JP2003271911A - Ic card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card having a flexible display means to display information in the IC card as necessary. <P>SOLUTION: A CPU, a memory and a driver are disposed inside the IC card 1 collectively as an IC module 9, and a display 6 is disposed to the right thereof. A magnetic stripe 10a and an embossed letter area 10b are provided as necessary. A user's name, a card number or the like is embossed on the embossed letter area 10b. The display 6 is flexible, and durable without any problem even when the card is bent. In addition, if an electrophoretic image display is employed, the image can be continuously displayed on the display even when no power is supplied because of the image memory effect. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an IC card,
In particular, the present invention relates to an IC card having display means for displaying data held in the IC card or data input from outside the IC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an IC card has a memory capable of storing a large amount of data as compared with a magnetic card or the like, a single card can store a large amount of information. Also,
Since the data is managed by the microcomputer, it has a feature of high security. For this reason, it has come to be used in various fields such as employee ID cards, commuter passes, cash cards, and credit cards. However, since the data in the memory is electronic information, to know the contents of the IC card once It is necessary to read the content from a reading device such as a reader / writer and display it on a display or output it on paper.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, an IC card as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-68978 has been proposed. This is a device in which an image rewritable rewrite layer is provided on the surface of an IC card. On this rewrite layer, desired data can be displayed as visible information on the card surface, and the display data can be rewritten as many times as necessary. With such an IC card, necessary data in the IC card such as the expiration date and the display of the available balance can be displayed as visible information, which is extremely convenient.

[0004]

However, in the above invention, a dedicated external writing device is required to form display data using the rewrite layer. In particular, since the rewrite layer of the above invention uses a heat-sensitive recording layer, it is necessary to provide a heat insulating layer or the like in order to prevent adverse effects of heat on ICs and wirings mounted in the card at a high density.

On the other hand, although an idea of providing a liquid crystal display device which is a variable display medium on the surface of an IC card has been proposed, the liquid crystal display device has a polarizing plate and a protective layer in addition to a display medium in which a liquid crystal material is enclosed. Since it is necessary to provide a glass plate, etc., it is difficult to make the entire display device thin enough to be mounted on an IC card. The physical size of the IC card is determined by the ISO standard,
According to "ISO7816-1", the external dimension is 85.
47 to 85.72 mm, width 53.92 to 54.03 m
m, and the thickness is 0.68 to 0.84 mm.

Further, since the liquid crystal display device generally uses a glass material for the protective layer as described above, it is weak in bending and is not suitable for use in an IC card from that point as well. The IC chip etc. to be mounted on the IC card are also weak against bending, but by mounting the IC chip at a position off the center line of two perpendicularly intersecting surfaces, even if the card is bent, it is difficult to apply force to the IC chip. It is devised. In this way, the components to be mounted on the card are required to be devised so that durability and force are not applied, but since there are contact terminals, characters by embossing, etc. on the surface of the card, it is not always possible to bend the parts. It is not possible to mount a liquid crystal display device on.

Further, in the liquid crystal display device, since continuous power supply and image signal supply are required for image display, information cannot be displayed if it is separated from the reader / writer or the like that supplies these. If an image is displayed by the card alone, a power source (battery) must be provided inside the card. Therefore, the present invention is to provide an IC card which is provided with a thin and durable display means and can display the information in the IC card as needed.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an IC card having an IC chip in the card, wherein display means having flexibility is provided on at least a part of the card surface, and the display is provided. The IC card is characterized in that the means is provided with a driver for displaying an image.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the display means displays an image by applying an electric drive signal to a capsule in which charged particles of a predetermined color are enclosed. The IC card described in 1.

An invention according to claim 3 is the IC card according to claim 2, characterized in that the display means has a non-volatile property to maintain a display state even after the supply of the electric drive signal is cut off.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an identification code display of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. (1) Basic Configuration of Card FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the IC card of this embodiment. The IC card according to the present embodiment is an IC card including at least a microcomputer and a memory, and a CPU having a ROM 2 and a RAM 3 built in the card body 1.
4 (microcomputer), a memory 5 for storing information, a display 6 for displaying the contents of the CPU 4 or the memory 5, a driver 7 for driving the display, and a connection terminal 8 for external connection.

For the IC card, the power supply voltage (Vpp, Vcc) and the ground voltage (GND) are supplied to the connection terminal 8 for external connection (in the case of the non-contact type IC card, the power is supplied through an antenna as described later). And a reset signal (RST), an input signal (I / O), and a clock signal (CLK) are input and output as control signals to the CPU 4, the memory 5, the display 6, and the driver 7 as necessary. Supplied.

In addition, inside the IC card, the CPU 4 and the memory 5 are connected via a control bus.
Under the control of 4, the desired data is stored in a predetermined address of the memory 5, and the data stored in the memory 5 and the contents of the CPU 4 are displayed on the display 6 under the control of the driver 7 by the external power supply. Can be displayed.

The IC card 1 configured as described above is
For example, the CPU 4 and the memory 5 have an overview as shown in FIG.
The driver 7 is arranged as an IC module 9 in the center of the left side of the figure, and the display 6 is arranged in the right side of the figure. Magnetic stripe 10 if necessary
A and the embossed character area 10b are provided. Information specific to the owner of the IC card is stored in the magnetic stripe, and the user's name, card number, and the like are engraved on the embossed character area 10b by embossing.

The size of the IC card 1 complies with the ISO standard and can be used in the same manner as a conventional IC card. The IC card 1 is used as an auxiliary recording medium that can be inserted into and removed from various information processing devices, and as shown in FIG.
Information is input and output by a reader / writer 22 having a C card slot 21 and a computer 23 connected thereto.

The contents displayed on the display 6 tend to increase the number of IC cards possessed as the amount of information increases, so that index information representing the information contents of each IC card 1 may be displayed. Good. As a result, unlike the conventional IC card, the data content can be easily confirmed, so that it is possible to prevent a mistake such as transmitting incorrect data content to an external device.

After the image is displayed on the display 6, it is necessary to continuously supply electric power from the outside in order to continue the display. However, when an electrophoretic display as described later is adopted, the image is displayed. Since there is a memory effect of
Images can be continuously displayed on the display 6 even when the power supply is cut off.

(2) Application to contact type and non-contact type IC cards are roughly classified into a contact type and a non-contact type according to the method of reading and writing data. Here, the contact type means a method of transmitting a data signal by bringing a probe or the like into contact with an external connection terminal provided on the surface of the IC card.
On the other hand, the non-contact type refers to a method of communicating wireless signals with an antenna embedded in the IC card 1. I of the present invention
Either method can be adopted for the C card 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the case of the contact type IC card, power is supplied to the IC card 1 from an external reader / writer or the like via the connection terminal 31. On the other hand, in the case of a non-contact type IC card as shown in FIG. 5, the data is supplied from the external antenna 32 to the coil antenna 33 in the IC card 1. The data is demodulated by the RF circuit 34 and displayed on the display 6 through the driver 7 as necessary. In this way, the data in the IC card 1
It can be displayed on the display 6 without using an external device.

(3) Card manufacturing method As a non-contact type IC card manufacturing method, for example, an injection molding method using a thermoplastic resin is used to wrap the IC unit into a card shape, and an injection molding method is used. After forming the first and second resin plates that are provided with IC unit mounting points by cutting, etc., and mounting the IC units inside them, the first and second resin plates are bonded and integrated. There are ways.

In the latter method, either a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin may be used for the first and second resin plates. Examples of the thermoplastic resin include vinyl chloride resin, polystyrene resin, ABS resin (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer resin), SAN resin (acrylonitrile styrene copolymer resin), acrylic resin, polysulfone resin, polycarbonate resin, polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, Examples thereof include polyamide resin, polyacetal resin, fluororesin, polyester resin and the like.

Examples of the thermosetting resin include phenol resin, urea resin, melamine resin, polyester resin, epoxy resin, polyretane resin, xylene resin and silicol resin. A recess for mounting an IC unit (IC module) is formed on at least one of the first and second resin plates, and the IC unit is mounted in this recess. Then, the mating surfaces of the first and second resin plates are bonded and integrated to form a non-contact IC card as a product.

(4) Structure of Display Unit 1 A display unit that can maintain flexibility and has sufficient contrast without a backlight can be suitably used. This is an electroluminescent material, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), a polymer stable liquid crystal, a smectic liquid crystal, a ferroelectric liquid crystal, a display body using a microcapsule type electrophoretic method, etc. on a thin flexible substrate. It can be realized by combining them. In particular, when a display body using a microcapsule type electrophoresis system is used, it is possible to display an image close to that of conventional paper.

(5) Structure of Display Unit 2 The case where the film type microcapsule type electrophoretic display 11 is used as the display 6 will be described in detail. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the display 11.
An electrode film 11d, an image display layer 11c, an electrode film 11b, and a surface protection layer 11a for protecting the display portion are provided on a flexible base material 11e such as paper or plastic.
Are stacked. The surface protection layer 11a can be omitted.

The electrode film 11b is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PE).
The electrode is formed on a transparent plastic film having excellent dimensional stability such as N) and polyimide. The electrode film 11d is also formed by forming electrodes of the same base material, but the transparency is not always required. Any type of electrode can be selected, but when using the following microcapsule type electrophoresis system, the electrode film 11b is a common electrode to which the same potential is applied to the entire surface, and the electrode film 11d is active. An electrode such as a matrix electrode or a segment electrode can be adopted.

The structure when the image display layer 11c is used in the microcapsule type electrophoresis system will be described. An example of the microcapsule 110 is shown in FIG. The microcapsule 110 has a capsule shell 111 made of methacrylic acid resin, urea resin, gum arabic, or the like, and inside thereof, white particles 113 made of titanium oxide and black particles 114 made of carbon black have high viscosity such as silicone oil. It is dispersed and enclosed in the dispersion medium 112. The white particles, titanium oxide, are positively charged, while the black particles, carbon black, are negatively charged.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8B, when an electric field is applied to the two electrode films 11b and 11d so that the electrode film 11b becomes the negative electrode and the electrode film 11d becomes the positive electrode, it is positively charged. White particles 113 are attracted to the electrode film 11b side, and black particles 114 are drawn to the electrode film 11b.
Since it is pulled to the d side, at least the electrode film 11b is used as a transparent electrode, and when observed from above the electrode film 11b side, that portion looks white.

On the contrary, when the electrode film 11b becomes the positive electrode and the electrode film 11d becomes the negative electrode, the positively charged white particles 113 are attracted to the electrode film 11d side and the black particles 11 are formed.
Since 4 is pulled to the electrode film 11b side, when viewed from above the electrode film 11b, that portion looks black.

The image display layer 11c has a large number of such microcapsules 110, and the electrode film 11
By controlling the electric field of each address electrode of b and 11d,
As shown in FIG. 8 (a) in which the character "A" is displayed in black,
A desired character or figure can be displayed with white and black pixels. In the above example, the microcapsule is a monochrome (black and white) display containing two types of particles of black and white, but by adjusting the position of the particles in multiple steps by applying an electric potential It is also possible to display, to display in color by containing particles of different colors, or to contain two or more kinds of particles.

Further, although the above-mentioned microcapsules contain two types of particles of black and white, it is also possible to use one type of particles and color the dispersion medium black to obtain monochrome (black and white).
The display can be realized. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, titanium oxide, which is a white particle, is charged to a positive charge, and microcapsules in which the dispersion medium 115 colored in black is dispersed are used to apply an electric field to the two electrode films 11b and 11d. The electrode film 11b is the negative electrode, and the electrode film 11 is
When d becomes a positive electrode, the positively charged white particles 113 are attracted to the electrode film 11b side, and the dispersion medium 1 colored black is obtained.
Since 15 is inevitably pushed down to the electrode film side of 11d, that portion looks white when observed from above the electrode film 11b side. On the contrary, when the electrode film 11b becomes the positive electrode and the electrode film 11d becomes the negative electrode, the positively charged white particles 113 are attracted to the electrode film 11d side,
The dispersion medium 115 colored in black is inevitably the electrode film 11
Since it is pushed up to the side b, the portion looks black when observed from above on the side of the electrode film 11b.

When the microcapsules are driven by the active matrix driving method, the electrode film 11d is patterned as a pixel electrode independently for each pixel, a thin film transistor, a signal electrode, and a scanning electrode (not shown) are provided together, and the electrode film 11b is formed. The transparent common electrode is uniformly formed on the light transmissive base material. In this case, if the electrode film 11b is used as a common electrode, the same potential is obtained over the entire surface (for example, the potential is set to zero). Therefore, by controlling the electric field of each address electrode on the electrode film 11d side (giving a positive or negative potential). On the basis of the above principle, the particles in the microcapsules at the electrode positions can be moved to display a desired image.

Similarly, the electrode film 11d is used as a common electrode, and the electric field of each address electrode on the electrode film 11b side is controlled to move the particles in the microcapsules at the electrode position to display a desired image. You may In the case of time division driving, the electrode films 11b and 11
d is a linear ITO (Indium)
Tin oxide (indium tin) is formed of a transparent electrode made of a transparent conductive material such as tin, and a microcapsule is formed in a region where both electrodes intersect.

Of course, the driving method is not limited to the above-mentioned one, and an optimum one may be selected according to the application. Various diameters of microcapsules can be adopted, but sufficient resolution and responsiveness can be obtained by adopting diameters of about 40 μm to about 100 μm. The resolution of the displayed image mainly depends on the arrangement (resolution) of the electrodes in the electrode film, but if the diameter of the microcapsules is small, the moving speed of the microcapsules in the dispersion medium will be high, and as a result, the responsiveness at the time of display will be improved. Excellent (quick response)
There is an advantage.

The above example is an example of monochrome (black and white) image display, but in the case of color image display, R (red), G (green), divided into pixel units as shown in FIG. B
Transparent electrode film 11b capable of applying an electric field in pixel units to a color filter 11f having a (blue) color
It can be realized by providing on the side. That is, the observation light in the portion where the white particles are drawn to the electrode film 11b side is reflected by the white particles and passes through the color filter, so that the color of the color filter is observed.

In the example of FIG. 10, since white particles are drawn on the transparent electrode side of the electrode film 11b in the R pixel portion and the G pixel portion of the color filter, R light and G light are observed, and the B pixel of the color filter is observed. Part of the part is black film 11
Since it is drawn to the transparent electrode side of b, the observation light is absorbed and B
No light is observed. As described above, by controlling the R, G, and B lights observed on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a color image can be displayed. Although the electrode 11d is the common electrode in FIG. 10, the electrode 11b side may be the common electrode.

The paper-like electronic display is made of a flexible material, and the patterning of electrodes and the like is performed by a printing method,
It is possible to form a plastic film by a vapor deposition method. Regarding the display screen size, it is possible to create an arbitrary size according to the use and demand. In addition, since it is a display medium that is not bulky because it is manufactured using a film, it can be suitably used as the display medium of the present invention.

In the image display layer 11c, even if the positional arrangement of the microcapsules 110 varies slightly, no problem occurs in the display. Therefore, it can be bent and used, or can be attached to a curved surface for use. In this respect, for example, a liquid crystal display device (LCD) requires a glass plate, a polarizing plate, a retardation plate (film) or the like for maintaining strength in addition to the image display layer. In the case of an electronic display, only an image display layer and electrodes made of a film are required, so that a very thin and light display can be obtained.

Since each particle is dispersed in a dispersion medium having a high viscosity, the position of the particle does not change after the electric field is applied once the power is turned off. In this way, the display image does not disappear even when the power of the display is turned off. Since it has a non-volatile property (memory property), it is sufficient to apply an electric field only during initial display and rewriting. It consumes less power and can save a lot of power.

Further, in the display 11,
Even if the positional arrangement of the microcapsules 110 varies slightly, there is no problem in display. Therefore, the electrode sheet 11
By using a material that makes the entire display 11 including b and 11d thin and flexible, it is possible to provide flexibility like paper. Further, since the carbon black of the black particles 114 is the same material as the ink used for normal printing, it is possible to perform a natural display extremely similar to a printed matter on paper.

The display medium itself in the liquid crystal display device is thin, about 5 μm, whereas the electrophoretic display is currently several tens of μm (about 40 μm to 70 μm) thick. However, even a thin glass as a protective layer for protecting the display medium has a thickness of 500 or 300 μm, and since it is used as a pair, it becomes quite thick. Further, a polarizing plate and a retardation film (film) are required, but these are also 20
It has a thickness of about 0 μm to 300 μm. Further TFT
Since such electrodes are required, a considerable thickness including these layers is required in order to obtain optical characteristics in the liquid crystal display device. Therefore, it is difficult to create an IC card that meets the ISO standard.

On the other hand, in the case of the electrophoretic display, a protective layer such as glass is not necessary, and the entire film structure makes it possible to easily make the film within 1 mm, which is suitable for an IC card. Can be used for.

(6) Control of display, etc. The operation of this embodiment will be described. The power of the IC card 1 is supplied from an external IC card reader / writer, and the display 6 is displayed by the supply of this power.
The display of the display 6 is performed through the driver 7, and the data of the CPU 4 or the memory 5 is displayed on the display 6 before being transmitted to another external device such as a personal computer or an OA device.

The display 6 can be used in various ways. For example, the IC card 1 can store a large amount of data as compared with a conventional magnetic card or the like, but it is expected that the number of IC cards owned by an individual will increase with the diversification of applications. It
In that case, it is conceivable to display index information indicating the information content of the IC card and substitute it for the index. This solves the problem of changing the setting contents and confirming the setting contents by only a specific person as in the conventional case, and the user can easily confirm the contents of the IC card 1. Further, this makes it possible to prevent a mistake such as sending erroneous data to a computer or an OA device.

Since the IC card 1 of the present embodiment employs a non-volatile microcapsule type electrophoretic display as the display 6, the displayed image remains as it is even if the power supply is stopped. Therefore, even if the IC card 1 is separated from the reader / writer, the contents in the memory 5 can be visually confirmed. Moreover, since it is sufficient to supply the power only when the data on the display 6 is rewritten, the power consumption can be reduced. In addition, since it is lighter and thinner than conventional display devices, it is easy to carry, has flexibility and is durable against bending, and can be handled like an ordinary IC card. .

In addition to the internal processing, the display on the display 6 can display or rewrite an image by applying an electric field for controlling the particles in the microcapsules from the outside.

[0046]

The IC card according to claims 1 to 3 can display the data contents in the card. In addition, since the display is flexible and can be bent, it can be handled like a conventional paper IC card.

Since the IC card according to the second aspect of the present invention further employs a lightweight and thin electrophoretic display, the variable display medium can be used in the IC card whose thickness is defined by the standards such as ISO. Can be formed.

In the IC card according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the displayed image remains even after the supply of the power or the image signal is stopped, the power consumption for displaying the image is small. , The image can be displayed on the card even when the card is separated from the reader / writer.

[0049]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of an IC card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an appearance (display surface side) of an IC card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an IC card system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a contact type IC card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a non-contact type IC card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a microcapsule according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the display according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... IC card 2 ... ROM 3 ... RAM 4 ... CPU 5 ... Display 7 ... driver 8: Connection terminal 9: IC module 10a ... magnetic stripe 10b: Embossed character area 22 ... Reader / Writer 11 …… Display 11b ... Electrode film 11d ... Electrode film 110 ... Microcapsules 112 ... Dispersion medium 113: White particles 114 ...... Black particles

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tatsuo Kato             1-5-1 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Toppan stamp             Imprint Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuo Shima             1-5-1 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Toppan stamp             Imprint Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C005 MA07 QB01 QB10                 5B035 AA00 BA03 BA05 BB09 CA01                       CA06 CA27

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An IC card having an IC chip in the card, wherein display means having flexibility is provided on at least a part of the surface of the card, and a driver for displaying an image on the display means is provided. IC card. 2. The image display according to claim 1, wherein the display means displays an image by applying an electric drive signal to a capsule in which charged particles of a predetermined color are enclosed.
C card. 3. The IC card according to claim 2, wherein the display means has a non-volatile property to maintain the display state even after the supply of the electric drive signal is cut off.