Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Nonparticulate element embedded or inlaid in substrate and...
Reexamination Certificate
1997-03-12
2002-11-19
Ahmad, Nasser (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Nonparticulate element embedded or inlaid in substrate and...
C040S625000, C040S626000, C235S488000, C235S492000, C428S064100, C428S064400, C428S066500, C428S068000, C428S074000, C428S076000, C428S138000, C428S203000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06482495
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information carrier obtained by supporting on a substrate at least one fitting for, for example, storing, displaying or processing information, and a process for producing the same. In particular, it relates to a non-contact type information carrier obtained by the use of an IC chip and a coil and a process for producing the same.
Various information carriers have been proposed which are obtained by supporting on a substrate an IC chip and a part for supplying a power source and/or transmitting information signals, store information, and give information to a reader-writer or receive information therefrom. Such information carriers are used for, for example, storing personal information on deposits, insurances, commutation tickets, licences, health, identification, etc., information on product management in factories, and information on commodity management in the commodity distribution field, or the employment of the information carriers for such purposes is investigated.
FIG.
20
and
FIG. 21
are diagrams showing an example of such an information carrier which has been known:
FIG. 20
is a partially sectioned plan view of the information carrier, and
FIG. 21
a sectional view taken along the line II—II of FIG.
20
. In these drawings, the symbol
100
shows an IC chip; the symbol
101
a coil connected to the IC chip
100
; the symbol
102
a substrate supporting the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
; the symbol
103
a resin constituting the substrate
102
; the symbol
104
a reinforcer for the resin
103
; and the symbols
105
and
106
cover sheets attached to the right side and reverse side, respectively, of the substrate
102
through bonding layers
110
, respectively.
As is clear from these drawings, in this example of the information carrier, the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
are placed in a cut-out hole
104
a
made in the reinforcer
104
, and the space in the cut-out hole
104
a
is filled with the resin
103
, which is infiltrated into the reinforcer
104
, whereby the substrate
102
is formed. Since this example of the information carrier thus comprises the reinforcer
104
having the cut-out hole
104
a,
and the IC chip
100
and coil
101
placed in the cut-out hole
104
a,
a position in the substrate
102
at which the coil
101
is set can be accurately controlled by adjusting the size of the cut-out hole
104
a
to a suitable size for the coil
101
, so that the efficient receipt of electric power from an external equipment and the efficient transmission of signals from or to the external equipment are possible.
The above well-known example of the information carrier, however, involves the following problem: since the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
are placed in the cut-out hole
104
a
made in the reinforcer
104
and the resin
103
inside and outside the cut-out hole
104
a
is cured, the strength inside the cut-out hole
104
a
having no reinforcer
104
is low, so that when the information carrier receives an irregular external force such as flexure, stress is concentrated within the cut-out hole
104
a,
resulting in easy cracking of the substrate
102
.
Said information carrier also involves the following problem: after accurately setting the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
in the reinforcer
104
having the required cut-out hole
104
a,
filling of the cut-out hole
104
a
with the resin, impregnation of the reinforcer
104
with the resin, and curing of the resin have to be carried out, so that a complicated production process is required, resulting in difficult production of an inexpensive information carrier. Particularly when various information carriers are produced on the same production line, reinforcers
104
different in the size of the cut-out hole
104
a
have to be prepared depending on the sizes of the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
which are to be placed in the cut-out hole
104
a,
so that a more complicated production process is required, resulting in a high production cost of the information carriers.
In addition, in the above well-known example of the information carrier, the reinforcer
104
is made of, for example, woven fabric obtained by plain weave of glass fiber, so that when the cut-out hole
104
a
is made by cutting the reinforcer
104
, glass fibers are frayed and stuck out of the cut surface to cause the following phenomenon: as shown in
FIG. 18
, the frayed glass fibers
107
jut out inside the cut-out hole
104
a
or extend above or below the reinforcer
104
.
When the frayed glass fibers
107
thus jut out inside the cut-out hole
104
a,
the following disadvantage is brought about: as shown in
FIG. 19
, which is a sectioned plan view taken along the line III—III of
FIG. 22
, the thickness of a portion where the IC chip
100
and/or the coil
101
overlaps with the glass fibers
107
exceeds the thickness of the substrate
102
, so that the surface flatness of the substrate
102
and hence that of the cover sheets
105
and
106
are deteriorated. When the frayed glass fibers
107
extend above or below the reinforcer
104
, the thickness of such a portion is larger than that of the other portion of the substrate
102
, so that the flatness of the cover sheets
105
and
106
is deteriorated. When the flatness of the cover sheets
105
and
106
is deteriorated, the beautiful appearance and the ease of handling are deteriorated, resulting in a decreased commercial value. Furthermore, when the information carrier is such that, for example, a photograph of owner's face is printed on the surface of the cover sheet
105
or
106
after the production of the information carrier, the information carrier is disadvantageous in that the photograph of the face cannot be clearly printed.
Since the woven fabric obtained by plain weave of glass fiber is hardly compressible in the direction of the thickness, pressing of the substrate
102
cannot remove the thickness nonuniformity of the substrate
102
and moreover tends to destroy the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
. The above-mentioned disadvantage can be removed by stopping the fraying, for example, by hardening and fixing the glass fibers
107
frayed and stuck out of the cut surface with a resin before inserting the IC chip
100
and the coil
101
into the cut-out hole
104
a,
but a production process of the information carrier becomes complicated as much, resulting in an increased production cost of the information carrier. Therefore, this method is not preferable.
In addition, since the above well-known example of the information carrier has a structure in which the cover sheets
105
and
106
are attached to the right side and reverse side, respectively, of the substrate
102
through the bonding layers
110
, respectively, it is difficult to produce an information carrier with a good surface condition in high yield, so that the information carrier tends to cost a great deal. Moreover, since the bonding layer of about 0.1 mm thickness is necessary on each side, it is difficult to thin the information carrier. Depending on a material for the substrate
102
and a material for the cover sheets
105
and
106
, the following problem is also caused: no high bond strength can be attained, so that the cover sheets
105
and
106
are peeled from the substrate
102
during use or shaping of the information carrier. For example, when a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (hereinafter abbreviated as “PET”) is used as the cover sheets
105
and
106
, peeling tends to be caused between the bonding layer
110
and each of the cover sheets
105
and
106
, resulting in an insufficient utility of the information carrier.
Moreover, in the above well-known example of the information carrier, polyvinyl chloride, which is good in printing property and adhesion property, is typically used as the cover sheets
105
and
106
. When polyvinyl chloride is burnt, chlorine gas is generated. Thus, the information carrier using polyvinyl chloride may deteriorate earth environment. Therefore, it is intensively desi
Daido Kazuhiko
Fukao Ryuzo
Kohama Kyouichi
Sueyoshi Toshinobu
Takasugi Wasao
Ahmad Nasser
Hitachi Maxwell Ltd.
LandOfFree
Information carrier and process for production thereof does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Information carrier and process for production thereof, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Information carrier and process for production thereof will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2990358