JP7611567B2 - Electronic components and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to electronic components and methods for manufacturing the same.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a heater unit (an example of an electronic component) that includes a linear heater element (an example of a conductor) and a substrate on which the heater element is provided. In this heater unit, the portion of the substrate on which the heater element is provided is provided with a perforated portion so that the substrate and the heater element are not integrated. This structure relieves the stress on the heater element and prevents the heater element from breaking if a tensile force or bending force is generated in the substrate when the heater unit is installed in a vehicle seat.

JP 2018-73764 A

However, for some electronic components, drilling holes in the base material is not desirable due to its structure. Therefore, the structure of Patent Document 1 has a limited range of application and lacks versatility.

The objective of one aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic component and a manufacturing method thereof that prevents conductor breakage and is highly versatile.

An electronic component according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an electronic component having a linear conductor and a first member on which the conductor is provided, wherein a thick line portion that is thicker than other portions is provided in a portion of the conductor that is subjected to press processing, and further having a second member that is laminated on the first member, wherein the electronic component is a laminate in which a three-dimensional pattern is formed by press processing that is performed while the first member and the second member are stacked .

A method for manufacturing an electronic component according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for manufacturing an electronic component having a linear conductor and a first member on which the conductor is provided, comprising the steps of forming a thick line portion thicker than other portions in a portion of the conductor that is to be subjected to press processing, stacking a second member on the first member on which the conductor is provided, and performing press processing on the first member on which the second member is stacked so as to form a three-dimensional pattern .

This disclosure makes it possible to prevent conductor breakage and achieve high versatility.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a configuration of an electronic component according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a three-dimensional pattern according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 13 is a front view showing an example of a positional relationship between a three-dimensional pattern and a thick line portion according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a configuration of an electronic component according to a third modification of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components common to each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted as appropriate.

First, the configuration of the electronic component 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the electronic component 10 of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic component 10 has a surface layer 1, a first adhesive member 2, an insulating sheet 3, a heating wire 4, and a second adhesive member 5.

The surface layer member 1 corresponds to an example of the second member. The insulating sheet 3 corresponds to an example of the first member. The heating wire 4 corresponds to an example of a linear conductor (also called an electrical conductor).

The surface member 1 is joined to the insulating sheet 3 via the first adhesive member 2. A heating wire 4 is provided on one surface of the insulating sheet 3 (the surface opposite to the surface joined to the first adhesive member 2). Note that in FIG. 1, the insulating sheet 3 and the heating wire 4 are shown separately to make it easier to understand the shape of the heating wire 4, but in reality, the heating wire 4 is formed on the insulating sheet 3. A second adhesive member 5 is joined to one surface of the insulating sheet 3 (the surface on which the heating wire 4 is formed).

The surface layer member 1 is, for example, a member made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

The first adhesive member 2 is a member in which an acrylic adhesive is applied to both sides of a base material made of, for example, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), or nonwoven fabric. In other words, the first adhesive member 2 functions as a double-sided tape.

The insulating sheet 3 is a member made of, for example, polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), or polycarbonate (PC).

A metal layer (not shown) made of, for example, copper, stainless steel (SUS), or aluminum is provided on one side of the insulating sheet 3 (the side opposite to the surface to be bonded to the first adhesive member 2). This metal layer is etched to form the heating wire 4 in a predetermined pattern. The heating wire 4 generates heat when electricity is passed through it, and functions as a heater.

The heating wire 4 also has a plurality of thick wire sections 6 that are formed partially thicker. In this embodiment, as an example, the shape of the thick wire sections 6 is an almond shape (approximately elliptical). The thick wire sections 6 are formed in the parts of the heating wire 4 that are to be press-processed (e.g., embossed) to form a three-dimensional pattern (described in detail below) on the electronic component 10. In other words, the thick wire sections 6 are formed to correspond to the positions of the three-dimensional pattern to be formed on the electronic component 10 (described in detail below).

In the present embodiment, the case where the heating wire 4 is used has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a PTC (positive temperature coefficient heater) heater may be used instead of the heating wire 4.

The second adhesive member 5 is a member in which an acrylic adhesive is applied to one surface (the surface to be joined with the insulating sheet 3) of a base material made of, for example, polyethylene (PE) or nonwoven fabric, and a PET sheet is provided on the other surface (the surface behind the surface to be joined with the insulating sheet 3) of the base material. In other words, the second adhesive member 5 functions as a single-sided tape.

In the present embodiment, the shape of each member constituting the electronic component 10 is circular, but this is not limited to the above example. Furthermore, the material of each member constituting the electronic component 10 is not limited to the above example.

The electronic component 10 is formed as a laminate by stacking the surface layer member 1, the first adhesive member 2, the insulating sheet 3, the heating wire 4, and the second adhesive member 5 described above. Then, by embossing the electronic component 10 (also called embossing or convex processing), the three-dimensional pattern 7 shown in FIG. 2, for example, is formed on the electronic component 10.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a three-dimensional pattern 7 formed on an electronic component 10. Note that in Figure 2, illustrations of components of the electronic component 10 other than the surface layer member 1 are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, a three-dimensional pattern 7 representing the letter "C" is formed on the surface of the surface layer member 1 by embossing. Note that the three-dimensional pattern 7 shown in FIG. 2 is an example and is not limiting.

In this embodiment, embossing has been described as an example of press processing for forming the three-dimensional pattern 7, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the three-dimensional pattern 7 may be formed by debossing (recess processing).

The above-mentioned three-dimensional pattern 7 is formed in correspondence with the position of the thick line portion 6 included in the heating wire 4. In other words, each thick line portion 6 is formed in correspondence with the position of the three-dimensional pattern 7.

Figure 3 is a front view showing a schematic example of the positional relationship between the three-dimensional pattern 7 and the thick line portion 6. As shown in Figure 3, the three-dimensional pattern 7 is formed so as to overlap the thick line portion 6. In other words, the portion of the heating wire 4 that overlaps with the outer edge of the three-dimensional pattern 7 is formed to be thicker than the other portions (almond-shaped in the example of Figure 3). Note that, as shown in Figure 3, it is preferable that the thick line portion 6 is formed so that the outer edge of the three-dimensional pattern 7 overlaps its center portion.

The electronic component 10 on which the three-dimensional pattern 7 is formed is used, for example, as an emblem (also called an ornament) to be mounted on a vehicle. In this case, the electronic component 10 is placed, for example, in front of a detection device 20 mounted on the vehicle (see FIG. 1). At this time, the electronic component 10 is placed so that the three-dimensional pattern 7 faces in the forward direction of the vehicle (so that the surface member 1 is positioned at the forefront).

The detection device 20 shown in FIG. 1 is a device that detects the situation around the vehicle. The detection device 20 may be, for example, a millimeter wave radar or a laser radar, but is not limited to these.

As described above, when the electronic component 10 is disposed in front of the detection device 20, each member constituting the electronic component 10 may be made of a material that transmits light or electromagnetic waves, etc., emitted from the detection device 20.

In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the first adhesive member 2 is used to join the surface layer member 1 and the insulating sheet 3 has been described as an example, but this is not limited thereto. For example, a fastener (e.g., a screw, a bolt, a nut, etc.) may be used instead of the first adhesive member 2. Or, for example, the surface layer member 1 may have a structure into which the insulating sheet 3 is fitted. Similarly, a PET sheet may be joined to the insulating sheet 3 using the above fastener instead of the second adhesive member 5. Or, for example, the insulating sheet 3 may have a structure into which the PET sheet is fitted.

The above describes the configuration of the electronic component 10 of this embodiment.

Next, the manufacturing method of the electronic component 10 will be described below.

First, the metal layer of the insulating sheet 3 is etched to form the heating wire 4. At this time, the portion of the heating wire 4 that is to be pressed (e.g., embossed) is made thicker than the other portions. This forms the multiple thick wire portions 6 shown in Figures 1 and 3 in the heating wire 4.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the surface layer 1, the first adhesive member 2, the insulating sheet 3, and the second adhesive member 5 are arranged and laminated.

Next, the formed laminate (electronic component 10) is pressed to form a three-dimensional pattern 7. As a result, the three-dimensional pattern 7 shown in FIG. 2 is formed on the electronic component 10.

The manufacturing method for electronic component 10 has been described above.

As described above, in the electronic component 10 of this embodiment, the portion of the heating wire 4 that is subjected to press processing is formed with a thick wire portion 6 that is thicker than the other portions. This reduces the stress on the heating wire 4 during press processing, and prevents breakage of the heating wire 4. In addition, since there is no need to drill holes in the insulating sheet 3, this embodiment can be applied to a wide variety of electronic components. Therefore, this embodiment can prevent breakage of the conductor and achieve high versatility.

In addition, the electronic component 10 of this embodiment can be heated by the heat generated by the heating wire 4. This makes it possible to remove moisture adhering to the electronic component 10 and prevent moisture from adhering to the electronic component 10. This makes it possible to further improve the transparency of the light or electromagnetic waves, etc., sent from the detection device 20.

Note that this disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Modifications are described below.

[Modification 1]
The pattern of the heating wire 4 is not limited to the embodiment shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the position, number, thickness (size), and shape of the thick line portion 6 are not limited to the embodiment shown in Fig. 3. For example, the shape of the thick line portion 6 may be an ellipse, a circle, a rectangle, a square, or the like.

[Modification 2]
In the embodiment, the electronic component 10 is used as an emblem for a vehicle. However, the electronic component 10 is not limited to this.

For example, the electronic component 10 may be attached to a vehicle window glass and used as a sticker-type planar heating element that heats the window glass. This makes it possible to defrost or defog the window glass.

[Modification 3]
In the embodiment, the electronic component 10 is a laminate, but is not limited to this. Also, in the embodiment, the electronic component 10 is a pressed electronic component, but is not limited to this.

The electronic component 30 of this modified example will be described below with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the electronic component 30 of this modified example.

As shown in FIG. 4, the electronic component 30 has a flexible substrate 8 (corresponding to an example of a first member), an IC chip 9, and a copper foil wire 11 (corresponding to an example of a conductor). The IC chip 9 and the copper foil wire 11 are provided on the flexible substrate 8. The copper foil wire 11 is electrically connected to the IC chip 9.

The copper foil wire 11 has a thick line portion 13 that is partially formed thicker. The thick line portion 13 is provided at the position of the bent portion 12 of the flexible substrate 8. The bent portion 12 is the portion where the flexible substrate 8 on which the copper foil wire 11 is provided is bent.

In this way, by forming the copper foil wire 11 located at the bent portion 12 thicker than other portions before bending, the stress on the copper foil wire 11 during bending can be alleviated and breakage of the copper foil wire 11 can be prevented. In addition, since there is no need to drill holes in the flexible substrate 8, it can be applied to a wide variety of electronic components. Thus, like the embodiment, this modified example can prevent breakage of the conductor and achieve high versatility.

In this modified example, copper foil wire 11 is used as an example of a conductor, but the conductor is not limited to this. For example, the conductor may be a lead wire.

The above describes the modified examples. The modified examples may be implemented in any combination.

The electronic components and manufacturing methods thereof disclosed herein are useful for electronic components and manufacturing methods thereof in which linear conductors are provided on a member and subjected to bending or pressing.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Surface layer member 2 First adhesive member 3 Insulating sheet 4 Heating wire 5 Second adhesive member 6, 13 Thick line portion 7 Three-dimensional pattern 8 Flexible substrate 9 IC chip 10, 30 Electronic component 11 Copper foil wire 12 Bent portion 20 Detection device

Claims (14)

An electronic component having a linear conductor and a first member on which the conductor is provided,
The conductor has a thick wire portion that is thicker than other portions in a portion that is subjected to press working,
The laminate further includes a second member laminated on the first member,
The electronic component includes:
A laminate in which a three-dimensional pattern is formed by press working performed in a state in which the first member and the second member are laminated.
Electronic components. The curved portion is formed so as to overlap an outer edge portion of the three-dimensional pattern.
The electronic component according to claim 1 . The curved portion is formed so that an outer edge portion of the three-dimensional pattern overlaps with a top portion of the curved portion.
The electronic component according to claim 2 . The conductor is a heating wire that generates heat when electricity is passed through it.
The electronic component according to claim 1 . The pressing is embossing.
The electronic component according to claim 1 . The electronic component includes:
An emblem to be installed on a vehicle.
The electronic component according to claim 1 . The electronic component includes:
Located in front of a detection device that detects the situation around the vehicle,
The electronic component according to claim 1 . A method for manufacturing an electronic component having a linear conductor and a first member on which the conductor is provided, comprising the steps of:
A thick wire portion is formed in a portion of the conductor to be pressed, the thick wire portion being thicker than other portions of the conductor.
A second member is laminated on the first member provided with the conductor;
The first member on which the second member is laminated is subjected to a press working so as to form a three-dimensional pattern ;
A method for manufacturing electronic components. The curved portion is formed so as to overlap an outer edge portion of the three-dimensional pattern.
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to claim 8 . The curved portion is formed so that an outer edge portion of the three-dimensional pattern overlaps with a top portion of the curved portion.
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to claim 9 . The conductor is a heating wire that generates heat when electricity is passed through it.
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to any one of claims 8 to 10 . The pressing is embossing.
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to any one of claims 8 to 11 . The electronic component includes:
An emblem to be installed on a vehicle.
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to any one of claims 8 to 12 . The electronic component includes:
Located in front of a detection device that detects the situation around the vehicle,
The method for manufacturing an electronic component according to any one of claims 8 to 13 .