JPH08142556A - Production of noncontact type ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily produce a large number of noncontact type IC cards at once by fixing IC card elements at the almost central part in the thickness direction of a cavity by spacers interposed between the inner wall surfaces of a mold forming the cavity and the IC card elements. CONSTITUTION: At first, IC card elements 4 are properly pressed between one end parts of one set of spacers 1 by mold clamping to be fixed at the almost central part in the thickness direction of a cavity 41. A mold 40 is closed to perform injection molding to produce noncontact type IC cards. As mentioned above, since a plurality of the IC card elements 4 are fixed at the almost central part in the thickness direction of the cavity 41, a large number of the noncontact type IC cards can be produced at once. A bonding process for a plurality of the parts of the IC card elements 4 becomes unnecessary and the thin non- contact type IC cards can be produced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a non-contact type IC card, and more specifically, a non-contact type IC in which an IC card element is integrally embedded in a card integrally molded. The present invention relates to an industrially advantageous manufacturing method of a card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A non-contact type IC card is a card for reading and writing data by radio wave communication such as medium wave band and microwave band without being physically inserted into a machine or the like. Such an IC card is a type that receives radio waves from an oscillator and stores the information inside the card.
It is categorized as a type that receives radio waves from an oscillator and transmits the information held by the card from the card to the receiver.

The non-contact type IC card, which is of any of the above types, usually has a structure in which an IC card element composed of an IC circuit, a battery, a memory, an antenna, a computer and the like is embedded in the card. And conventionally,
The non-contact type IC card is manufactured by a housing assembling method or a sheet laminating method.

The above-mentioned housing assembling method is a method of manufacturing a non-contact type IC card having at least two housing structures. For example, two housings having a concave portion at the center are formed by injection molding, An IC card element is placed in the concave portion, adhered and fixed, and the housings are bonded together.

The above-mentioned sheet laminating method is a method for producing a non-contact type IC card having at least a three-layer structure of surface layer / intermediate layer / surface layer. For example, the sheet is formed by extrusion molding, and the intermediate layer sheet is formed. Punching out the central part of the sheet, laminating the intermediate layer sheet on one surface layer sheet, arranging the IC card element in the concave portion of the intermediate layer sheet and adhesively fixing it, and then placing it on the intermediate layer sheet. The step of laminating the other surface layer sheet is performed.

[0006]

However, in any of the above-mentioned manufacturing methods, it is difficult to form a recess that matches the shape of the IC card element, and therefore, if the adhesion is insufficient, it tends to be broken due to movement. There is a drawback to say. on the other hand,
An extremely complicated work is required in order to perform complete bonding for each component of the IC card element.

Moreover, the housing assembling method requires an IC card element adhering step and a housing adhering step in addition to the housing forming step, and the sheet stacking method has a sheet punching step in addition to the sheet forming step. Since the IC card element bonding process and the sheet bonding process are required, there is a drawback that the number of processes is large and the manufacturing cost is high. In particular, bonding an IC card element composed of a plurality of parts is troublesome and hinders mass production.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is an industrially advantageous non-contact type IC card in which an IC card element is integrally embedded in a card integrally molded. It is to provide a manufacturing method.

[0009]

As a result of various studies, the inventors of the present invention have made it possible to perform injection molding using a specific means without exposing all the components of the IC card element to the approximate center of the card. We obtained the knowledge that it could be buried in the section.

The present invention has been completed based on the above findings, and its gist is to arrange an IC card element in the cavity of a divided structure mold, and then close the mold to perform injection molding. Then, when the mold is opened and released from the mold, a spacer interposed between the inner wall surface of the mold forming the cavity and the IC card element allows the IC card to be formed substantially at the center in the thickness direction of the cavity. A non-contact type IC card manufacturing method characterized by fixing an element.

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a plurality of examples of spacers used to fix an IC card element in a cavity in the manufacturing method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a mold used in a reaction injection molding method. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example.

In the present invention, the IC card element may be any combination of elements as long as it can form a non-contact type IC card, and its constituent parts, shapes and the like are not limited. An ordinary IC card element is composed of an IC circuit, a battery, a memory, an antenna, a computer, etc., and these components are mounted on a substrate as needed.

In order to prevent the influence (for example, foaming) of the water adhering to the IC card element during the later-described injection molding (particularly reaction injection molding), the IC card element is surface-coated as necessary. It can also be used. A known coating resin can be appropriately selected and used as the coating treatment agent.

Further, the IC card element can be closely packaged by the flexible packaging material. Examples of flexible packaging materials include films such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, polystyrene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, and activated polyolefin. As a means for close packing, vacuum packing means known as strip packing or skim pack can be used.

A feature of the present invention is that the IC card element is fixed at a substantially central portion in the thickness direction of the cavity by a spacer interposed between the inner wall surface of the mold forming the cavity and the IC card element. is there.

The fixing method illustrated in FIG. 1A is a method in which a plurality of columnar spacers are used as one set. Specifically, a pair of cylindrical spacers (1),
Opposing split structure molds (40) in which the length between the other ends of the spacers (1) and (1) forms a cavity (41) when the IC card element (4) is sandwiched between the one ends of (1) It is a method of using a plurality of sets of the above-mentioned one set of spacers (1), (1) having a length that comes into contact with the inner wall surfaces (10a), (20a). In the figure, the IC card element (4) is schematically shown.

In the case of the above method, the IC card element (4)
Is appropriately pressed between the ends of the pair of spacers (1) and (1) by mold clamping, and is fixed to the substantially central portion of the cavity (41) in the thickness direction. Therefore, a plurality of sets of pillar-shaped spacers sandwiching the IC card element (4) between their respective ends must be arranged in the formation portion (space portion) of the cavity (41) before mold clamping, and normally, handling thereof is required. For simplicity, the IC card element (4) and the spacer (1) are fixed with an adhesive or the like.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the IC card element (4) is integrally embedded in the card integrally molded by an injection molding method described later. Therefore, I
The C card element (4) and the spacer (1) can be roughly fixed because they are so-called temporary fixing until the mold is clamped. In this respect also, the manufacturing method of the present invention is
It is advantageous as compared with the conventional manufacturing method.

The fixing method illustrated in FIG. 1 (a) is a method of sandwiching the IC card element (4) between one end of a pair of spacers (1), (1). This is not necessary in the case of an IC card device equipped with. That is, since the non-mounting surface side of the substrate can act in the same manner as the spacer, the spacer similar to the above may be bonded and fixed only to the mounting surface side of the substrate.

Further, the spacer (1) illustrated in FIG. 1 (a) has a columnar shape, but the shape thereof is not particularly limited and may be plate-like, spherical or cone-like. However,
Cylindrical or prismatic spacers are recommended due to their ease of handling.

The fixing method shown in FIGS. 1 (b) and 1 (c) is such that a die is provided with a fitting groove for the IC card element on the side surface and the fitting groove is opposed in the die clamping direction. This is a method of using a plurality of spacers having a structure provided at a position not intersecting with an imaginary line connecting each contact point with both inner wall surfaces.

Specifically, the spacer (2) shown in FIG. 1 (b) has a trapezoidal cross section, and the square pillar (2b) has a trapezoidal cross section along the longitudinal direction of the square pillar (2b) at substantially the center of one side surface on the upper bottom side. Recess (2a)
Has a shape provided with (fitting groove of IC card element),
The spacer (3) shown in FIG. 1 (c) is a quadrangular prism (3b) having a rectangular cross section, and the quadrangular prism has a longitudinal direction in a substantially central portion of one side in the longitudinal direction of the quadrangular prism including a long side of the rectangle. A pair of protrusions (3c) and (3d) are provided along the groove to form a recess (3a) (fitting groove for the IC card element).

In the case of the spacer (2), the length (L) on the lower base side in the trapezoid, and in the case of the spacer (3), the length (L) on the long side of the rectangle is shown in FIG. The divided structure mold (40) for molding the cavity (41) shown in FIG.
Of the inner wall surfaces (10a) and (20a) facing each other.

Therefore, in the case of the spacer (2), as shown by the arrows, the respective ridge lines of the quadrangular prisms which intersect the both corners on the lower bottom side of the trapezoid abut the inner wall surfaces (10a), (20a). Recessed portion (2a) forming a fitting groove of the IC card element
Is provided at a position that does not intersect with the imaginary line connecting the contact points.

In the case of the spacer (3), as shown by the arrow, both sides of the rectangular column including the short side of the rectangle in the longitudinal direction come into contact with the inner wall surfaces (10a) and (20a). The recessed portion (3a) that constitutes the fitting groove is provided at a position that does not intersect with the imaginary line connecting the contact points. The spacers (2) and (3) have the following effects due to the above structural characteristics.

That is, a method of interposing a spacer between the inner wall surface of the mold forming the cavity and the IC card element to fix the IC card element at the substantially central portion in the thickness direction of the cavity is by clamping the mold. Completed, Figure 1
In the case of the spacer (1) shown in (a), if it is too long, excessive pressing force may be applied to the IC card element during mold clamping, and the IC card element may be damaged.

On the other hand, spacers (2) and (3)
Because of the above structural characteristics, the pressing force is not directly applied to the IC card element, and the risk of damage to the IC card element can be avoided. Further, since the spacers (2) and (3) are each provided with a fitting groove for the IC card element, they can be attached to the IC card element with one touch, and there is an advantage that adhesive fixing is not required.

Each of the above-mentioned spacers can be easily molded by injection molding of various resins. As the spacer resin, a resin having good compatibility with the resin forming the card itself of the non-contact type IC card is preferable, and the same resin as the resin forming the card itself is particularly preferable. The diameter of the spacer (1) can be arbitrarily selected. Further, the spacers (2) and (3) are formed in a quadrangular prism shape, but the thickness thereof can be arbitrarily selected and may be formed in a plate shape.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the IC card element fixed in the cavity by the spacer is embedded in the resin to form a card by using the injection molding method. The injection molding method may be either a normal injection molding method or a reaction injection molding method.

As is well known, the usual injection molding method is a molding method mainly utilizing a melt extruder and a split structure mold. In the present invention, the split structure mold is usually a stationary side and a movable side. A two piece mold is used which is divided into side and side.

As the raw material resin, general-purpose resins such as polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene and ABS, general-purpose engineering plastics such as polyamide, polycarbonate, polyacetal, polybutyne terephthalate and modified polyphenylene oxide, polyarylate, polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfone, polyether sulfone Special engineering plastics such as polyetheretherketone, polyamideimide, and polyetherimide are appropriately selected and used.

The reaction injection molding method is a special form of injection molding method, in which two or more kinds of liquid resin raw materials which react rapidly and rapidly react are introduced into a mixing chamber under pressure to violently mix and mix, and then a sealed metal is used. It is a method of injecting into a mold to complete curing in a mold in a short time and molding.

The divided structure mold used in the reaction injection molding method usually has the structure shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c). 2 (a) is the upper mold parting surface side, FIG. 2 (b)
Shows the parting surface side of the lower mold, and FIG. 2 (c) shows the assembled mold.

A runner forming part (11) and a gate forming part (12) are provided at one end of the upper mold (10), and a liquid storage space forming part (13) is provided at the other end. on the other hand,
A mixing head (30) having a liquid resin material discharge port (31) is disposed on a side surface of the lower mold (20), and the lower mold (2
A cavity forming part (21) is provided in the central part of 0), and a liquid storage space forming part (22) is provided at the other end on the side where the mixing head (30) is not arranged.

The upper mold (10) and the lower mold (20) are shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the mold is clamped by the parting surface to form a mold (40). Reference numeral (41) in FIG. 2 (c) represents a cavity, and reference numeral (42) represents a liquid storage space.
Two or more kinds of liquid resin raw materials that have been collision-mixed by the mixing head (30) are injected into the cavity (41) from the liquid resin raw material discharge port (31).

Examples of the liquid resin raw material include various thermosetting or thermoplastic resin raw materials which can be molded by reaction injection molding. These liquid resin raw materials are usually two-liquid or three-liquid, and can be easily injected into the cavity for molding.

Suitable thermosetting resins obtained by the reaction injection molding method include epoxy resins, vinyl ester resins, unsaturated polyester resins, phenol resins, bismaleimide resins, urethane resins, polyurea resins, polyisocyanurate resins, silicones. Resin etc. are mentioned. Further, a thermosetting resin obtained by polymerizing a monomer having an allyl, vinyl, acryl or methacryl type carbon-carbon double bond and a norbornene type polymerizable monomer or oligomer is also suitable. On the other hand, examples of the thermoplastic resin include polyamide resin and polycarbonate resin.
These are injected into the cavity in the state of a monomer, a prepolymer or the like. A reactive diluent, a catalyst, an internal mold release agent and the like may be appropriately added to the monomers and the like used.

Further, in the reaction injection molding method, short fibers can be dispersed in the liquid resin raw material in order to increase the strength of the non-contact type card to be molded. As the short fibers, for example, short fibers having an electrical insulating property are used so as not to impair the function of the non-contact type IC card intended by the present invention. For example, glass fiber, aromatic polyamide fiber, polyester fiber and the like can be mentioned.

As described above, the reaction injection molding method is a method of injecting a liquid resin raw material into the cavity, and the liquid resin raw material usually has a lower viscosity than the resin produced therefrom. Therefore, as will be described later, in the present invention in which an IC card element tightly packed in the cavity is arranged and injection molding is performed, as compared with a normal injection molding method in which a molten resin is injected into the cavity, The reaction injection molding method of injecting the liquid resin raw material is advantageous in that a large force is not applied to the IC card element arranged in the cavity.

In the reaction injection molding method, the viscosity of the liquid resin raw material depends on the temperature of the mold and the mixing ratio of the liquid resin raw material components. Yes, specifically, it is preferably 100 cp or less. It is preferable that the curing rate is slow when filling the mold and that the curing reaction is completed promptly after the filling is completed. Specifically, the curing time is 10
The time is preferably adjusted to 5 minutes or less, preferably 5 minutes or less, and more preferably 3 minutes or less. The mold temperature is appropriately determined depending on the curing temperature of the liquid resin raw material used.

In the case of the reaction injection molding method, the inside of the cavity is pressurized by the pressurized gas between the completion of the injection of the liquid resin material and the gelation of the liquid resin material until the curing is completed. It is preferable to maintain the pressurized state.

That is, in reaction injection molding, bubbles are contained in the non-contact type card to be molded due to air bubbles contained in the liquid resin raw material, vapor of the liquid resin raw material, air in the mold and the like. Sometimes. Therefore, in order to manufacture a non-contact type IC card without hole defects such as bubbles,
It is preferable to reduce air bubbles contained in the card before curing (liquid resin raw material in the cavity) by the above-mentioned pressurized state. The reason why bubbles are reduced depending on the pressure is
Although it is not always clear, crushing destruction, volume contraction, dissolution in the liquid resin raw material, etc. due to the pressure action are considered.

The pressurized gas is not particularly limited as long as it is an inert gas that does not chemically react with the liquid resin raw material.
Normally, nitrogen, argon or the like is used. As a method of applying a pressure to the inside of the cavity, for example, a runner,
A method of introducing an inert gas from a gate, a liquid storage space or the like can be mentioned. In particular, a method of introducing an inert gas from the liquid storage space is suitable.

The higher the degree of pressurization, the better, but in reality,
Due to equipment restrictions such as the injection pressure of the liquid resin material injection machine and the mold clamping force of the mold clamping machine, it is usually 1 to 20 kg / cm.
² G, preferably ^{2 to 10} kg / cm ² G, and more preferably 3 to 7 kg / cm ² G.

The start time of pressurization is not particularly limited as long as it is from the completion of the injection of the liquid resin raw material to the gelation of the liquid resin raw material. It is preferable to start the pressurization. Pressurization may be started at the start of or during the injection of the liquid resin raw material, but in this case, the pressure due to the flow pressure loss of the resin is added in the vicinity of the gate in the molding die in addition to the pressure applied. Therefore, it is necessary to leave room for injection pressure and mold clamping force. The gas partially dissolved in the liquid resin raw material or trapped in the bubbles due to the above pressurized state is gradually diffused after the mold is removed. Therefore, the residual stress of the molded non-contact type card can be ignored.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, a plurality of I's are provided at a predetermined interval in the approximate center of the cavity in the thickness direction.
By fixing the C card element, a large number of non-contact type IC cards can be easily manufactured. In this case, if necessary, it is possible to use a lower mold in which recesses into which the IC card elements are fitted are provided at predetermined intervals on the cavity forming surface.

In particular, when a large number of the above-mentioned products are manufactured by the reaction injection molding method, it is possible to use a movable mold and perform a so-called mold tilt in which the liquid storage space is tilted upward and the gate is positioned below. preferable. Due to such mold inclination, air bubbles gather upward as in the above. Moreover, the effect of reducing bubbles by the above-mentioned pressurized gas is enhanced. The angle of mold inclination can be appropriately selected from the range of 15 to 90 °.

According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, since the injection molding method is used, unlike the conventional manufacturing method (housing assembly method or sheet laminating method) of a non-contact type IC card, the card itself is integrally molded. In addition, the IC card element is embedded together with the card. The non-contact type IC card obtained by the production method of the present invention is usually used after the surface thereof is made beautiful by so-called lamination of decorative film, painting, printing and the like.

[0049]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples below, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples as long as the gist thereof is not exceeded. In the following examples, a reaction injection molding method was adopted, and a mold and raw material having the following specifications were used.

(1) The mold is composed of an upper mold and a lower mold and has a depth of 1.6 mm (or 0.7 mm) and a long side of 8 mm.
With a cavity of 5.7 mm and short side 54.0 mm,
A mold having a liquid storage space on the tip side was used.

(2) As the liquid resin raw material, the following A and B were used (in order to observe the internal condition of the obtained non-contact type IC card, no pigment or the like was added). A: Product "Neopol" manufactured by Japan Yupica (mixture of epoxy acrylate-based polyol and styrene monomer) B: Product "ISONATE 11" manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei Dow
2 "(carbodiimide-modified diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) -based prepolymer) and a product" Perhexa 3M "(radical polymerization initiator) manufactured by NOF CORPORATION

Example 1 As an IC card element, an IC card, a battery, a memory, an antenna, and a computer were mainly used, and the maximum thickness of the flat shape was 1.2 mm, the length was about 30 mm, and the width was about 50 mm. used. As the spacer, a spacer having the shape shown in FIG. 1B and having a trapezoidal shape having a lower bottom side length (L) of 1.7 mm was used.

Spacers are attached at two positions on both ends of the IC card element, and the cavity depth is 1.6 m.
Place it in the cavity forming part of the lower mold of
The upper mold and the lower mold were clamped with the clamping force of ton. The mold temperature was maintained at 120 ° C. for both the upper mold and the lower mold. Then, the liquid resin raw materials A and B were collided and mixed by a mixing head so as to have a weight ratio of 70/30 and immediately injected into the cavity. After the curing of the liquid resin raw material was completed, the mold was opened and the non-contact type IC card card molded was released. The obtained card was embedded in the approximate center of the card without exposing all the components of the IC card element.

Example 2 In Example 1, a mold having a cavity depth of 0.7 mm was used, which mainly consisted of an IC circuit, a battery, a memory, an antenna, and a computer, and the thickness of the flat-shaped maximum portion was 0. 0.5mm, length about 30mm, width about 50m
1 is used as a spacer by using the IC card device of FIG.
A non-contact type IC is produced by reaction injection molding in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the trapezoidal shape having the shape shown in (b) and a lower bottom side length (L) of 0.8 mm is used. Card made card. Although the obtained card was very thin, it was buried in the approximate center of the card without exposing all the components of the IC card element.

Example 3 First, a polyvinyl chloride film having a thickness of 50 μm was used, and the length (longitudinal direction) was 100 mm, and the flat state was 52 mm in width.
It is mainly composed of IC circuit, battery, memory, antenna and computer, and the maximum thickness of the flat shape is 1.2mm and the length is about 30mm.
An IC card element having a width of about 50 mm was arranged in the same direction in the vertical and horizontal directions in the container.

Then, both longitudinal ends of the container are fixed so that they can be freely stretched, and the inside of the container is decompressed until the container comes into close contact with the entire surface of each component of the IC card element, and the IC card element is longitudinally aligned. Was heat-sealed in the vicinity of both ends, and the remaining vertical portion of the packaging container was cut and removed from a portion close to the heat-sealed portion.

Then, reaction injection molding was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the above closely packed IC card element was used to manufacture a non-contact type IC card card. The obtained card was embedded in the approximate center of the card without exposing all the components of the IC card element.

[0058]

According to the manufacturing method of the present invention described above, there is provided a non-contact type IC card in which an IC card element is integrally embedded in a card integrally molded,
Further, the manufacturing method of the present invention has an advantage that a thin non-contact type IC card can be manufactured without requiring a step of adhering a plurality of parts of the IC card element.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a manufacturing method of the present invention in which I
It is explanatory drawing which shows several examples of the spacer used for fixing a C card element.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an example of a mold used in a reaction injection molding method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Spacer 2: Spacer 3: Spacer 4: IC card element 10: Upper mold 10a: Mold inner wall surface 11: Runner forming part 12: Gate forming part 13: Liquid reservoir space forming part 20: Lower mold 20a: Inside mold Wall surface 21: Cavity forming part 22: Liquid storage space forming part 30: Mixing head 31: Liquid resin raw material discharge port 40: Mold 41: Cavity 42: Liquid storage space

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G06K 19/077

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mold for forming the cavity when an IC card element is placed in a cavity of a split structure mold, the mold is then closed and injection molding is performed, and then the mold is opened and demolded. A method for manufacturing a non-contact type IC card, characterized in that an IC card element is fixed to a substantially central portion in the thickness direction of the cavity by a spacer interposed between an inner wall surface of the mold and the IC card element. 2. As a spacer interposed between the inner wall surface of the mold and the IC card element, a side surface is provided with a fitting groove for the IC card element, and the fitting groove faces in the mold clamping direction of the mold. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein a spacer having a structure provided at a position not intersecting an imaginary line connecting each contact point with both inner wall surfaces of the mold is used. 3. The injection molding is reaction injection molding.
Or the manufacturing method according to 2.