JP2578443B2 - IC card and IC module for IC card - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC card and an IC module for mounting or incorporating the IC card.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, various studies have been made on a chip card equipped with an IC chip such as a microcomputer and a memory, a memory card microcomputer card, or a card called an electronic card (hereinafter simply referred to as an IC card).

Such an IC card, compared to a conventional magnetic card,
Due to its large storage capacity, it has been considered to store the history of savings and deposits instead of the bankbook in banking, and the history of transactions such as shopping in crediting.

Such an IC card is generally configured such that a card-shaped center core in which an IC module is embedded and an oversheet for increasing the mechanical strength of the card are laminated on both sides or one side of the center core.

As a conventional general IC card, all electrical elements including IC chips and circuit patterns are modularized,
It is known that this IC module is embedded in a card base material. For example, a conventional method of embedding an IC module in a card base material is to provide an IC module-sized concave portion in the card base material, place the IC module in this concave portion, and further pressurize under heating. A general method is to bond and fix an IC module in a card base material.

However, in the conventional IC card as described above, since the embedded IC module is usually made of a material having low elasticity, the IC module is bent by bending the card.
There is a problem that the boundary between the module and the card base material is broken or cracked, or the IC module falls off the card.

[Summary of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an IC card that is improved in reliability by preventing the IC module from falling off or damaged, and an IC module to be embedded in the IC card. It is intended to be.

In order to achieve the above object, an IC module according to the present invention has an IC module substrate in which a terminal for external connection is formed on one surface and a circuit pattern layer having a bonding pad is formed on the other surface. The terminal and the circuit pattern layer are an IC module having an IC chip mounted thereon, and the periphery of the IC chip is resin-molded only in a convex shape, and
The IC module satisfies the following conditions (a) and / or (b).

(B) The area occupied by the area in the planar direction of the resin mold portion is within 40% of the entire area of the IC module substrate.

(B) The planar shape of the resin mold portion is substantially square, and the length of each side of the square is 9 mm or less.

Further, the IC card according to the present invention is an IC card of the above IC module.
An IC card embedded in a card base material, wherein the IC
The module is configured such that at least a part of the IC module is an IC.
It is characterized by being embedded in an IC card base so as not to be fixed to the card base.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings.

First, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 (a), a support layer 1 made of a material having excellent flexibility and strength, and a terminal layer 2 for external connection patterned on one surface thereof are formed. IC chip 4 on IC module substrate 3
Is mounted, and necessary wiring is performed between the terminal layer 2. Although not shown, a circuit pattern layer having a bonding pad is formed on the side of the IC module substrate 3 where the IC chip 4 is formed, and the terminal layer and the circuit pattern are electrically connected to each other through a through hole. Connection is made. In addition, as a mounting method of the IC chip, any of a wire bonding method and a lead bonding method can be adopted.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the periphery of the wiring portion including the IC chip 4 and the bonding wire is resin-molded with a molding resin 5 to form an IC module 6 having a convex cross section. In this case, as the molding method, any of a transfer molding method, a method in which a sealing frame is set up in a mold portion and the inside thereof is potted with a resin, and a method in which potting is performed without a sealing frame, are possible. The above is preferable in terms of hardness, reliability, shape and the like. In the IC module of the present invention, it is important that the size and shape of the mold part comply with the following conditions.

That is, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, in the present invention, the area of the resin mold portion 3 is most preferably 40% or less of the entire area of the IC module substrate 5, and if this condition is satisfied. In addition, when the IC module is embedded in the card base material, it has an excellent effect in preventing stress concentration on the IC chip due to bending of the card. That is, if the area ratio of the resin mold portion is 40% or less, a sufficient adhesive area with the card base material can be secured, and when bending stress is applied to the IC module via the card base material, the extension of the IC module substrate is reduced. The thickness of the protrusion (brim) is thinner than the mold, so the flexibility of the brim is higher than that of the mold. Therefore, the stress is absorbed by this brim and the stress concentrates on the IC chip and wiring. Can be reduced. In general, the larger the area of the collar portion (the smaller the area ratio of the mold portion), the higher the flexibility of the collar portion, and therefore, the concentration of stress on the IC chip can be prevented.

Alternatively, regarding the shape of the mold portion, the planar shape of the resin mold portion 5 is substantially square, and the length of each side of the square is 9 mm or less in order to prevent stress concentration on the IC module portion. Is most preferred. The position of the terminals on the IC card is specified by ISO, and according to this rule, the larger the IC molded part, the closer it is to the center of the card, so it approaches the stress concentration point at the time of guard bending. Therefore, the stress on the mold part is increased, which is disadvantageous. In the present invention, such a problem is solved by setting the length of each side of the mold portion to 9 mm or less.

In addition, in the IC module of the present invention, the resin mold portion 5 is attached to the IC module substrate 3 as shown in FIGS. May be formed so as to be unevenly distributed in a specific direction. With such a configuration, the resin mold portion 5 can be arranged in a direction away from the stress concentration point (card center portion) at the time of card bending, and the stress applied to the mold portion is further reduced. be able to.

It is necessary that the thickness of the resin mold portion is, for example, equal to or smaller than the depth of a second concave portion of the card base described later. In order to further improve the flexibility and followability of the IC module against bending, the IC module substrate 3 is preferably as thin as possible.

Next, a method of obtaining an IC card by embedding the above-described IC module in a card base will be described.

As a method of manufacturing the IC card of the present invention, a method of simultaneously embedding an IC module and forming a card base material by a press lamination method, and embedding recesses corresponding to the shape of the IC module are formed in a preformed card base material. A method of embedding and fixing an IC module in a recess formed by cutting using an engraving machine or the like. A dummy board with the same shape as the IC module is buried at the same time by press lamination, and this is removed to form a recess for embedding. There is a method in which an IC module is embedded and fixed, and a method in which a card substrate and a recess for embedding are simultaneously formed by an injection method, and the IC module is embedded and fixed therein.

In the present invention, any of the above methods can be adopted. Hereinafter, an example in the case of manufacturing by the above method will be described.

The IC card according to the present invention is characterized in that at least a part of the IC module as described above is embedded in the IC card base so as to be in a non-adhered state with the IC card base. In the present invention, the non-adhered state includes a case where a gap or a space is formed between the IC module and the IC card base, in addition to a case where the contact is made in a non-adhered state.

First, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), sheets 21a and 21b having openings for fitting into an IC module and a sheet 21c having no openings are prepared. In this case, the opening of the sheet 21a constitutes the first recess, while the opening of the sheet 21b constitutes the second recess. Also the sheet
In this case, 21c is an oversheet on the back side of the card. Therefore, by forming the sheet 21c with an opaque material, it is possible to prevent the IC module from appearing on the back side of the card, which is excellent in that the design value of the card can be improved. Also,
The sheet 21c can be freely printed or the like.

Next, a dummy module 22 having the same shape as the IC module to be embedded is laminated together with the above-mentioned sheet and press-laminated (FIG. 4 (b)). By removing the dummy module 22, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), the card substrate 20 in which the first concave portion 23a and the second concave portion 23b for embedding the IC module are formed is obtained. In this case, the depth of the second concave portion 23b is determined by whether a space is formed between the resin mold portion of the IC module and the second concave portion when the IC module is buried in a later step, or in a contact state or a non-contact state. It is important that the depth is such that it fits in the state.

As another processing method for obtaining such a card base material, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a raw card (card base material) that has been subjected to printing or the like in advance is prepared by a press lamination method. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), a method is used in which a hole for embedding an IC module is cut at a predetermined position by an end mill, a drill, an engraving machine, or the like to produce a recess for embedding an IC card. Can be In addition, an injection method or the like may be appropriately used.
When the injection method is used, an ABS resin, polyester, polypropylene, a styrene-based resin, or the like can be preferably used as a resin for forming a card base material. Also, when using a processing method other than the injection method, vinyl chloride, acrylic, polycarbonate,
Polyester, vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer and the like can be preferably used.

The first and second recesses formed in the card base are designed to facilitate insertion of the embedded IC module.
It is desirable that the IC module is equal to or slightly larger (about 0.05 to 0.1 mm).

Further, in the above-described example, the card base material 20 is configured by a laminate of a plurality of sheets, but it is needless to say that the card base material 20 can be configured by a single base material.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), an adhesive layer 30 is provided on the bottom surface of the first concave portion formed in the card base material 20 as shown in FIG. Only the surface of the terminal layer 2 is locally heat-pressed (for example,
100 to 170 ° C., 5 to 15 kg / cm ² , 5 seconds are sufficient) to fix the IC module 6 in the card base material 20 to form an IC.
A card is obtained (FIG. 5 (b)). In this case, the adhesive layer 30
Can be formed by, for example, a double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape in which an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to both surfaces of a nonwoven fabric, or a room-temperature-curable urethane-based adhesive. Further, in order to obtain a stronger fixing force, for example, the above-described hot pressing by a hot stamper, which is also preferably used for a polyester-based heat-bonding sheet, is necessary when such a heat-bonding sheet is used, When a normal adhesive is used, room temperature pressing is also possible. Further, by adjusting the thickness of the adhesive layer, the width of the space 32 formed between the resin mold portion and the second concave portion can be appropriately adjusted.

The space 32 formed in the card base material can be selected an optimal value in consideration of the size of the IC module and the card bending rate, but usually, in order to obtain a good stress canceling effect,
It is preferable to provide a gap of at least about 50 to 100 μm. This gap can provide play when the card is bent, so that the stress applied to the boundary between the IC module and the card base material can be reduced.

In the example described above, the case where the space 32 is provided at the bottom of the second concave portion has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the side portion of the resin mold portion of the IC module and the periphery of the IC module substrate are provided. It suffices that at least a part of the side portion is in a non-fixed state. By leaving at least a portion between the IC module and the IC card base in such an unfixed state, the stress applied to the IC module via the card base when the card is bent can be effectively reduced, and the IC module Can be prevented from falling off or damaged.

Further, in the above-described example, the IC module can be embedded by normal-temperature pressing or local (only terminals) and short-time heat pressing, so that damage to the IC module and thermal deformation of the entire card base material are minimized. Can be prevented.

Test Example Samples of IC modules having the planar shape shown in FIG. 2 and having different dimensions (a, b, c, d, k, l) were prepared, and each sample was placed on a card substrate (length in the long side direction). : 54.0 mm) and a bending test was performed. The bending test was performed under ADL conditions (bending deflection: 1
A bending stress was applied in the long side direction of the card at 4.5 mm), and bending was performed 1,000 times at a rate of 30 times / min.

The dimensions (values of each side shown in FIG. 2) of each sample were as shown in Table 1 below.

Table 2 below shows the area ratio of each sample and the test results. Table 2 Sample area ratio Operating failure 1 32% None 2 48% Available 3 38% None [Effect of the Invention] In the IC module of the present invention, only the central part of the IC module is resin-molded and only that part is molded. Since the rigid portion is formed and the whole has a convex cross section, and the resin mold portion has a specific area ratio and a specific dimension, the flexibility and followability to the bending of the card are particularly excellent.

Further, in the present invention, since at least a portion between the resin mold portion of the IC module and the card base material is in a non-fixed state, the stress applied to the resin mold portion of the IC module when the card is bent is effective. As a result, it is possible to solve the problems, such as breakage and cracking at the boundary between the card base material and the IC module, which have been a problem in the past, and the detachment of the IC module.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the IC module of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the IC module of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the IC card of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of the IC card of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Support layer, 2 ... Terminal layer, 3 ... IC module board, 4 ... IC chip, 5 ... Resin, 20 ... Card base material.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A terminal for external connection is formed on one surface of an IC module substrate, a circuit pattern layer having a bonding pad is formed on the other surface, and the terminal and the circuit pattern layer are connected via a through hole. An IC module having an IC module mounted on the circuit pattern layer side of an IC module substrate that is electrically connected by means of a resin, and only the periphery of the IC chip is resin-molded, and the IC module has the following conditions. Characterized by satisfying (a) and (b),
IC module for IC card. (B) The area occupied by the area in the planar direction of the resin mold portion is within 40% of the entire area of the IC module substrate. (B) The planar shape of the resin mold part is substantially square,
The length of each side of the rectangle is 9 mm or less. 2. A terminal for external connection is formed on one surface of an IC module substrate, a circuit pattern layer having a bonding pad is formed on the other surface, and the terminal and the circuit pattern layer are connected via a through hole. IC module with an IC chip mounted on the circuit pattern layer side of an IC module substrate that is electrically connected by means of resin, and only the periphery of the IC chip is resin-molded and has a convex cross section, and the following conditions (a) And (b) that the area occupied by the resin mold portion in the planar direction is within 40% of the entire area of the IC module substrate; (b) the planar shape of the resin mold portion is substantially square;
The length of each side of the rectangle is 9 mm or less, wherein the IC module is embedded in an IC card base material, wherein at least a part of the IC module is an IC module. An IC card, wherein the IC card is embedded in the IC card base so as not to adhere to the card base.