JP2011248818A - Non-contact type communication medium and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for properly performing by laser welding, electric connection between an IC module and an antenna pattern, which constitute an inlet included in a non-contact type communication medium.SOLUTION: A method for manufacturing a non-contact type communication medium including an inlet where an IC module is connected to an antenna pattern is performed as follows. When the inlet 2 is formed, where the IC module 6 including a connection terminal 91 wired to an IC chip 8 and exposed and the IC chip is connected to the antenna pattern 4 on a thermoplastic insulation substrate 3, a prescribed surface of the antenna pattern is positioned by contact at a corresponding position of the exposed connection terminal, and then, welded by laser irradiation at a plurality of points by each corresponding set in the connection terminal and the antenna pattern from the side of the thermoplastic insulation substrate.

Description

  The present invention relates to an inlet that is used as a non-contact communication medium and includes an IC module and an antenna pattern, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  Various non-contact communication media such as IC tags, IC cards, electronic passports, etc. are supplied in large quantities with stable quality using an inlet with an IC pattern connected to an antenna pattern as the main component. It is becoming more and more important to be done.

  An inlet included in the non-contact communication medium is generally used to connect an IC chip electrically connected from a pad by wire bonding or the like and mounted with a sealing resin such as epoxy and the electrical connection from the pad to the outside. An IC module comprising exposed connection terminals is formed by making a predetermined connection with an antenna pattern on a thermoplastic insulating substrate such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

  FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view for explaining an example of the non-contact communication medium 1 including the inlet 2. On the insulating base 3, the antenna pattern 4 is formed in a coil shape by, for example, photolithography and etching, and the inlet 2 having the connection portion 7 between the end of the antenna pattern and the connection terminal of the IC module 6 is configured. To do. The antenna pattern 4 is formed by adding a bridge pattern 5 for circuit configuration as necessary. Regarding the method of electrically connecting the connection terminal of the IC module and the end of the antenna pattern on the insulating base material at the connection portion 7, in Patent Document 1, a resist film used in the antenna pattern manufacturing process is used as a protective film. In addition, a method has been proposed in which a part of the protective film is thermally and / or mechanically broken and electrically connected. In addition, as a specific example of the method of electrically and thermally destroying and / or mechanically destroying, an example by resistance welding is given.

  Patent Document 1 describes that laser welding is also possible, but does not mention specific means for realizing it. Patent Document 2 describes a method of irradiating a laser from the back side of a circuit board film as a method for mounting components on a flexible printed circuit. However, an IC module and an antenna in a non-contact communication medium including an inlet are described. The purpose and the cross-sectional configuration are different from the electrical connection with the pattern.

JP 2002-109502 A JP 2009-094349 A

In order to maintain the electrical connection between the IC module and the antenna pattern with high reliability, it is necessary that the state of metal melting in the connecting portion is uniform and appropriate, and that the mechanical strength is increased. is there. However, in the method in Patent Document 1 in which resistance welding is performed from the connection terminal side of the IC module, since the welding head is brought into contact with the joint portion, the weldability changes depending on the surface state of the electrode, and the joint strength becomes unstable. In a material having high conductivity and heat conductivity such as copper or aluminum used for the antenna pattern, a large current is required for welding, and the material may be blown improperly. Laser welding is an excellent technique that makes it easy to independently control the holding of the object and the application of energy for welding, but in order to properly connect the IC module and the antenna pattern constituting the inlet. The method of is not known.

  The present invention is proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to appropriately perform electrical connection between the IC module constituting the inlet and the antenna pattern by laser welding. It is to propose a method. Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact communication medium including an inlet that can confirm the state of the electrical connection that has been properly performed.

  As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a method of manufacturing a contactless communication medium including an inlet in which an IC module and an antenna pattern are connected, and is wired and exposed to an IC chip. When the IC module including the connection terminal and the IC chip forms the inlet connected to the antenna pattern on the thermoplastic insulating substrate, the predetermined surface of the antenna pattern is positioned and contacted to the corresponding position of the exposed connection terminal. Then, from the thermoplastic insulating base material side, welding is performed by laser irradiation at a plurality of points per corresponding pair of the connection terminal and the antenna pattern. .

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the thermoplastic insulating base material is PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) having a thickness of 15 to 200 μm. It is a manufacturing method of a contact-type communication medium.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method for producing a non-contact communication medium according to the first or second aspect, the antenna pattern is an aluminum foil or a copper foil having a thickness of 10 to 50 μm. is there.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the non-contact communication medium according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the connection terminal uses a copper-based material having a thickness of 50 to 200 μm. It is a manufacturing method.

  The invention according to claim 5 includes an inlet in which an IC module including an IC chip and a connection terminal and an antenna sheet provided with an antenna pattern on a thermoplastic insulating substrate are connected, and the connection terminal and the antenna By providing a melted part and a melted part that are in contact with and welded to a predetermined surface of the pattern at the connection part of the inlet, the connection part between the IC module connection terminal constituting the inlet and the antenna pattern has a melting mark. A non-contact communication medium formed by the method for manufacturing a non-contact communication medium according to claim 1.

  The present invention proposes a method for properly performing electrical connection between an IC module constituting an inlet and an antenna pattern by laser welding, thereby obtaining an electrical connection portion that is melt-bonded without using an insulating material. Therefore, a contactless communication medium including a highly reliable inlet can be easily provided. In other words, unlike resistance welding, caulking joining, and ultrasonic welding, laser welding can be performed without contact, so there is no surface that contacts the workpiece, and there is little contamination and alteration of the laser light source. do not need. Therefore, production with high production efficiency is possible. Moreover, since the thin antenna pattern is irradiated with laser from the insulating base material side of the antenna sheet, the amount of penetration can be reduced and the variation in the amount of penetration is reduced compared to the laser irradiation from the thick connection terminal side of the IC module. Therefore, there is no welding defect and stable joint quality can be secured.

Furthermore, by using multiple joint points per connection, the electrical resistance is improved so that the conductor resistance is reduced, and the joint strength is improved physically, so that the inlet can be made highly reliable. it can. In addition, since the state of the electrical connection can be confirmed by melting marks at the connection portion after the inlet is formed, it is advantageous in terms of quality assurance of the non-contact communication medium including the inlet.

It is a partial schematic cross section for demonstrating an example of the manufacturing method of the non-contact-type communication medium of this invention. It is a schematic plan view for demonstrating an example of a structure of the non-contact type communication medium containing an inlet. It is a schematic plan view for demonstrating an example of the welding location of this invention. It is a schematic cross section for demonstrating the structural example of the non-contact type communication medium of this invention in the example of an IC card.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view for explaining an example of the method for producing a non-contact communication medium of the present invention. (A) shows the form which welds by irradiating a laser beam, (b) shows the form after welding typically. In the IC module 6, the IC chip 8 is die-bonded to the lead frame 9, and the pads of the IC chip and the lead frame are connected by wire bonding using connection wires 10 such as gold wires. Thereafter, the other part including the IC chip 8 is resin-sealed with a sealing resin 11 such as epoxy while a part of the lead frame 9 to be the connection terminal 91 is exposed, whereby the IC module 6 is prepared. it can.

  On the other hand, an antenna pattern 4 made of a metal layer is formed on the thermoplastic insulating substrate 3. In general, the metal layer is formed by adhering various metal foils onto the thermoplastic insulating substrate 3, and the antenna pattern 4 can be formed in a coil shape by a photolithography method and an etching method. A sheet in which the antenna pattern 4 is formed on the thermoplastic insulating substrate 3 is collectively referred to as an antenna sheet.

  Next, the IC module 6 and the antenna pattern 4 are connected to form an inlet 2 that is a main element included in the non-contact communication medium 1. The IC module 6 including the connection terminal 91 and the IC chip 8 wired and exposed to the IC chip 8 forms the inlet 2 connected to the antenna pattern 4 on the thermoplastic insulating substrate 3 in the same manner as the configuration shown in FIG. When positioning, the antenna sheet is disposed so that the predetermined surface of the antenna pattern 4 is positioned and brought into contact with the corresponding position of the exposed connection terminal 91, and the connection portion 7 indicating the approximate area is indicated by the ellipse of the broken line. After the setting, welding is performed by laser irradiation at a plurality of points corresponding to the connection terminal and the antenna pattern from the thermoplastic insulating base material 3 side.

  To further describe the laser welding process, a laser beam 16 capable of appropriately controlling the intensity, time, and / or the number of shots can be irradiated at a specific wavelength from a laser light source 15 such as a YAG laser prepared in advance. Since the laser irradiation is performed with the light amount appropriately adjusted from the insulating base material side of the relatively thin antenna sheet, the variation in the amount of the melted metal can be suppressed and the welding failure can be avoided. The relative position of the irradiation spot of the laser beam 16 with respect to the connecting portion 7 can be set by the position of the laser light source 15 or the irradiation angle adjusting mechanism, or by the moving mechanism of the connecting portion 7 (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1B, after the laser welding, the connection portion 7 is formed with a melting portion 71 of the antenna sheet and a penetration portion 72 into the connection terminal 91. When the laser beam 16 melts the metal of the antenna pattern 4 through the thermoplastic insulating base material 3, the thermoplastic insulating base material 3 is broken by the heat of the molten metal and penetrates the base material, and the antenna pattern corresponds to the molten metal. A recess corresponding to the spot diameter is formed in the part, and a melt mark is made together with the through hole of the base material. The molten metal diffuses or dissolves in the metal of the connection terminal 91 and is alloyed in various forms depending on conditions such as the properties of the raw metal such as solid solution, eutectic, and intermetallic compound, and the processing temperature. In the process of alloying, the electrical connection between the connection terminal and the antenna pattern in the connection portion 7 has a spread having a region beyond the plane as the melted portion 72, and a physically strong connection is obtained.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining an example of the welded portion of the present invention. The exposed connection terminal 91 of the IC module 6 is connected to the antenna pattern at a predetermined position of the antenna sheet 30 in which the thermoplastic insulating base material 3 and the antenna pattern 4 are laminated, and the connection terminal corresponds to the antenna pattern. A situation where welding is performed by laser irradiation at four welding points 73 per set is shown. In order to increase the electrical connection and the physical strength, it is preferable that the welding point has a wide connection area, but it is appropriate to perform welding at a plurality of points because there are restrictions on the beam spot of a practical laser beam. By having at least two welding points, electrical connection and physical strength can be ensured.

  As the thermoplastic insulating base material 3 of the antenna sheet 30, various materials are possible as long as the laser beam has good transparency in the welding process by laser irradiation and the base material can be smoothly broken by melting the antenna pattern metal. However, PET (polyethylene) can be used as a material that can be easily obtained in a uniform film shape because various treatments by photolithography and etching methods can be performed at a relatively low cost by bonding a metal foil that forms an antenna pattern. Terephthalate) or PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) are suitable.

  Also, if the thickness of the thermoplastic insulating substrate is too thin, it is disadvantageous for the stability of the processing as a sheet substrate, and if it is too thick, not only inconvenience of the roll processing but also in the laser welding process. This is disadvantageous because there are many conditional constraints. Therefore, it was found that the thickness range of 15 to 200 μm is appropriate.

  As the metal foil used for the antenna pattern 4, an aluminum foil or a copper foil is suitable for ease of manufacture and availability, and the thickness is preferably 10 to 50 μm in order to obtain a necessary and sufficient amount of penetration. If it is too thin, the welding strength will be weak because it is insufficient as the amount of metal to be melted into the connection part of the connection terminal by laser welding and alloyed, and if it is too thick, the effect of lowering the conductor resistance will also be an excessive function. Not only does it cause economic loss of the material, but the antenna pattern fabrication difficulty and the energy required for laser welding become excessive, which reduces production efficiency, and excessive molten metal in the microscopic area degrades the quality of the connection. cause.

  Various metal materials can be used as the connection terminal 91 as a part of the lead frame 9, but the thickness is preferably 50 to 200 μm, and is appropriately selected depending on the use form of the inlet integrated with the antenna sheet. be able to. As a metal material generally used, a copper-based material is often used in consideration of characteristics such as electric resistance and heat conduction and suitability for processing. In particular, the object of laser welding according to the present invention is a material that melts the aluminum foil or copper foil of the antenna pattern by laser welding and melts into the connection portion of the connection terminal of the copper-based lead frame to form an alloy. Although desirable, it is not limited to this.

  As a material for the connection terminal, a material obtained by laminating nickel plating and silver plating in this order on the connection terminal surface of a lead frame material made of a copper-based material is generally used, but this configuration is suitable for the laser welding. In general, a silver layer suitable for wire bonding or soldering is often used as the surface layer of the connection terminal in order to obtain an electrically stable quality of the package, and it is known to combine a nickel layer as the intermediate layer. In the present invention, in proceeding with alloying with the molten material of the aluminum or copper antenna pattern, the nickel plating and the silver plating are laminated in this order on the connection terminal surface of the lead frame material of the copper base material. It is a material structure without any problems.

  As the laser light source 15 used in the laser welding process, a YAG laser is often used, and examples of the oscillation wavelength include 532 nm and 1064 nm. In order to increase the light absorption rate, it is desirable to use light that minimizes the surface reflectance of the metal foil material. In addition, in consideration of thermal efficiency, it is appropriate to give more excess energy to metal with low thermal conductivity than metal with low thermal conductivity. Therefore, when using a copper foil whose spectral reflectance is greatly reduced for light having a wavelength of 600 nm or less and whose melting point and thermal conductivity are higher than that of an aluminum foil, the surface reflectance is low and the energy is 532 nm. It is appropriate to use laser light. On the other hand, the wavelength dependence of the surface reflectance is not as remarkable as the copper foil, and in the aluminum foil whose melting point and thermal conductivity are lower than that of the copper foil, it is possible to use laser light having a low energy oscillation wavelength of 1064 nm. it can.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a configuration example of the non-contact type communication medium of the present invention as an example of an IC card. (A) shows an exploded view separated by layer, and (b) shows a combined view in a state of being combined into an IC card. In the present invention, the method for manufacturing the inlet 2 has been described. However, the IC card as a non-contact type communication medium incorporating the inlet has a feature resulting from the method of manufacturing the inlet.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 1B as a partially enlarged view of the exploded view of FIG. 4A, the IC module 6 including the IC chip 8 and the connection terminal 91, and the antenna on the thermoplastic insulating substrate 3 are provided. The inlet 2 including the antenna sheet provided with the pattern 4 is connected, and the connecting portion 91 and the predetermined portion of the antenna pattern 4 are contacted and welded to each other to connect the melted portion 71 and the melted portion 72 to the connecting portion 7 of the inlet 2. By providing in, it has a fusion mark which can confirm the quality of the connection state of the IC module connection terminal which comprises the said inlet, and an antenna pattern.

  Since the melting marks indicate the state of the welding point 73 shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to visually determine whether or not the state of each welding point is normally welded, and the IC module connection terminal constituting the inlet; The quality of the connection state with the antenna pattern can be comprehensively determined.

  The part other than the inlet 2 shown in the exploded view of FIG. 4A is a part where the non-contact type communication medium changes depending on various usage forms such as an IC tag, an IC card, and an electronic passport. Any of the above characteristics can be maintained as it is. In a non-contact IC card, the one with a good connection state of the inlet 2 is sent to the next process, embedded in a perforated core sheet of polyvinyl chloride or the like that will become the card substrate 21, and further, on both sides that will be the front and back sides of the card The exterior base material of the thermoplastic insulating base material, and the layer 22 serving as a printing layer and a protective layer provided on the exterior base material can be appropriately formed. Each of the layers can be laminated by bonding or heat laminating to constitute the IC card 20 shown in the combined view (cross-sectional view) of FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Non-contact type communication medium 2 ... Inlet 3 ... Insulating base material 4 ... Antenna pattern 5 ... Bridge pattern 6 ... IC module 7 ... Connection part 8 ... IC Chip 9 ... Lead frame 10 ... Connection wire 11 ... Sealing resin 15 ... Laser light source 16 ... Laser light 20 ... IC card 21 ... Card base material 22 ... Printing Layer and protective layer 30 ... antenna sheet 71 ... melting part 72 ... melting part 73 ... welding point (melting mark)
91 ... Connection terminal

Claims (5)

  A method of manufacturing a non-contact type communication medium including an inlet connecting an IC module and an antenna pattern, wherein the IC module including a connection terminal and an IC chip wired and exposed on the IC chip is provided on a thermoplastic insulating substrate. When forming the inlet connected to the antenna pattern, after positioning and contacting a predetermined surface of the antenna pattern to the corresponding position of the exposed connection terminal, from the thermoplastic insulating substrate side, the connection terminal and the antenna pattern A method of manufacturing a non-contact type communication medium, characterized by welding by laser irradiation at a plurality of points per corresponding set.   2. The method for producing a non-contact communication medium according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic insulating substrate is PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) having a thickness of 15 to 200 [mu] m.   3. The method of manufacturing a non-contact communication medium according to claim 1, wherein the antenna pattern is an aluminum foil or a copper foil having a thickness of 10 to 50 [mu] m.   The method for manufacturing a non-contact communication medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connection terminal is made of a copper-based material having a thickness of 50 to 200 µm.   An IC module including an IC chip and a connection terminal and an inlet in which an antenna sheet provided with an antenna pattern on a thermoplastic insulating substrate is connected. The connection terminal and a predetermined surface of the antenna pattern are contacted and welded. The melted portion and the melted portion are provided in the connection portion of the inlet, so that the connection portion between the IC module connection terminal and the antenna pattern constituting the inlet has a melt mark. A non-contact communication medium formed by the method for manufacturing a non-contact communication medium.