JPS6170679A - Ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To identify an IC card from the shape of an IC module by varying the shape of the IC module of the IC card according to its function and kind. CONSTITUTION:The shape of the IC module 10 is determined as D corresponding to D in a name DNP matching with the design of the IC card. When the name is ABC, the IC module may be shaped in A. Further, the IC module 10 varies in function, etc. according to the kind, function, performance, etc., of its internal IC chip, memory, etc., so the shape may be determined according corresponding to the function of the IC module 10. For example, an IC module with a function A is rectangular, am IC module with a function B is in a D shape, and an IC module with a function C is circle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) This invention relates to the structure of an IC card, and in particular to an IC chip,
I is made by mounting and embedding an IC module in which all electrical elements, including circuit boards, etc., are modularized into a card base material.
This invention relates to an IC card in which the company, type, etc. of the IC card can be easily identified.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) In recent years, cards called chip cards, memory cards, microcomputer cards, electronic cards, etc. that have eight or built-in IC modules, which are modularized IC chips such as microcomputers and memories, have become popular. IC cards (hereinafter simply referred to as IC cards), which are being researched and developed, have a larger storage capacity than conventional magnetic stripe cards, so they are used in the financial world to be carried in passbooks to record deposit history. Consideration has been given to storing records, and in the case of credit cards, storing transaction history such as shopping in records.

FIG. 1(A) shows an example of a conventional IC card 100, in which a printed pattern (picture) 10 is printed on a milky white hard vinyl chloride sheet by silk printing or offset printing.
1, a circular module embedding hole is provided at a desired location by punching, and the IC module 102 is mounted in the module embedding hole. FIG. 1B shows an example in which the IC module 102A has a rectangular shape, and in conventional IC cards, the IC module has two shapes, circular or rectangular, as described above. Therefore, in order to distinguish the type and function of the IC card 100, if the size of the IC card is determined by a standard, it is necessary to mark the IC card. Improvements were also desired from a design or aesthetic standpoint.

(Object of the invention) This invention was made under the above circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide an IC card whose type and function can be easily identified from the shape of an IC module.

(Summary of the invention) This invention relates to an IC card.
An IC module in the form of a top plate containing an IC chip for a computer, memory, etc. is embedded in a synthetic resin sheet base, and the shape of the IC module is changed according to one type of function. Is there 11 ways to identify an IC card depending on the shape of the module? ').

(Embodiment of the invention) Figure 2 is a cross section of an IC module used in this invention;
The figure shows its external appearance, and the manufacture of this IC module is carried out as follows.

First, using a printed wiring film laminated with a copper foil of 18 mm thick on a glass epoxy film substrate with a thickness of about 0.1 sm, etching was performed to obtain a pattern of drops, and then nickel and gold plating was applied. Then, an electrode pattern 2 for connecting terminals with the outside and a circuit pattern 3 are formed, and the electrode pattern 2 for connecting terminals and the circuit pattern 3 are electrically connected by through holes 4 at necessary locations. Before the bonding process, a potting frame 8 made of a material such as glass epoxy is attached to the glass epoxy film substrate l using an epoxy adhesive or the like to prevent the resin from flowing during epoxy resin sealing. Furthermore, a circular shape of a desired size is cut out with a straight line part to form a shape as shown in FIG. The electrode 6 and the circuit pattern 3 are connected by a wire bonding method using a conductor 7. Note that this part can also be performed by a face fist bonding method that does not use wires, and in that case, the thinner KC module 10 After making the wiring connections between the IC chip 5 and the circuit pattern 3, the epoxy resin 9 is poured and molded. By the method described above, an IC module 10 for an IC card can be obtained. All of the methods described here, including the method of forming the circuit pattern 3 and the connecting terminal electrode pattern 2, and the method of bonding the IC chip 5, can be handled using current technology in the related industry. .

Using the IC module 10 obtained in this way,
The IC card (thickness: about 0.78 m5) of the present invention can be obtained by the following method. Hereinafter, as an example, hard vinyl chloride is used as a card base material, and a glass cloth impregnated with an epoxy resin having heat adhesive curing properties is used as an embedded substrate provided in the card base material to prevent the IC module IO from peeling off.
That is, the case where a B-stage glass epoxy sheet is used will be described.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the IC card of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the Y-Y line in FIG. After forming pattern) 14, transparent hard vinyl chloride sheets 12b, 12c and 11
are temporarily pasted and laminated, and D-shaped module embedding holes are provided by punching at the locations where the letters are placed.

Next, transparent hard I! 1. Align the vinyl chloride sheet 12f, the opalescent hard vinyl chloride sheet 12c that supports the IC module 1O and the embedded substrate 13, and the punched sheets 12d, 11, 12c, 12b, and 12a into a laminated sheet. and laminate them.

Then, semi-cured (
B stage) A buried substrate 13 of a glass epoxy sheet is installed, and 10 modules 10 are installed in the IC module buried hole to obtain a temporary laminated laminate. The thus obtained laminate was sandwiched between two mirror-finished metal plates, such as stainless steel, at a temperature of 150°C.

A hard vinyl chloride laminate in which the IC module 10 is embedded is obtained by heating and pressurizing under lamination conditions of a pressure of 25 kg/cm' and a time of 30 minutes, and the electrode pattern 2 of the IC module 10 is placed in the normal position. The IC module 10 is punched out into a card shape to obtain the desired IC card with the IC module 10 placed in the D'' portion of the name opening NP. It has eight electrodes, and each electrode 20 is electrically isolated by an insulating part 21.

1 In the above embodiment, the shape of the IC module 10 is D-shaped corresponding to the "D" in the name DNP, but if the name is ABC, it may be an A-shaped IC module IOA as shown in FIG. , have a shape that matches the design of the IC card.In addition, the IC module 1
0 naturally differs depending on the type of built-in IC chip, memory, etc. 1 function, performance, etc.
For example, an IC module with function A is rectangular, an IC module with 41 functions B is D-shaped, and an IC module with 1 function C is circular. An IC module with 1 function is V-shaped. Do this. In this way, it becomes possible to easily and quickly identify the IC card based on the shape of the IC module.

On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows another configuration of this invention,
As the above-mentioned embedded substrate 13, an uncured epoxy film 18a is placed on both sides of a cured epoxy plate or other metal plate 15.
, 18b is used.

There is no limit to the thickness of all the vinyl chloride sheets and embedded substrates used, but for example, sheets 12a to 12F are approximately 0.1 am thick, sheet 11 is approximately 0.2 ms thick, and embedded substrate 13 is sheet + 2 d thick. Therefore, by constructing the IC module 10 with a thickness of about 0.5 .mu.m, an IC card with a thickness of about 0.8 .mu.m can be obtained. Further, there is no particular limit to the number of vinyl chloride sheets stacked, and it is also possible to stack fewer or more vinyl chloride sheets than in the example. However, it is advantageous if the sheet in which the holes for installing the buried substrate are formed has the same thickness as the buried substrate because of better workability.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, the IC module used in the present invention electrically connects one of the six electrodes 30 to 35, for example, the electrode 35, to the surrounding wide area 3B,
This electrode 35 may be used as a ground electrode. In this case, since the other electrodes 30 to 34 are all surrounded by the ground area, destruction of the IC chip due to static electricity can be prevented.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the IC card of the present invention, since the shape of the IC module differs depending on the design and function of the card, it is possible to identify the IC card from the shape of the IC module, and The modules themselves can be used as design elements for cards.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

i1 Figures (^) and (B) are external views showing examples of conventional IC cards, respectively. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional structural view taken along line xx in Figure 3 showing an example of an IC module used in the present invention. Figure 3 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing its shape, FIG. 5 is an external view showing an example of the IC card of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line Y-Y in FIG. Figures illustrating another example of the module: tSa is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the invention corresponding to FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the electrodes of the IC module of the invention. l...Glass epoxy film substrate, 2...electrode pattern, 3...circuit pattern, 4...through hole, 5...[0 chip, 6...electrode, 7...conductor,
8...Potting frame, 9...Epoxy resin, IO
...IC module, II, 12a-12F...Hard vinyl chloride sheet, 13...Embedded board, 14...
・Print pattern (picture), 18...Card base material. Immediately appointed personal representative Yasugata Yuzo 35 Figure 5 Y.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A flat IC module containing an IC chip such as a microcomputer, memory, etc. is mounted and buried in a synthetic resin sheet base, and the shape of the IC module is changed depending on its function and type. An IC card characterized in that the IC card can be identified by its shape.