Card-type medium

Abstract

To provide a card-type medium configured to improve productivity without impairing appearance design.SOLUTION: A card-type medium 1 includes: a circuity board 2; an electronic component 3 mounted on a first surface 2a of the circuit board; a spacer substrate 4 located between the circuit board and the electronic component to electrically connect the circuit board and the electronic component; and a cover plate 5 covering the first surface of the circuit board. The cover plate includes an insertion hole 51 which is formed through a thickness direction Dt thereof, so as to insert the electronic component mounted on the circuit board and the spacer substrate. A first gap G1 between the spacer substrate inserted through the insertion hole and an inner periphery of the insertion hole is larger than a second gap G2 between the electronic component inserted through the insertion hole and the inner periphery of the insertion hole, the electronic component and the spacer substrate being inserted through the insertion hole so that centers C3, C4 of the electronic component and the spacer substrate viewed from the thickness direction may be aligned with the center C51 of the insertion hole.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a card-type medium. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are various types of card-type media, such as credit cards and cash cards. Some of these card-type media are contacted with a contact terminal of an external device to communicate with the external device (contact communication), and some are contacted with a user's fingerprint to perform authentication. Patent Document 1 discloses a card-type medium including a circuit board, electronic components such as an IC module including contact terminals and a fingerprint sensor mounted on a first surface of the circuit board, and a cover plate (card body) that covers the first surface of the circuit board. The cover plate has insertion holes that penetrate through the thickness of the cover plate and allow insertion of the electronic components mounted on the circuit board. This exposes the electronic components that come into contact with the contact terminals of an external device or a fingerprint to the outside of the card-type medium.

[0003] Furthermore, in the card-type medium of Patent Document 1, a spacer substrate (intermediate spacer) is interposed between the electronic components and the card-type medium in order to adjust the height position of the electronic components, and the electronic components are electrically connected to the circuit board via the spacer substrate. In the card-type medium of Patent Document 1, the shape and size of the spacer substrate when viewed in the thickness direction of the card-type medium match the shape and size of the electronic components.

[0004] When manufacturing the card-type medium of Patent Document 1, first, the electronic components and the spacer substrate are stacked and joined together, and then the spacer substrate is mounted on the first surface of the circuit board, and then a cover plate is fixed to the first surface of the circuit board by adhesive. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 153631 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In this type of card-type medium, considering the external design, it is undesirable for the circuit board to be visible through the insertion hole in the cover plate. For this reason, the gap between the inner circumference of the insertion hole and the electronic component and spacer board inserted into the insertion hole is set as small as possible. Therefore, the size of the insertion hole as viewed from the thickness direction of the card-type medium is set to be equal to the size of the electronic component and spacer board. For this reason, it is necessary to mount the spacer board joined to the electronic component on the circuit board with high positional accuracy.

[0007] However, the spacer substrate bonded to the electronic components is not always mounted on the circuit board with high positional accuracy. That is, there is a possibility that the mounting positions of the electronic components and the spacer substrate relative to the circuit board may be misaligned. If the mounting positions of the electronic components and the spacer substrate are misaligned relative to the circuit board, when the cover plate is placed on the first surface of the circuit board, the cover plate may interfere with the electronic components mounted on the circuit board, making it impossible to place the cover plate on the circuit board.

[0008] Furthermore, when a large number of card-type media are manufactured using a single circuit board and cover plate, i.e., when card-type media are manufactured in a multi-sided configuration, multiple electronic components and spacer boards corresponding to the multiple card-type media are mounted on the circuit board, and multiple insertion holes corresponding to the multiple card-type media are formed in the cover plate. However, if the circuit board expands or contracts or wrinkles due to moisture absorption by the circuit board itself or heat generated when mounting the electronic components and spacer boards on the circuit board, the positions of some of the electronic components and spacer boards on the circuit board will become misaligned. Therefore, even when card-type media are manufactured in a multi-sided configuration, when the cover plate is placed on the first surface of the circuit board, it will interfere with some of the electronic components mounted on the circuit board, making it impossible to place the cover plate on the circuit board. If the cover plate cannot be superimposed on the circuit board, this leads to a decrease in yield and reduces the productivity of card-type media.

[0009] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a card-type medium that can improve productivity without impairing the external design. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] One aspect of the present invention is a card-type medium including a circuit board, an electronic component mounted on a first surface of the circuit board, a spacer substrate interposed between the circuit board and the electronic component to electrically connect the circuit board and the electronic component, and a cover plate covering the first surface of the circuit board. The cover plate has insertion holes formed therethrough in a thickness direction thereof for inserting the electronic component mounted on the circuit board and the spacer substrate. When the electronic component and the spacer substrate are inserted into the insertion holes such that the centers of the electronic component and the spacer substrate coincide with the centers of the insertion holes when viewed from the thickness direction, a first gap between the spacer substrate inserted into the insertion hole and an inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole is larger than a second gap between the electronic component inserted into the insertion hole and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a card-type medium that can improve productivity without impairing the external design. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view showing a card-type medium according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 3 is a diagram showing the relative positional relationship between a plurality of component-side connection pads of an electronic component and a plurality of board-side connection pads of a spacer board in FIG. 2. FIG. [Figure 4]4A to 4C are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing process of the card-type medium of FIGS. [Figure 5] 5A to 5C are cross-sectional views showing the manufacturing process of the card-type medium following FIG. 4. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a card-type medium according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a spacer substrate of a first modified example provided in a card-type medium. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a plan view of the spacer substrate of FIG. 7 as viewed from the D100 direction. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which electronic components are mounted on the spacer substrate of FIGS. 7 and 8. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which electronic components are mounted on a spacer substrate of a second modified example provided in a card-type medium. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 10. In the following description, mutually corresponding components will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions of overlapping parts may be omitted. Furthermore, in the following description, expressions indicating relative or absolute arrangements, such as "parallel," "orthogonal," and "center," not only strictly indicate such arrangements, but also indicate a state in which there is a relative displacement with a tolerance or an angle or distance that provides the same function.

[0014] In the drawings, the direction indicated by the symbol Dt corresponds to the thickness direction of the card-type medium described below. In the following description, this will be referred to as the thickness direction Dt. The side toward which the arrow of the thickness direction Dt points (+Dt side) may be referred to as the "upper side." The opposite side to the side toward which the arrow of the thickness direction Dt points (-Dt side) may be referred to as the "lower side." The outer surface of the card-type medium or each component that constitutes it that faces upward may be referred to as the "front side," and the outer surface facing downward may be referred to as the "back side." Note that the terms "upper side" and "lower side" are simply names used to describe the relative positional relationships of the various components, and the actual positional relationships may be other than those indicated by these names.

[0015] Each figure also shows a first linear direction D1 where appropriate. The first linear direction D1 is a linear direction perpendicular to the thickness direction Dt, that is, a linear direction along the front and back surfaces of the card-type medium. Additionally, each figure appropriately shows a second linear direction D2. The second linear direction D2 is a linear direction perpendicular to both the thickness direction Dt and the first linear direction D1, i.e., like the first linear direction D1, it is a linear direction along the front and back surfaces of the card-type medium.

[0016] First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The card-type medium 1 of this embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is a card that performs contact-type communication with an external device and that performs authentication by contacting the user's fingerprint. The card-type medium 1 of this embodiment is also a card that can perform contactless communication with an external device. The card-type medium 1 illustrated in Fig. 1 is formed in a plate shape and is formed in a rectangular shape with long sides extending in a first linear direction D1 when viewed in the thickness direction Dt of the card-type medium 1. The thickness of the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment is set within the range of 680 to 840 μm specified by ISO / IEC7810.

[0017] 1 and 2, the card-type medium 1 includes a circuit board 2, electronic components 3, a spacer substrate 4, and a cover plate 5. The card-type medium 1 of this embodiment further includes a ferrite layer 6 and a card substrate 7.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the circuit board 2 is configured by forming conductive patterns such as various electrical wirings on an insulating base material formed in the shape of an electrically insulating plate or sheet. Considering the thickness limitations of the card-type medium 1 described above and the thickness of the cover plate 5 described below, the thickness of the circuit board 2 is set to be thin. Specifically, the circuit board 2 is a flexible substrate having flexibility, and its thickness may be, for example, about 25 μm. It is preferable to use a material with low moisture absorption and high dimensional stability as the material for the insulating substrate of the flexible substrate. Specific examples of materials for the insulating substrate of the flexible substrate include liquid crystal polymer (LCP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide (Pi), polyester (PEs), and polyether ether ketone (PEEK).

[0019] The electronic component 3 is mounted on the surface 2a (first surface) of the circuit board 2 and is electrically connected to the electrical wiring of the circuit board 2. The electronic component 3 is arranged so that its surface is exposed to the outside of the card-type medium 1. The shape of the electronic component 3 in a plan view as seen in the thickness direction Dt may be any shape. As shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the shape of the electronic component 3 in a plan view in this embodiment is rectangular (square).

[0020] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of component-side connection pads 31 for electrical connection to the circuit board 2 is provided on the back surface 3b of the electronic component 3 facing the circuit board 2 (the side of the spacer substrate 4 described later). The component-side connection pads 31 may have any shape in a plan view when viewed in the thickness direction Dt. The arrangement of the component-side connection pads 31 may also be any. In FIG. 3, the component-side connection pads 31 have a rectangular shape in a plan view. The component-side connection pads 31 are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction on the periphery of the back surface 3b of the electronic component 3, which has a rectangular shape in a plan view. In the electronic component 3 illustrated in FIG. 3, two component-side connection pads 31 are arranged on each side of the rectangular back surface 3b of the electronic component 3.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic component 3 of this embodiment includes a contact module 3C and a fingerprint sensor 3S. The contact module 3C has a contact terminal 3C1 that enables contact-type communication between the card-type medium 1 and an external device by contacting the external device. The fingerprint sensor 3S implements the fingerprint authentication function of the card-type medium 1. Although not shown, the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment also has an antenna (e.g., a wound antenna) for enabling contactless communication between the card-type medium 1 and an external device. The antenna may be formed on the circuit board 2, for example.

[0022] Furthermore, the card-type medium 1 includes an IC chip (not shown) electrically connected to the contact module 3C and the fingerprint sensor 3S. The IC chip is, for example, a secure microcomputer, and has a fingerprint authentication function using the fingerprint sensor 3S and a communication function with the outside via the contact terminal 3C1 of the contact module 3C or an antenna. The IC chip is electrically connected to the contact module 3C and the fingerprint sensor 3S via electrical wiring on the circuit board 2. Note that the IC chip may be formed integrally with the contact module 3C, for example, in which case the IC chip and the contact module 3C may be directly connected without the circuit board 2.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the spacer substrate 4 is interposed between the circuit board 2 and the electronic components 3 to electrically connect the circuit board 2 and the electronic components 3. A plurality of board-side connection pads 41 for electrical connection to the plurality of component-side connection pads 31 are provided on the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 facing the electronic component 3. The spacer substrate 4 has a plurality of through holes 42 penetrating in the thickness direction Dt. The plurality of through holes 42 are connected to the plurality of board-side connection pads 41, respectively. Each through hole 42 is electrically connected to the electrical wiring of the circuit board 2 via solder 8 on the back surface 4b of the spacer substrate 4. This electrically connects the circuit board 2 and the electronic component 3 via the spacer substrate 4.

[0024] In this embodiment, a bonding material having anisotropic conductivity (anisotropic conductive bonding material 9) is interposed between the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4. The electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 are electrically connected by the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9. The anisotropic conductive bonding material 9 is a bonding material in which conductive particles are dispersed in a thermoplastic resin. Therefore, by heating the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9 with the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9 interposed between the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4, the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 can be fixed together. In addition, the multiple board-side connection pads 41 and the multiple component-side connection pads 31 that overlap in the thickness direction Dt can be individually electrically connected together. Examples of the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9 include anisotropic conductive film (ACF) and anisotropic conductive paste (ACP).

[0025] The through holes 42 may be filled with a non-conductive material (e.g., resin) on the inside. Alternatively, a via cover, such as a via tenting or a via plug, that covers the opening of the through hole 42 may be formed on the rear surface 4b of the spacer substrate 4. This prevents the molten solder 8 from flowing into the through hole 42 when the spacer substrate 4 is mounted on the circuit board 2 with the solder 8. This prevents the spacer substrate 4 from tilting or becoming misaligned on the circuit board 2 due to the solder 8 flowing into the through hole 42.

[0026] The spacer substrate 4 is preferably made of a material that is resistant to warping. The material constituting the spacer substrate 4 may be, for example, a low-thermal expansion material for semiconductor package substrates, such as a halogen-free material with a glass transition temperature of about 200°C or higher and a thermal expansion coefficient of 10 ppm / °C or less in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction Dt. The thickness of the spacer substrate 4 may be set, for example, so that the surface 3a of the electronic component 3 is positioned at the same height as the surface 5a of the cover plate 5 described below. The specific thickness of the spacer substrate 4 may be set appropriately depending on the thickness of the electronic component 3 (contact module 3C, fingerprint sensor 3S) and the thickness of the cover plate 5, and may be, for example, about 200 to 300 μm.

[0027] The spacer substrate 4 may have any shape when viewed in the thickness direction Dt. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the spacer substrate 4 in this embodiment has a rectangular (square) shape in plan view, the same as the electronic component 3 described above. The size of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is larger than the size of the electronic component 3. Therefore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, when the spacer substrate 4 and the electronic component 3 are overlapped in the thickness direction Dt so that the center C4 of the spacer substrate 4 and the center C3 of the electronic component 3 coincide with each other, the electronic component 3 is located inside the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt.

[0028] The planar shape of the board-side connection pads 41 of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt and the arrangement of the multiple board-side connection pads 41 may be arbitrary, but may correspond to the component-side connection pads 31 to be connected, for example. In Fig. 3, the planar shape of the board-side connection pads 41 is square, which differs from the planar shape of the component-side connection pads 31. The multiple board-side connection pads 41, like the multiple component-side connection pads 31, are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction on the periphery of the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4, which is rectangular in plan view. Two component-side connection pads 31 are arranged on each side of the surface 4a of the rectangular spacer substrate 4.

[0029] In this embodiment, the size of the board-side connection pads 41 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is larger than the size of the component-side connection pads 31. Furthermore, as illustrated in Fig. 3, when the spacer substrate 4 and the electronic component 3 are overlapped in the thickness direction Dt so that the center C4 of the spacer substrate 4 and the center C3 of the electronic component 3 coincide with each other, the component-side connection pads 31 are located inside the board-side connection pads 41 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt.

[0030] 2, the cover plate 5 covers the surface 2a of the circuit board 2. The cover plate 5 is fixed to the surface 2a of the circuit board 2 with an adhesive (not shown). The cover plate 5 forms the surface of the card-type medium 1.

[0031] The cover plate 5 has insertion holes 51 formed therein that penetrate the cover plate 5 in the thickness direction Dt and into which the electronic components 3 and the spacer substrate 4 mounted on the circuit board 2 are inserted. Although not shown, the shape of the insertion holes 51 in a plan view in this embodiment is rectangular, similar to the shape of the electronic components 3 and the spacer substrate 4 illustrated in FIG.

[0032] When the electronic components 3 and the spacer substrate 4 are inserted into the insertion holes 51 so that the centers C3, C4 of the electronic components 3 and the spacer substrate 4 coincide with the center C51 of the insertion holes 51 when viewed from the thickness direction Dt, a first gap G1 between the spacer substrate 4 inserted into the insertion holes 51 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion holes 51 is larger than a second gap G2 between the electronic components 3 inserted into the insertion holes 51 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion holes 51. The second gap G2 is preferably, for example, about 0.1 to 0.2 mm.

[0033] In other words, when viewed from the thickness direction Dt, the size of the first opening 51a of the insertion hole 51 on the back surface 5b (opposing surface) of the cover plate 5 facing the circuit board 2 is larger than that of the spacer substrate 4. Also, the size of the second opening 51b of the insertion hole 51 on the front surface 5a (opposite surface) of the cover plate 5 facing away from the circuit board 2 is equal to the size of the electronic component 3. The fact that the second opening 51b and the electronic component 3 are equal in size means that the size of the second opening 51b is the same as or slightly larger than the size of the electronic component 3.

[0034] In this embodiment, the insertion hole 51 is composed of a first hole portion 511 that opens to the back surface 5b side of the cover plate 5, and a second hole portion 512 that opens to the front surface 5a side of the cover plate 5 and is formed to be continuous with the first hole portion 511 in the thickness direction Dt. The spacer substrate 4 is inserted into the first hole portion 511. The electronic component 3 is inserted into the second hole portion 512. When viewed from the thickness direction Dt, the size of the second hole portion 512 is larger than the size of the first hole portion 511. Furthermore, the inner circumferential surface of the second hole portion 512 is located more inward than the inner circumferential surface of the first hole portion 511. Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the center of the first hole portion 511 and the center of the second hole portion 512 coincide with each other when viewed from the thickness direction Dt.

[0035] The relative size and position of the first hole 511 and the second hole 512 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt may be set depending on the degree of positional deviation of the spacer substrate 4 due to expansion / contraction or wrinkling of the circuit board 2. For example, the center of the circuit board 2 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt may be used as a reference, and the amount of deviation of the mounting position of the spacer substrate 4 on the circuit board 2 due to expansion / contraction or wrinkling of the circuit board 2 may be measured for a plurality of samples, and the relative size and position of the first hole 511 and the second hole 512 may be set based on the results of statistical calculations using a model in which the degree of deviation of the mounting position is proportional to the distance from the center of the circuit board 2 to the mounting position of the spacer substrate 4. Furthermore, for example, the first hole portion 511 may be larger than the second hole portion 512 by 1 / 3000 or more on one side of the distance from the center of the circuit board 2 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt to the mounting position of the farthest spacer substrate 4.

[0036] The cover plate 5 may be made of any material, but in this embodiment it is made of metal, i.e., a metal plate. Specific metal materials that make up the cover plate 5 include, for example, stainless steel (e.g., SUS304), aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and tungsten.

[0037] In order to give the card-type medium 1 a more substantial feel, it is preferable that the thickness of the metal cover plate 5 be as thick as possible within the thickness constraints of the card-type medium 1 (680 to 840 μm).

[0038] As shown in Fig. 2, the ferrite layer 6 is a layer made of a magnetic material and is interposed between the circuit board 2 and the cover plate 5. The ferrite layer 6 is fixed to the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2 and the back surface 5b of the cover plate 5 with an adhesive or the like. The ferrite layer 6 is provided to prevent the metallic cover plate 5 from interfering with non-contact communication between the antenna of the card-type medium 1 and an external device via electromagnetic induction. The ferrite layer 6 has a through hole 61 formed therein that penetrates the ferrite layer 6 in the thickness direction Dt to pass the spacer substrate 4 through. The through hole 61 of the ferrite layer 6 is formed to have the same shape and size as the first opening 51a (first hole portion 511) of the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5.

[0039] The card substrate 7 is placed on the back surface 2b of the circuit board 2 with an adhesive or the like. The card substrate 7 protects the back surface of the circuit board 2. The card substrate 7 may be formed from a substrate such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (PET-G).

[0040] Next, an example of a method for manufacturing the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment will be described. In the manufacturing method of the card-type medium 1 in this embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 4, the spacer substrate 4 is mounted on the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2. In this embodiment, a plurality of through-holes 42 exposed on the back surface 4b of the spacer substrate 4 are joined to the circuit board 2 with solder 8. The use of solder 8 provides a self-alignment effect to the spacer substrate 4, thereby suppressing or preventing misalignment of the spacer substrate 4 on the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2. In other words, the spacer substrate 4 can be mounted on the circuit board 2 with high positional accuracy. The use of solder 8 is also advantageous in terms of the bonding strength of the spacer substrate 4 to the circuit board 2.

[0041] 4 and 5, the ferrite layer 6 and the cover plate 5 are sequentially stacked and fixed on the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2. When stacking the ferrite layer 6 on the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2, the spacer substrate 4 mounted on the circuit board 2 is passed through the through-hole 61 of the ferrite layer 6 from the back surface 6b side of the ferrite layer 6. Furthermore, when the cover plate 5 is placed on the surface 6a of the ferrite layer 6 (the surface 2a side of the circuit board 2), the spacer substrate 4 mounted on the circuit board 2 is inserted into the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5 from the back surface 5b side of the cover plate 5. The spacer substrate 4 is inserted into the first hole portion 511 of the insertion hole 51, but is not inserted into the second hole portion 512.

[0042] Here, the first gap G1 between the spacer substrate 4 and the inner circumferential surface of the first hole portion 511 of the insertion hole 51 is larger than the second gap G2 between the electronic component 3 and the inner circumferential surface of the second hole portion 512 of the insertion hole 51 (see FIG. 2 ). Therefore, even if the second gap G2 is small, the first gap G1 can be ensured to be large. As a result, even if the spacer substrate 4 is misaligned from its predetermined position on the circuit board 2 due to expansion and contraction of the circuit board 2 caused by heat, moisture absorption, and the like when the spacer substrate 4 is mounted on the circuit board 2, the spacer substrate 4 can be inserted into the first hole portion 511 of the insertion hole 51 without interfering with the cover plate 5 when the cover plate 5 is placed on the front surface 2a of the circuit board 2. Similarly, the spacer substrate 4 can be passed through the through hole 61 of the ferrite layer 6. As shown in FIG. 5, after the spacer substrate 4 is inserted into the first hole portion 511 of the insertion hole 51, the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 is exposed to the surface 5a of the cover plate 5 through the insertion hole 51.

[0043] 5 and 2, the electronic component 3 is inserted into the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5 from the front surface 5a side thereof, and mounted on the front surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4. Specifically, the electronic component 3 is inserted into the second hole portion 512 of the insertion hole 51. When mounting the electronic component 3 on the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4, the component-side connection pads 31 of the electronic component 3 are electrically connected to the board-side connection pads 41 of the spacer substrate 4. Specifically, with the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9 disposed between the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4, heat is applied from the electronic component 3 side to fix the electronic component 3 to the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 and electrically connect the component-side connection pads 31 and the board-side connection pads 41 individually.

[0044] In the manufacturing method of the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a card substrate 7 is superimposed on and fixed to the back surface 2b side of the circuit board 2 before, after, or during the above-mentioned steps. This completes the manufacturing of the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment.

[0045] As described above, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, even if the second gap G2 between the electronic component 3 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 51 is made very small, a large first gap G1 can be ensured between the spacer substrate 4 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 51. Therefore, as described above, even if the spacer substrate 4 is positioned misaligned with respect to a predetermined position on the circuit board 2, the spacer substrate 4 can be inserted into the insertion hole 51 without interfering with the cover plate 5 when the cover plate 5 is placed on the surface 2a of the circuit board 2. Furthermore, when the spacer substrate 4 is inserted into the insertion hole 51, the spacer substrate 4 can be exposed on the front surface 5a side of the cover plate 5 through the insertion hole 51. This allows the electronic component 3 to be inserted into the insertion hole 51 from the front surface 5a side of the cover plate 5 and mounted on the spacer substrate 4. By manufacturing the card-type medium 1 in the above manner, the card-type medium 1 can be manufactured without causing the spacer substrate 4 and electronic components 3 to interfere with the cover plate 5. In other words, it is possible to suppress a decrease in yield and improve the productivity of the card-type medium 1.

[0046] Furthermore, when the electronic component 3 is inserted into the insertion hole 51 from the front surface 5a side of the cover plate 5 and mounted on the spacer substrate 4, the second gap G2 between the electronic component 3 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 51 can be made very small. Therefore, in the manufactured card-type medium 1, it is possible to effectively prevent the circuit board 2 from being exposed to the outside of the card-type medium 1 through the second gap G2. In other words, it is possible to prevent deterioration in the external design of the card-type medium 1, which would be caused by the circuit board 2 being visible from the outside of the card-type medium 1 through the second gap G2. From the above, it is possible to provide a card-type medium 1 that can improve productivity without compromising the external design.

[0047] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5 is composed of a first hole portion 511 that opens to the back surface 5b side of the cover plate 5, and a second hole portion 512 that opens to the front surface 5a side of the cover plate 5 and is formed continuous to the first hole portion 511 in the thickness direction Dt. A spacer substrate 4 is inserted into the first hole portion 511, and an electronic component 3 is inserted into the second hole portion 512. When viewed from the thickness direction Dt, the size of the second hole portion 512 is larger than the size of the first hole portion 511, and the inner circumferential surface of the second hole portion 512 is located more inward than the inner circumferential surface of the first hole portion 511. Since the insertion hole 51 is composed of the above-mentioned first hole portion 511 and second hole portion 512, even if the size of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed from the thickness direction Dt is greater than the size of the electronic component 3, the first gap G1 between the spacer substrate 4 and the inner surface of the insertion hole 51 can be made larger than the second gap G2 between the electronic component 3 and the inner surface of the insertion hole 51.

[0048] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, the size of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is larger than the size of the electronic component 3. Therefore, even if the centers C3, C4 of the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 are misaligned from each other as viewed in the thickness direction Dt due to the spacer substrate 4 being misaligned from its predetermined position on the circuit board 2, it is possible to arrange the entire electronic component 3 on the spacer substrate 4. This allows the electronic component 3 to be stably arranged on the spacer substrate 4.

[0049] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, the size of the substrate-side connection pads 41 of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is larger than the size of the component-side connection pads 31 of the electronic component 3. Therefore, even if the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 are misaligned in directions (first linear direction D1, second linear direction D2) perpendicular to the thickness direction Dt, the component-side connection pads 31 can be positioned overlapping the substrate-side connection pads 41. This ensures electrical connection between the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4.

[0050] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, the cover plate 5 is made of metal, which gives the card-type medium 1 a heavy feel that is unique to metal, improving the appearance design.

[0051] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 1 of this embodiment, the spacer substrate 4 is made of a material that is resistant to warping and has high rigidity. As a result, even if the electronic components 3 are mounted on the spacer substrate 4 using the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9, it is possible to manufacture a card-type medium 1 that is highly reliable and resistant to bending.

[0052] Second Embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 6. In the following description, components common to those already described will be assigned the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

[0053] 6, the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment includes the same circuit board 2, electronic components 3, spacer substrate 4, cover plate 5, ferrite layer 6, and card substrate 7 as those of the first embodiment. However, the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the relative sizes of the electronic components 3 and spacer substrate 4 and the shape of the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5.

[0054] Specifically, in the second embodiment, the size of the spacer substrate 4 is smaller than the size of the electronic component 3 when viewed in the thickness direction Dt. The relative size of the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt may be set depending on the degree of misalignment of the spacer substrate 4 due to expansion / contraction or wrinkles of the circuit board 2. For example, similar to the setting of the relative size and position of the first hole 511 and the second hole 512 described in the first embodiment, the relative size of the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 may be set based on the results of statistical calculations using a model in which the degree of misalignment of the mounting position is proportional to the distance from the center of the circuit board 2 to the mounting position of the spacer substrate 4.

[0055] However, if the size of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is made too small, the area of ​​the substrate-side connection pads 41 will be reduced, and the connection area between the substrate-side connection pads 41 and the component-side connection pads 31 of the electronic components 3 will be narrowed, which may result in communication failure. For example, when the component-side connection pads 31 and the substrate-side connection pads 41 are joined using ACF (a type of anisotropic conductive bonding material 9) with conductive particles having an average particle diameter of 38 μm, the area of ​​the substrate-side connection pads 41 should be reduced to 0.5 mm in order to ensure that the connection area between the substrate-side connection pads 41 and the component-side connection pads 31 is large enough to enable communication. 2 It is preferable that the above is set.

[0056] For example, when the spacer substrate 4 and the electronic component 3 are stacked in the thickness direction Dt so that the center C4 of the spacer substrate 4 coincides with the center C3 of the electronic component 3 when viewed from the thickness direction Dt, the size of the spacer substrate 4 may be set so that the periphery of the spacer substrate 4 is positioned approximately 1 to 3 mm inward from the periphery of the electronic component 3. Furthermore, for example, the spacer substrate 4 may be smaller than the electronic component 3 by 1 / 3000 or more on one side of the distance from the center of the circuit board 2 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt to the mounting position of the farthest spacer substrate 4.

[0057] In the second embodiment, the size of the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is uniform throughout the entire cover plate 5 in the thickness direction Dt. That is, the insertion hole 51 of the second embodiment is a straight through hole.

[0058] The card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment can be manufactured by the same manufacturing method as that of the first embodiment.

[0059] Furthermore, in the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment, the size of the spacer substrate 4 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is smaller than the size of the electronic component 3. Therefore, even if the insertion hole 51 of the cover plate 5 is a straight through-hole, as in the first embodiment, the first gap G1 between the spacer substrate 4 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 51 can be made larger than the second gap G2 between the electronic component 3 and the inner circumferential surface of the insertion hole 51. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment can improve productivity without compromising the external design.

[0060] Furthermore, according to the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment, it is only necessary to form the spacer substrate 4 smaller than the electronic component 3, and there is no need to form the insertion hole 51 of a complex shape as in the first embodiment in the cover plate 5. As a result, the card-type medium 10 of the second embodiment can be manufactured more easily than the card-type medium 1 of the first embodiment.

[0061] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the invention.

[0062] In the present invention, the spacer substrate 4 may have a housing space 43 that opens to a surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 facing the electronic component 3, as shown in, for example, FIGS. 9 and 10 , if the electronic component 3 has a protrusion 32 protruding from its back surface toward the spacer substrate 4, when the electronic component 3 is mounted on the front surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4, the protrusion 32 of the electronic component 3 can be accommodated in the accommodation space 43 of the spacer substrate 4. Therefore, the electronic component 3 can be mounted on the spacer substrate 4 without interfering with the protrusion 32 of the electronic component 3. The protrusion 32 of the electronic component 3 may be, for example, an IC chip mounted on the rear surface 3b of the electronic component 3.

[0063] 7 to 9, the storage space 43 is formed so as to penetrate the spacer substrate 4 in the thickness direction Dt. When the storage space 43 is formed in this manner, various types of electronic components 3 having protrusions 32 of different heights can be mounted on the same type of spacer substrate 4 having the storage space 43. In other words, a card-type medium can be manufactured using a highly versatile spacer substrate 4.

[0064] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the accommodation space 43 of the spacer substrate 4 is only required to be formed so as not to interfere with at least the substrate-side connection pads 41 and the through-holes . The specific shape and size of the accommodation space 43 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt may be arbitrary. In the spacer substrate 4 illustrated in Fig. 8, the planar shape of the accommodation space 43 as viewed in the thickness direction Dt is a rectangle similar to the planar shape of the spacer substrate 4. The accommodation space 43 of the spacer substrate 4 is formed all over the inside of the peripheral region of the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 where the multiple substrate-side connection pads 41 are arranged.

[0065] 10, the accommodation space 43 is configured as a bottomed accommodation recess 44 recessed from the surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4 facing the electronic component 3. In this case, the rigidity of the spacer substrate 4 can be ensured compared to when the accommodation space 43 penetrates the spacer substrate 4.

[0066] The accommodating recesses 44 of the spacer substrate 4 may be formed in advance, for example, before mounting the spacer substrate 4 on the circuit board 2. Alternatively, the accommodating recesses 44 of the spacer substrate 4 may be formed by milling after mounting the spacer substrate 4 on the circuit board 2 in a manufacturing method for a card-type medium, for example. When the spacer substrate 4 is milled after being mounted, it is possible to form the accommodating recesses 44 appropriate for the shape and size of the protrusions 32 of the electronic components 3 to be mounted on the spacer substrate 4. This prevents the accommodating recesses 44 of the spacer substrate 4 from being formed unnecessarily large, and suppresses a decrease in the rigidity of the spacer substrate 4 that would otherwise be caused by the formation of the accommodating recesses 44. In addition, even in conventional methods for manufacturing card-type media, milling may be performed on the surface 2a of the circuit board 2, so the accommodating recess 44 can be formed in the spacer substrate 4 without adding any new elements to the manufacturing equipment for card-type media.

[0067] Furthermore, when the storage space 43 for the electronic component 3 is a storage recess 44 recessed from the front surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4, it is possible to prevent a recess from appearing on the rear surface 2b side of the circuit board 2 of the card-type medium due to the formation of the storage space 43 in the spacer substrate 4. This point will be explained below. For example, when the storage space 43 is formed penetrating the spacer substrate 4 as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9, a portion of the circuit board 2, which is made of a flexible substrate, may enter the storage space 43 of the spacer substrate 4, which opens toward the circuit board 2. In this case, a depression will appear on the back surface 2b of the circuit board 2 of the card-type medium. On the other hand, when the storage space 43 of the spacer substrate 4 is formed by a storage recess 44 recessed from the front surface 4a of the spacer substrate 4, the storage space 43 will not open toward the circuit board 2. This prevents a depression from appearing on the back surface 2b of the circuit board 2 of the card-type medium due to the formation of the storage space 43 in the spacer substrate 4. This makes it possible to provide a card-type medium with a better appearance design.

[0068] In the present invention, the circuit board 2 and the spacer board 4 are not limited to being joined by solder 8, but may also be joined by an anisotropic conductive bonding material 9, for example.

[0069] In the present invention, the electronic component 3 and the spacer substrate 4 are not limited to being joined by the anisotropic conductive bonding material 9, but may also be joined by, for example, solder 8 or the like.

[0070] In the present invention, if the card-type medium does not have a contactless communication function, or if the cover plate 5 is made of a material that does not interfere with electromagnetic induction in contactless communication, the card-type medium does not need to have the ferrite layer 6. In this case, the cover plate 5 can be placed directly on the surface 2a of the circuit board 2. [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 1,10 Card-type media 2 Circuit Boards 2a Surface (first side) 3. Electronic Components 4 Spacer board 5 cover plate 5a Surface (opposite side) 5b Back side (opposing surface) 7 Card substrate 31 Component side connection pad 32 Protrusion 41 Board side connection pad 43 Containment Space 44 Receiving recess 51 Insertion hole 511 First hole 512 Second hole C3 Center of Electronic Components 3 C4 Center of spacer board 4 C51 Center of insertion hole 51 Dt thickness direction G1 First Gap G2 Second gap

Claims

1. a circuit board; electronic components mounted on a first surface of the circuit board; a spacer board interposed between the circuit board and the electronic components to electrically connect the circuit board and the electronic components; and a cover plate covering the first surface of the circuit board, The cover plate is formed with insertion holes that penetrate the cover plate in a thickness direction and into which the electronic components mounted on the circuit board and the spacer substrate are inserted, A card-type medium in which, when the electronic component and the spacer substrate are inserted into the insertion hole so that the centers of the electronic component and the spacer substrate coincide with the center of the insertion hole when viewed from the thickness direction, a first gap between the spacer substrate inserted into the insertion hole and the inner surface of the insertion hole is larger than a second gap between the electronic component inserted into the insertion hole and the inner surface of the insertion hole.

2. the insertion hole is composed of a first hole portion that opens on an opposing surface of the cover plate facing the circuit board, and a second hole portion that opens on an opposite surface of the cover plate facing the opposite side to the opposing surface and is formed to be continuous with the first hole portion in the thickness direction, the spacer substrate is inserted into the first hole; The electronic component is inserted into the second hole, A card-type medium as described in claim 1, wherein, when viewed from the thickness direction, the size of the second hole portion is larger than the size of the first hole portion, and the inner surface of the second hole portion is located more inward than the inner surface of the first hole portion.

3. 3. The card-type medium according to claim 2, wherein the size of the spacer substrate as viewed in the thickness direction is larger than the size of the electronic component.

4. a component-side connection pad is provided on a surface of the electronic component facing the spacer substrate; a surface of the spacer substrate facing the electronic component side is provided with substrate-side connection pads for electrical connection to the component-side connection pads; 4. The card-type medium according to claim 2, wherein the size of the board-side connection pads is larger than the size of the component-side connection pads when viewed in the thickness direction.

5. 2. The card-type medium according to claim 1, wherein the size of the spacer substrate as viewed in the thickness direction is smaller than the size of the electronic component.

6. 4. The card-type medium according to claim 1, wherein the spacer substrate has a storage space that opens at least on a surface of the spacer substrate facing the electronic component.

7. 7. The card-type medium according to claim 6, wherein the storage space is configured as a storage recess with a bottom recessed from the surface of the spacer substrate facing the electronic component side.

8. The card-type medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cover plate is made of metal.

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