IC sheet, method of manufacturing IC sheet, IC sheet inlet, and non-contact IC card with IC sheet

Abstract

To solve formation of concaves and convexes on front and rear surfaces of an IC sheet resulting from a relief hole of a base sheet.SOLUTION: An IC sheet according to the present invention includes: an inlet 6 having a mounted object 11 including an IC chip 2, and an antenna 3 connected to the IC chip 2; a base sheet 7 having a relief hole 15 formed in a depth direction, and overlapped with the inlet 6 in a state in which the mounted object 11 is housed in the relief hole 15; and cover sheets 8, 9 for covering front and rear surfaces of the inlet 6 and the base sheet 7 overlapped with each other. Inside the relief hole 15, a filler 16 is filled so as to fill the gap at the surroundings of the mounted object 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an IC sheet composed of an inlet in which an IC chip and an antenna are installed, a base sheet overlaid on the inlet, and a resin sheet covering the front and back surfaces of these inlet and base sheet. The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing the above IC sheet, an inlet for the above IC sheet, and a contactless IC card including the above IC sheet.

Background Art

[0002] This type of IC sheet is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 by the present patent applicant. The IC sheet (laminate blank) in the contactless IC card of Patent Document 1 has a base sheet (second core sheet) and a sheet-shaped inlet stacked one on top of the other, and its front and back surfaces are covered by a cover sheet (first core sheet and third core sheet). Each sheet such as the base sheet and the cover sheet constituting the above IC sheet is formed of a resin sheet. The inlet is composed of an IC chip held by a reinforcing plate, an antenna (antenna coil) connected to the IC chip, and a carrier sheet (antenna sheet) holding this set of IC chip and antenna. A relief hole (embedded hole) penetrating in the thickness direction is formed in the base sheet, and the IC chip is arranged in a state of being accommodated in the relief hole together with the reinforcing plate. The IC sheet having the above configuration is formed by stacking the inlet, the base sheet, and the upper cover sheet in this order on the lower cover sheet with the IC chip positioned in the relief hole portion, and performing a hot press treatment involving heating and pressing on these laminates to integrally bond the inlet and each sheet.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In Patent Document 1, the opening size of the relief holes formed in the base sheet is formed larger than the maximum dimension in plan view of the mounted object accommodated in the relief holes (the reinforcing plate (chip base) in the IC sheet of Patent Document 1). This is for facilitating the formation of the IC sheet. Specifically, if the opening size of the relief holes is approximated to the planar size of the mounted object, high positional accuracy is required when laminating the inlet and the base sheet, resulting in deteriorated workability and reduced production efficiency. However, if the opening size of the relief holes is large, voids are formed in the portions inside the relief holes where there are no mounted objects such as IC chips and chip bases, and the cover sheet may enter the void portions, causing depressions to be formed on the front and back surfaces of the completed IC sheet.

[0005] In addition, in an IC card using this type of IC sheet, the front and back surfaces of the IC sheet are covered with a decorative sheet, or printing is applied to the front and back surfaces of the IC sheet. At this time, if a depression is formed on the IC sheet as described above, unevenness is generated on the surface of the decorative sheet at the portion corresponding to the relief holes, or the printing applied to the portion corresponding to the relief holes is distorted. In either case, there is a disadvantage that the design property of the IC card deteriorates.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an IC sheet excellent in flatness of the front and back surfaces of the sheet by eliminating the formation of unevenness on the front and back surfaces of the IC sheet due to the relief holes in the base sheet, and a method for manufacturing the IC sheet. An object of the present invention is to provide an inlet that can be suitably used for manufacturing an IC sheet excellent in flatness of the front and back surfaces of the sheet. An object of the present invention is to improve the design property of a non-contact IC card including the IC sheet.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The IC sheet of the present invention includes an inlet 6 including at least a mounted object 11 containing an IC chip 2 and an antenna 3 connected to the IC chip 2, a base sheet 7 having a relief hole 15 formed in the thickness direction and configured to be overlapped with the inlet 6 with the mounted object 11 accommodated in the relief hole 15, and cover sheets 8 and 9 covering the front and back surfaces of the overlapped inlet 6 and base sheet 7. And it is characterized in that a filler 16 is filled so as to fill the peripheral void of the mounted object 11 inside the relief hole 15.

[0008] A heat press treatment is performed on a sheet laminate 23 formed by laminating the inlet 6 and the sheets 7, 8, and 9, so that the inlet 6 and the sheets 7, 8, and 9 are integrated. The filler 16 is formed by softening and deforming a filling base material 17 made of a thermoplastic resin disposed together with the mounted object 11 in the relief hole 15.

[0009] The softening temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the filling base material 17 is the same as or lower than the softening temperature of the resin constituting the cover sheets 8 and 9.

[0010] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an IC sheet, which includes a sheet-like inlet 6 including at least a mounted object 11 containing an IC chip 2 and an antenna 3 connected to the IC chip 2, a base sheet 7 having a relief hole 15 formed through in the thickness direction and in which the mounted object 11 is accommodated and which is overlapped with the inlet 6, and cover sheets 8 and 9 covering the front and back surfaces of the overlapped inlet 6 and base sheet 7. The method includes a first lamination step P1 of overlapping the inlet 6 and the base sheet 7 while accommodating the mounted object 11 in the relief hole 15, a second lamination step P2 of obtaining a sheet laminate 23 by overlapping the cover sheet 8 on the front surface and the cover sheet 9 on the back surface with respect to the inlet 6 and the base sheet 7 overlapped in the first lamination step P1, and a hot press step P3 of performing a hot press treatment on the sheet laminate 23 obtained in the second lamination step P2 to integrally bond the inlet 6 and the sheets 7, 8, and 9. In the first lamination step P1, a filling base material 17 made of a thermoplastic resin is disposed in the relief hole 15 together with the mounted object 11, and in the hot press step P3, the filling base material 17 is softened and deformed so that a filling body 16 is filled to fill the peripheral void around the mounted object 11 inside the relief hole 15.

[0011] The softening temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the filling base material 17 is the same as or lower than the softening temperature of the resin constituting the cover sheets 8 and 9.

[0012] The inlet 6 includes an IC chip 2, an antenna 3, and a support sheet 13 that holds the IC chip 2 and the antenna 3, and the filling base material 17 is held by the support sheet 13. In the first lamination step P1, the filling base material 17 is accommodated in the relief hole 15 together with the IC chip 2.

[0013] The mounted object 11 includes an IC chip 2 and a reinforcing plate 12 that supports the IC chip 2, and the IC chip 2 and the filling base material 17 are held by the support sheet 13 in a state of being fixed to the reinforcing plate 12.

[0014] The present invention is directed to an inlet for an IC sheet 1 in which a mounted object 11 is accommodated inside a relief hole 15 provided in a base sheet 7, and a filler 16 is filled so as to fill a peripheral gap of the mounted object 11 inside the relief hole 15. The filler 16 is formed by softening and deforming a filling base material 17 made of a thermoplastic resin disposed together with the mounted object 11 in the relief hole 15. And it includes at least a mounted object 11 including an IC chip 2, an antenna 3 connected to the IC chip 2, and a carrier sheet 13 holding these IC chip 2 and antenna 3, and is characterized in that the filling base material 17 is held by the carrier sheet 13.

[0015] The mounted object 11 includes an IC chip 2 and a reinforcing plate 12 that supports the IC chip 2, and is held by the carrier sheet 13 in a state where the IC chip 2 and the filling base material 17 are fixed to the reinforcing plate 12.

[0016] The non-contact IC card according to the present invention includes the above-described IC sheet 1.

Effect of the Invention

[0017] When the filler 16 is filled so as to fill the peripheral gap of the mounted object 11 including the IC chip 2 accommodated in the relief hole 15 formed in the base sheet 7 as in the IC sheet of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the cover sheets 8 and 9 from entering the gap portion by the filler 16. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unevenness from occurring on the surface of the cover sheets 8 and 9 facing the relief hole 15. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the formation of unevenness on the surface of the cover sheets 8 and 9 due to the relief hole 15 of the base sheet 7, and thus it is possible to obtain an IC sheet having excellent flatness on the front and back surfaces of the sheet.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 9 show a first embodiment of an IC sheet according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the front-back, left-right, and up-down directions follow the cross arrows shown in FIG. 2 and the front-back, left-right, and up-down indications marked in the vicinity of each arrow. Note that the up-down direction corresponds to the thickness direction of the IC sheet, and the dimensions such as thickness in each figure are shown schematically and do not represent the actual state.

[0020] In FIG. 2, the IC sheet 1 is formed in a horizontally long rectangular sheet shape and includes a set of IC chips 2 and an antenna 3 inside. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the IC sheet 1 is composed of a sheet-like inlet 6, a base sheet 7 stacked on the lower side of the inlet 6, and cover sheets 8 and 9 that cover the upper and lower surfaces (front and back surfaces) of the stacked inlet 6 and base sheet 7. Each of the sheets 7, 8, and 9 can be formed using amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (PET-G), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), etc. as materials. Note that the base sheet 7 may be stacked on the upper side of the inlet 6 or may be stacked above and below the inlet 6.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the inlet 6 is composed of an IC chip 2 on which information is recorded, a loop coil-shaped antenna 3 connected to the IC chip 2, a chip base (reinforcing plate) 12 that supports the IC chip 2, and a carrier sheet 13 that holds these members (IC chip 2, antenna 3, chip base 12). The IC chip 2, chip base 12, etc. constitute a mounted object 11 that is accommodated in a relief hole 15 (described later) formed in the base sheet 7. As the carrier sheet 13, a non-woven fabric or a film sheet made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or the like can be used. In the case of a non-woven fabric, it is preferably made of fibers with a low melting point and self-adhesive properties on the surface layer. In the case of a film sheet, it is preferably one with an easy adhesion treatment on the surface.

[0022] As shown in Fig. 5, the IC chip 2 is a rectangular integrated circuit with side dimensions of approximately 1 to 2 mm in plan view, and terminals (bumps) 14·14 project from the upper surface. The thickness dimension (vertical dimension) of the IC chip 2 including the terminals 14 is preferably 0.3 mm or less, and more preferably 0.05 mm or more and 0.2 mm or less.

[0023] As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the antenna 3 is made of a copper wire with a wire diameter of 0.02 to 0.2 mm having an insulating coating on the surface, and one copper wire is wound in a square spiral shape and each wire end portion is connected to each terminal 14 of the IC chip 2. The number of turns of the antenna 3 is determined according to the characteristics of the IC chip 2. The IC chip 2 is driven using the electromotive force generated in the antenna 3 disposed within the magnetic field radiated from a reader / writer (not shown) as a power source, and information is transmitted and received between the reader / writer via the antenna 3.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 5, the chip base 12 is a rectangular plate larger than the IC chip 2 in plan view, and is provided to reinforce the IC chip 2 and prevent damage. The IC chip 2 is fixed at the front-rear center to the left of the chip base 12 (see Fig. 4). The chip base 12 is preferably formed of a thin metal plate, and in this embodiment, a thin metal plate of about 0.1 mm is used. Also, the dimensions of each side portion constituting the chip base 12 in plan view can be adjusted according to the size of the IC chip 2. Note that the shape of the chip base 12 may be circular or the like other than rectangular.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the base sheet 7 is formed with relief holes 15 that penetrate its sheet surface in the vertical direction (thickness direction), and the mounted objects 11 composed of the previous IC chips 2, chip bases 12, etc. are accommodated in these relief holes 15. The relief holes 15 are square holes that are slightly larger than the planar size of the chip base 12. As shown in FIG. 1, in the completed IC sheet 1, the remaining space of the relief hole 15 excluding the mounted object 11 is filled with a filler 16. It should be noted that it is desirable that this filler 16 fills the remaining space of the relief hole 15 without any gaps, but it may also contain a slight space. Further, the relief holes 15 are not limited to square holes, and may be polygonal holes, round holes, elliptical holes, or holes having a shape similar to the chip base 12, and may also be bottomed holes.

[0026] The filler 16 is formed by softening and deforming a block-shaped filling base material 17 made of a thermoplastic resin arranged together with the mounted object 11 in the relief hole 15. FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the mounted object 11 before the hot press treatment. As shown in the figure, the filling base material 17 is arranged on the chip base 12 and is configured as a U-shaped block body in a plan view having a relief portion 18 of the IC chip 2 on the left side. The IC chip 2 is arranged on the chip base 12 together with the filling base material 17 in a state where it is surrounded on three sides by three sides constituting the relief portion 18 of the filling base material 17. When the relief hole 15 of the inlet 6 is viewed from above (the penetrating direction) before the hot press treatment, the filling base material 17 is arranged in a region excluding the arrangement region of the IC chip 2.

[0027] The filling base material 17 is formed of a thermoplastic resin having a softening temperature equal to or lower than that of the resin material (thermoplastic resin) forming the base sheet 7 and the cover sheets 8 and 9. In this embodiment, the filling base material 17 is made of amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (PET-G). The volume of the filling base material 17 is set to be the same as or slightly smaller than the remaining volume obtained by subtracting the volume of the mounted object 11 such as the IC chip 2 from the volume of the escape hole 15. This is because if the volume of the filling base material 17 exceeds the remaining volume, there is a risk that the filling body 16 will protrude from the escape hole 15 by the excess volume, causing swelling in the cover sheets 8 and 9 facing the escape hole 15. The volume of the filling base material 17 can be adjusted by changing the thickness dimension of the base material 17 in size. Also, it is desirable that the color tone of the filling base material 17 be the same as or approximate to the color tone of the cover sheets 8 and 9. The filling base material 17 can also be made of a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or polycarbonate (PC).

[0028] As shown in FIG. 7, the IC chip 2, the antenna 3, the chip base 12, and the filling base material 17 are held on the support sheet 13 via an adhesive layer. Specifically, on the upper surface of the chip base 12, the IC chip 2 and the filling base material 17 are adhesively fixed via the adhesive layer 19. Further, via the adhesive layer 20 on the upper surface of the filling base material 17, the previous IC chip 2, the chip base 12, and the filling base material 17 are held on the lower surface of the support sheet 13 by adhesive fixation. The antenna 3 is held on the support sheet 13 by being thermocompression-bonded to the lower surface of the support sheet 13.

[0029] The IC sheet 1 having the above-described configuration can be obtained by forming a sheet laminate 23 in which the lower cover sheet 9, the base sheet 7, the inlet 6, and the upper cover sheet 8 are laminated in the described order, and subjecting the sheet laminate 23 to a hot press treatment in which pressure is applied in the vertical direction (thickness direction) while heating. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, first, while accommodating the IC chip 2, the chip base 12, and the filling base material 17 in the escape hole 15, the inlet 6 is superposed on the upper side of the base sheet 7 (first lamination step (P1)). Next, the cover sheet 8 is superposed on the surface side where the inlet 6 and the base sheet 7 are superposed, and the cover sheet 9 is further superposed on the back side to form the sheet laminate 23 (second lamination step (P2)). Finally, the sheet laminate 23 is subjected to a hot press treatment in which pressure is applied in the vertical direction while heating (hot press step (P3)). By this hot press treatment, the upper cover sheet 8 and the inlet 6, the inlet 6 and the base sheet 7, and the base sheet 7 and the lower cover sheet 9 that overlap vertically are welded together, and the upper cover sheet 8, the inlet 6, the base sheet 7, and the lower cover sheet 9 are integrally joined to form the IC sheet 1.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a longitudinal front view of the sheet laminate 23 obtained by the second lamination step (P2). As shown in the figure, the filling base material 17 protrudes from the upper opening of the escape hole 15. In the subsequent hot press step (P3), as shown in FIG. 8, after the sheet laminate 23 is placed on the lower die 43 of the press machine, the upper die 43 is pressed against the sheet laminate 23. While heating the upper and lower dies 43·43 with the heater 44, by pressing the sheet laminate 23 from the vertical direction, a hot press treatment involving heating and pressing can be performed on the sheet laminate 23.

[0031] By performing the heat press treatment as described above, the upper and lower cover sheets 8 and 9 and the base sheet 7 constituting the sheet laminate 23 are softened, and these three sheets 7, 8, and 9 and the inlet 6 are integrally joined. Further, by the heat press treatment, the resin constituting the filling base material 17 is softened, and the filling base material 17 is deformed so as to be crushed vertically by the pressure acting from the vertical direction and is pushed into the escape hole 15, and the resin constituting the filling base material 17 is filled in the remaining space in the escape hole 15 excluding the mounted object 11. As described above, the IC sheet 1 as shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained. As the sheet laminate 23 for performing the heat press treatment, in addition to the configuration of the IC sheet 1 shown in FIG. 3, a sheet configuration such as a non-contact IC card 50 including the exterior sheet 49 described later may be used.

[0032] The IC sheet 1 according to the present embodiment can be configured as a non-contact IC card 50 including the IC sheet 1 in which the exterior sheet 49 is integrally provided on the upper and lower surfaces (front and back surfaces) of the IC sheet 1 as shown in FIG. 9. This non-contact IC card 50 is formed by sandwiching the IC sheet 1 between a pair of upper and lower exterior sheets 49 and 49 and integrating them by heat welding. As the exterior sheet 49, various sheets according to the use of the non-contact IC card 50 can be used, such as a printing sheet on which a printing layer is formed and a laminate sheet for protecting the surface of the IC sheet 1.

[0033] The thickness dimension of the IC sheet 1 is preferably less than the standard thickness dimension of the non-contact IC card (0.68 to 0.84 mm). The thickness dimension of the IC sheet 1 is preferably adjusted according to the thickness of the IC chip 2 to be housed and the size of the escape hole 15. However, if there is a sheet such as the above-described decorative sheet 49 disposed outside the IC sheet 1 in order to conform to the specifications of the final product, it can also be adjusted according to its configuration.

[0034] (Second Embodiment) Figures 10 and 11 show the second embodiment of the IC sheet according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the configuration of the carrier sheet 13 of the inlet 6 and the configuration of the filling substrate 17 are different from those of the previous first embodiment. Specifically, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, the carrier sheet 13 is composed of a pair of upper and lower carrier sheets 13a and 13b. As shown in Figure 11, before the thermocompression bonding process, the IC chip 2, the antenna 3, the chip base 12, and the filling substrate 17 are held in a state of being sandwiched between the upper and lower carrier sheets 13a and 13b. The filling substrate 17 is composed of a total of three unit substrates, namely, two relatively small rectangular block-shaped unit substrates 17a and one relatively large rectangular block-shaped (I-shaped) unit substrate 17b. These three unit substrates 17a and 17b are combined to form a U-shaped shape in plan view and are incorporated into the inlet 6.

[0035] As described above, since the filling substrate 17 is constituted by a plurality of unit substrates 17a and 17b, the volume of the filling substrate 17 can be easily changed by preparing and combining unit substrates 17a and 17b of various sizes. Therefore, even when the volumes of the IC chip 2 and the chip base 12 change in size, the volume of the filling substrate 17 can be adjusted more easily. Since the rest is the same as in the first embodiment, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted. The same shall apply to the third embodiment and subsequent embodiments.

[0036] (Third Embodiment) FIGS. 12 to 14 show a third embodiment of the IC sheet according to the present invention. In this third embodiment, the form of the IC chip 2 is different from that of the previous first embodiment. The IC chip 2 in the present embodiment is housed (sealed) in resin to form a resin-molded package (IC package). The package is composed of a mold part 2a for molding the IC chip 2 and a lead frame 2b, and the lead frame 2b is connected to the IC chip 2 within the mold part 2a. The lead frame 2b is formed in a size larger than the mold part 2a for connection with the antenna 3. The inlet 6 is composed of a mounted object 11 including the resin-molded package in which the IC chip 2 is housed, and an antenna 3 connected thereto. Note that the inlet 6 may be one in which a loop coil antenna made of a copper wire is connected to the lead frame 2b, or one in which the IC chip 2 is mounted in a face-down manner on a sheet in which the antenna 3 is formed by etching on a PET film.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the filling base material 17 is formed of a block body having a rectangular frame shape in plan view, and the inside surrounded by the rectangular frame is a through-hole-shaped escape part 18. The IC chip 2 in the state before the thermocompression bonding process is arranged inside the escape part 18 of the filling base material 17. The filling base material 17 is fixed to the lower surface of the lead frame 2b by an adhesive layer 19. The filling base material 17 may be a filling base material 17 formed in a straight block shape (I-shaped) on the left and right sides of the mold part 2a.

[0038] As described above, even when the IC chip 2 configured in the form of a resin-molded package is used, the unevenness on the surfaces of the cover sheets 8 and 9 can be prevented by filling the filling body 16 so as to fill the peripheral void of the mounted object 11 inside the escape hole 15.

[0039] (Fourth Embodiment) Fig. 15 shows a fourth embodiment of the IC sheet according to the present invention. In this fourth embodiment, the relief hole 15 is different from the third embodiment in that it is formed in a stepped hole shape with a relatively large diameter at the upper part and a relatively small diameter at the lower part. The peripheral portion of the lead frame 2b is received by the stepped portion of the relief hole 15, and the filling material 16 is filled so as to fill the peripheral gap of the mold portion 2a.

[0040] Fig. 16 shows a modification of the fourth embodiment, in which the base sheet 7 is composed of upper and lower base sheets 7a and 7b. The relief hole 15a formed in the upper base sheet 7a has a larger diameter than the relief hole 15b formed in the lower base sheet 7b, and by laminating the pair of base sheets 7a and 7b, a stepped hole-shaped relief hole 15 is formed.

[0041] (Fifth Embodiment) Fig. 17 shows a fifth embodiment of the IC sheet according to the present invention. Fig. 17 shows the state of the inlet 6 and the like before the thermal press treatment, in which it is different from the first embodiment in that the fixing position of the IC chip 2 on the chip base 12 is different. Specifically, the IC chip 2 is disposed at the left rear corner of the chip base 12, and the filling base material 17 is formed in an L shape in plan view.

[0042] In the fifth embodiment described above, the fixing position of the IC chip 2 may be the left front corner, the right front corner, or the right rear corner. Also, in the first embodiment, the IC chip 2 was fixed at the front-rear center on the left side of the chip base 12, but the IC chip 2 can also be fixed at the front-rear center on the front side, the rear side, or the right side of the chip base 12. As described above, the fixing of the IC chip 2 only needs to be on the chip base 12, and the position is not particularly limited. The position of the relief portion 18 of the filling base material 17 may be formed corresponding to the fixing position of the IC chip 2. The antenna 3 crossing the IC chip 2 can adopt various arrangement forms such as crossing in the left-right direction corresponding to the position of the terminal 14.

[0043] As in each of the above embodiments, the filling base material 17 is disposed so as to face the peripheral side surface of the IC chip 2. Specifically, in the first embodiment, it is disposed on three peripheral side surfaces of the square IC chip 2, in the third embodiment, it is disposed on four peripheral side surfaces of the square IC chip 2, and in the fifth embodiment, it is disposed on two peripheral side surfaces of the square IC chip 2. When the filling body 16 is in an I shape, a form of being disposed on one peripheral side surface or a form of being disposed on a plurality of peripheral side surfaces can be considered. The shape of the filling base material 17 may be circular or polygonal, and can be appropriately changed according to the shape and arrangement position of the IC chip 2 (including those in a package shape). The shape can also be determined according to the shapes of the escape holes 15 and the chip base 12.

[0044] As described above, according to each of the above embodiments, since the filling body 16 is filled so as to fill the peripheral void of the mounted object 11 including the IC chip 2 housed in the escape hole 15 formed in the base sheet 7, it is possible to suppress the cover sheet from entering the void portion by the filling body 16, and it is possible to prevent unevenness from occurring on the surfaces of the cover sheets 8 and 9 facing the escape holes 15. From the above, according to the IC sheet 1 of each of the above embodiments, it is possible to eliminate the formation of unevenness on the surfaces of the cover sheets 8 and 9 due to the escape holes 15 of the base sheet 7, so that an IC sheet excellent in flatness of the front and back surfaces of the sheet can be obtained.

[0045] When performing a hot press treatment on a sheet laminate 23 formed by laminating an inlet 6 and sheets 7, 8, and 9, the surface of the cover sheets 8 and 9 has the surface texture of the press plate that contacts the cover sheets 8 and 9 during pressing transferred thereto due to the heat and pressure during pressing. In an IC sheet in which a peripheral gap is formed inside a relief hole 15, like a conventional IC sheet, when the sheet laminate 23 is subjected to a hot press treatment, the cover sheets 8 and 9 facing the peripheral gap are not pressurized and the surface texture of the press plate is not transferred. However, according to the IC sheet 1 of the above-described embodiment, during the hot press treatment, heating and pressurization are performed with the filler 16 present in the relief hole 15, so the cover sheets 8 and 9 facing the relief hole 15 are also pressurized, and the surface texture of the press plate is transferred to the entire surface of the cover sheets 8 and 9, making it possible to obtain an IC sheet with excellent surface properties that has a uniform surface texture including the relief hole 15 portion.

[0046] In the IC sheet 1 that performs a hot press treatment on the sheet laminate 23 to integrate the inlet 6 and the sheets 7, 8, and 9, the filler 16 is formed by softening and deforming a filler base material 17 made of a thermoplastic resin arranged together with the mounted object 11 in the relief hole 15. Therefore, without being restricted by the shape of the remaining space inside the relief hole 15 excluding the mounted object 11 accommodated in the relief hole 15, the filler 16 can be easily filled to every corner of the remaining space. Also, since the filler 16 can be formed by deforming the filler base material 17 by heat application during the hot press treatment, the filler 16 after cooling solidifies and maintains its shape, and the smoothness of the surface of the cover sheets 8 and 9 is ensured without requiring any special treatment.

[0047] Since the softening temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the filler base material 17 is the same as or lower than the softening temperature of the resin constituting the cover sheets 8 and 9, the filler base material 17 can be surely softened and smoothly deformed inside the relief hole 15, and the filler 16 can be filled to every corner of the remaining space.

[0048] In the method for manufacturing the IC sheet shown in each of the above embodiments, in the hot press process, the filling base material 17 is pressed in the penetrating direction of the escape hole 15 to be softened and deformed, and filled as the filling body 16 around the IC chip 2. Therefore, the filling body 16 can be easily filled into every corner of the remaining space without being restricted by the shape of the remaining space of the escape hole 15. Accordingly, the IC sheet 1 provided with the filling body 16 can be obtained more easily.

[0049] The filling base material 17 is held on the support sheet 13 of the inlet 6, and in the first lamination step P1, the filling base material 17 together with the IC chip 2 is accommodated in the escape hole 15. Therefore, when forming the sheet laminate 23, the filling base material 17 can be accommodated in the escape hole 15 simultaneously with the inlet 6. In addition, a dedicated process for accommodating the filling base material 17 in the escape hole 15 can be omitted, and the manufacturing process can be shortened.

[0050] The mounted object 11 includes the IC chip 2 and the reinforcing plate 12 that supports the IC chip 2. The IC chip 2 and the filling base material 17 are held on the support sheet 13 in a state of being fixed to the reinforcing plate 12. Therefore, the IC chip 2 and the filling base material 17 can be accommodated in the escape hole 15 in a state where they are firmly positioned.

[0051] According to the non-contact IC card 50 provided with the above IC sheet 1, it is possible to suppress the formation of unevenness on the card surface due to the recesses of the IC sheet 1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the patterns and characters on the card surface from being distorted and displayed due to the unevenness, and improve the designability of the non-contact IC card 50.

[0052] The IC sheet, the method for manufacturing the IC sheet, the inlet for the IC sheet, and the non-contact IC card provided with the IC sheet according to the present invention can contribute to Goal 9 (Build the infrastructure for industry and technological innovation) and Goal 12 (Responsibility to produce, responsibility to use) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0053] 1 IC sheet 2 IC chips 3 Antenna 6 Inlet 7 Base sheet 8 Cover sheet 9 Cover sheet 11 Mounted object 12 Reinforcing plate (chip base) 13 Support sheet 15 Relief hole 16 Filling 17 Filling substrate 23 Sheet laminate 50 Contactless IC card P1 First lamination process P2 Second lamination process P3 Heat press process

Claims

1. An inlet (6) comprising a mounted object (11) including at least an IC chip (2) and an antenna (3) connected to the IC chip (2); A base sheet (7) having a relief hole (15) formed in the thickness direction, and the base sheet (7) being superposed on the inlet (6) in a state where the mounted object (11) is accommodated in the relief hole (15); Cover sheets (8, 9) covering the front and back surfaces of the superposed inlet (6) and base sheet (7); Comprising: An IC sheet, characterized in that a filler (16) is filled so as to fill the peripheral gap of the mounted object (11) inside the relief hole (15).

2. A heat pressing process is performed on a sheet laminate (23) formed by laminating the inlet (6) and the respective sheets (7, 8, 9), and the inlet (6) and the respective sheets (7, 8, 9) are integrated; The IC sheet according to claim 1, wherein the filler (16) is formed by softening and deforming a filling base material (17) made of a thermoplastic resin disposed together with the mounted object (11) in the relief hole (15).

3. The IC sheet according to claim 2, wherein the softening temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the filling base material (17) is the same as or lower than the softening temperature of the resin constituting the cover sheets (8, 9).

4. In a method for manufacturing an IC sheet comprising a sheet-like inlet (6) comprising a mounted object (11) including at least an IC chip (2) and an antenna (3) connected to the IC chip (2), a base sheet (7) having a relief hole (15) penetrating in the thickness direction, and the base sheet (7) being superposed on the inlet (6) in a state where the mounted object (11) is accommodated in the relief hole (15), and cover sheets (8, 9) covering the front and back surfaces of the superposed inlet (6) and base sheet (7), A first laminating step (P1) of superposing the inlet (6) and the base sheet (7) while accommodating the mounted object (11) in the relief hole (15); A second laminating step (P2) of obtaining a sheet laminate (23) by superposing a cover sheet (8) on the front surface and a cover sheet (9) on the back surface with respect to the inlet (6) and the base sheet (7) superposed in the first laminating step (P1); Including a heat pressing step (P3) of performing a heat pressing process on the sheet laminate (23) obtained in the second laminating step (P2) to integrally join the inlet (6) and the respective sheets (7, 8, 9). In the first lamination step (P1), a filling base material (17) made of a thermoplastic resin is disposed together with the mounted object (11) in the escape hole (15). In the hot press step (P3), by softening and deforming the filling base material (17), a filling body (16) is filled so as to fill the peripheral gap of the mounted object (11) inside the escape hole (15). A method for manufacturing an IC sheet, characterized in that

5. The method for manufacturing an IC sheet according to claim 4, wherein the softening temperature of the thermoplastic resin constituting the filling base material (17) is the same as or lower than the softening temperature of the resin constituting the cover sheets (8, 9).

6. The inlet (6) includes an IC chip (2), an antenna (3), and a carrier sheet (13) that holds these IC chip (2) and antenna (3), and the filling base material (17) is held by the carrier sheet (13). The method for manufacturing an IC sheet according to claim 4 or 5, wherein in the first lamination step (P1), the filling base material (17) is accommodated in the escape hole (15) together with the IC chip (2).

7. The method for manufacturing an IC sheet according to claim 6, wherein the mounted object (11) includes an IC chip (2) and a reinforcing plate (12) that supports the IC chip (2), and the IC chip (2) and the filling base material (17) are fixed to the reinforcing plate (12) and are held by the carrier sheet (13).

8. An inlet for an IC sheet (1), in which a mounted object (11) is accommodated inside the escape hole (15) provided in the base sheet (7), and a filling body (16) is filled so as to fill the peripheral gap of the mounted object (11) inside the escape hole (15). The filling body (16) is formed by softening and deforming a filling base material (17) made of a thermoplastic resin disposed together with the mounted object (11) in the escape hole (15). An inlet for an IC sheet, comprising at least a mounted object (11) including an IC chip (2), an antenna (3) connected to the IC chip (2), and a carrier sheet (13) that holds these IC chip (2) and antenna (3), wherein the filling base material (17) is held by the carrier sheet (13).

9. The inlet for an IC sheet according to claim 8, wherein the mounted object (11) includes an IC chip (2) and a reinforcing plate (12) that supports the IC chip (2), and the IC chip (2) and the filling base material (17) are fixed to the reinforcing plate (12) and are held by the carrier sheet (13).

10. A contactless IC card comprising the IC sheet (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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