JP2000348155A - Ic card manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an electronic component which is being manufactured from being broken, to greatly increase the yielding rate of the production, and to contribute to quality improvement and reliability improvement by fitting an elastic plate with specific thickness which elastically restores itself when a stack base material is pressed while a thermoplastic resin sheet is plasticized. SOLUTION: When the stack base material M is bonded by thermocompression, the stack base material M is pressed without being heated sufficiently in the beginning, so an electronic component P is applied with pressure through thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb which are not plasticized sufficiently. Elastic plates 4u and 4d, however, deform elastically corresponding to the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb, so the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and LB is absorbed by the elastic plates 4u and 4d to avoid the breakage, etc., of the electronic component P due to the application of excessive pressure in the manufacture. When the thermoplastic resin sheets La and LB are sufficiently plasticized as the time is elapsed to some extent, the elastic plates 4u and 4d restore themselves elastically to their original shapes and the stack base material M is pressed by thermocompression into the original flat shape.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a thin non-contact IC.
The present invention relates to an IC card manufacturing apparatus suitable for use in manufacturing a card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an IC card having a built-in electronic component such as an IC chip is known. Since an IC card accommodates electronic components inside the card, it is necessary to manufacture the card surface so that the electronic components do not have irregularities, and various manufacturing methods and devices have been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 9-202). JP-A-2-16234, JP-A-6-1762
No. 14, JP-A-9-277766, JP-A-9-277766
1-448660).

Recently, a flexible and thin non-contact IC card having a thickness of about several hundreds of micrometers has been put to practical use. FIG. 9 shows such a thin non-contact IC.
1 shows a conventional representative IC card manufacturing apparatus 50 for manufacturing a card. The IC card manufacturing apparatus 50 includes a lower press platen 51 and an upper press platen 52. The lower press platen 51 is attached to a base portion 54 via a heat insulating plate 53, and the upper press platen 52 moves up and down via a heat insulating plate 55. It is attached to the body 56. Thereby, the lower press platen 51 is on the fixed side, and the upper press platen 52 is on the movable side. A heating heater 57 and a cooling water channel 58 are provided inside the lower press platen 51, and the heating heater 5 is provided inside the upper press platen 52.
9 and cooling water channels 60 are provided. Further, the base portion 54
The cylindrical lower chamber portion 6 which covers the periphery of the lower press platen 51
1 is provided, and the upper press plate 52
An upper chamber portion 62 is provided so as to cover the periphery. The lower chamber portion 61 and the upper chamber portion 62 are fitted when the upper press platen 52 is lowered, and constitute a chamber 63 in which the inside is sealed. On the other hand, reference numeral 64 denotes a deaeration port provided in the upper chamber portion 62. By connecting a deaeration device (not shown) (a vacuum pump or the like) to the deaeration port 64, the inside of the chamber 63 can be deaerated. Can be. Reference numeral 65 denotes a sealing material provided in the upper chamber section 62.

According to such an IC card manufacturing apparatus 50, the laminated base material M used for manufacturing an IC card is set on the lower press board 51. In this case, the laminated member M
Is configured as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. P is I
An electronic component comprising a C chip Pi and an antenna Pa,
The electronic component P is sandwiched between a pair of upper and lower sheet material Sa, Sb. In this case, each sheet material Sa, Sb
Are thermoplastic resin sheets (polyethylene terephthalate etc.) La and Lb, and nonwoven fabrics Ta and T
b. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the laminated base material M is usually spelled continuously into a plurality of IC cards (generally, n × m), and the laminated base material M is subjected to heat by an IC card manufacturing apparatus. After crimping, cutting is performed to produce a target IC card. On the other hand, when thermocompression bonding of the laminated base material M,
After lowering the elevating body portion 56, the inside of the chamber 63 is evacuated, and the laminated base material M is pressed by the lower press platen 51 and the upper press plate 52 heated by energizing the heaters 57 ... and 59 ... Then, the laminated base material M is thermocompression-bonded with the air bubbles contained therein removed. Thereafter, the heating heater 57
, And 59 are stopped, and the cooling water channels 58 and 60 are stopped.
When the cooling water is supplied to the laminated substrate M, the laminated substrate M is cooled.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional IC card manufacturing apparatus 50, in the initial stage of pressurization for thermocompression bonding of the laminated base material M, the laminated base material M itself is not sufficiently heated. Therefore, excessive pressure is applied to the electronic component P via the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb that are not sufficiently plasticized. There is a problem that manufacturing defects such as breakage of the parts P are likely to occur, and the yield rate during production is reduced.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems existing in the prior art, and prevents the electronic components from being damaged due to the application of an excessive pressure during the production, thereby greatly increasing the production yield. It is an object of the present invention to provide an IC card manufacturing apparatus capable of improving the quality and reliability of the IC card.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a laminated base material M comprising an electronic component P such as an IC chip sandwiched between a pair of sheet materials Sa and Sb including thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb. When the IC card manufacturing apparatus 1 including the thermocompression pressing section 2 for thermocompression bonding between the pair of press faces 3u and 3d from both sides, the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are provided on the press faces 3u and 3d. In the non-plasticized state, the laminated base M is elastically deformed in response to the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb when pressed, and in the state where the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are plasticized, the laminated base M
Elastic plate 4 having a predetermined thickness that resiliently returns when pressure is applied
u, 4d is attached.

In this case, according to a preferred embodiment, an elastic metal plate or an elastic synthetic resin plate can be used for the elastic plates 4u and 4d. Further, the elastic plates 4u, 4d are connected to the pressing surface 3 via flexible plates 5u, 5d having a predetermined thickness.
u, 3d.
A rubber plate can be used for u and 5d.

Thus, when the laminated base material M is thermocompression-bonded, the elastic plates 4u and 4d are deformed according to the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb when the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are not plasticized. Because of the elastic deformation, the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb by the electronic component P is absorbed by the elastic plates 4u and 4d. Therefore, breakage of the electronic component P due to application of an excessive pressure during manufacturing is avoided. On the other hand, in a state where the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are plasticized, the elastic plates 4u and 4d elastically return to their original shapes, so that the laminated base material M is thermocompression bonded by the original flat shape of the elastic plates 4u and 4d. Is done.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of an IC card manufacturing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The IC card manufacturing apparatus 1 includes the laminated base material holding section 10 shown in FIGS. Laminated base material holding part 10
Is composed of an upper holding portion 11 and a lower holding portion 12, and the upper holding portion 1
When 1 overlaps the lower holding portion 12, the laminated base material holding portion 10 is sealed inside.

The upper holding portion 11 has an upper frame portion 13 formed in a rectangular frame shape, and a groove 13s is provided on an outer surface of the upper frame portion 13. The upper plate portion 14 includes a sandwiching surface portion 14p that is larger than the upper surface of the laminated base material M and a groove-shaped absorbing surface portion 14a bulging upward along an outer edge of the sandwiching surface portion 14p. The outer edge 14v of the upper plate 14 is attached to the lower surface of the upper frame 13 by fasteners 15 such as screws. The upper plate portion 14 can be made of a stainless material having a certain thickness, and the thickness is within 3 mm, preferably 1 mm.
[Mm] is preferable. Note that a seal member 16 is fixed to an outer edge portion 14v located below the lower surface of the upper frame portion 13.

On the other hand, the lower holding section 12 is basically configured in the same manner as the upper holding section 11. That is, the lower frame portion 17 configured in a rectangular frame shape, the holding surface portion 18p larger than the lower surface overlapping the lower surface of the laminated base material M, and the groove bulging downward along the outer edge of the holding surface portion 18p. A lower plate portion 18 provided with an absorption surface portion 18a having a rectangular shape, and the outer edge portion 18v of the lower plate portion 18 is attached to the upper surface of the lower frame portion 17 by fasteners 19 such as screws. The lower plate portion 18 can also be made of stainless steel or the like having the same constant thickness as the upper plate portion 14. Note that a seal member 20 is fixed to an outer edge portion 18v located above the upper surface of the lower frame portion 17.

The lower surface of the holding surface portion 14p has a pressing surface 3
u, and a flexible plate 5u is fixed to the press surface 3u, and an elastic plate 4u is fixed to the lower surface of the flexible plate 5u. In this case, when the thermoplastic resin sheet La is not plasticized, the elastic plate 4u is elastically deformed in accordance with the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheet La when the laminated base material M is pressed, and the thermoplastic resin sheet La is plasticized. In this state, an elastic metal plate having a constant thickness that elastically returns when the laminated base material M is pressed, preferably a stainless steel plate having a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.5 [mm] is used. On the other hand, the flexible plate 5u is a rubber plate having a constant thickness, preferably 0.5 to 3.0 [m
m]. The elastic plate 4u
For example, an elastic steel plate or a non-ferrous material having heat resistance, specifically, an elastic synthetic resin plate using polyimide or the like also obtained good results. The flexible plate 5u has a thickness of 1 [m
m] also obtained good results.

Further, the upper surface of the holding surface portion 18p serves as a press surface 3d, and a flexible plate 5d is fixed to the press surface 3d, and an elastic plate 4d is provided on the upper surface of the flexible plate 5d.
Is fixed. In this case, the elastic plate 4d and the flexible plate 5d
Can be the same as the elastic plate 4u and the flexible plate 5u, respectively.

On the other hand, a deaeration port 21 is provided on the absorption surface portion 18a, and the deaeration port 21 is connected to a deaeration device (not shown) (not shown) via a ventilation pipe 22. Thereby, while the inside of the laminated base material holding part 10 can be degassed,
By switching control of the switching valve connected to the ventilation pipe 22, the inside of the laminated base material holding portion 10 can be supplied with air. Further, positioning portions 23 for positioning the upper holding portion 11 and the lower holding portion 12 when the upper holding portion 11 is overlapped with the lower holding portion 12 are provided at a plurality of positions of the upper holding portion 11 and the lower holding portion 12. One positioning part 23 (the same applies to other parts) includes a positioning pin 24 protruding upward from the lower frame part 17 and a positioning hole 25 provided in the upper frame part 13.

The laminated base material holding portion 10 thus configured
When the laminated base material M is set on the lower plate portion 18 of the lower holding portion 12 and the upper holding portion 11 is overlaid thereon, the positioning pin 24 is inserted into the positioning hole 25 and the upper holding portion 11 is Accurate positioning of the sandwiching portion 12 and prevention of misalignment are achieved, and the upper frame portion 13 and the lower frame portion 17 are in close contact with each other via the sealing materials 16 and 20. For this reason, the holding surface portion 1
In this state, the positions and intervals of 4p and 18p are
u and 4d are set so as to appropriately press against both surfaces of the laminated base material M, respectively.

The manufacturing apparatus main body is provided with three press sections, namely, a preheating press section (not shown), a thermocompression press section 2 and a cooling press section (not shown). FIG. 1 shows only the movable press platen 30u arranged on the upper side and the fixed press platen 30d arranged on the lower side of the thermocompression press unit 2, and the movable press platen 30u is moved up and down by a lifting unit (not shown). The fixed press board 30d and the movable press board 30u each include a heater for heating.
The thermocompression pressing section 2 applies a regular heating temperature to the laminated base material holding section 10 sent from the preheating press section and pressurizes the laminated base material holding section 10.
It has a function of thermocompression bonding the laminated base material M. In addition, the preheating press section gives the laminated base material holding section 10 that has housed and degassed the laminated base material M, a preheating temperature lower than the normal heating temperature,
The cooling press unit cools the laminated base material M while pressing the laminated base material holding unit 10 sent from the thermocompression pressing unit 2 while having a function of increasing the preheating temperature while pressing the laminated base material M. Has functions.

Next, the operation (function) of the IC card manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the laminated base material M is accommodated in the laminated base material holding section 10. That is, the holding surface portion 18p of the lower holding portion 12
The laminated base material M is placed on the upper surface of the base material, and the upper sandwiched portion 11 is overlapped from above, whereby the laminated base material M is sandwiched between the upper sandwiched portion 11 and the lower sandwiched portion 12. Thereafter, the deaerator is operated to deaerate the inside of the laminated base material holding section 10. Thereby, the laminated base material M is pressed by the upper and lower sandwiching surface portions 14p and 18p, and the bubbles contained in the laminated base material M are completely removed. In particular, the laminated base material holding portion 10 has a groove-shaped absorbing surface portion 1.
Since the layers 4a and 18a are provided along the entire periphery of the holding surface portions 14p and 18p, the laminated base material M is uniformly degassed.
This state is shown in FIGS.

Then, the laminated base material holding section 10 containing the laminated base material M is first preheat-treated by a preheating press section (not shown). That is, the laminated base material holding portion 10 is pressurized by a pair of press plates, and a preheating temperature lower than a normal heating temperature at the time of thermocompression bonding, specifically, the sheet material S
The a and Sb are heated to a temperature (for example, around 70 ° C.) just before the plastic deformation or welding of Sb starts. Thereby, the laminated base material M is gradually heated by the preheating temperature while being pressurized.

Next, the pre-heat-treated laminated base material holding portion 1
0 is supplied to the thermocompression pressing section 2. In this case, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, since the movable press platen 30u is raised, the laminated base material holding portion 10 is placed on the fixed press platen portion 30d, and then the movable press platen portion 30u is lowered, and the laminated base material holding portion 10 The movable press board 30u and the fixed press board 30
Heat and pressure are applied from above and below by d, and the laminated base material M is thermocompression-bonded. At this time, the fixed press platen portion 30d and the movable press platen portion 30u are each heated to a regular heating temperature T by a heater for heating.
s (for example, around 120 ° C.). In addition,
The laminated base material M has upper and lower holding portions 11 and 1 on both sides.
2 and housed inside the laminated base material holding section 10 in a sealed state, and the inside of the laminated base material holding section 10 is degassed by a degassing device.
Is moved from the preheating press section to the thermocompression press section 2, the continuity of the heating state and the pressing state is ensured, that is, the laminated base material M
Insulation and pressure retention are ensured.

During the thermocompression bonding of the laminated base material M, since the laminated base material M itself is pressurized in a state where it is not sufficiently heated in the initial stage of pressurization, the laminated base material M is pressed through the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb which are not sufficiently plasticized. Thus, pressure is applied to the electronic component P. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic plates 4u and 4d are elastically deformed in accordance with the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb by the electronic component P. Therefore, the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb is suppressed by the elastic plate 4u. , 4d to prevent the electronic component P from being damaged due to the application of an excessive pressure during manufacturing. On the other hand, if some time has passed and the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb have sufficiently plasticized, the elastic plate 4
u, 4d elastically return to the original shape, and the laminated base material M is shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), thermocompression bonding is performed by the original flat shape of the elastic plates 4u and 4d.

Then, a set time (for example, about 20 seconds)
Is passed, the movable press platen unit 30u is raised, and the thermocompression-bonded laminated base material M, that is, the manufactured IC card M
i is transferred to a cooling press section for cooling. In the cooling process, the IC card Mi is cooled while being pressurized.
At this time, similarly to the thermocompression bonding process, the holding surface portions 14p, 18p
Is absorbed by the absorbing surface portions 14a and 18a.

On the other hand, in order to take out the IC card Mi from the laminated base material holding portion 10 after the cooling process, the deaerator is switched to the air supply function by switching the switching valve (not shown).
Air is supplied to the inside of the laminated base material holding section 10. Thereby, the deaerated state of the laminated base material holding portion 10 is released, and the laminated base material M is peeled from the laminated base material holding portion 10. Therefore,
The upper holding portion 11 is raised, and as shown in FIG. 1, the manufactured IC card Mi can be taken out.

As described above, when the IC card manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is used, when the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are not plasticized, the heat is applied to the press surfaces 3u and 3d when the laminated base material M is pressed. A stainless steel plate having a certain thickness that is elastically deformed in accordance with the deformation of the plastic resin sheets La and Lb and elastically returns when the laminated base material M is pressed when the thermoplastic resin sheets La and Lb are plasticized is used. Elastic plate 4u,
Since 4d is attached, breakage of electronic components due to application of excessive pressure during manufacturing is avoided, and the yield rate during production is greatly increased. Further, since the elastic plates 4u and 4d are attached to the press surfaces 3u and 3d via the flexible plates 5u and 5d using a silicon rubber plate having a certain thickness and smaller elasticity than the elastic plates 4u and 4d, the elastic plates 4u and 4d have elasticity. The plates 4u and 4d are stably supported, and the laminated base M is stably and reliably thermocompression-bonded. Furthermore, since the laminated base material M is housed inside the sealed and degassed laminated base material holding portion 10, continuity between the heating state and the pressurized state is ensured, that is, the heat insulation and the heat retention for the laminated base material are ensured. The pressure property is ensured, and the merchantability is remarkably improved by improving the quality and homogeneity.

The embodiment has been described in detail above.
The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment,
The configuration, shape, quantity, material, numerical value, and the like of the details can be arbitrarily changed, added, or deleted without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the elastic plate 4u also serves as the upper plate portion 14 and the elastic plate 4d also serves as the lower plate portion 18, and the flexible plate 5u is provided on the lower surface of the movable press platen 30u. The flexible plates 5d may be directly mounted on the upper surface of the fixed press panel 30d, respectively. In this case, the lower surface of the movable press plate 30u becomes the press surface 3u, and the upper surface of the fixed press plate 30d becomes the press surface 3d. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the elastic plate 4u is directly attached via the flexible plate 5u to the lower surface of the movable press platen 30u serving as the press surface 3u without using the laminated base material holding portion 10, and the press is performed. The elastic plate 4d may be directly attached to the upper surface of the fixed press panel 30d, which is the surface 3d, via the flexible plate 5d. On the other hand, the configuration and the material of the laminated base material M (IC card) are not limited to the examples and can be applied to any type.

[0030]

As described above, in the IC card manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, when the thermoplastic resin sheet is not plasticized, the elasticity of the thermoplastic resin sheet according to the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheet is increased when the laminated base material is not plasticized. In a state where the thermoplastic resin sheet is deformed and the thermoplastic resin sheet is plasticized, an elastic plate having a predetermined thickness that is elastically restored when the laminated base material is pressed is attached, and the following remarkable effects are obtained.

It is possible to prevent electronic components from being damaged due to application of excessive pressure during manufacturing, to greatly increase the yield rate during production, and to contribute to improvement in quality and reliability.

According to the preferred embodiment, if the elastic plate is attached to the press surface via the flexible plate having a predetermined thickness, the elastic plate can be stably supported, and thus, the laminated base material can be stably and reliably provided. Can be thermocompression bonded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of an IC card manufacturing apparatus and a manufactured IC card according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a laminated base material holding portion in the IC card manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a laminated base material holding portion in the IC card manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of the IC card manufacturing apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of the IC card manufacturing apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part for explaining the operation of the IC card manufacturing apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of an IC card manufacturing apparatus according to a modified embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of an IC card manufacturing apparatus according to another modified embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of an IC card manufacturing apparatus according to the related art;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 IC card manufacturing apparatus 2 Thermocompression press part 3u ... Pressing surface 4u ... Elastic plate 5u ... Flexible plate La ... Thermoplastic resin sheet Sa ... Sheet material P Electronic component M Laminated base material

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A thermocompression press section for thermocompressing a laminated base material comprising an electronic component such as an IC chip sandwiched between a pair of sheet materials including a thermoplastic resin sheet and sandwiched from both sides by a pair of press surfaces. In the IC card manufacturing apparatus provided, the thermoplastic resin sheet is elastically deformed in accordance with the deformation of the thermoplastic resin sheet when the thermoplastic resin sheet is not plasticized when the laminated base material is pressed, and the thermoplastic resin An IC card manufacturing apparatus, comprising an elastic plate having a predetermined thickness, which is elastically restored when the laminated base material is pressurized when the sheet is plasticized. 2. The IC card manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said elastic plate is an elastic metal plate or an elastic synthetic resin plate. 3. The IC card manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic plate is attached to the press surface via a flexible plate having a predetermined thickness. 4. The IC card manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the flexible plate uses a rubber plate.