Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-24
2002-07-02
Frech, Karl D. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S380000, C235S488000, C235S487000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06412702
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a non-contact IC (integrated circuit) card and, more particularly, to a non-contact IC card comprising a flexible board on which an electronic circuit part including an IC chip and an antenna coil connected to the electronic circuit part are mounted.
Attention is directed to, as an IC card on which an IC chip is mounted, a non-contact IC card which carries out transmission/reception of information between a terminal equipment and the con-contact IC card with non-contact. Inasmuch as the non-contact IC card transmits/receives information to/from the terminal equipment with a non-contact fashion, it is possible to avoid disadvantages such as contamination and damage in terminal portions of the IC chip or the like. Accordingly, there is a great demand for non-contact IC cards.
More specifically, in the non-contact IC card, transmission/reception of information to/from the terminal equipment is carried out using an electromagnetic wave as a medium. That is, the non-contact IC card carries out transmission/reception of information to/from the terminal equipment by superimposing the information on the electromagnetic wave. For this purpose, the non-contact IC card comprises not only the IC chip but also an antenna coil for transmitting and receiving the electromagnetic wave.
In the above-mentioned non-contact IC card, the antenna coil is generally formed on a flexible resinous board by etching. More specifically, a method of forming the antenna coil comprises the steps of preparing the flexible resinous board such as a polyimide film or the like, the flexible resinous board having a principal surface, of forming a copper-clad laminate including copper foil on the principal surface of the flexible resinous board, and of etching the copper foil of the copper-clad laminate into a desired configuration to form the antenna coil.
On forming the antenna coil using the copper-clad laminate, a resist having the desired configuration is formed on the copper foil, the copper foil is etched into the desired configuration by using the resist as a mask, and thereafter the resist is torn from the copper foil using organic solvent or the like. In this event, inasmuch as the resist is torn using the organic solvent, waste liquid of the organic solvent contains copper and circumstances are contaminated. In addition, in this case, inasmuch as the copper-clad laminate is etched, it is disadvantageous in that almost all the copper foil is wasted and a cost of production is increased.
In the above-mentioned non-contact IC card, the antenna coil has an inductance which is determined by a coil configuration and a conductor resistance. In the above-mentioned non-contact IC card, inasmuch as the antenna coil is formed by etching the copper foil in the manner which is described above, the conventional non-contact IC card is disadvantageous in that it is impossible to adjust the inductance of the antenna coil once the antenna coil is formed.
In addition, a conventional non-contact IC card, an insulating layer is formed on the principal surface of the flexible resinous board so as to cover the antenna coil in order to prevent the antenna coil from corroding. Subsequently, through-holes are formed in the insulating layer in order to achieve electrical continuity of end portions of the antenna coils. Thereafter, an electronic circuit part is mounted on the insulating layer so as to electrically connect to the antenna coil. Finally, a decorative laminated tape is laminated to the non-contact IC card so as to cover the insulating layer and the electronic circuit part.
Inasmuch as the electronic circuit part is disposed on the insulating layer in the above-mentioned conventional non-contact IC card, the decorative laminated tape has an uneven principal surface. Accordingly, the conventional non-contact IC card is disadvantageous in that the appearance of the non-contact IC card is ugly, it is difficult to perform print on the uneven principal surface of the decorative laminated tape, and the non-contact IC card is mechanically weak because of occurrence of catching at difference in level or the like.
Inasmuch as terminals of the electronic circuit part are in contact with a metallic plate film in a case of forming the antenna coil by a plating method, a resistance of contact extremely increases in a case where an oxide film is formed on the metallic plate film. Accordingly, the conventional non-contact IC card is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to certainly realize a stable operation.
Furthermore, the terminals of the electronic circuit part are electrically connected to the end portions of the antenna coil using a conductive adhesive, a solder, an anisotropic conductive film, or the like in the conventional non-contact IC card, productivity of the conventional non-contact IC card has poor. In addition, the conventional non-contact IC card is also disadvantageous in that the fabricating cost of the non-contact IC card increases because of use of the conductive adhesive, the solder, the anisotropic conductive film, or the like.
It is desired in the non-contact IC card to improve sensitivity for the electromagnetic wave on which the information is superimposed. However, it is not preferable that the electronic circuit part is improved to increase the sensitivity for the electromagnetic wave because of increase of the cost. In addition, it is difficult to sufficiently increase the sensitivity for the electromagnetic wave although a resistance value of the antenna coil is decreased or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, wherein circumstances are not contaminated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, which have superior productivity.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and an inductance adjustment method which are capable of adjusting an inductance of an antenna coil after the antenna coil is formed.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card which has a flat principal surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card of the type described, which is capable of easily printing.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card of the type described, which is mechanically strong.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, which is capable of easily fabricating the non-contact IC card.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, which has a superior productivity.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, wherein an electronic circuit part is certainly connected to an antenna coil without mounting the electronic circuit part on a metallic plate film.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof, which are capable of fabricating the non-contact IC card without using a conductive adhesive, a solder, an anisotropic conductive film, or the like.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof of the type described, which have a superior productivity.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card and a method of fabricating thereof of the type described, which is capable of achieve cost reduction.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide a non-contact IC card which has a superior sensitivity for an electromagnetic wave on which information is superimposed.
Other objects of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to a first aspect of this invention, a
Ishikawa Yoshihiro
Kanesawa Hironobu
Frech Karl D.
Frishauf Holtz Goodman & Chick P.C.
Mitsumi Electric Co. Ltd.
Sanders Allyson
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