JP2009266134A - Method for manufacturing antenna for contactless card or tag, and antenna for contactless card or tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing an antenna for a contactless card, which reduces costs and an environmental load. <P>SOLUTION: The contactless card antenna manufacturing method comprises the steps of: pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating substrate of a card to form a first Cu resin paste layer; plating the first Cu resin paste layer with Cu or Ni to form a first plating layer; pattern-printing an insulating resin paste on the insulating substrate having the first plating layer while opening portions for electrical conduction with the first plating layer to form an insulating resin paste layer; pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on the insulating substrate having the insulating resin paste layer to form a second Cu resin paste layer electrically conductive with the first plating layer via the openings; and plating the second Cu resin paste layer with Cu or Ni to form a second plating layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a non-contact card or tag antenna, which is a main component of a commuter pass, credit, entrance / exit management IC card, or IC tag, and a non-contact card or tag antenna.

  This type of contactless card or tag (which will be described as a representative card hereinafter) is laminated with a coil antenna for exchanging signals with an external device in a contactless manner. For example, this coil antenna is laminated on a card substrate by forming a coil on one or both sides of the card by etching a copper-attached substrate and etching the same. Specifically, an antenna for contactless cards forms a circuit (film antenna) by printing an etching resist on a film with copper foil or aluminum foil by screen printing or gravure printing, and dissolving and removing other than the antenna pattern. ing.

  FIG. 5 is a process diagram showing a manufacturing method in the order of steps when a circuit is formed on both surfaces of a substrate by a subtractive method (a manufacturing method using a photolithography / etching technique). In the pressure-sensitive adhesive lamination step (a), a pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to both surfaces of the insulating substrate to form a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer. In the Cu foil lamination step (b), Cu foil is attached to the adhesive layers on both sides. In the drilling step (c), a hole (through hole) is formed in a portion where conduction is desired between the Cu foil on one side and the Cu foil on the other side. In the Cu electroplating step (d), Cu electroplating is performed on both surfaces, Cu plating is performed on the inner peripheral wall of the hole, and the Cu foil on one surface and the Cu foil on the other surface are made conductive at that portion. In a DRF (dry film) lamination step (e), a photoresist film is applied to the entire surface of both surfaces. In the exposure step (f) and the development step (g), exposure and development are performed so that a mask (resist film) having a necessary shape is formed on both sides. In the etching / resist stripping step (h), unnecessary copper foil portions are etched and removed based on the mask, and then the mask is dissolved and removed with an alkaline solution. In the protective film printing step (i), an insulating protective film is bonded to both surfaces. In addition, there exists patent document 1 as a prior art document.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-193851

When a general RF-ID (Radio Frequency IDentification) pattern is formed by such a subtractive method, the remaining pattern area is 10% or less of the initial material area, and the etching cost is high. In addition, the cost of the purchased material itself is high, which is a cause of cost increase. In addition, the film material with aluminum foil is less expensive at about 1/3 of the film material with copper foil, but heat exchange costs for suppressing the heat generation of hydrochloric acid etching are generated, and the problem is above all The treatment of the saturated etchant solution must be treated as industrial waste.
Furthermore, in Japan, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film material with copper foil and PET film material with aluminum foil are not sold as general products, they are treated as custom-made products, and it is very difficult to purchase a small amount of material. It is in.

  On the other hand, in the non-contact card antenna pattern printing by the conductive paste using the additive method found in Patent Document 1, Ag paste (curing temperature is about 150 ° C.) is generally used from the viewpoint of ensuring conductivity. There is a problem that it is expensive, and is difficult to bend because of its flexibility, and is difficult to be applied to a film antenna.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is applied with printing and plating technology, is less expensive than a manufacturing method based on a subtractive method, reduces environmental burden, and can be applied to a film antenna. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a suitable method for manufacturing a contactless card or tag antenna and a contactless card or tag antenna.

  The method for manufacturing an antenna for a contactless card or tag according to the present invention includes a step of pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating base of the card or tag to form a first Cu resin paste layer, A step of forming a first plating layer by plating Cu or Ni on a Cu resin paste layer, and a conductive portion with the first plating layer with respect to an insulating substrate having the first plating layer Forming the insulating resin paste layer by pattern-printing the insulating resin paste by opening the portion, pattern printing the Cu resin paste on the insulating base material having the insulating resin paste layer, and opening the opening And a step of forming a second Cu resin paste layer electrically connected to the first plating layer, and a second plating layer is formed by plating Cu or Ni on the second Cu resin paste layer. It is those subjected to a degree.

  The contactless card or tag antenna according to the present invention includes a first Cu resin paste layer formed by pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating base of a card or tag, and the first Cu resin paste layer. A first plating layer formed by plating Cu or Ni on the first insulating layer, and insulating the base material having the first plating layer by opening a portion serving as a conductive portion with the first plating layer. Insulating resin paste layer formed by pattern printing of conductive resin paste, Cu resin paste pattern printed on insulating base material having said insulating resin paste layer, and said first plating layer at said opening A second Cu resin paste layer formed so as to be electrically conductive, a second plating layer formed by plating Cu or Ni on the second Cu resin paste layer, and an insulating substrate Said Formed in the plating layer side are those having the insulating protective film.

  According to the non-contact card or tag antenna manufacturing method and non-contact card or tag antenna of the present invention, printing and plating techniques are applied, and the cost is lower than the manufacturing method by the subtractive method, and the environmental load is reduced. A method for manufacturing a contactless card or tag antenna suitable for application to a film antenna and a contactless card or tag antenna can be obtained.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1A and 1B show a substrate configuration of a contactless card to which the present invention is applied, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view thereof, FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1A, and FIG. FIG. The IC card 1 is set to a size standardized by Japanese Industrial Standards (vertical and horizontal: 54 mm × 85.6 mm, thickness 0.7 ± 0.08 mm). The IC card 1 has a first-layer antenna portion 3 formed in a loop shape on one side of a film-like substrate 2 (for example, 50 μm thick) made of, for example, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), and on top of that. It has a second-layer antenna portion 5 formed in a loop shape through an insulating layer 4, and forms a layered coil antenna composed of two-layer antenna portions 3, 5. The substrate is configured by connecting and fixing the IC 6 by flip chip mounting. Reference numeral 7 denotes a conduction portion between the first-layer antenna unit 3 and the second-layer antenna unit 5. Further, a surface sheet (not shown) made of the same material as that of the insulating layer 4 is laminated on the substrate, and the IC 6 is sealed. In the IC card 1, the IC 6 communicates with an external device via the coil antenna.

  FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing a method of manufacturing the contactless card or tag antenna according to the first embodiment in the order of steps (hereinafter, described as a card). In the Cu resin pattern printing step (a), a Cu resin paste is printed on the insulating substrate 11 of the card by pattern printing at room temperature by screen printing or the like and cured to a Cu resin paste layer 12 (first Cu resin paste) of about 10 μm. Layer). Cu resin paste can be cured at about 100 ° C. As the insulating film substrate, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PI (polyimide), or the like can be used. The thickness of PET is, for example, 38 or 50 μm. The Cu resin paste is obtained by mixing Cu powder into a resin, for example, a polyolefin resin, an acrylic resin, or a phenol resin.

  Insulating base materials can be used for various materials such as glass epoxy base materials, acrylic base materials, glass base materials (quartz, silicon), ceramic substrates (alumina, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, zirconia) and the like. . In the case of a transparent substrate, since no adhesive is used, transparency can be ensured and it can be used as an optical card. Further, Cu in the Cu resin paste may be a copper-plated powder. The Cu resin paste has better adhesion and flexibility than the Ag resin paste.

In the Cu electroless plating step (b), Cu or Ni is plated on the Cu resin paste layer 12 formed in the Cu resin pattern printing step (a) to form a plating layer 13 (first plating layer). Plating at 40 to 70 ° C. to a thickness of 1 to 2 μm. It may be a mixed plating of Cu and Ni. Although electroless plating is used, electrolytic plating may be used.
In the insulating layer printing step (c), an insulating resin paste is screen-printed by opening a portion (diameter of about 0.2 mm) that becomes a conductive portion with the plating layer 13 with respect to the insulating substrate 11 having the plating layer 13. The insulating resin paste layer 14 having a thickness of about 10 μm is formed by pattern printing using a method such as the above. The material of the insulating resin paste is a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet curable resin, such as acrylic, polyester, epoxy, or a mixture thereof.

In the Cu resin pattern printing step (d), the Cu resin paste is screen-printed on the insulating substrate 11 having the insulating resin paste layer 14 with the same material and thickness as in the step (a). A Cu resin paste layer 15 (second Cu resin paste layer) that is electrically connected to the plating layer 13 through the opening is formed by pattern printing.
In the Cu electroless plating step (e), Cu or Ni is plated on the Cu resin paste layer 15 with the same material and thickness as in the step (b), and the plating layer 16 (second plating layer). ).

In the protective film printing step (f), an insulating protective film 17 is formed on the insulating base 11 on the plating layer 16 side. This insulating protective film 17 can use the same material as the insulating layer 14 used in the step (c). An insulating layer 17 having a thickness of about 10 μm is formed to protect and seal the circuit.
In the non-contact card antenna manufactured according to Embodiment 1, the thickness of the insulating layer 14 between the first plating layer 13 and the Cu resin paste layer 15 is as thin as about 10 μm. The capacitance C between the resin paste layers 15 can be increased. Therefore, there is an advantage that the inductance L can be reduced with respect to the resonance frequency f set by the equation (1), and the circuit length (wiring length) can be reduced.
f = 1 / (2π√LC) ---- (1)

In addition, the contactless card antenna manufactured according to the first embodiment can be soldered as compared with the PET film material with aluminum foil, has a low conductor resistance, and can be easily surface-treated. And since Cu resin paste layer is reinforced with the plating layer, it is hard to be damaged and is suitable as a film antenna.
Furthermore, the manufacturing method of the contactless card antenna according to the first embodiment is processing at a low temperature, and the waste liquid treatment is significantly reduced compared with the manufacturing method by the subtractive method, the material can be used 100%, and the atmosphere (nitrogen gas unnecessary) ) Can be processed.
The manufacturing method of the contactless card antenna and the contactless card antenna according to the first embodiment are cheaper than the manufacturing method based on the subtractive method (photolithography / etching technology), and it is necessary to apply printing / plating technology with less environmental load. If there is, it can cope with the cost reduction because the process can be greatly shortened by combining with roll-to-roll technology cultivated conventionally.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a contactless card antenna according to the second embodiment. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts, and the description thereof is omitted. The Cu resin paste layer 12 is formed by pattern printing the same Cu resin paste as in the first embodiment on the insulating base material 11 of the card, for example, PET or acrylic base material by screen printing or the like. The Cu or Ni is plated on the Cu resin paste layer 12 in the same manner as in the first embodiment to form the plating layer 13. Further, an insulating protective film 17 is formed on the insulating substrate 11 having the plating layer 13 on the plating layer 13 side. In this way, a single-layer non-contact card antenna is formed.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing a method of manufacturing a contactless card or tag antenna according to the third embodiment in the order of steps (hereinafter, described as a card). In the drilling step (a), a through hole, such as a hole having a diameter of 0.1 mm, is formed in the PET, which is the insulating base material 11 of the card, for example, a base material having a thickness of 50 μm. In the Cu resin pattern printing step (b), the Cu resin paste is pattern-printed on one surface of the insulating substrate 11 having the through holes 21 by screen printing or the like at room temperature. By evacuation, the Cu resin paste can be drawn into the through hole 21. At this time, it is preferable to place a Cu resin paste fall-preventing protective film along the other surface of the insulating substrate 11 so that the Cu resin paste does not drip from the through hole 21. Thereafter, the Cu resin paste is cured to form a Cu resin paste layer 12 of about 10 μm on the through hole 21 and the insulating substrate 11.

  In the Cu resin pattern printing step (c), the Cu resin paste is printed on the other surface of the insulating base material 11 having the Cu resin paste layer 12 on one side and cured, and the other side of the insulating base material 11 is printed. A Cu resin paste layer of about 10 μm is formed thereon. In the Cu electroless plating step (d), Cu or Ni is plated on both surfaces formed in the Cu resin pattern printing steps (b) and (c) and on the Cu resin paste layers 12 and 22 in the through holes 21. A plating layer 13 having a thickness of 2 μm is formed. In the protective film printing step (e), insulating protective films 17 and 27 having a thickness of about 10 μm are formed on both surfaces of the insulating base material 11 having the plated layer 13 to protect and seal the circuit.

In the non-contact card antenna manufactured according to the second and third embodiments, the Cu resin paste layer is reinforced by the plating layer, so that it is difficult to break and is suitable for a film antenna.
In addition, the contactless card antenna manufacturing method according to the second and third embodiments is also processed at a low temperature, and the waste liquid treatment is greatly reduced compared to the manufacturing method by the subtractive method, and 100% of the material can be used. Nitrogen gas is not required).
The non-contact card antenna manufacturing method and non-contact card antenna according to Embodiments 2 and 3 are also applied with printing / plating technology, which is less expensive than the manufacturing method based on the subtractive method (photolithography / etching technology) and has less environmental impact. However, if necessary, it can be combined with the roll-to-roll technology that has been cultivated in the past, so that the process can be greatly shortened, so that it is possible to cope with lower prices.

1 shows a substrate configuration of a contactless card to which the present invention is applied, wherein (a) is a plan view thereof, (b) is a sectional view taken along line AA of (a), and (c) is a line BB of (a). It is sectional drawing. It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the contactless card | curd or tag antenna by Embodiment 1 in order of a process. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a contactless card antenna according to a second embodiment. It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the non-contact card | curd or tag antenna by Embodiment 3 in order of a process. It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method when forming a circuit on both surfaces of a base material in order of a process by a conventional method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 IC card 2 Base material 3 Antenna part 4 Insulation layer 5 Antenna part 6 IC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 7 Conductive part 11 Insulating base material 12 Cu resin paste layer 13 Plating layer 14 Insulating resin paste layer 15 Cu resin paste layer 16 Plating layer 17 Insulating protective film 21 Through hole 22 Cu resin paste layer 27 Insulating protective film

Claims (5)

A step of pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating substrate of a card or tag to form a Cu resin paste layer;
Plating Cu or Ni on the Cu resin paste layer to form a plating layer;
And the manufacturing method of the antenna for non-contact cards or tags which performs the process of forming an insulating protective film in the said plating layer side of the insulating base material which has the said plating layer. Forming a through hole in the insulating base of the card or tag,
A step of pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on one surface of an insulating substrate having a through hole to form a Cu resin paste layer on the through hole and the insulating substrate;
Forming a Cu resin paste layer on the insulating substrate by pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on the other surface of the insulating substrate having through holes;
Plating Cu or Ni on the Cu resin paste layer to form a plating layer;
And the manufacturing method of the antenna for non-contact cards or tags which performs the process of forming an insulating protective film on both surfaces of the insulating base material which has the said plating layer. Forming a first Cu resin paste layer by pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating substrate of a card or tag;
Plating Cu or Ni on the first Cu resin paste layer to form a first plating layer;
Forming an insulating resin paste layer by pattern-printing an insulating resin paste by opening a portion to be a conductive portion with the first plating layer with respect to the insulating substrate having the first plating layer; ,
Pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating substrate having the insulating resin paste layer to form a second Cu resin paste layer that is electrically connected to the first plating layer at the opening; and A method of manufacturing a contactless card or tag antenna, wherein a step of forming a second plating layer by plating Cu or Ni on the second Cu resin paste layer is performed.   4. The method for manufacturing an antenna for contactless card or tag according to claim 3, wherein an insulating protective film is formed on the second plating layer side of the insulating substrate. A first Cu resin paste layer formed by pattern printing a Cu resin paste on an insulating substrate of a card or tag;
A first plating layer formed by plating Cu or Ni on the first Cu resin paste layer;
An insulating resin paste layer formed by pattern-printing an insulating resin paste by opening a portion to be a conductive portion with the first plating layer with respect to the insulating substrate having the first plating layer;
A second Cu resin paste layer formed by pattern-printing a Cu resin paste on the insulating base material having the insulating resin paste layer and being electrically connected to the first plating layer through the opening;
A second plating layer formed by plating Cu or Ni on the second Cu resin paste layer;
And the non-contact card | curd or tag antenna provided with the insulating protective film formed in the said 2nd plating layer side of the insulating base material.

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