Noncontact IC inlet with cover

Abstract

To provide an easy-to-manufacture noncontact IC inlet with cover having high anti-counterfeit property while preventing displacement of an IC module.SOLUTION: A noncontact IC inlet with cover includes an IC module 5, a sheet-like single-layer substrate 2 having a housing hole 23 formed for storing the IC module, a cover member 4 which is pasted to the substrate with an elastic adhesive 3, and a coil-shaped antenna 6. The substrate is a foamed or porous plastic sheet. In the housing hole, a first region 25 that is opened toward the side on which the cover material is pasted and a second region 26 located opposite the side on which the cover material is pasted and communicates with the first region are formed. The second region is smaller in external shape than the first region. The cover material is in contact with a first surface of the elastic adhesive. The substrate, the IC module, and the antenna are in contact with a second surface of the elastic adhesive. The cover member and the substrate are bonded with the elastic adhesive.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a contactless IC inlet with a cover, and also to a method for manufacturing the contactless IC inlet with a cover. [Background technology]

[0002] Systems using contactless IC cards and contactless IC tags are becoming widespread. For example, booklets such as passports and savings passbooks use covered contactless IC inlets that are equipped with IC inlets that allow electronic data to be written or printed. A covered contactless IC inlet has an IC module and an antenna coil connected to the IC module sandwiched between two sheet-like base materials that are bonded together with an adhesive. Usually, at least one of the two base materials has an accommodation hole for accommodating an IC module. The accommodation hole is a through hole penetrating the front and back of the base material or a recess that does not penetrate the base material. By accommodating the IC module in the accommodation hole, the IC module does not protrude from the surfaces of the two base materials to which it is attached, and the physical durability of the non-contact IC inlet is improved. In particular, passports are required to have rigorous physical durability because they have a long validity of 10 years and visa stamps are affixed and notes are written with ballpoint pens or the like when entering and leaving the country.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a non-contact IC inlet with a cover in which an accommodation hole is provided in each of two base materials, and an IC module is accommodated so as to straddle both of these accommodation holes. Patent Document 2 discloses a non-contact IC inlet with a cover, in which an accommodation hole is provided in one of two base materials and an IC module is accommodated in this accommodation hole. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5130887 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 4471971 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The above-mentioned contactless IC inlet with cover, which sandwiches the IC module and antenna between two substrates, can be manufactured through a process of applying adhesive to the substrate and a lamination process of bonding the two substrates together. In the adhesive application process, the substrate is heated, cooled, stretched, etc., and depending on the type of substrate, shrinkage due to heat or residual tension may occur, which may result in misalignment of the IC module or antenna. Thermal shrinkage after the lamination process may cause misalignment of the IC module or antenna.

[0006] In the manufacturing process of a non-contact IC inlet with a cover in which an accommodation hole is provided in each of two substrates and an IC module is accommodated in both of these accommodation holes as in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to provide an accommodation hole concentrically in each of the two substrates, and the IC module is accommodated in both accommodation holes. For this reason, high precision is required for the formation of the accommodation hole and the alignment of the IC module to the accommodation hole. In addition, depending on the type of adhesive, the two substrates can be easily peeled off by immersion in an organic solvent or heat from an iron, etc., and the IC chip and antenna may be taken out and used for counterfeiting.

[0007] Even if a housing hole for housing an IC module is provided in the base material, the joint between the IC module and the antenna is not housed in the housing hole and protrudes from the base material. This can cause damage to other products due to a protrusion on the surface of the covered non-contact IC inlet, or damage to the base material if the joint between the IC module and the antenna has a sharp shape.

[0008] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to provide a contactless IC inlet with a cover that is easy to manufacture, can prevent misalignment of the IC module, and is highly resistant to counterfeiting. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention is a covered non-contact IC inlet having an IC module, a sheet-like single-layer substrate having a storage hole capable of storing the IC module, a cover material bonded to the substrate with an elastic adhesive, and a coil-shaped antenna disposed on the surface of the substrate bonded to the cover material and connected to the IC module. The substrate is a foamed or porous plastic sheet. Inside the accommodating hole, there is a first region located on the side of the substrate that is bonded to the cover material and opens to the side that is bonded to the cover material, and a second region located on the opposite side of the substrate from the side that is bonded to the cover material relative to the first region and communicating with the first region, and the second region has a smaller outer shape than the first region. The cover material is in contact with a first surface of the elastic adhesive, and the substrate, IC module, and antenna are in contact with a second surface of the elastic adhesive, with the cover material and substrate being bonded together by the elastic adhesive. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a contactless IC inlet with a cover which is easy to manufacture, can prevent misalignment of the IC module, and is highly resistant to counterfeiting. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a non-contact IC inlet with a cover according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is an exploded schematic view showing the non-contact IC inlet with cover. FIG. [Diagram 3] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the width dimension of the wires of the antenna and the width dimension of the blank portion between the arranged wires. FIG. [Figure 4] 4A to 4C are cross-sectional views showing a recess forming step. [Diagram 5] 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a receiving hole forming step. FIG. [Figure 6]11A to 11C are cross-sectional views showing an IC module arrangement step, an antenna arrangement step, and a bonding step. [Figure 7] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of a cover material in a bonding step. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing an example of an arrangement of an elastic adhesive layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, a covered non-contact IC inlet according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment has a sheet-like single-layer base material 2, a sheet-like cover material 4 bonded to the base material 2 with an elastic adhesive 3, an IC module 5 disposed on the base material 2, and a coil-like antenna 6 disposed on the base material 2 and connected to the IC module 5. The cover material 4 is in contact with a first surface 3a of the layered elastic adhesive 3, and the base material 2, the IC module 5, and the antenna 6 are in contact with a second surface 3b of the elastic adhesive 3.

[0013] The substrate 2 and the cover material 4 are bonded together one by one. The direction in which the substrate 2 and the cover material 4 are bonded together and stacked (the direction of arrow A in the figure) is referred to as the thickness direction. In the thickness direction, the side on which the cover material 4 is provided relative to the substrate 2 is referred to as one side, and the side on which the substrate 2 is provided relative to the cover material 4 is referred to as the other side. Of the surfaces of the substrate 2, the surface on one side in the thickness direction that is bonded to the cover material 4 is referred to as the first surface 21, and the surface on the other side in the thickness direction is referred to as the second surface 22.

[0014] The specific configuration of the cover material 4 can be, for example, a texture layer such as paper, cloth, nonwoven fabric, or resin sheet, or a cloth in which a texture layer and a resin layer are bonded together (paper cloth or cloth cloth). The cover material 4 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a cloth in which a texture layer 43 and a resin layer 44 are bonded together. The cover material 4 is provided with the texture layer 43 on one side in the thickness direction, and the resin layer 44 on the other side in the thickness direction. The surface 42 on the other side in the thickness direction of the cover material 4 is bonded to the base material 2 by the elastic adhesive 3. The surface 42 on the other side in the thickness direction of the cover material 4 is the surface on the other side in the thickness direction of the resin layer 44.

[0015] The resin layer 44 is formed by coating a thermoplastic resin (nitrocellulose, acrylic, polyurethane, PVC resin, polyolefin, etc.) or laminating a sheet-like thermoplastic resin. Specific examples of polyolefin include polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate.

[0016] The basis weight of the texture layer 43 is 50 g / m 2 More than 500g / m 2 The texture layer 43 has a basis weight of 100 g / m or less, and is suitable for lamination if it is in this range. 2 More than 500g / m 2 If the thickness is less than this, an appropriate rigidity can be obtained. The resin layer 44 includes a colored layer, a surface protection layer, a decorative layer, and the like.

[0017] The IC module 5 is accommodated in an accommodating hole 23 provided in the base material 2. The antenna 6 is disposed on one surface of the base material 2.

[0018] The contactless IC inlet 1 with cover is applied to a booklet such as a passport. In this case, the contactless IC inlet 1 with cover is used as a cover by attaching an inside cover to the surface on the side of the base material 2. One surface 41 of the cover material 4 in the thickness direction becomes the surface of the cover of the booklet.

[0019] The base material 2 can be, for example, a plastic sheet, paper, or synthetic paper made of a combination of plastic and paper. The plastic sheet can be a foamed or porous plastic sheet. The material of the plastic sheet can be a thermoplastic plastic. Foamed plastic sheets and porous plastic sheets are highly flexible and can easily hold an antenna. The plastic sheet can be, for example, a sheet of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), TESLIN (registered trademark, hereinafter referred to as "Teslin"), etc. The base material 2 has flexibility due to the use of such materials.

[0020] The bulk density of the plastic sheet can be 0.5 or more and 1.5 or less. With this bulk density, even a single layer can protect the IC module 5. Such a plastic sheet can protect electronic components while maintaining flexibility. When durability is particularly required, the plastic sheet preferably contains engineering plastics, fiber reinforcement, fillers, etc., when the bulk density is 1.5 or more and 2.5 or less. For example, when flexibility is important, a plastic sheet made of Teslin (bulk density 0.6 to 0.7) can be used as the substrate 2. When durability is important, a plastic sheet made of PET (bulk density 1.4), PC (bulk density 1.2), fluororesin (bulk density about 1.7 to 2.0), etc. can be used as the substrate 2. The base material 2 according to this embodiment is one sheet (single layer). The thickness of the base material 2 is set to be equal to or greater than the thickness of the antenna 6 and equal to or greater than the thickness of the IC module 5. By making the base material 2 a single layer, a thinner structure can be achieved and the number of processing steps can be reduced.

[0021] The accommodating hole 23 penetrates the base material 2 in the thickness direction. The dimension of the accommodating hole 23 is larger on one side in the thickness direction than on the other side. As a result, the inner surface of the accommodating hole 23 has a step portion 24 in the middle in the thickness direction. The outer shape of the portion of accommodating hole 23 on one side in the thickness direction relative to step portion 24 is approximately the same as the outer shape of lead frame 51 of IC module 5. The outer shape of the portion of accommodating hole 23 on the other side in the thickness direction relative to step portion 24 is approximately the same as the outer shape of IC chip 52.

[0022] In the following description, the region on one side of the step 24 in the thickness direction among the internal regions of the accommodation hole 23 is referred to as the first region 25, and the region on the other side of the step 24 in the thickness direction is referred to as the second region 26. The surface connecting the end 252 on the other side of the thickness direction of the side surface 251 of the first region 25 and the end 262 on one side of the thickness direction of the side surface 261 of the second region 26 on the inner peripheral surface of the accommodation hole 23 is referred to as the connection surface 27. The connection surface 27 is a flat surface facing one side in the thickness direction. The side surface 251 of the first region 25, the connection surface 27, and the side surface 261 of the second region 26 form the step 24. The connection portion 28 between the side surface 251 of the first region 25 and the connection surface 27 may have a rounded R shape. The area of ​​the flat surface enclosed by the outline of the contour of the accommodation hole 23 is 25 mm 2 More than 70mm 2 Within this range, IC module 5 can be easily accommodated in accommodation hole 23, and the elastic adhesive 3 can be easily prevented from excessively entering accommodation hole 23 and creating a depression in cover material 4.

[0023] The IC module 5 has a lead frame 51, an IC chip 52 mounted on the lead frame 51, and, as an option, a protective tape 53 for protecting the IC chip 52. The IC module 5 is placed in the accommodation hole 23 of the substrate 2 with the lead frame 51 on one side in the thickness direction and the IC chip 52 on the other side in the thickness direction. The IC chip 52 is, for example, a bare chip diced from a wafer, a package, etc. The lead frame 51 and the IC chip 52 overlap in the thickness direction. The IC chip 52 is bonded to the other side of the lead frame 51 in the thickness direction. When viewed in the thickness direction, the IC chip 52 is smaller than the lead frame 51. Protective tape 53 covers the other side in the thickness direction of joined lead frame 51 and IC chip 52. The other side in the thickness direction of IC module 5 has a step 54 formed by surface 512 on the other side in the thickness direction of lead frame 51 and outer peripheral surface 521 of IC chip 52. The thickness of the IC module 5 can be 1,000 μm or less and 150 μm or more for processing the IC module. By making it 400 μm or less, it becomes easier to embed it in the base material. By making it 200 μm or more, it becomes possible to prevent the chip from cracking. Furthermore, it is easier to keep it within the thickness requirements specified for the IC cards, passports, etc. to be manufactured.

[0024] When the IC module 5 is placed in the accommodation hole 23, the lead frame 51 is placed in the first region 25, and the IC chip 52 is placed in the second region 26. When the protective tape 53 is present, a portion 513 of the surface 512 on the other side in the thickness direction of the lead frame 51 that is not joined to the IC chip 52 faces the connection surface 27 of the base material 2 via the protective tape 53. The thickness of the substrate 2 is greater than the thickness of the IC module 5. The IC module 5 accommodated in the accommodation hole 23 of the substrate 2 is arranged so as not to protrude from the substrate 2 in the thickness direction. Specifically, the thickness of the substrate can be 103% or more and 130% or less of the thickness of the IC module 5, taking into consideration the thickness of the protective tape 53 and the thickness of the antenna 6 that is not embedded in the substrate. Specifically, the thickness of the substrate 2 can be 257 μm or more and 325 μm or less if the thickness of the IC module 5 is 250 μm, and 350 μm or more and 442 μm or less if the thickness of the IC module 5 is 340 μm. The thickness of the substrate 2 depends on the IC module used, but is not limited to the thickness of the IC module described above.

[0025] The antenna 6 is disposed along the first surface 21 of the substrate 2. The antenna 6 is connected to a surface 511 on one side in the thickness direction of the lead frame 51. The antenna 6 is disposed along the first surface 21 of the substrate 2, and a portion of the antenna 6 on the substrate 2 side is embedded in the substrate 2. The antenna 6 may be a coil antenna. Preferably, the antenna 6 may be a coil antenna in which a metal wire is wound. In other words, the antenna 6 may be in the form of a coil. The wire may be a resin-coated metal conductor. A resin-coated metal conductor is a metal conductor coated with resin. The antenna 6 can be, for example, an etching antenna in which a pattern is obtained by etching a metal foil adhered to the substrate 2, an embedded coil antenna in which a resin-coated metal conductor is embedded in the substrate 2 by ultrasonic waves, or a hollow coil antenna obtained by self-bonding a resin-coated metal conductor; the figure shows an embedded coil antenna. The coating of the resin-coated metal conductor of the wire of the antenna 6 may be made of two layers, an insulating coating close to the conductor and a self-bonding layer on the outside. The material of the insulating coating can be a polyurethane-based or polyester-based resin layer. The material of the self-bonding layer can be a polyamide-based, polyamideimide-based, epoxy-based, or polyvinyl-based resin. The materials of the insulating coating and the self-bonding layer are not limited to these. The joint 61 between the antenna 6 and the lead frame 51 is preferably a joint between metals, and the joining method may be thermal compression, soldering, ultrasonic joining, or the like.

[0026] The conductor of the resin-coated metal conductor wire that forms the antenna 6 can be a solid wire. A solid wire can carry more current per unit cross-sectional area, so a thinner wire can carry more current. Therefore, the antenna 6 can be formed with a thin wire while still carrying sufficient current, and the shape of the antenna 6 is less likely to be visible on the cover. A single wire also makes it easier to prevent breakage even with a thin wire. Depending on the conductivity, the cross section of the conductor of the antenna 6 can be selected to be circular or flat. The cross-sectional area range of the conductor is set to 1,800 μm from the diameter of the copper wire. 2 ~72000μm 2 The specific electrical resistance (Ω·m) of the conductor is 1.6×10 -8 ~Alloy 10×10 -8Within this range, it is preferable that the current value for communication is secured, and it is possible to prevent the shape (traces) of the antenna 6 from appearing on the cover material 4. The conductor of the wire of the antenna 6 can be made of pure copper or a copper alloy. The copper alloy conductor material can be phosphor bronze, brass, titanium copper, or beryllium copper. Alternatively, a copper clad aluminum wire made by combining copper and aluminum may be used.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, the ratio w / (d+w) of the width dimension w of the wire of the antenna 6 to the sum d+w of the width dimension d of the blank portion between the arranged wires and the width dimension w of the wire can be 0.04 or more and 0.5 or less. When the wire width is a diameter w mm, the blank width d can be set to a minimum of w mm to about 2.0 mm. In this range, the cover material 4 can be sufficiently bonded, and the magnetic field strength capable of communication can be secured. The diameter of the wire of the antenna 6 can be selected to be 50 to 200 μm, depending on the durability and ease of processing of the copper wire, and the amount of copper wire embedded in the base material. The antenna 6 can be coiled by selecting the pitch between the wires to be 0.1 to 2.0 mm. If this pitch is narrow, undulation of the base material is likely to occur. It is difficult to secure the required inductance with an antenna coil with a wide pitch. Therefore, it is preferable to select the above range because there is a risk of deviating from the requirements of the antenna 6 of the international standard.

[0028] When the cover material 4 and the base material 2 are attached to each other, the joint 61 between the antenna 6 and the lead frame 51 is covered and protected by the elastic adhesive 3. When the joint 61 between the antenna 6 and the lead frame 51 is covered by the elastic adhesive 3, its state and shape cannot be seen from outside the base material 2 or the cover.

[0029] The elastic adhesive 3 can be a curing adhesive. The elastic adhesive 3 can be a non-foam curing polyurethane. The elastic adhesive 3 is typically a polyurethane moisture curing adhesive, but other adhesives such as silicone UV curing adhesives, acrylic adhesives, epoxy adhesives, foam adhesives, EVA adhesives, and PVA adhesives can also be used. The elastic adhesive 3 preferably has a Shore hardness of A30 or more and A95 or less. If the elastic adhesive 3 has a Shore hardness of A30 or more and A95 or less, it will conform sufficiently to the shape of the antenna 6, making it difficult to distinguish the shape of the antenna 6 through the cover material 4, and providing an excellent aesthetic appearance. For example, the hardness range required for durability can be A65 or more and A95 or less, and the range of flexibility required for a booklet cover can be A30 or more and A85 or less. Furthermore, when processability is taken into consideration, the elastic adhesive 3 can have a Shore hardness of A65 or more and A95 or less. Within this range, it is easy to shorten the takt time of processing. The application amount of the elastic adhesive 3 is 40 g / m 2 More than 100g / m 2 It is preferable that:

[0030] Shore hardness can be measured according to the JIS:Z 2246 standard. A type indenter is used. This Shore hardness is measured in an environment of 23 degrees. When measuring Shore hardness, five points are measured, including the center and the four corners, and the average value is taken as the Shore hardness. Each point can be measured three times. The amount of elastic adhesive 3 applied can be measured using an electronic balance or the like. In the case of multiple layers, the Shore hardness may be measured for the entire layer of elastic adhesive 3. The Shore hardness of the elastic adhesive 3 at 50°C, which is the upper limit for passport use, can be A50 or more and A90 or less. Within this range, the elastic adhesive can adequately fill the gap between the IC module and the receiving hole of the substrate, making it easier to stabilize the retention of the IC module. The thickness of the elastic adhesive relative to the diameter of the antenna can be thicker than 10% of the diameter of the cross section of the antenna. The thickness of the elastic adhesive can be 10 μm or more and 100 μm or less.

[0031] 1, the layer of elastic adhesive 3 is not uniform. That is, the substrate 2, IC module 5, and antenna 6 each have areas that are in contact with the elastic adhesive 3 and areas that are not in contact with the elastic adhesive 3.

[0032] A method for manufacturing the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment will be described. The receiving hole 23 is provided in the base material 2 (receiving hole forming step). In the receiving hole forming step, first, as shown in FIG. 4, a recess 71 that does not penetrate the base material 2 is provided at a position in the base material 2 where the first region 25 is to be provided (recess forming step). The recess 71 opens to one side in the thickness direction of the base material 2. The outer shape of the recess 71 is the same as the outer shape of the first region 25. The depth dimension (thickness dimension) of the recess 71 is the same as the depth dimension of the first region 25. A bottom surface 711 of the recess 71 is formed at the position of the connection surface 27. In the recess forming step, the recess 71 can be formed in the base material 2 by any of the following methods. For example, the base material 2 is milled using a milling device to form the recess 71 by milling. For example, a heated punching tool or the like is pressed against the base material 2 to indent the base material 2 using heat and pressure to form the recess 71 by press processing. For example, the head of an ultrasonic device is pressed against the base material 2 to indent the base material 2 to form the recess 71 by ultrasonic processing. The method for forming the recess 71 is selected according to the material of the base material 2 and the shape of the recess 71.

[0033] 5, a through hole 72 is provided through the base material 2 at a position where the second region 26 is to be provided in the base material 2 (through hole forming step). The outer shape of the through hole 72 is smaller than the outer shape of the recess 71 and has the same shape as the outer shape of the second region 26. The through hole 72 passes through a bottom 712 of the recess 71 in the base material 2. By forming the recess 71 and the through hole 72 in the base material 2, the accommodation hole 23 is provided in the base material 2. The inside of the recess 71 corresponds to the first region 25, the inside of the through hole 72 corresponds to the second region 26, and the bottom surface 711 of the recess 71 corresponds to the connection surface 27. In the through hole forming step, for example, the through hole 72 is formed in the bottom 712 of the recess 71 of the substrate 2 by a milling device, a punching tool, or a laser cutter. The through hole forming step may be performed prior to the recess forming step.

[0034] 6, the IC module 5 is placed in the accommodation hole 23 provided in the base material 2 (IC module placement process). Furthermore, the IC chip 52 of the IC module 5 is placed in the second region 26, and the lead frame 51 is placed in the first region 25. The antenna 6 is disposed on the first surface 21 of the base material 2, and the antenna 6 is connected to the lead frame 51 (antenna disposing process). The antenna 6 disposed on the first surface 21 of the base material 2 is partially embedded in the base material 2. The antenna 6 can be embedded using ultrasonic waves and a metal head (oscillator). The ultrasonic waves are about 10 kHz to 50 kHz. The order in which the IC module arrangement step, the step of arranging the antenna 6 on the base material 2 in the antenna arrangement step, and the step of connecting the antenna 6 to the IC module 5 are performed may be other than the above. The base material distorted by the application of ultrasonic waves can also be flattened by (short-time) heat pressing. The heat pressing process is carried out using rollers or in plate form. In the case of rollers, the speed can be about 0.1 m / min to 10 m / min. The temperature is 120°C to 190°C, and the time is 5 seconds to 20 minutes. After heat pressing, aging can be added at 10°C to 90°C for 1 hour to 3 days.

[0035] The base material 2 and the cover material 4 are bonded together with the elastic adhesive 3 (bonding step). An elastic adhesive 3 is applied to the other surface of the cover material 4 in the thickness direction, or to the surface of the base material 2 facing the cover material 4, to form a non-uniform layer of the elastic adhesive 3 as shown in FIG. There is no particular limitation on the method for forming the layer of elastic adhesive 3 unevenly. When the surface of the cover material 4 facing the cover material 4 is not very smooth, the elastic adhesive 3 can be applied to the entire surface in a normal manner while adjusting the coating amount (for example, so that the layer thickness of the elastic adhesive 3 is smaller than the surface roughness of the cover material), thereby making the upper surface of the layer of elastic adhesive 3 uneven. Another method is to locally change the coating amount of the elastic adhesive 3. This local change includes providing a location where the elastic adhesive 3 is not applied locally. For example, when the elastic adhesive 3 is applied in a stripe shape using a coater or the like as shown in FIG. 8, a stripe region 31 where the elastic adhesive 3 is not applied is formed between the stripe-shaped elastic adhesives 3, and thus an uneven layer of elastic adhesive 3 is formed between the base material 2 and the cover material 4. This method is advantageous in that it allows for efficient mass production of an uneven layer of elastic adhesive 3.

[0036] The substrate 2 and the cover material 4 are bonded via a non-uniform layer of elastic adhesive 3. The elastic adhesive 3 is disposed between the first surface 21 of the substrate 2 and the cover material 4, and is also disposed irregularly between the antenna 6 and the cover material 4, between the lead frame 51 and the cover material 4, and between a joint 61 between the antenna 6 and the lead frame 51 and the cover material 4. The first surface 21 of the substrate 2, the antenna 6, the lead frame 51, and the joint 61 between the antenna 6 and the lead frame 51 face the cover material 4 via the elastic adhesive 3. In the bonding step, aging is performed after bonding the base material 2 and the cover material 4, thereby sufficiently hardening the adhesive and improving the bonding strength. The aging conditions can be the same as those for the aging after the above-mentioned heat pressing. In this manner, the contactless IC inlet 1 with the cover can be manufactured.

[0037] Next, the operation and effect of the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The base material 2 of the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 is a single layer. This eliminates the need for a process of bonding multiple base materials together in the manufacturing process. This makes it easier to manufacture the covered non-contact IC inlet 1, and also makes it possible to prevent misalignment of the IC module 5 and antenna 6 caused by shrinkage of the base material due to heat or residual tension when bonding multiple base materials together. Furthermore, the covered contactless IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment eliminates the need for lamination equipment for bonding multiple base materials, and also eliminates the need for maintenance of the control devices required for temperature and pressure management in the lamination equipment, thereby reducing costs and labor.

[0038] Furthermore, in the covered contactless IC inlet 1 of this embodiment, a accommodating hole 23 is provided in a single substrate 2, and the IC module 5 is installed in this accommodating hole 23, making it easy to form the accommodating hole 23 in the substrate 2 and to align the IC module 5 with respect to the substrate 2. For example, in a contactless IC inlet with cover made by bonding two base materials, when a receiving hole is provided in each of the two base materials and an IC module is placed across these two receiving holes, a high-performance position correction facility is required to prevent misalignment with respect to both receiving holes. The contactless IC inlet with cover 1 according to this embodiment does not require such a facility, which allows for cost reduction.

[0039] In the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment, a first region 25 and a second region 26 having an outer shape smaller than that of the first region 25 are provided inside the accommodating hole 23. Therefore, a step 24 is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the accommodating hole 23 at the boundary between the first region 25 and the second region 26. As a result, by fitting the IC module 5 along the step 24 of the accommodating hole 23, the IC module 5 can be positioned in the correct position, and displacement of the IC module 5 can be prevented.

[0040] In the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment, the layer of the elastic adhesive 3 that bonds the base material 2 and the cover material 4 is non-uniform. This means that in a plan view of the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 seen in the thickness direction, the bonding strength between the base material 2 and the cover material 4 varies from one part to another and is not constant. In other words, while the elastic adhesive 3 is firmly bonded to the base material 2, the IC module 5, and the antenna 6 where it is in contact with them, it is hardly bonded or is bonded with a much smaller bonding strength where it is not in contact with them.

[0041] Therefore, when a person (counterfeiter) who attempts to counterfeit a booklet including the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 tries to peel the base material 2 and the cover material 4 to remove the IC module 5 and the antenna 6, it is necessary to apply a large force at the strongly bonded portions. However, when the force reaches the weakly bonded portions, the force is too large and the excessive force is likely to act on the base material 2, the antenna 6, etc. From the appearance of the covered non-contact IC inlet 1, it is completely impossible to identify the positional relationship between the strong and weakly bonded portions, so it is extremely difficult, and practically impossible, for a counterfeiter to adjust the force to the optimum level for each portion and perform peeling. Due to the above-mentioned action, when an attempt is made to peel off the base material 2 and the cover material 4 in the covered non-contact IC inlet 1, the base material 2 and the cover material 4 are easily torn and the antenna 6 is easily disconnected. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to remove the IC module 5 and the antenna 6, which has the effect of significantly reducing the possibility of counterfeiting. The above phenomenon occurs when an attempt is made to peel off the base material 2 and the cover material 4 from the covered non-contact IC inlet 1. In other words, unless such an action is taken, the external force acting on the IC module 5 and the antenna 6 is attenuated or eliminated by the elastic adhesive 3, and therefore these components are suitably protected from damage during normal use.

[0042] In the covered non-contact IC inlet 1 according to this embodiment, the substrate 2 is a single layer, and therefore the porous structure remains intact and in good condition, unlike substrates that are laminated together. Therefore, in the area where the elastic adhesive 3 comes into contact, the adhesive penetrates into the porous surface, and the bonding strength can be improved significantly compared to substrates with a laminated multi-layer structure. In particular, when the material of the substrate 2 is one with low wettability such as polyolefin, the adhesive strength is likely to be weak, but if the surface of the substrate on the side of the elastic adhesive 3 is porous, the contact area becomes large, making it easier for intermolecular forces between the resins to act, and an anchor effect can be expected as the elastic adhesive 3 penetrates into the pores in the surface of the substrate 2. As a result, sufficient adhesive strength can be obtained even with materials with low wettability. In other words, the material of the base material 2 is not limited to one with high adhesiveness, but can be selected in terms of flexibility, durability, and cost, so that a base material 2 with high flexibility, high durability, and low cost can be used.

[0043] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and configuration changes and combinations that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included.

[0044] For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which the layer of the elastic adhesive 3 is non-uniform has been described, but the layer of the elastic adhesive 3 may be uniform. In this case, the counterfeit resistance resulting from the difficulty in adjusting the strength at the time of peeling is lost, but as described above, the bonding strength between the base material 2 and the cover material 4 is significantly improved compared to a configuration in which the base material is a laminate of multiple layers, making peeling difficult overall, and therefore it is possible to sufficiently achieve both protection of the IC module and antenna during use and counterfeit resistance. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1. Contactless IC inlet 2 Base material 3 Elastic adhesive 4 Cover material 5 IC Module 6 Antennas 23 Storage Cave 24 Step section 25 First area 26 Second area 71 Recess 72 Through hole

Claims

1. An IC module; a sheet-like single-layer base material having an accommodation hole capable of accommodating the IC module; a cover material that is bonded to the substrate by an elastic adhesive; a coil-shaped antenna that is disposed on a surface of the base material that is bonded to the cover material and is connected to the IC module; the substrate is a foamed or porous plastic sheet, Inside the receiving hole, A first region is located on a side of the base material that is bonded to the cover material and opens to the side that is bonded to the cover material; a second region located on the opposite side of the first region from the side to be bonded to the cover material in the base material and communicating with the first region; The second region has an outer shape smaller than that of the first region, the cover material is in contact with a first surface of the elastic adhesive; the base material, the IC module, and the antenna are in contact with a second surface of the elastic adhesive, and the cover material and the base material are bonded together by the elastic adhesive; Non-contact IC inlet with cover.

2. The substrate is made of polyolefin, The elastic adhesive is a polyurethane-based moisture-curing adhesive.

2. The non-contact IC inlet with a cover according to claim 1.

3. the elastic adhesive is a non-uniform layer; When the covered non-contact IC inlet is viewed in a thickness direction, the base material has a portion that is in contact with the elastic adhesive and a portion that is not in contact with the elastic adhesive.

2. The non-contact IC inlet with a cover according to claim 1.

4. When the covered non-contact IC inlet is viewed in a thickness direction, the antenna has a portion that is in contact with the elastic adhesive and a portion that is not in contact with the elastic adhesive.

4. The non-contact IC inlet with a cover according to claim 3.

5. When the covered non-contact IC inlet is viewed in the thickness direction, the elastic adhesive is formed in stripes.

4. The non-contact IC inlet with a cover according to claim 3.

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