Method for manufacturing card product

• US 6,090,323 A
• Filed: 02/06/1998
• Issued: 07/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Navitas Limited
• Original Assignee: Navitas Limited
• Inventors: Tukahara, Daigo, Izuhara, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): ORTIZ, ANGELA Y
• Application Number:
  US09/019,742
• Time in Patent Office: 893 Days
• Field of Search: 264/250, 264/255, 264/271.1, 264/272.11, 264/272.15, 264/272.17, 264/263, 264/267, 264/273, 425/112, 425/116, 425/544
• US Class Current: 264/255
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14532 injecting between two sheets
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2045/14967 Injecting through an opening of the insert
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/14467 Joining articles or parts of a single article B29C45/14377, B29C45/14385, B29C45/14581, B29C45/14614 and B29C45/006 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/14647 Making flat card-like articles with an incorporated IC or chip module, e.g. IC or chip cards
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/561 Injection-compression moulding
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/077 Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07724 the record carrier being at least partially made by a molding process molding in general B29C45/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card

Abstract

A manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for a card product such as a non-contact IC card product in which a circuit sheet is coated with a synthetic resin layer, in good efficiency and with a possibility to reduce the manufacturing cost of the product. The manufacturing apparatus has fixed molds 20 and a movable mold 30 which can freely approach or alienate from the other. The movable mold 30 has a piston 33 for reciprocal sliding movement in the movable mold 30 in the direction of approach and alienation. The fixed mold 20 has an injection port 22 for injecting the molten resin, and a concave part 23 is formed on the outer peripheral part surrounding the fixed mold end part opposite to the piston 33. To this concave part 23 there can be fitted a spacer 24 having the same face as the fixed type end face 20a or a spacer for replacement 242 which is replaceable with the spacer 24, and has a projected end face 242a of a certain height from the fixed mold end face 20.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a card product in which a circuit carrying surface of a circuit sheet made by carrying an electric circuit on a base film is coated with a synthetic resin layer in a molding device including a fixed mold having an injection hole for injecting a molten resin and a movable mold having a concave part of a predetermined depth, said concave part being defined in an end face of a piston disposed opposite to the fixed mold and operative for reciprocating sliding motion with respect to the movable mold in the direction of an end face of the fixed mold, the movable mold being operative to freely extend toward and away from the fixed mold, comprising the steps of:

retracting the end face of the piston by a predetermined amount from the end face of the movable mold and supplying the circuit sheet in a manner that the base film thereof comes into tight contact with the end face of the fixed mold which is opposite to the concave part at the end face of the piston;

moving the movable mold with respect to the fixed mold for clamping the fixed mold and the movable mold with said base film and circuit sheet in place;

injecting into a space between the circuit sheet brought into direct contact with the end face of the fixed mold and the concave part in the movable piston end face, the molten resin of an amount corresponding to the volume of the space;

sliding the piston towards the fixed mold so that the end face of the piston comes into direct contact with the end face of the fixed mold to form a cavity while compressing the molten resin injected into the space between the circuit sheet and the concave part in the piston to spread the molten resin over the cavity constituted by the concave part of the piston end face and end face of the fixed mold;

curing the molten resin to form a molding product; and

opening the molds.

2. A method for manufacturing a card product according to claim 1, wherein, prior to the clamping, a cover sheet is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the piston end face.

3. A method for manufacturing a card product according to claim 1, wherein, prior to the clamping, a transfer film is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the piston end face.

4. A method for manufacturing a card product in which a circuit carrying surface of a circuit sheet made by carrying an electric circuit on a base film is coated with a synthetic resin layer in a molding device including a fixed mold having an injection hole for injecting a molten resin and a movable mold having a concave part of a predetermined depth, said concave part being defined in an end face of a piston disposed opposite to the fixed mold and operative for reciprocating sliding motion with respect to the movable mold in the direction of an end face of the fixed mold, and the movable mold being operative to freely extend toward and away from the fixed mold, comprising the steps of:

retracting the end face of the piston by a predetermined amount from the end face of the movable mold and supplying the circuit sheet in a manner that the base film thereof comes into tight contact with the end face of the fixed mold which is opposite to the concave part at the end face of the piston;

moving the movable mold with respect to the fixed mold for clamping the fixed mold and the movable mold with the base film and circuit sheet in place;

injecting into a space between the circuit sheet brought into direct contact with the end face of the fixed mold and the concave part in the movable piston end face, the molten resin of an amount corresponding to the volume of the space;

sliding the piston towards the fixed mold so that the end face of the piston comes into direct contact with the end face of the fixed mold to form a cavity while compressing the molten resin injected into the space between the circuit sheet and the concave part in the piston to spread the molten resin over the cavity constituted by the concave part of the piston end face and end face of the fixed mold;

curing the molten resin to form an intermediate molded product in which one side surface of the circuit sheet is coated with a synthetic resin layer;

opening the molds;

retracting the end face of the piston by a predetermined amount from the end face of the movable mold while holding the intermediate molded product in the concave part defined in the movable mold piston;

providing the end face of the fixed mold with a projecting surface defining a concave part thereon opposite the concave part of the movable mold;

clamping the fixed mold and the movable mold so as to bring the end face of the movable mold into direct contact with the end face of the fixed mold so that the fixed mold concave part and the intermediate product in the movable mold concave part cooperate to form a cavity;

injecting the cavity formed by the cooperation of the fixed mold concave part and the intermediate molded product a molten resin of an amount corresponding to the volume of the cavity;

sliding the piston toward the fixed mold so that the end face of the piston comes into direct contact with the projecting surface of the fixed mold while compressing to molten resin again to spread the molten resin over the cavity constituted by the concave part formed on the end face of the fixed mold and the intermediate molded product;

curing the molten resin to form a final molding product; and

opening the molds.

5. A method for manufacturing a card product according to claim 4, wherein prior to the first clamping, a cover sheet is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the piston end face, and prior to the second clamping, a cover sheet is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the fixed mold.

6. A method for manufacturing a card product according to claim 4, wherein, prior to the first clamping, a transfer film is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the piston end face, and prior to the second clamping, a transfer film is supplied to a bottom face of the concave part of the fixed mold.