JP2603952B2 - IC card - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an IC card, and more particularly to an IC card provided with a reinforcing member for protecting an IC chip against bending stress.

(Prior art) An IC card has an arithmetic processing function, and has advanced functions such as the development of a conventional magnetic card due to the large storage capacity, and various applications such as a cash card are considered. I have.

In order to maintain compatibility of such an IC card with a normal magnetic card or the like that does not include an IC chip, at least the surface member of the card-shaped substrate is made of chloride due to requirements such as forming an emboss or adhering a magnetic tape. It is desirable that the sheet is made of an organic material such as a vinyl resin.

A conventional IC card has an IC chip 31 mounted thereon as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), and a wiring pattern 32 and a wire 33.
A wiring board 35 made of a thin glass epoxy board on which input / output terminals 34 connected to the chip 31 are formed is inserted into an opening 37 of a card-like base 36 made of vinyl chloride resin. The lower portion is filled with an epoxy resin 38 to fix the base 36.

However, in this structure, the IC chip 31
For example, when a card having a thickness of about 0.3 mm is used, there is a problem that when a bending stress is applied to the card, the IC chip 31 made of silicon single crystal cannot withstand it and is broken. On the other hand, in order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to arrange a rigid reinforcing plate opposite to the front and back surfaces of the IC chip, but even in this case, if the size and position of the reinforcing plate are not appropriate, bending added to the card The reinforcing plate itself is deformed by the stress, and the effect of protecting the IC chip against bending stress cannot be expected.

In consideration of this, Japanese Patent Application No. 60-284009 has already proposed an IC card provided with a reinforcing member for protecting an IC chip. According to the present invention, since the reinforcing member does not intersect the vertical and horizontal center lines of the card-like substrate which is most deformed by the bending stress applied to the card, no large deformation occurs in the reinforcing portion itself. The effect of protecting the chip can be maximized.

However, since the reinforcing member of the card has sufficient rigidity, when a bending stress is applied to the card, the IC chip is protected, but there is still a problem that the cover film, which is an organic sheet, is damaged.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the IC card shown in FIG. 4, the IC chip is broken by the bending stress of the card.

On the other hand, in the case of an IC card in which a reinforcing plate is embedded, unless the outer dimensions of the reinforcing plate and the position where the reinforcing plate is embedded in the card are not appropriate, the IC chip is not only protected but also the cover film is damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and has as its object to provide a card in which a reinforcing member for preventing breakage of an IC chip against bending stress applied to the card does not damage a cover film.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the present invention is characterized in that the reinforcing member embedded in the card base is thin at least at the end.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the reinforcing member receives bending stress applied to the card. In addition, compared to a reinforcing member having the same thickness, the bending stress applied to the card is uniformly applied from the central portion to the peripheral portion and is not concentrated on the peripheral portion of the reinforcing member, so that the sharp portion of the peripheral portion of the reinforcing member is covered. Damage to the film is extremely reduced, and the effect of protecting the IC chip by the reinforcing member can be maximized.

(Example) Hereinafter, an IC card of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member according to one embodiment of the present invention and a cross-sectional view taken along lines L ₁ and L ₂ in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a card-like base, an IC chip, and a reinforcing member. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a positional relationship, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged main part thereof.

2 and 3, a card-like substrate 1 made of a thermoplastic resin is composed of a core sheet 2 and cover films 3, 4 laminated on both sides thereof with adhesives 5, 6, and an IC chip is provided in the core sheet 2. 7a and 7b are embedded. On both surfaces of the core sheet 2, wiring patterns 8, 9 appropriately connected to pads of the IC chips 7a, 7b are formed.

In this example, the IC chip is connected to the surface of the cover films 3 and 4 facing the IC chips 7a and 7b in the card-shaped substrate 1.
Plate-shaped reinforcing members 11a, 11b at positions facing the front and back surfaces of 7a, 7b
And 12a, 12b. Reinforcement members 11a, 11b, 12a, 1
2b is preferably made of the same material and having a large elastic modulus, and specifically, a metal foil or the like is suitable.

The outer dimensions (length and width) of the reinforcing members 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b not only prevent the breakage of the IC chips 7a, 7b due to bending stress, but also reduce the wiring on the boundary between the card-shaped base 1 and the IC chips 7a, 7b. In order to prevent disconnection of the pattern, it is necessary to make the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the IC chips 7a and 7b larger.
It is appropriate that the difference between the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the chips 7a and 7b is 0.5 mm or more.

Further, if the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the reinforcing members 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b are larger than necessary, deformation of the reinforcing members themselves against stress becomes large and the reinforcing effect is lost, so that the IC chips 7a, 7b are preferably used.
It is arranged so that the difference in vertical and horizontal dimensions from b is less than 5 mm.

Furthermore, as for the disposition positions of the reinforcing members 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b in the thickness direction of the IC card, the bending stiffness increases as the distance from the center of the card increases, and the protection effect improves. From this point of view, it is desirable to provide the reinforcing members 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b in contact with the surfaces of the cover films 3, 4, which are the surface members of the card-like substrate 1, facing the IC chips 7a, 7b, as in this embodiment. .

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the reinforcing member for protecting the IC chip is subjected to bending stress on the card, the cover film of the surface member is not damaged, and the operation stability and environmental stability of the card body are maintained. Also, the appearance is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reinforcing member according to one embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along a plane along L ₁ and L _2, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a planar positional relationship between a card-shaped base, an IC chip and a reinforcing member in a C card, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an enlarged main part of the IC card according to the embodiment, and FIG. It is the perspective view and sectional drawing of an IC card. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Card-shaped base, 2 ... Core sheet 3, 4 ... Cover film, 5, 6 ... Adhesive 7a, 7b ... IC chip, 8, 9 ... Wiring pattern 10 ... Connection conductor, 11a , 11b, 12a, 12b …… Reinforcing member

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An IC card having a reinforcing member for protecting an IC, wherein the reinforcing member having a small thickness at least at an end portion is embedded. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcing member is a metal foil. 3. The reinforcing member has a difference in length and width from the IC.
2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein said IC card is not less than 0.5 mm and less than 4 mm. 4. An IC, comprising: a core sheet in which the IC is embedded; a cover film adhered to both sides of the core sheet; and a reinforcing member inserted between the cover film and the IC. The IC card according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein