the conventional state figure which enclosed the IC card in the envelope. It is a top view of other forms of an IC card encapsulation mount. It is a figure which shows the roller conveyance mechanism of a mail sorting machine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 IC card 2 IC card encapsulation mount 3 IC card inclusion, IC card protection paper 5 Mail envelope, window opening envelope 6 Cut 7 Thick-walled processing part 8 Protection member 10 IC card built-in mail

Claims (3)

An enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact type IC card, which is attached to an IC card encapsulation mount and enclosed in a mail envelope of approximately the same size that can accommodate the IC card encapsulation mount. In this state, the present enclosure, which is another enclosure to be inserted into the envelope, is a portion corresponding to the IC module at a position facing the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. Is processed so that it may become thick by thickness of 0.10 mm to 5.0 mm, IC card mailing enclosure characterized by the above-mentioned. An enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact type IC card, which is attached to an IC card encapsulation mount and enclosed in a mail envelope of approximately the same size that can accommodate the IC card encapsulation mount. In this state, the present enclosure, which is another enclosure to be inserted into the envelope, has a size portion corresponding to the IC module at a position facing the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. Is processed so that it may become harder than the other part of the said enclosure, IC card mailing enclosure characterized by the above-mentioned. An enclosure for enclosing and sending a contact type IC card, which is attached to an IC card encapsulation mount and enclosed in a mail envelope of approximately the same size that can accommodate the IC card encapsulation mount. In this state, the present enclosure, which is another enclosure to be inserted into the envelope, has a size portion corresponding to the IC module at a position facing the IC module of the IC card attached to the IC card encapsulation mount. A package for IC card mailing is characterized in that a protective member made of plastic resin, paper, or metal is pasted or fixed.

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