JP2001266339A - Method for manufacturing magnetic card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing magnetic cards, eliminating the defect that the number of cards multi-plane set on a sheet are lost and can not be diverted to other use when a defect is occurred in a working stage or when excess is generated since printing different in each card onto a large sheet for card base material is conventionally carried out by multi-plane setting method. SOLUTION: A print 3 in an adhered structure of a card base material 2 is narrowed down to only common matters and after a hiding layer 6 is laminated as the need arises, the card is stamped out into a portable card size. And every time when receiving an order, a print 3' which can not be diverted to other use is printed on an outer side and a surface protective layer 8 or the like are laminated to form a magnetic card.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic card capable of producing a magnetic card having at least a magnetic recording layer as a recording means quickly and efficiently each time an order is placed, in particular, by reducing waste of the card base material. And a method for producing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Usually, a banking card for depositing and saving at a bank (so-called bank card) or a credit card used for credit transactions at the time of purchasing goods is about 54 mm ×
A portable card having a size of about 86 mm (hereinafter referred to as a card size) is often used. In addition, there are a medical examination ticket, a membership card (membership card), and the like. These cards have magnetic recording layers laminated on one or both sides, or both sides, so they are called magnetic cards due to their physical functions, and their owners can be confirmed based on the information recorded on the magnetic recording layers. And so on.

FIG. 1 shows a typical appearance and structure of a credit card 1. Generally speaking, a credit card has a more complicated structure than a bank card, so a credit card will be described as an example. FIG.
As shown in the plan view of FIG.
The card base 2 has a card name (here, "AB
CD CARD "), printing of characters such as" expiration date "3,
"12345678 9012 3456" which is a unique number given every time a card is issued, "10 / '04" which is an abbreviation of an expiration date (indicating October 2004), and credit card holders The name (or contractor name) “MR. @ TARO” is an embossed character 4 formed by embossing (FIG. 1).
(B) illustrates the state of the unevenness. ), And the magnetic recording layer 5 which is usually covered with a concealing layer so that it cannot be seen from the surface. In the above description, the name of the card indicates a card type such as a card company or / and a function or a grade of the card.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of the credit card 1 shown in FIG. 1B, taken along line AA and viewed in the direction of the arrow. Are upper oversheet 2b, two core sheets 2a, and 2
a 'and a lower oversheet 2b', which is a laminate of four plastic sheets. Upper and lower core sheets 2 of the upper core sheet 2a
The print 3 is provided on the lower side of a ′. Magnetic recording layers 5a and 5b are provided above the upper oversheet 2b and below the lower oversheet 2b ', respectively.
Are embedded and laminated.

An embossed character 4 formed by embossing is provided on the entire card base 2 so as to be convex on the upper surface of the credit card 1 and concave on the lower surface. Further, on the lower side of the card base material 2, a signature column (= writable layer) 7 for the holder to sign by himself is provided. In addition to these, on the upper surface side of the card base material 2,
Processing such as providing a photograph of the face of the card holder or attaching a hologram seal to prevent forgery may be performed.

When the credit card 1 is manufactured as described above, the two core sheets 2a and 2a 'and the oversheets 2b and 2b' are used.
Are prepared in the form of a large cut size that is several times larger than the card size, for example, about 500 mm × 500 mm, or a long sheet having a width of about 500 mm or more. Of the two core sheets, the necessary items are printed on the upper surface of one sheet and the lower surface of the other sheet, where the cards are assumed to be arranged vertically and horizontally at intervals, and the oversheet is printed. 2b, core sheets 2a and 2a 'and oversheet 2b'
The sheets are integrated by heat fusion using a hot press to obtain a large, multi-layer printed card substrate having a four-layer structure. Note that, as described above, arranging and arranging so as to obtain a large number of products having the size of the final product is referred to as “multi-imposition”.

[0007] Thereafter, the large-sized card base material is punched into a card size at a predetermined position at the time of printing or the like.
The punched material is embossed or the like to obtain a credit card form. To actually use the card as a credit card, different data is recorded on the magnetic recording layer every time a credit card is issued (= encode).

In a bank card, which is another representative of the card, the magnetic recording layer is usually provided only on the upper side 5a.
It has the same configuration as that of FIG.

[0009] However, the above-described manufacturing method using multiple mounting is suitable for mass production at a high speed. However, the number of cards to be manufactured is large (for example, 10,000 or more).
However, when the number of cards to be manufactured is small (for example, 500 or less), when a defect occurs in a printing process or a hot pressing process on one large-sized card base material, the defect is reduced. Except when it is only a very small part, a loss occurs for the number of sheets that have been multi-faced. For example, 20-30 per sheet
If multiple impositions are made, the loss of about 5% of the number of cards produced, even if a defect occurs in one large sheet alone.

In addition, since processing involves loss, usually, a large number of extra large card base materials are prepared and processed in consideration of the number of losses determined by empirical rules. For example, in order to check the reproducibility of the color tone at the start of printing, the printing press is started and stopped, and the printed matter is extracted and inspected.
Although the number of occurrences is small, there may be a loss due to printing defects that occur at a certain rate. In addition, the large excess card base material that has finally become surplus can only be used for the same type of card, so the surplus is stored or discarded until the next order for the same type of card is received. If the number of sheets to be multi-faced is the same as described above, the loss of about 5% of the number of cards produced for each extra large-sized card base material.

[0011]

In the past, the reason that the loss was liable to occur was that a large-sized card base material was printed by a multi-imposition system, which differs depending on the type of card for each card company or card grade. Because it is printed on the core sheet because it has been used, when the card substrate having the four-layer laminated structure is completed, the print 3 that cannot be diverted is provided inside the bonded structure of the card substrate. . In the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to solve these points and to provide a manufacturing method in which a loss does not increase even if a defect occurs in a processing step or a surplus occurs. .

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is no need to apply a print 3 that cannot be diverted to the inside of the adhesive structure of the card base material. Instead, for example, the above-mentioned problem could be solved by printing each card base material having a card size of about 54 mm × about 86 mm.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of large-size material sheets constituting a card are subjected to common printing, irrespective of the type of the card, if necessary, and then the material sheets are overlapped and laminated. A laminating step of manufacturing a laminated sheet, and a magnetic recording layer forming step of laminating a magnetic recording layer on the material sheet before the laminating step, and / or laminating a magnetic recording layer on the large-sized laminated sheet And a punching step of punching out a large-sized laminated sheet on which the magnetic recording layer is formed to obtain a small-sized laminated sheet of a portable card size. And a step of forming a surface protective layer on the printed sheet, and a method for manufacturing a magnetic card.
According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, after the magnetic recording layer forming step is performed, a step of forming a concealing layer for concealing the magnetic recording layer is further performed before performing the punching step. And a method of manufacturing a magnetic card. According to a third invention, in the second invention, the step of performing the magnetic recording layer forming step on both the front and back surfaces of the card base material and then forming a concealing layer for concealing the magnetic recording layer on only one of the surfaces. And a method for manufacturing a magnetic card. In a fourth aspect based on any one of the first to third aspects, the magnetic recording layer forming step is performed by laminating a film having a magnetic recording layer, transferring using a magnetic transfer sheet having a magnetic recording layer, or magnetic recording. The present invention relates to a method for producing a magnetic card, which is performed by coating using a coating composition for forming a layer. The fifth invention is characterized by the first to fourth aspects.
In any one of the inventions, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic card, which comprises performing a surface finishing press step after performing the step of forming the surface protective layer.
A sixth invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to the fifth invention, further comprising a step of laminating a lubricant layer after performing the surface finishing press step.

[0014]

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a typical magnetic card 10 obtained by the above-described manufacturing method of the present invention. First, the magnetic card 10 of the present invention comprises a card base 2
However, four plastic sheets, an oversheet 2b, two core sheets 2a and 2a ', and a lower oversheet 2b', are sequentially laminated from the top.

The oversheet 2 on the upper surface side of the card base 2
a magnetic recording layer 5a is buried in the upper surface of the card substrate 2; a concealing layer 6 is laminated on the entire upper surface of the card base 2 including the magnetic recording layer 5a; A transparent surface protection layer 8 is laminated on the entire surface including the print 3 '.

The core sheet 2a 'on the lower surface side of the card base 2
Is printed on the lower surface of the oversheet 2b 'on the lower surface side, and the magnetic recording layer 5b is embedded in the lower surface of the oversheet 2b' on the lower surface side. And a transparent surface protection layer 8 is laminated under the entire surface including the print 3 '. Further, the writable layer 7 is laminated on the lowermost surface of the surface protective layer 7 at a position avoiding the magnetic recording layer 5b and the prints 3 and 3 '.

Such a magnetic card 10 is manufactured by the following magnetic card manufacturing method of the present invention. First, as shown in FIG.
Each material sheet of core sheet and over sheet,
Prepare to stack in this order from the top and stack them together. Each sheet is a large-sized sheet having a size capable of arranging a plurality of portable cards vertically and horizontally. Except for the part that is later covered with the concealing layer, each sheet is printed not with a specific print determined by the type of card (type depending on the company or card grade) but also with other types of cards. May be. Although not finally left, a register mark for punching may be printed. The common printing is, for example, printing of a “signature” or “signature field” beside a signature field provided on the lower surface (= rear surface) of the card, and “general precautions when using the card, No card can be used. "Or" This card can be used only by the person who signed it. "Or a message to the person who found it," Please contact us if you found this card. " is there.

The number of sheets to be prepared is not limited to four as in this example, but may be any number.
The effects of the present invention are maximized when the card base is a laminated type. When a magnetic recording layer is formed on both sides and the concealing layer is laminated only on the front side (= front side), if printing is performed between the lower core sheet and the oversheet, Side overseat required.
Since each sheet constituting the card base material is less likely to curl when the material and thickness are symmetrical in the vertical direction, at least the three sheets of the oversheet, the core sheet, and the oversheet are used. , A core sheet, a core sheet, and an over sheet.

Of the sheets to be prepared, a magnetic recording layer may be previously laminated on the outer surfaces of the upper and lower (= front and back) oversheets. In FIG. 3, the step of “stacking magnetic recording layers” is surrounded by a broken line, which indicates that this step may not be performed. The same applies to the broken line in FIG. It has meaning. Lamination of the magnetic recording layer on the oversheet is performed by applying or printing a composition for forming a magnetic recording layer in which a magnetic material is dispersed in a paint, laminating a magnetic film having a magnetic recording layer laminated on a film, or peeling properties. The transfer is performed by using a magnetic transfer sheet in which a magnetic recording layer and usually an adhesive layer are also laminated on the releasable surface of the sheet. The magnetic recording layer is usually laminated on both sides in the case of a credit card, and is usually laminated only on the front side (front side) in the case of a bank card. It will not be done. The lamination of the magnetic recording layers can be performed in a later step.

The prepared large-sized material sheets are stacked in a predetermined order, and if necessary, temporarily fixed by, for example, temporarily bonding four spots or the like in a spot shape, and then stacking. The lamination of each material sheet can be performed by various means.
The method using a hot press at a temperature of about 5 ° C. to 145 ° C. is preferable because the flatness of the card can be obtained. It is usual to use a heat-fusible material as each material sheet, but if an adhesive is interposed therebetween, it is not necessarily limited to a heat-fusible material.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, after lamination, a magnetic recording layer 5a or 5b is laminated as required. The method of forming the magnetic recording layer 5a or 5b is the same as that described above. In the present invention, by forming a magnetic recording layer on a sheet constituting a card base material in advance or / and forming a magnetic recording layer after lamination,
At least one magnetic recording layer is formed on the card substrate. If the main recording means of the card is other than the magnetic recording layer, for example, an optical memory or an IC chip, the magnetic recording layer may be omitted. However, even in such a case, if the magnetic recording layer is formed, the card can be used as a magnetic card, or can serve as an auxiliary function of an IC chip or an optical memory.

If necessary, a concealing layer 6 is laminated on the magnetic recording layer. The magnetic recording layer 5a on the front side (front side) often has a dark brown color derived from the magnetic material in the magnetic recording layer, so that the visual impression is dark. Therefore, by using a composition for forming a concealing layer containing a pigment having a high concealing property, by printing or applying,
At least on the magnetic recording layer, preferably on the entire surface of the card substrate including the magnetic recording layer, a coating composition containing a metal composition such as gold or silver or a highly opaque pigment such as titanium dioxide. Is preferably used to form the concealing layer. Alternatively, the concealing layer may be formed using a transfer sheet having the concealing layer as a transfer layer. The concealing layer may be formed on both sides or one side of the magnetic card 10. In particular, when the concealing layer 6 is laminated on the entire surface on the front side (front side), the appearance of the surface which is always seen can be made beautiful. Therefore, if the concealing layer is formed only on one side, the surface (front side) can be obtained. It is preferable to laminate a concealing layer on the (face) side. The concealing layer thus formed preferably has a thickness of about 3 to 5 μm, depending on the material. The formation of the concealing layer 6 is usually performed by
Often done on credit cards.

As described above, the laminated structure of the card base material 2 of the magnetic card is completed. Thereafter, the obtained large-sized card base material is subjected to a punching process to obtain a predetermined size and shape of a portable card. To obtain a card base material. The obtained card base material of the portable card size is temporarily stored unless it is immediately sent to the next step. Depending on the presence or absence of a magnetic recording layer on the front and back of the card, it is preferable to prepare a magnetic recording layer on one side and a magnetic recording layer on both sides. However, some cards do not have a magnetic recording layer, so it is better to prepare them together. In addition, since the card base material of the portable card size obtained here does not have anything different depending on the type of the card, it is equivalent to blank paper in the case of printing on paper. , Often referred to as a white card.

In the conventional manufacturing method, in the laminating process up to this point, a special item determined by the type of the card, for example, the name of the card, a mark, or a pattern for enhancing the aesthetic appearance is provided between the core sheet and the oversheet. And so on, so it could not be diverted to a different type of card. In the present invention, since the white card is not provided with a specific print determined by the type of the card, the white card is expectedly produced according to the forecast of the order, temporarily stored, and temporarily stored each time an order is received. Remove the required number of stored white cards,
As described below, a card according to the order can be manufactured by printing a specific item determined by the type of the ordered card.

When a production instruction is given, as shown in FIG.
The temporarily stored white cards are removed from the temporary storage location by the number of orders and the number of sheets in anticipation of the loss in each process, sent to a printing machine, and subjected to printing. As the printing press, it is preferable to use a printing press that prints using cut sheets cut one by one, a so-called sheet-fed printing press. In the case of sheet-fed printing,
Another advantage is that the registration accuracy of each color is good. However, two or more white cards can be printed at a time as long as white cards can be used and the disadvantages of multi-faced printing do not increase and the economic efficiency is reduced. As a printing method, among known printing methods, planographic offset printing or silk screen printing is suitable, but other printing methods may be used. Furthermore, when an ink jet system or an electrophotographic system is used, characters or designs to be printed are changed instantaneously only by changing input information without changing a printing plate to be assembled in a printing press (so-called "plate change"). It is preferable because it can be used. Alternatively, instead of direct printing using a printing machine or the like, indirect printing using a transfer sheet may be used.

In this printing, for example, a card name, a mark, a design for enhancing the aesthetic appearance, or a display such as a special note or grade depending on the type of the card are given. These are unique items determined by the type of card. Of course, at the time of this printing, it is also possible to simultaneously print items that do not depend on the type of card, that is, common items. In the manufacturing method of the present invention, since the printing is performed not on the inside of the card base material but on the outside,
It is preferable to perform sufficient curing such as printing with an ultraviolet curable ink or heat drying.

At the time of printing on a white card,
Except for embossing and encoding, the card is completed for the time being. However, if the solidified ink is exposed to the outside, the physical and chemical properties are insufficient, so the printed surface is further provided with a surface protective layer 8. Are preferably laminated. The lamination of the surface protective layer 8 is performed by printing or applying a composition containing a transparent resin by a known printing method or coating method, or by previously applying such a composition to a releasable temporary base material. The transfer is performed by using a transfer sheet laminated thereon. The surface protective layer 8 is preferably formed of a blend resin of a vinyl chloride / vinyl acetate copolymer and an acrylic resin such as methyl methacrylate, etc., from the viewpoint of adhesiveness to the card base and heat resistance. An appropriate thickness of the surface protective layer 8 is, for example, 4 to 5 μm.

The surface protective layer 8 is laminated on the outer side of the print 3 ′ provided on the outer surface of the oversheet. In addition, when the concealing layer 6 is provided, the concealing layer 6 is provided.
When the print 3 'is provided on the upper side, at least the print 3' is laminated. The surface protective layer 8 may be laminated on the entire surface, but is preferably laminated except on the magnetic recording layer 5. Generally speaking, in the case of a credit card, the magnetic recording layer 5b on the back surface uses a material having a small coercive force, so that the gap at the time of writing / reading is reduced.
The place where the surface protective layer 8 is provided includes the magnetic recording layer 5b.
The lower surface (usually formed in a stripe shape) is preferably avoided.

The steps after laminating the surface protective layer 8 are slightly different depending on whether or not post-processing is performed. (1) When performing post-processing, each step of finishing press → surface treatment → post-processing If the process is performed or (2) post-processing is not performed, only the surface treatment process is performed.
In any of these cases (1) and (2), after completion, inspection → emboss encoding is performed.
The magnetic card can be used.

The post-processing referred to here refers to the lamination of the hologram seal and the writable layer 7, and the post-processing requires a high degree of flatness as the surface to be laminated. Therefore, usually, the exposed surface of the surface protection layer 8 is subjected to finish press to prepare the surface. The pressing is preferably performed using a hot press at 110 ° C. to 120 ° C., and by pressing a hot platen or another smooth plate against the exposed surface of the surface protection phase 8,
Prepare the surface. However, although the flatness is sufficient, it is only necessary that the entire surface be smooth. Therefore, it is not always necessary to form a mirror surface, and a rough surface having minute unevenness may be used.

The surface treatment is performed for the purpose of enabling the magnetic card to run smoothly in the writer / reader. Specifically, a film having good lubricity may be formed using a coating composition containing a lubricant such as wax or silicone.

The post-processing includes a hologram seal and a writable layer 7.
The former is, for example, a hologram layer on the lower surface of the transparent plastic film, a transparent reflective layer, and a hologram seal in which a transparent adhesive layer is sequentially laminated on an appropriate portion, the latter is calcium carbonate, silica The coating is carried out by printing or applying a coating composition containing an ink-receptive extender such as The former hologram seal has a high anti-counterfeiting effect because it is difficult to manufacture, and in addition to simply pasting on a magnetic card, pasting a face photograph on a card base and pasting it prevents unauthorized replacement of past photographs. The latter is to prevent unauthorized use by a third party by signing the card holder itself.

After various processes are performed on the white card as described above, the appearance, the performance of the magnetic recording layer, and the like are inspected, and then embossing and encoding are performed to obtain a usable magnetic card. .

[0034]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing to be interposed inside the card base material is limited to the common items irrespective of the type of the card, and the card base is punched in advance to have a portable card size. Since the magnetic card is made by printing on the card base material and forming the surface protective layer, even if there is a defect in the processing process, and even if there is excess, the number of cards that will be lost is minimized. And a method of manufacturing a magnetic card that can perform the method. In fact,
According to the present invention, since the card base material itself is completed, it is possible to provide a manufacturing method capable of shortening the time required from receiving an order to producing a product. According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, since the concealing layer is laminated on the magnetic recording layer, the presence of the magnetic recording layer is concealed by the concealing layer, and the appearance is excellent. In addition, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic card without any restrictions on the design of the magnetic card. According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 2, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic card having a structure in which only the normal viewing side is concealed, and on the other hand, writing / reading of the magnetic recording layer is not hindered. . According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of any one of the first to third aspects, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic card capable of forming a magnetic recording layer using an established method. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a magnetic card which can be easily subjected to post-processing can be provided because a surface finishing press step is involved. According to the invention of claim 6,
In addition to the effect of the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the step of laminating the lubricant layer after the surface finishing is performed, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic card having excellent running properties in a writing / reading machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional card.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of a card obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing partial steps in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing partial steps in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view showing partial steps in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing partial steps in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 10 Magnetic card 2 Card base material 3 Printing 4 Embossed character 5 Magnetic recording layer 6 Concealment layer 7 Writable layer 8 Surface protective layer

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Kajiwara 1-1-1 Ichigaya-Kaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo F-term in Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (reference) 2C005 HA17 HB09 JA02 JA08 JA10 JB02 JB08 KA02 KA06 KA08 KA15 KA16 KA42 KA51 LA02 LA03 LA04 LA05 LA09 LA11 LA12 LA14 LA18 LA20 LA24 LA27 LA28 LB04 LB18 5D112 AA28

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of large-size material sheets constituting a card are subjected to common printing, irrespective of the type of card, as required, and then the material sheets are overlaid and laminated to form a large-size laminated sheet. A laminating step of manufacturing; a magnetic recording layer forming step of laminating a magnetic recording layer on the material sheet before the laminating step; and / or laminating a magnetic recording layer on the large-sized laminated sheet; After performing a punching step of punching out a large-sized laminated sheet having a recording layer formed thereon to obtain a small-sized laminated sheet of a portable card size,
A method for manufacturing a magnetic card, comprising: performing a printing step of performing a specific printing different depending on the type of a card on the oval laminated sheet; and forming a surface protective layer on the printed printing. 2. After performing the magnetic recording layer forming step,
2. The method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to claim 1, further comprising a step of forming a concealing layer for concealing the magnetic recording layer before performing the punching step. 3. The method according to claim 3, wherein the step of forming the magnetic recording layer is performed on both the front and back surfaces of the card base material, and then the step of forming a concealing layer concealing the magnetic recording layer on only one of the surfaces is performed. A method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to claim 2. 4. The step of forming a magnetic recording layer is performed by laminating a film having a magnetic recording layer, transferring using a magnetic transfer sheet having a magnetic recording layer, or coating using a coating composition for forming a magnetic recording layer. The method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to claim 1, wherein after performing the step of forming the surface protective layer, a surface finishing press step is performed. 6. The method for manufacturing a magnetic card according to claim 5, further comprising a step of laminating a lubricant layer after performing the surface finishing pressing step.