JPH08142553A - Optical card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make the data recorded on an optical recording member easy to read while reducing a reading error ratio in an optical card wherein the optical recording member is embedded in the recessed part of a card base material. CONSTITUTION: In an optical card wherein an optical recording member 3 is embedded in the recessed part 2 of a card base material 1, a printing layer 5 low in reflectivity is provided to the bottom surface 2a of the recessed part 2 through a transparent member 4. When the data recorded on the optical recording member 4 is read by a reader, the data becomes high in contrast to become easy to read and a reading error is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical card used for credit cards, cash cards, medical cards and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a card-type recording medium, an optical card having a storage capacity larger than that of a magnetic card or an IC card has been developed. There are a ROM type, a write-once type, and an erasable type as the recording system of this optical card, and a recording medium and a structure of each are being studied. Among such optical cards, those in which an optical recording member is embedded in a card base material in an island shape are known (for example,
See Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 22222/1990).

[0003]

In the embedded optical card described in the prior art, a recess is usually formed in the milk-white card base material by counterboring (cutting), and an adhesive layer is formed in the recess. It is manufactured by embedding an optical recording member through the. Therefore, since the bottom surface of the concave portion in contact with the optical recording member becomes milky white, when the recorded data is read by a laser beam or the like, the contrast is lowered and the reading error rate becomes high.

By the way, in the case of an ordinary optical card which is not embedded, in order to make the optical recording easy to read, the card base material is placed under the optical recording layer and a solid printing having a low reflectance is applied to the card base material. Those have been proposed (see, for example, JP-A-6-55884). Therefore, it is conceivable to provide the same solid printing even in the embedded type. However, it is not easy to perform solid printing on the bottom surface of the recess after forming the recess for embedding the optical recording member in the card substrate. Further, the card substrate is composed of a laminate of a plurality of sheets, a printing layer is formed in advance in a portion corresponding to the bottom surface of the recess, and it may be sufficient to perform spot facing so that this printing layer is exposed, Usually, since a plurality of sheets are pressed and bonded together, it is very difficult to perform the counterbore processing at the interface of the printing layer, in addition to the accuracy of the countersunk processing and the pressing conditions.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to embed an optical card in which data recorded on an optical recording member is easy to read and has no reading error. To provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical card of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, has an optical recording member 3 in a recess 2 formed in a card substrate 1. A bottom surface 2a of the recess 2
Is characterized in that the printing layer 5 having a low reflectance is provided via the transparent member 4.

The optical recording member 3, as shown in FIG.
An optical recording layer 8 is formed so as to cover the track pattern 7 provided on the back side of the transparent protective layer 6, and a hard coat layer 9 is formed on the front side of the transparent protective layer 6.

The optical recording member 3 is manufactured as follows. First, the hard coat layer 9 is formed on one surface of the transparent protective layer 6.
And a track pattern 7 and an optical recording layer 8 are formed on the other surface to form a multifaceted optical recording member,
This is cut or cut individually to obtain an optical recording member 3 of a predetermined size. In order to prevent the optical recording layer 8 from being damaged during this cutting, a protective layer is provided on the surface of the optical recording layer 8. As the protective layer, an acrylic type, vinyl chloride-based type, polyester type or the like that does not affect the optical recording layer 8 is used. If a protective film is used, it is not necessary to provide this protective layer.

The material used for the transparent protective layer 6 must have a small birefringence. Specifically, polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMM
A), acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS),
Cellulose propionate (CP), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), polyvinyl chloride (PV
C), polyester and the like can be used, and among them, polycarbonate (PC) having a thickness of about 400 μm is suitable.

As the hard coat layer 9 formed on one surface of the transparent protective layer 6, an acrylic UV-curable hard coat agent is suitable. In addition, a melamine-based or silicon-based hard coating agent may be used, but one having excellent temperature and humidity suitability and having high hardness and not causing cracks even when bent is preferably used.

On the other surface of the transparent protective layer 6, a layer having a track pattern 7 is formed by using a generally known 2P method, injection method, casting method or the like. At this time, when the layer having the track pattern 7 is formed by the 2P method, a resin curable by UV is used, and by the injection method and the casting method, the same transparent protective layer 6 is used. It should be noted that the track pattern 7 may be prepared by filling it except that it has a dimple that allows cutting. This is because the optical recording material is effectively used.

As a material for forming the optical recording layer 8, in addition to the commonly used metal-based optical recording materials such as tellurium-based and bismuth-based materials, dye-based optical recording materials such as phthalocyanine-based materials,
A naphthoquinone type can be used. Further, not only the write-once type but also the ROM type may be used.

Polyvinyl chloride, ABS resin and the like are used as the material of the card substrate 1. When the material is polyvinyl chloride, for example, a laminate having the following layer structure may be used as the card substrate 1.

A first example is shown in FIG. This card substrate 1
Is a 0.10 mm transparent oversheet 11, 0.28
mm milk white core sheet 12, 0.10 mm transparent substrate sheet 13, 0.26 mm milk white core sheet 14, 0.1
It has a five-layer structure in which a 0 mm transparent oversheet 15 is pressed and laminated. In the case of this card base material 1, before stacking the sheets, a pattern or the like is printed on the outer surface of the upper milky white core sheet 12, and the visible and red colors are placed at predetermined positions on the inner surface of the lower milky white core sheet 14. A print layer 5 of a color (for example, black) that absorbs light in the outer region is provided, and a pattern or the like is printed on the outer surface. In this card base material 1, the recess 2 for embedding the optical recording member 3 is counterbored at a depth from the transparent oversheet 11 to the transparent base material sheet 13 as shown in the drawing. When it is set to 45 mm, the transparent base material sheet 13 always becomes the bottom surface 2a of the concave portion 2 and the low-reflectance printed layer 5 can be seen under the pressing conditions and the precision of the counterbore depth when laminating. become. In addition, 0.05mm transparent oversheet 11,
0.35 mm opalescent core sheet 12, 0.10 mm transparent substrate sheet 13, 0.26 mm opalescent core sheet 1
A 5-layer structure in which a transparent oversheet 15 of 4, 0.05 mm is pressed and laminated may be used.

A second example is shown in FIG. This card substrate 1
Is a 0.30 mm milky white core sheet 21, 0.18 mm
It has a three-layer structure in which the transparent base material sheet 22 and the 0.28 mm opalescent core sheet 23 are laminated, and no oversheet is used. Designs are each milky white core sheet 21,2
3 is formed on the outer side surface of the sheet 3, and the same printing layer 5 as described above is provided at a predetermined position on the inner side surface of the lower milky white core sheet 23. In this card base material 1, recesses 2 are formed by counterboring at a depth from the opalescent core sheet 21 to the transparent base material sheet 22. Then, the portion of the transparent base material sheet 22 becomes the bottom surface 2a of the concave portion 2, and the printing layer 5 having a low reflectance can be seen under the bottom surface 2a.

A third example is shown in FIG. This card substrate 5
Is a 0.05 mm transparent oversheet 31, 0.37
It has a four-layer structure in which a milky white core sheet 32 of 0.3 mm, a transparent base sheet 33 of 0.37 mm, and a transparent oversheet 34 of 0.05 mm are laminated. In the case of this card base material 1, before stacking the respective sheets, a pattern or the like is printed on the outer surface of the milky white core sheet 32, and the same printing as above is performed on a predetermined position on the outer surface of the transparent base material sheet 33. The layer 5 is provided, and the opalescent ink layer 35 is formed by solid printing so as to cover the layer 5, and a pattern or the like is printed thereon. In this card base material 1, the transparent base material sheet 3
A recess 2 is formed by performing counterbore processing to a depth reaching 2.
Then, the portion of the transparent base material sheet 22 is the bottom surface 2a of the recess 2.
Then, the printed layer 5 having a low reflectance can be seen thereunder.

Although three card substrates 2 have been described above, the layer structure is not limited to these. The point is that the transparent member 4 is formed on the bottom surface 2a of the recessed portion 2
Appears, and the printed layer 5 can be seen under it. In this case, regarding the thickness of the transparent base material sheet that becomes the transparent member 4, only the pressing conditions and the accuracy of the countersunk process may be taken into consideration.

Then, the optical recording member 3 is fixed to the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1 via the adhesive layer 10. As the adhesive used for this, urethane type, epoxy type, acrylic type,
Conventionally known adhesives such as vinyl-based adhesives and amide-based adhesives can be used. However, since the adhesive is in direct contact with the optical recording layer 8, an adhesive having good recording sensitivity and excellent temperature and humidity suitability is preferable. As a bonding method, a UV curable adhesive is dropped onto the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1, the optical recording member 3 is fitted therein, and the flat recording press corresponding to the size of the optical recording member 3 is pressed to irradiate ultraviolet rays. Then, a hot melt adhesive is applied to the optical recording member 3 with a T-die, and then hot pressed with a flat press or a roll press for adhesion. In either case, the press conditions are set so that the adhesive agent spreads between the end surface of the optical recording member 3 and the side surface of the recess 2 of the card substrate 1. In addition, the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1
When a pressure-sensitive adhesive is used to fix the optical recording member 3 to, a double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet may be used.

In another bonding method, an optical recording member is formed by forming a hard coat 9 on one surface of the transparent protective layer 6 and forming a layer having a track pattern 7 and an optical recording layer 8 on the other surface. 3 is prepared, and a thermoplastic hot melt adhesive is applied onto the optical recording layer 8, and the optical recording members 3 laminated up to this adhesive are individually cut or cut into a predetermined size, The optical recording member 3 is fitted into the concave portion 2 of the card base material 1 and heat-pressed with a flat press or a roll press to bond them. In this case, the adhesive melts,
The pressing conditions are set so as to be distributed between the end surface of the optical recording member 3 and the side surface of the recess 2 of the card substrate 1.

It is preferable that the optical recording member 3 is embedded in the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1 in a state that the optical recording member 3 does not protrude from the surface of the card substrate 1, and the adhesive layer 10 between the optical recording member 3 and the card substrate 1 is formed. It is preferable to extend not only to the bottom surface 2a of the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1 but also to the side surface.

Further, in order to make it easy to fit the optical recording member 3 into the concave portion 2 of the card substrate 1, as shown in FIG.
It is preferable to provide a taper α on the end surface of the optical recording member 3 and on the side surface of the recess 2 of the card substrate 1, and such a taper α may be provided at least on each side in the longitudinal direction.

The optical card of the type shown in FIG. 1 is one in which the optical recording member 3 is embedded in an island shape, but as shown in FIG. You may embed it. By embedding in such a form, when the recess 2 is formed in the card substrate 1 by the counterbore processing, even if the recess 2 is wide, the processing can be performed in one pass, so that the cost can be reduced. When TeOx or the like is used for the optical recording layer 8, it is preferable to omit the optical recording layer 8 at both end portions 3a of the optical recording member 3 because the edge portions at both ends may be oxidized. If you do so, it will look like the one embedded in an island.

In order to diversify the use of the optical card of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the same surface as the optical recording member 3, the opposite surface, or both surfaces of the card substrate 1. The magnetic stripe 41 may be provided on the optical recording member 3, or the IC module 42 may be provided on the same surface as the optical recording member 3 or on the opposite surface. Further, it is of course possible to form card information such as a personal name and a registration number as embossed characters in a region other than the optical recording member 3 by embossing.

[0024]

In the optical card of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the printing layer having a low reflectance is positioned below the optical recording member embedded in the card base material via the transparent member. The printing layer absorbs the light used for the reader, and plays a role of increasing the contrast when the data recorded on the optical recording layer of the optical recording member is read by the reader.

[0025]

【Example】

Example 1 First, a hard coat agent (manufactured by Toray, UH-00 manufactured by Toray Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated on one surface of a sheet-molded polycarbonate (transparent protective layer) having a thickness of 0.4 mm.
1) was applied to form a hard coat layer. Next, a track pattern was formed on the surface opposite to the hard coat layer by the 2P method, and TeOx was sputtered on the track pattern to form an optical recording layer. Then, an adhesive (PPET-2101, manufactured by Toagosei) was formed on the optical recording layer using a T-die.
Was applied in a thickness of 50 μm. Then, the end surface was cut so as to have a taper of 10 ° and was cut so as to be parallel to the tracks of the card, and an optical recording member having an outer dimension of 16 mm × 84 mm was prepared.

On the other hand, a total of two sheets of a 0.28 mm opalescent vinyl chloride core sheet and a 0.26 mm opalescent vinyl chloride core sheet were each subjected to one-sided silk offset printing, and the other 0.26 mm core sheet was printed. A black solid printing layer was formed at a predetermined position on one surface of each of the sheets. These two core sheets are sandwiched by two 0.10 mm transparent oversheets with a base sheet made of 0.10 mm transparent PVC inserted between the non-printed surface and the solid black surface, and heat-sealed. A card base material having a five-layer structure was prepared. A magnetic tape of 650 Oersted was formed on one surface of one oversheet, and a magnetic tape of 290 Oersted was formed on one surface of the other oversheet. Then, by recessing, a concave portion in which the optical recording member is embedded is formed in the card base material. In this case, the depth is 0.
Counterbore processing was performed in a size of 45 mm so that the side surface of the recess has a taper angle of 10 ° outward with respect to the vertical direction from the bottom surface of the card, and a size larger than the optical recording member by 50 μm. By this zapping process, a transparent base material sheet portion appeared on the bottom surface of the recess, and a black solid print layer could be confirmed through it.

An optical recording member was fitted into the recess of the card base material prepared above, and a flat press having a size corresponding to the size of the optical recording member was used, and the temperature was 30 at 120 ° C. and 6 kg / cm ^2.
Heat pressing was performed for a second. As a result, the adhesive was melted and the entire surface could be adhered while covering the bottom surface and the end surface of the optical recording member. Then, it was punched into a card size.

In contrast to the optical card manufactured as described above, an optical card R / W (manufactured by OMRON, 3B3H-DJ-0) is used.
When data of 100 tracks was written in 1), the error rate was within 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ . Furthermore, even if the card base material was embossed, data could be written and read by the optical card R / W. Further, this optical card was subjected to a bending test in accordance with the ISO bending test standard, but there was no problem.

Example 2 A polymethylmethacrylate (transparent protective layer) with a track pattern having a thickness of 0.4 mm was prepared by the casting method. At this time, the end face is 10
It was designed to have a taper of °. Next, a hard coat agent (UH-001, manufactured by Toray) is applied to the side opposite to the track pattern surface by a spin coating method to form a hard coat layer, and then TeOx is sputtered on the track pattern surface to form an optical recording layer. Outer size is 1 by forming
An optical recording member having a size of 6 mm × 84 mm was prepared.

On the other hand, a total of two core sheets of 0.35 mm opalescent vinyl chloride and 0.26 mm opalescent vinyl chloride were printed with one-sided silk offset, and the other 0.26 mm core sheet was printed. A black solid printing layer was formed at a predetermined position on one surface of each of the sheets. These two core sheets were sandwiched by two 0.05 mm transparent oversheets with a substrate sheet made of transparent PVC of 0.10 mm inserted between the non-printed surface and the solid black surface, and heat-sealed. A card base material having a five-layer structure was prepared. Then, by recessing, a concave portion in which the optical recording member is embedded is formed in the card base material. In this case, the depth is 0.
Counterbore processing was performed in a size of 45 mm so that the side surface of the recess has a taper angle of 10 ° outward with respect to the vertical direction from the bottom surface of the card, and a size larger than the optical recording member by 50 μm. By this zapping process, a transparent base material sheet portion appeared on the bottom surface of the recess, and a black solid print layer could be confirmed through it. In addition, I from the front side of the card
A buried hole for the C module was formed.

Next, a UV curable adhesive (863 made by Kyoritsu Kagaku Sangyo Co., Ltd.) was dropped into the concave portion of the card base material, an optical recording member was fitted into the concave portion, and the whole was pressed by a flat press, The adhesive was cured by irradiating with ultraviolet rays. At this time, the press conditions were set so that the adhesive was spread even on the end surface of the optical recording member. Then, after punching to a card size, the IC module was fitted into the embedding hole and fixed by adhesion.

In contrast to the optical card manufactured as described above, an optical card R / W (manufactured by OMRON, 3B3H-DJ-0
When data of 100 tracks was written in 1), the error rate was within 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ . Further, this optical card was subjected to a bending test in accordance with the ISO bending test standard, but there was no problem.

[0033]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

When the data recorded on the optical recording member is read by the reader by arranging the printing layer having a low reflectance on the bottom surface of the concave portion of the card base material in which the optical recording member is embedded, through the transparent member. Since the contrast is high, it is possible to obtain an optical card that is easy to read and has no reading error.

Since the optical recording member is embedded in a part of the card substrate, by utilizing the remaining area of the card substrate, an optical card of a form that could not be manufactured up to now, for example, a magnetic stripe is formed on both sides. Optical card,
It is possible to manufacture an optical card with embossing, an optical card in which the optical recording unit and the IC module are not on the same surface, an optical card capable of CP processing on both sides, and an optical card capable of transferring holograms on both sides.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an optical card according to the present invention. .

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line XY of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the layer structure of a card base material.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the layer structure of a card base material.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the layer structure of a card base material.

FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining an optical card as another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of an optical card provided with a magnetic stripe on the same surface as an optical recording member.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of an optical card in which a magnetic stripe and an IC module are provided on the same surface as an optical recording member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Card Base Material 2 Recess 2a Bottom Surface 3 Optical Recording Member 4 Transparent Member 5 Printing Layer 10 Adhesive Layer 41 Magnetic Stripe 42 IC Module

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G06K 19/06 19/077 G11B 7/24 571 F 7215-5D

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An optical card having an optical recording member embedded in a recess formed in a card substrate, wherein a printing layer having a low reflectance is provided on the bottom surface of the recess via a transparent member. An optical card characterized by. 2. The optical card according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion of the card base material is formed by counterboring. 3. The optical card according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive layer between the optical recording member and the card base is provided not only on the bottom surface of the concave portion of the card base material but also on the side surface thereof. . 4. The optical card according to claim 1, wherein the end surface of the optical recording member and the side surface of the recess of the card substrate are provided with taper. 5. The optical card according to claim 1, wherein a magnetic stripe is provided on the same surface as the optical recording member, the opposite surface, or both surfaces of the card substrate. 6. The IC module is provided on the same surface as or an opposite surface of the optical recording member.
The optical card of 2, 3, 4 or 5. 7. The embossing process is applied to a region other than the optical recording member.
The optical card described in 5 or 6.