JPH01303648A - Flexible optical card and method and reproducing said card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the thin and flexible card by forming a reflecting layer on the rugged patterns of a resin layer and supporting the same with a supporting layer having flexibility. CONSTITUTION:The resin layer 102 is formed on the supporting layer 101 having flexibility and the rugged patterns are formed on the surface of the resin layer 102. The reflecting layer 103 is so formed that the rugged patterns remain as they are. A protective layer 104 is formed on the reflecting layer 103. A surface hardened layer 105 is formed on the opposite side of the supporting layer 101. The surface hardened layer 105, the supporting layer 101 and the resin layer 102 are transparent and, therefore, the rugged patterns of the reflecting layer 103 can be read as binary data if the optical card is irradiated with reading light. The thin and flexible optical card is obtd. in this way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a flexible optical card and a method for manufacturing and reproducing the same.

[Conventional technology]

Optical cards that record information optically are expected to be used in prepaid cards and the like because they can record a significantly larger amount of information than magnetic cards that record information magnetically. Currently proposed optical cards for playback are:
A mold in which the information to be recorded is recorded as a concave-convex pattern is made as an original plate, and a resin such as polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polycarbonate (PC) is injected into this mold using an injection method or by embossing the resin. Unfabricated by compression method. By repeating resin injection using a mold that serves as an original, it becomes possible to manufacture a large number of replicas.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional technology has the following problems.

(1) Since conventional optical cards are rigid and thick media, they are large in volume, take up space, and are inconvenient to transport.

(2) With conventional optical card manufacturing methods, mass production is difficult. As mentioned above, in the injection method, it is necessary to inject thermoplastic resin into a mold container under pressure. Furthermore, in the compression method, it is necessary to press the thermoplastic resin into a mold while heating it, and then remove it from the mold after the resin has cooled to below the heat distortion temperature.

Therefore, it takes a considerable amount of time to duplicate one optical card.

(3) In the conventional optical card manufacturing method, the mold is exposed to high temperatures, so if the mold is used for a long time, the surface will oxidize and the uneven pattern will deform, reducing the reproducibility of the information to be recorded. I'll come.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical card that is thin and flexible and can easily be accurately reproduced in large quantities, as well as a method for producing and reproducing the same.

[Means to solve the problem]

The first feature of the present invention is a resin layer that is flexible and has a concavo-convex pattern formed on its surface corresponding to information to be recorded, and a light reflective layer formed on the concave-convex pattern of this resin layer. A flexible optical card is provided by: a reflective layer comprising a reflective layer; a supporting layer formed on the opposite surface of the resin layer to the surface on which the reflective layer is formed and having a function of supporting the resin layer and having flexibility; The point lies in the fact that it was constructed as follows.

A second feature of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a flexible optical card by using an original plate on which a concave-convex pattern corresponding to digital information to be recorded is formed, and by transfer molding the concave-convex pattern of the original plate, the method comprising: Alternatively, a step of forming a resin layer made of a thermoformable resin that is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays or electron beams on an electron beam transparent base film to form a roll-shaped transfer film; a step of pressing the resin layer surface of the film against the uneven pattern forming surface of the original plate while heating and transferring the uneven pattern while softening the resin layer;
The process includes the steps of irradiating ultraviolet rays or electron beams through the base film to harden the softened resin layer, and peeling off the transfer film from the original plate after the uneven pattern has been transferred.

A third feature of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a flexible optical card by using an original plate on which a concavo-convex pattern corresponding to digital information to be recorded is formed, and by transferring and molding the concave-convex pattern of the original plate, comprising: Alternatively, a resin layer made of a thermoformable resin that is cured by ultraviolet ray or electron beam irradiation is formed on an electron beam transparent base film, and a light reflective metal is further placed on top of this resin layer. a step of forming a layer to form a roll-shaped transfer film; a step of pressing the metal layer surface of the transfer film to the uneven pattern forming surface of the original plate while heating and transferring the uneven pattern while softening the resin layer; The process includes the steps of irradiating ultraviolet rays or electron beams through the base film to harden the softened resin layer, and peeling off the transfer film from the original plate after the uneven pattern has been transferred.

A fourth feature of the present invention is a reproduction method for reproducing information by irradiating a reading beam onto a flexible optical card in which digital information is recorded as a concavo-convex pattern corresponding to the digital information and is flexible. A flat adapter made of a rigid material is brought into contact with at least one surface of the flexible optical card, and the adapter irradiates the reading beam onto the flexible optical card while maintaining the flatness of the optical card. The point is that I tried to do it.

[For production]

The optical card according to the present invention has a reflective layer formed on the uneven pattern of the resin layer, and is supported by a flexible support layer. In addition, since duplication is performed by forming a transfer film using thermoformable resin, it is possible to easily transfer the uneven pattern from the original plate, making it suitable for mass production. During playback, a one-piece plate-shaped adapter is used, which enables accurate reading and allows the card to be handled as an optical card with the same thickness as the various cards currently in circulation.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below based on illustrated embodiments.

Structure of optical card FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are cross-sectional views showing the structure of a flexible optical card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the flexible optical card 100 of FIG. 1(a), the support layer 10
1 (the figure is shown upside down) is formed with a resin layer 102. A concavo-convex pattern is formed on the surface of the resin layer 102, a reflective layer 103 is formed so as to leave this concave-convex pattern as it is, and a protective layer 104 is formed on this reflective layer 103. In addition, support layer 1
A surface hardening layer 105 is formed on the opposite side of 01.

The support layer 101 is made of a polycarbonate film, and the resin layer 102 is made of an ultraviolet curing resin.

Further, the reflective layer 103 is made of a light-reflective metal (aluminum in this example), and the protective layer 104 is made of an ultraviolet curing resin. The surface hardening layer 105 is a layer provided for the purpose of improving scratch resistance, and is made of a commercially available surface hardening agent. The total thickness is very thin, about 400 μm, and the whole has flexibility.

In this flexible optical card 100, when the reading light is irradiated from above in the figure, since the surface hardening layer 105, the support layer 101, and the resin layer 102 are transparent, the uneven pattern of the reflective layer 103 can be read as binary data. I can do it.

In the flexible optical card 200 of FIG. 1(b), the support layer 20
1 is made of a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film, and the resin layer 202 is made of an electron beam curable resin.

Further, the reflective layer 203 is made of aluminum, and the protective layer 203 is made of aluminum.
04 is made of electron beam curing resin. Total thickness is 100μ
It is extremely thin, about 100 ft wide, and has flexibility as a whole.

In this flexible optical card 200, when the reading light is irradiated from above in the figure, since the protective layer 204 is transparent, the uneven pattern of the reflective layer 203 can be read as binary data.

First Method of Manufacturing an Optical Card Next, a method of manufacturing the flexible optical card 100 shown in FIG. 1(a) will be explained in order.

(1) As shown in Fig. 3, photoresist was coated on glass plate 301 under the following conditions, resulting in a thickness of 5000 mm.
A human resist layer 302 was obtained.

Glass plate: 10100X100. Thickness: 1mm.

Average roughness: 0. 3 μm or less photoresist Nijibrae Microbosit coating method Varnish vinyl coating method, 3000 rpm.

20 sec 5 (2) Subsequently, prebaking was performed at 90° C. for 20 minutes.

(3) A photomask having a pattern corresponding to the information to be recorded was brought into close contact with the resist layer 302, and exposure was performed. The pattern is information recording bit width 5 μm 1 length 5
~20 μrn was used.

(4) After exposure, development was performed by immersing in Sibley Microposite developer for 60 seconds, and washing was performed with water.

(5) Subsequently, post-baking was performed at 90°C for 20 minutes. Through the above steps, a resist layer 302 having a concavo-convex pattern corresponding to recorded information is formed on the glass substrate 301, and a resist original plate is completed.

Preparation of Resin Original Plate (6) On the uneven formation surface of the resist layer 302 of the resist original plate, an ultraviolet curable resin liquid 303 (manufactured by Asahi Kasei Industries:
A, p, R,) were applied. A screen printing method was used for coating, and the thickness was approximately 50 μm.

(7) Brimer (not shown) is applied on the applied resin.
A PET film 304 (100 μm thick) is placed on the PET film 304 (thickness: 100 μm) so that the resin liquid 303 is filled without any gaps between the unevenness forming surface of the resist original plate and the PET film.
The T film 304 was pressed.

The resin liquid was then cured by irradiating it with ultraviolet light using an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp. Then, the PET film 304 and the cured resin 303 were peeled off from the resist original plate, and this was used as a resin original plate.

(8) An adhesive was applied to the PET film 304 side of the resin master plate, and as shown in FIG. 3, this was applied to the duplication cylinder 305 and the adhesive was cured.

The preparation of the resin master plate is now complete.

(9) Prepare a polycarbonate film 306 with a thickness of about 400 μm, and coat the surface with ultraviolet curing resin 3.
07 was applied. The ultraviolet curable resin used was obtained as follows.

The composition of Table 1 is refluxed for 6 hours to effect copolymerization, and then 0.1 part by weight of paramethoxyphenol is added to stop the reaction.

Table 1> Methyl methacrylate: 300 parts by weight 2- and droxyethyl methacrylate: 130 parts by weight Ethyl acetate: 1000 parts by weight ad-azobisisobutyronitrile = 2 parts Add two parts of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate and a 1 mole to 1 mole adduct of 2.4-4 luene diisocyanate, then add 5 mm parts of sibutyltin silaurylate, and react at 80°C for 5 hours while blowing dry air. I let it happen.

After cooling the reaction solution to room temperature, 15 parts by weight of an ultraviolet sensitizer (Irgacure 184 manufactured by Ciba Gaiki Co., Ltd.) was added.
It was uniformly dissolved to obtain an ultraviolet curable resin liquid.

(10) Set the polycarbonate film 306 coated with resin 307 so that the resin liquid surface is in contact with the original resin (resin 303) wrapped around the duplication cylinder 305, and as shown in FIG. 308, the resin 307 was brought into pressure contact with the uneven surface of the resin 303, and the uneven pattern was transferred. The heated pressure roller 308 has a temperature of 1
The temperature was 70°C and the pressure was 40 kg/cm.

(11) In order to sufficiently cure the transferred uneven pattern, the film 306 was fed at a speed of 4 m/l1 inch while irradiating ultraviolet rays with an 80 W mercury lamp.

(12) After the resin 307 was completely cured, aluminum was formed on the uneven surface of the resin to a thickness of 800 mm using a winding vapor deposition machine.

(13) An ultraviolet curable resin was further applied as a protective layer on the aluminum layer and cured.

(14) Furthermore, in order to improve the scratch resistance of the film 306, a subbing treatment agent (Brimmer PC-4 manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) was gravure coated thereon, and a surface hardening agent (X-12- 2150) was gravure coated. At this time, a recovery treatment was performed at 100° C. for 1 minute.

(15) The film obtained as described above is punched out to a predetermined size to complete a flexible optical card.

This optical card corresponds to the flexible optical card 100 shown in FIG. 1(a).

Second optical card manufacturing method Next, a manufacturing method of the flexible optical card 200 shown in FIG. 1(b) will be explained in order.

Preparation of master plates> For the production of resist master plates and resin master plates, the steps (1) to 1 described in the above-mentioned method for manufacturing the flexible optical card 100 are performed.
This is exactly the same as (8).

(9) Prepare a PET film with a thickness of about 100 μm,
An electron beam curing resin was applied to this surface.

The coating was carried out uniformly so that the coating weight was 2.5 g/rd after drying. The electron beam curable resin used was obtained as follows.

The composition in Table 2 is refluxed for 6 hours to effect copolymerization, and then 0.2 parts by weight of hydroquinone is added to stop the reaction. Subsequently, 158 parts by weight of acrylic acid and 10 parts by weight of pyridine were added, dry air was introduced, and the mixture was reacted at 90 to 100°C for 8 hours.

Table 2: Methyl methacrylate: 320 parts by weight Butyl methacrylate: 130 parts by weight Glycidyl methacrylate: 284 parts (2 parts) Luene (methacrylate): 1290 parts by weight Methyl ethyl ketone (1)
290 parts by weight α,α'-azobisisobutyronitrile: 25 parts by weight (10) On the surface of the coated and dried electron beam curable resin, aluminum was formed to a thickness of about 700 using a winding vapor deposition machine. This was used as a transfer film.

(11) Set the aluminum-formed transfer film so that the aluminum-formed surface is in contact with the resin mold wrapped around the duplication cylinder, and use a heated pressure roller to
The aluminum layer was pressed against the uneven surface, and the uneven pattern was transferred. The heated pressure roller has a temperature of 155℃ and a pressure of 30℃.
kg/am.

(12) In order to sufficiently cure the transferred uneven pattern, the transfer film was sent while being irradiated with a 175 kV electron beam.

(13) An electron beam curable resin was further applied as a protective layer on the aluminum layer and cured.

(14) The film obtained as described above is punched into a predetermined size with a punch to complete a flexible optical card.

This optical card corresponds to the flexible optical card 200 shown in FIG. 1(b).

Method for Reproducing an Optical Card Next, an example of a method for reproducing a flexible optical card according to the present invention will be described. Due to the flexibility of the optical card of the present invention, it is difficult to play it in its original state. That is, if deflection occurs during reproduction, an error will occur in the optical system of the reading light, making accurate reading impossible. For this reason, reading is performed using a flat adapter. A preferred embodiment of the adapter for the optical card 100 shown in FIG. 1(a) is shown in FIG. (a) is a top view, (b)
(c) is a front sectional view, (c) is a side sectional view, and (d) of the same figure shows the flexible optical card 100 on the same scale. The adapter 110 has an opening 111 that matches the size of the flexible optical card 100.
A cut groove 112 is provided at both ends of this opening 111. By inserting both ends of the flexible optical card 100 into the cut grooves 112, the flexible optical card 100
is fixed onto the opening 111 of the adapter 110. This situation is shown in detail in FIG. The adapter 110 is made of a rigid material such as acrylic, glass, or epoxy, and the floor of the opening 111 is flat. Therefore, when the flexible optical card 100 is fixed to the adapter,
Despite its flexibility, it maintains flatness, allowing accurate reading.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of an adapter for the optical card 200 shown in FIG. 1(b).

The same figure (a) is a top view, (b) is a front sectional view, (e) is a side sectional view, and the same figure (d) is a flexible optical card 20 of the same scale.
Indicates 0. The adapter 210 has a main body part 211 and a transparent lid part 212, which are connected by a hinge 213. Due to the function of the hinge, the lid part 212 is
Open and close as shown in the arrows in b). The storage space 214 formed under the lid portion 212 is designed to have a size corresponding to the size of the flexible optical card 200. The engaging portion 212a of the lid portion 212 and the engaging portion 21 of the main body portion 211
1a are fitted into each other, and the lid portion 212 can be fixed in a closed state. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the flexible optical card 200 is stored in the storage space 214 of this adapter 210. In this way, the flexible optical card 200 is supported from above and below to maintain its flatness.

Two embodiments of the adapter have been shown above, but if these adapters are designed to have the same size and thickness as magnetic cards currently in circulation, users can use them in the same way as conventional cards. It is convenient to carry in your wallet. Furthermore, the same standards as the standards of currently popular devices can be used for the reading device. Since the adapter and the flexible optical card themselves can be separated, for example, a manufacturer may sell a thin flexible optical card separately, and users can use it by setting it into their own adapter. This usage pattern becomes possible. Flexible optical cards are very thin and flexible, so they can be stuffed into books or mailed in envelopes.
It is very convenient to handle.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, since the flexible optical card according to the present invention is thin and flexible, it can be used in various ways.

Furthermore, since replication can be performed by forming a transfer film using thermoformable resin, mass production is possible. Furthermore, by using an adapter during playback, accurate reading while maintaining flatness is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a flexible optical card according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a method of forming an original plate for manufacturing the flexible optical card shown in FIG. Figures 3 and 3 are diagrams showing a method for duplicating the flexible optical card of the present invention based on the original, and Figures 4 to 7 are diagrams showing adapters used to reproduce the flexible optical card according to the present invention. It is a diagram. 100...Flexible optical card, 101...Support layer, 1
02゛...Resin layer, 103...Reflection layer, 104...
- Protective layer, 105... Surface hardening layer, 110... Adapter, 111... Opening, 112... Cut groove, 20
0... Flexible optical card, 201... Support layer, 202
... Resin layer, 20B... Reflective layer, 204... Protective layer, 210... Adapter, 211... Main body, 21
2... Lid part, 213... Hinge, 214... Storage space, 301... Glass, 302... Resist layer,
303...Resin layer, 304...PET film, 3
05...1 Summer cylinder, 306... Polycarbonate film, 307... Resin layer, 308... Heat pressure welding roller. Reading light 100 ↓ Reading light 72 Plate (d) Fig. 4 Fig. 5 (d) Fig. 6 Fig. M7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A resin layer having flexibility and having a concavo-convex pattern formed thereon corresponding to information to be recorded, and a light reflecting property formed on the concavo-convex pattern of this resin layer. a reflective layer; and a flexible support layer formed on a surface of the resin layer opposite to the surface on which the reflective layer is formed, having a function of supporting the resin layer, and having flexibility. A flexible optical card with special features. 2. A method for manufacturing a flexible optical card by using an original plate on which a concavo-convex pattern corresponding to digital information to be recorded is formed and transferring and molding the concavo-convex pattern of this original plate, in which an ultraviolet or electron beam transparent base is used. forming a resin layer made of a thermoformable resin that is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays or electron beams on the material film to form a roll-shaped transfer film; Pressure-bond the concavo-convex pattern formed surface while heating.
a step of transferring the uneven pattern while softening the resin layer; a step of irradiating ultraviolet rays or an electron beam through the base film to harden the softened resin layer; A method for manufacturing a flexible optical card, comprising the steps of: peeling it off from the original plate. 3. In a method of manufacturing a flexible optical card by using an original plate on which a concavo-convex pattern corresponding to digital information to be recorded is formed and transferring and molding the concavo-convex pattern of this original plate, an ultraviolet or electron beam transparent base is used. A resin layer made of a thermoformable resin that is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays or electron beams is formed on the material film, and a light-reflecting metal layer is further formed on this resin layer to form a roll. a step of press-contacting the metal layer surface of the transfer film to the uneven pattern forming surface of the original plate while softening the resin layer to transfer the uneven pattern; and a step of transferring the uneven pattern through the base film. A flexible optical card comprising: irradiating the softened resin layer with ultraviolet rays or electron beams to harden the softened resin layer; and peeling off the transfer film after the uneven pattern has been transferred from the original plate. Production method. 4. A reproduction method for reproducing information by irradiating a reading beam onto a flexible optical card on which digital information is recorded as a concave-convex pattern corresponding to the digital information and having flexibility, the flexible optical card comprising: A flat adapter made of a rigid material is brought into contact with at least one surface of the optical card, and the adapter irradiates a reading beam onto the flexible optical card while maintaining the flatness of the flexible optical card. A method for reproducing a flexible optical card, characterized in that: