JP7698599B2 - Manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing chip-type electronic components.

There is a known technology for mounting chip-type electronic components such as multilayer ceramic capacitors on a mounting board via a spacer. The spacer is provided, for example, to suppress a noise called "ringing" that occurs when the chip-type electronic component deforms the board when a voltage is applied to the chip-type electronic component.

Patent Document 1 discloses a chip-type electronic component equipped with a spacer whose main component is an intermetallic compound containing at least one high-melting-point metal selected from Cu and Ni and Sn as a low-melting-point metal. The spacer of this chip-type electronic component is said to have sufficient heat resistance so that it does not melt even at the temperature used during soldering.

International Publication No. 2018/101405

Patent Document 1 describes forming spacers by applying a metal paste by screen printing or a dispensing method. The dispensing method can form spacers with high precision, but has low productivity.

On the other hand, when forming spacers by screen printing, the productivity is higher than that of the dispensing method, but there is a possibility that the spacers formed may be misaligned. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to form multiple spacers at once by applying metal paste 202 onto a mask 200 having multiple holes 201 and transferring the metal paste 202 to a substrate 204 with a squeegee 203, but high-precision alignment is required. As a result, there is a possibility that the spacers will be formed in a position other than the desired position.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components that can form spacers at desired positions with high precision.

The method for producing a chip-type electronic component of the present invention comprises the steps of:
1. A method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component, comprising: an electronic component body having a plurality of external electrodes protruding outward from a body portion; and spacers provided on surfaces of the external electrodes of the electronic component body, the method comprising the steps of:
preparing the electronic component body;
holding the electronic component body so that the plurality of external electrodes are exposed on the same surface side of the body portion;
supplying a metal paste into a recess of an intaglio plate having a plurality of recesses;
a step of bringing the held electronic component body close to the intaglio plate and bringing each of the plurality of external electrodes exposed on the same surface side of the body portion into contact with the metal paste in the plurality of recesses of the intaglio plate, thereby transferring the metal paste to the plurality of external electrodes;
The present invention is characterized by comprising:

According to the method for manufacturing chip-type electronic components of the present invention, the electronic component body, which is held so that the multiple external electrodes are exposed on the same side of the main body, is brought close to an intaglio plate with metal paste supplied into the recesses, and each of the multiple exposed external electrodes is transferred by contacting it with the metal paste in the multiple recesses, so that spacers can be formed with high precision on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes. In other words, when the multiple external electrodes protruding outward are brought into contact with the metal paste in the recesses of the intaglio plate, the metal paste does not come into contact with the main body, whose surface is located on the inside relative to the multiple external electrodes, so that it is possible to prevent the metal paste from adhering to the main body. In addition, since spacers are formed on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes by transferring the metal paste, there is no need for high-precision alignment such as with screen printing using a mask.

1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a multilayer ceramic capacitor, which is an example of an electronic component body. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the multilayer ceramic capacitor shown in FIG. 1 taken along line II-II. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the multilayer ceramic capacitor shown in FIG. 1 taken along line III-III. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to an embodiment. 1A is a diagram explaining the process of holding the electronic component body; FIG. 1B is a diagram explaining the process of supplying metal paste into the recesses of the intaglio; FIG. 1C is a diagram showing the state in which the electronic component body is brought close to the intaglio so that each of the multiple external electrodes is in contact with the metal paste in the multiple recesses of the intaglio; FIG. 1D is a diagram showing the state in which the electronic component body is held slightly away from the surface of the intaglio; and FIG. 1E is a diagram showing the state in which the electronic component body is lifted up. FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an intaglio plate having a groove-shaped recess; FIG. 1B is a plan view showing an intaglio plate having a circular box-shaped recess in plan view; and FIG. 1C is a plan view showing an intaglio plate having an oval box-shaped recess in plan view. 13 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of metal paste transferred to a plurality of external electrodes in a case where the step of transferring the metal paste to a plurality of external electrodes is performed a plurality of times. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic diagram of an example of a chip-type electronic component manufactured by a method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to an embodiment; 11 is a side view showing a state in which the body of a chip-type electronic component is positioned at a high position away from the substrate by a spacer, and another electronic component is mounted below the body. FIG. 1A and 1B are diagrams for explaining a conventional method of forming spacers by screen printing using a mask having a plurality of holes.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention and explains its features in detail.

The method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component in which a spacer is provided on the surface of the external electrodes of an electronic component body having multiple external electrodes protruding outward from the body. First, the configuration of the electronic component body on which the spacers are provided will be briefly described, and then the method for manufacturing the chip-type electronic component will be described in detail.

Here, the structure of a multilayer ceramic capacitor, which is a multilayer ceramic electronic component, will be described as an example of an electronic component body. In this case, a chip-type electronic component manufactured by the manufacturing method of a chip-type electronic component of the present invention is also a multilayer ceramic capacitor. However, the electronic component body is not limited to a multilayer ceramic capacitor, and there are no particular restrictions on the type as long as it is a chip-type electronic component that has multiple external electrodes protruding outward from the body, such as a thermistor or inductor.

(Electronic component body)
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X, which is an example of an electronic component body 10. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X shown in Fig. 1 when cut along line II-II. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X shown in Fig. 1 when cut along line III-III.

The multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X has an overall rectangular parallelepiped shape and includes a body 11 and a number of external electrodes that protrude outward from the body 11. In this embodiment, the multiple external electrodes include a first external electrode 14a and a second external electrode 14b.

Here, the direction in which the dielectric layers 12 and the internal electrodes 13a, 13b described below are stacked is defined as the stacking direction T of the multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X, the direction in which the pair of external electrodes 14a, 14b face each other is defined as the length direction L, and the direction perpendicular to both the length direction L and the stacking direction T is defined as the width direction W. Any two directions among the length direction L, stacking direction T, and width direction W are mutually perpendicular. The stacking direction T is sometimes referred to as the thickness direction.

The size of the multilayer ceramic capacitor 10X is arbitrary, but for example, a small size is 1.0 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.5 mm in the length direction L, width direction W, and stacking direction T, respectively, and a large size is 3.2 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2.5 mm, for example.

The main body 11 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, with a first end face 15a and a second end face 15b facing in the length direction L, a first main face 16a and a second main face 16b facing in the stacking direction T, and a first side face 17a and a second side face 17b facing in the width direction W. Note that "rectangular parallelepiped shape" includes not only a rectangular parallelepiped, but also a shape in which the corners and edges of the rectangular parallelepiped are rounded.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the main body 11 includes a plurality of laminated dielectric layers 12 and a plurality of internal electrodes 13a, 13b. The internal electrodes 13a, 13b include a first internal electrode 13a and a second internal electrode 13b. More specifically, the main body 11 has a structure in which the first internal electrodes 13a and the second internal electrodes 13b are alternately laminated in the lamination direction T with the dielectric layers 12 interposed therebetween.

The first internal electrode 13a and the second internal electrode 13b contain, for example, a metal such as Ni, Ag, Pd, Au, Cu, Ti, or Cr, or an alloy mainly composed of the above-mentioned metal. It is preferable that the first internal electrode 13a and the second internal electrode 13b contain, as a common material, the same ceramic material as the dielectric ceramic contained in the dielectric layer 12.

The first internal electrode 13a is extended to the first end surface 15a of the main body 11. The second internal electrode 13b is extended to the second end surface 15b of the main body 11.

In this embodiment, the first external electrode 14a is provided over the entire first end face 15a of the main body 11, and is provided so as to extend from the first end face 15a to the first main face 16a, the second main face 16b, the first side face 17a, and the second side face 17b. The first external electrode 14a is electrically connected to the first internal electrode 13a exposed on the first end face 15a.

In this embodiment, the second external electrode 14b is provided over the entire second end face 15b of the main body 11, and is provided so as to extend from the second end face 15b around the first main face 16a, the second main face 16b, the first side face 17a, and the second side face 17b. The second external electrode 14b is electrically connected to the second internal electrode 13b exposed on the second end face 15b.

As described above, the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b are each provided on the surface of the main body 11, and therefore protrude outward from the main body 11. In other words, the surfaces of the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b are located outside the surface of the main body 11.

The first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b may have any structure. In this embodiment, the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b each include a base electrode layer and a plating layer.

The base electrode layer contains, for example, metals such as Ni, Cu, Ag, Pd, Au, Ti, and Cr, or alloys containing these metals. The base electrode layer may contain a common material made of a material that is the same as or similar to the material contained in the dielectric layer 12, or glass. When the base electrode layer contains a common material or glass, the content ratio is preferably 30 volume % or more and 70 volume % or less of the entire external electrode. The base electrode layer can be formed by applying a conductive paste to the surface of the main body 11 and baking it. The conductive paste can be applied by any method, for example, by immersing the main body 11 in a stored conductive paste.

The plating layer contains, for example, a metal such as Cu, Ni, Ag, Pd, Ti, Cr, or Au, or an alloy mainly composed of such a metal. The plating layer may be a single layer or multiple layers. When the plating layer is multiple layers, it may have a two-layer structure, for example, a Ni plating layer and a Sn plating layer.

The configuration of the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration, i.e., a configuration consisting of a base electrode layer and a plating layer. For example, the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b may be a plated electrode consisting of plating, or a sputtered electrode formed by a sputtering method. For example, NiCr, NiCu, CuAgNi, etc. can be used as the material of the sputtered electrode. A plating layer may be formed on the sputtered electrode.

The thickness of the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b is, for example, 3 μm or more and 30 μm or less. The size of the flat portion of the surface of the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b that faces the mounting substrate is, for example, 0.5 mm × 0.3 mm or more.

(Manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components)
FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component in one embodiment.

In step S1, an electronic component body 10 on which a spacer is to be provided is prepared. The electronic component body 10 can be produced by a known method.

In step S2 following step S1, the electronic component body 10 is held so that the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b are exposed on the same side of the body portion 11 (FIG. 5(a)). The electronic component body 10 can be held by any method. As an example, as shown in FIG. 5(a), the electronic component body 10 is held by adhesion using an adhesive substrate 20 whose holding surface 20a has adhesiveness. As described above, the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b protrude outward from the body portion 11, and therefore the holding surface 20a of the adhesive substrate 20 adheres to the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b.

Here, "the same side of the main body 11" means one of the surfaces of the main body 11, and in particular the side on which the spacers are provided on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b. Figure 5(a) shows a state in which the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b are exposed on the first main surface 16a side of the main body 11, and the second main surface 16b side of the main body 11 is held by the adhesive substrate 20.

The electronic component body 10 can be held by a method using suction or magnetic force, in addition to the adhesion described above. The holding surface of the holding jig that holds the electronic component body 10 may be a flat surface or a rotatable roll surface. A holding jig with a roll surface can continuously supply multiple held electronic component bodies 10 onto an intaglio plate, which will be described later.

The holding jig preferably holds multiple electronic component bodies 10. In that case, the distance from the holding jig to the surface on which the spacers of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b are provided must be approximately the same for all electronic component bodies 10 held by the holding jig. By using the holding jig to hold multiple electronic component bodies 10, it becomes possible to provide spacers to multiple electronic component bodies 10 at once, thereby improving productivity.

When the holding jig holds multiple electronic component bodies 10, the multiple electronic component bodies 10 may be aligned, such as in a matrix, or may be randomly arranged. When multiple electronic component bodies 10 are held by the holding jig, the holding jig may hold multiple electronic component bodies 10 at once, or may pick up and hold them one by one.

In step S3 following step S2, metal paste 40 is supplied into the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio plate 30 having multiple recesses 31 (Figure 5 (b)).

The intaglio plate 30 is, for example, a flat plate having a flat surface, or a roll plate having a roll surface. When the intaglio plate 30 is a rectangular flat plate, the size is, for example, 10 mm x 10 mm or more and 1000 mm x 1000 mm or less. When the intaglio plate 30 is a roll plate, the width of the roll surface is, for example, 10 mm or more and 1000 mm or less. However, the intaglio plate 30 may be something other than a flat plate or a roll plate, and the size is not limited to the above sizes.

At least the surface of the intaglio 30 is made of a hard material. The entire intaglio 30 may be made of a hard material. A hard material means, for example, a metal material with a tensile modulus of elasticity of 30 GPa or more, such as at least one of stainless steel, aluminum, iron, and steel. The intaglio 30 has, for example, a rectangular shape in plan view. However, the shape of the intaglio 30 in plan view is not limited to a rectangle.

The recess 31 has one of a groove shape and a box shape. A groove shape is a groove shape that has a pair of opposing side surfaces and extends in one direction. The groove may be linear or may have a shape other than linear, for example, a meandering shape that extends in one direction. There are no particular restrictions on the direction in which the groove extends, and it can be any direction. The width of the groove is, for example, 50 μm or more and 100 μm or less.

The box-like shape refers to the shape of a box surrounded by a bottom and sides. The shape of the box when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the box can be any shape, such as a rectangle, a circle, an oval, a triangle, or a hexagon. The intaglio 30 may also have multiple recesses 31 of different shapes. When the shape of the box when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the box that forms the recesses 31 is rectangular, the size of one side that forms the rectangle is, for example, 50 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

Figure 6(a) is a plan view showing a schematic diagram of an intaglio 30 having a plurality of groove-shaped recesses 31. In the example shown in Figure 6(a), a plurality of groove-shaped recesses 31 are provided in a stripe pattern at a predetermined interval on the intaglio 30. The depth of the groove-shaped recesses 31 can be any depth, but as an example, it is 10 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

Figure 6 (b) is a plan view that shows a schematic diagram of an intaglio plate 30 having a plurality of circular box-shaped recesses 31 in a plan view. The depth of the recesses 31 can be any depth, but as an example, it is 10 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

Figure 6(c) is a plan view that shows a schematic diagram of an intaglio plate 30 having a plurality of oval box-shaped recesses 31 in plan view. The depth of the recesses 31 can be any depth, but as an example, it is 10 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

6(a) to (c) show the electronic component body 10 superimposed on the intaglio 30 so that the relative size relationship between the recesses 31 of the intaglio 30 and the electronic component body 10 can be seen. As described below, after supplying metal paste 40 into the recesses 31 of the intaglio 30, each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b exposed on the same side of the body 11 is brought into contact with the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30, thereby transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b. That is, multiple recesses 31 are provided in the intaglio 30 so that each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b overlaps with the multiple recesses 31 when the electronic component body 10 is placed on the intaglio 30 (see FIGS. 6(a) to (c)).

The metal paste 40 is for forming a spacer, and is mainly composed of an intermetallic compound containing at least one high melting point metal selected from Cu and Ni, and Sn as a low melting point metal. As an example, the metal paste 40 contains 31.5 wt% Cu-10 wt% Ni powder with a D50 of 5 μm, 58.5 wt% solder powder with a composition of Sn-3 wt% Ag-0.5 wt% Cu with a D50 of 5 μm, and 10 wt% flux. The viscosity of the metal paste 40 is 100,000 mPa·s or more and 1,000,000 mPa·s or less at a shear rate of 0.1 s ^{- 1} , and 10,000 mPa·s or more and 100,000 mPa·s or less at a shear rate of 1 s-1. However, the material and characteristics of the metal paste 40 are not limited to those described above.

The metal paste 40 can be supplied onto the intaglio 30 by any method. After supplying the metal paste 40 onto the intaglio 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the metal paste 40 on the intaglio 30 is scraped off by a squeegee 32. The scraping portion of the squeegee 32 is made of rubber having a hardness of 50 to 70. However, the material of the scraping portion of the squeegee 32 is not limited to rubber, and may be metal. As a result, the metal paste 40 is supplied only into the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30. In other words, the metal paste 40 is supplied into the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30 up to the height of the surface of the intaglio 30, and the metal paste 40 is removed and does not exist in the positions on the surface of the intaglio 30 where the recesses 31 are not provided.

Note that step S3 may be performed prior to step S2.

In step S4 following step S3, the held electronic component body 10 is brought close to the intaglio 30, and each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b exposed on the same side of the body portion 11 is brought into contact with the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30, thereby transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b.

Explaining with reference to FIG. 5, first, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the electronic component body 10 held by the adhesive substrate 20 is brought close to the intaglio 30, and each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b exposed on the same side of the body part 11 is brought into contact with the metal paste 40 supplied in the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30. The speed at which the body part 11 is brought close to the intaglio 30 is, for example, 0.1 mm/s or more and 100 mm/s or less. Here, the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b exposed on the same side of the body part 11 are brought into contact with the surface of the intaglio 30, and the intaglio 30 is further pressed in by a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance is, for example, 0.3 mm. As a result, the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30 comes into contact with the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b exposed on the same side of the body part 11.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the surface of the main body 11 located inside the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b does not come into contact with the intaglio 30, so the metal paste does not adhere to the surface of the main body 11. In particular, in this embodiment, at least the surface of the intaglio 30 is made of a hard material, so that even if the electronic component main body 10 comes into contact with the surface of the intaglio 30 and is further pressed in slightly, the surface of the intaglio 30 does not undergo elastic or plastic deformation. Therefore, it is possible to further suppress the adhesion of the metal paste 40 to the surface of the main body 11.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(d), the main body 11 held by the adhesive substrate 20 is held slightly away from the surface of the intaglio 30, for example, 0.3 mm. The holding time is, for example, 3 seconds or more and 30 seconds or less. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5(d), the metal paste 40 attached to the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b spreads, and the metal paste 40 is attached to the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b at positions that do not face the recesses 31.

The electronic component body 10 may be swung in a direction parallel to the surface of the intaglio 30 while the electronic component body 10 held by the adhesive substrate 20 is in contact with the surface of the intaglio 30 or slightly separated from the surface of the intaglio 30. Swinging the electronic component body 10 can promote the spreading of the metal paste 40 attached to the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b, and more effectively attach the metal paste 40 to positions on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b that do not face the recesses 31.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 5(e), the electronic component body 10 held by the adhesive substrate 20 is lifted up. The speed at which the electronic component body 10 is lifted up is, for example, 0.1 mm/s or more and 100 mm/s or less. This causes the metal paste 40 to be transferred to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b.

Here, the process of transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b may be performed multiple times. By performing the process of transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b multiple times, the thickness of the metal paste 40 attached to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b can be increased as shown in FIG. 7. This allows the height of the spacers provided on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b to be increased. In other words, by performing the process of transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b multiple times, it is possible to adjust the height of the spacers provided on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b to any height. When the process of transferring the metal paste 40 to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is performed multiple times, at least one of drying and hardening may be performed on the transferred metal paste 40 each time the transfer is performed.

When spacers are provided on the external electrodes of a substrate or chip-type electronic component by a method such as screen printing, the shape may be distorted due to the rheology of the metal paste or its own weight. However, in the manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components in this embodiment, when the process of transferring metal paste 40 to multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is performed multiple times, the weight of the newly applied metal paste 40 acts in the direction of making the spacer taller, thereby preventing the metal paste 40 from losing its shape.

In step S5 following step S4, the metal paste 40 transferred to the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is subjected to at least one of drying and hardening. Drying can be performed, for example, by applying hot air or heating. The temperature of the hot air when applying hot air and the heating temperature when heating are, for example, 100°C or higher and 300°C or lower. Hardening of the metal paste 40 can be performed, for example, by irradiating with infrared rays, irradiating with ultraviolet rays, irradiating with gamma rays, exposing to running water, etc. The metal paste 40 that has been subjected to at least one of drying and hardening becomes a spacer. Note that the spacer has a shape that protrudes further outward from the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b, so it can also be called a protruding electrode.

By the above-mentioned process, a chip-type electronic component is manufactured in which spacers are provided on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b of the electronic component body 10 having multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b protruding outward from the body portion 11.

According to the manufacturing method of the chip-type electronic component in this embodiment, the electronic component body 10, which is held so that the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b are exposed on the same side of the body 11, is brought close to the intaglio 30 in which the metal paste 40 is supplied into the recesses 31, and each of the exposed multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is transferred by contacting it with the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31, so that spacers can be formed accurately on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b. In other words, when the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b protruding outward are brought into contact with the metal paste 40 in the recesses 31 of the intaglio 30, the metal paste 40 does not come into contact with the body 11 whose surface is located inside the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b, so that the metal paste 40 can be prevented from adhering to the body 11.

In addition, since each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is transferred by contacting it with the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31, the amount of metal paste 40 transferred can be stabilized compared to when transferring by contacting it with the metal paste in one recess 31. This makes it possible to suppress quality variations in the spacers that are formed, and to manufacture high-quality chip-type electronic components.

In addition, because spacers are formed on the surfaces of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b by transferring the metal paste 40, productivity is higher than with the dispense method, and high-precision alignment, as with screen printing using a mask, is not required. Therefore, the manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components in this embodiment has higher productivity than conventional dispense methods and screen printing methods.

In the conventional mounting method, in which multiple spacers are provided on the mounting board and chip-type electronic components are placed on the spacers, if the number of chip-type electronic components to be mounted is small, there will be spacers that are provided on the mounting board in advance but are not used.

In contrast, in the method for manufacturing chip-type electronic components in this embodiment, spacers are provided directly on the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b of the chip-type electronic component to be mounted, so no unnecessary spacers are generated.

In addition, when spacers are provided on the external electrodes of a chip-type electronic component using conventional screen printing methods, there is a possibility that the metal paste may adhere to the main body 11 due to misalignment. However, with the manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components in this embodiment, as described above, it is possible to prevent the metal paste 40 from adhering to the main body 11.

In addition, when spacers are provided using conventional screen printing methods, the height of the spacers is uniquely determined by the thickness of the mask. For this reason, it is not possible to provide spacers that are lower in height than the mask thickness at the thinning limit, and it is not possible to provide spacers that are higher in height than the mask thickness at the thickening limit. In addition, with the dispensing method, it is possible to adjust the height of the spacers by adjusting the viscosity of the metal paste, but it is difficult to adjust the viscosity of the metal paste to the desired viscosity.

In contrast, in the manufacturing method for chip-type electronic components in this embodiment, the height of the spacer can be easily adjusted to any height by adjusting the shape, size, and depth of the recesses 31, the spacing between adjacent recesses 31, the number of times the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b are brought into contact with the metal paste 40 in the recesses 31, and the like.

In addition, in the manufacturing method of the chip-type electronic component in this embodiment, as described above, each of the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14b is brought into contact with the metal paste 40 in the multiple recesses 31 of the intaglio 30 and transferred by the expansion phenomenon of the metal paste 40, so it is possible to form a protruding spacer rather than a planar one. The protruding spacer can be formed by adjusting the lifting speed during transfer of the metal paste 40, the number of transfers, the paste rheology such as the viscosity of the metal paste 40, and the like. The height of the protruding spacer is, for example, 30 μm or more and 120 μm or less. In addition, when the spacer has a shape such as a prism or pyramid, the length of one side of the part where the spacer is in contact with the multiple external electrodes 14a, 14 is, for example, 0.3 mm or more.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an example of a chip-type electronic component 100 manufactured by the manufacturing method of a chip-type electronic component in this embodiment. In the chip-type electronic component 100 shown in Figure 8, the spacer 50 provided on the surface of the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b has a cylindrical shape. However, the spacer 50 can be any shape that can be formed by the above-mentioned manufacturing method, such as a prism, cone, or pyramid. For example, the spacer 50 may be shaped so that the cross-sectional area when cut along a plane parallel to the first main surface 16a of the main body 11 gradually decreases with increasing distance from the main body 11.

The spacer 50 can be provided for any purpose. For example, it may be for the purpose of suppressing the noise called "ringing" that occurs when a voltage is applied to a chip-type electronic component 100 mounted on a substrate, or for the purpose of effectively utilizing the space in the height direction perpendicular to the substrate.

Figure 9 is a side view that shows a schematic diagram of the state in which the spacer 50 is used to position the main body 11 at a high position away from the substrate 60, and another electronic component 70 is mounted below the main body 11. The chip-type electronic component 100 and the other electronic component 70 are each mounted to a land electrode 61 on the substrate 60 via solder 62. This arrangement makes it possible to mount more electronic components on the substrate 60.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various applications and modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the first external electrode 14a of the electronic component body 10 has been described as being provided on the entire first end face 15a of the body portion 11, and extending from the first end face 15a to the first main surface 16a, the second main surface 16b, the first side surface 17a, and the second side surface 17b. However, the first external electrode 14a may be provided on the entire first end face 15a and on a portion of at least one of the first main surface 16a and the second main surface 16b. The same applies to the second external electrode 14b.

The first external electrode 14a may be provided only on a portion of at least one of the first main surface 16a and the second main surface 16b. In that case, via conductors electrically connected to the multiple first internal electrodes 13a may be provided in the main body 11, and the via conductors may be electrically connected to the first external electrode 14a. The same applies to the second external electrode 14b.

In addition, the first external electrode 14a and the second external electrode 14b may not be provided on the surface of the main body 11 that faces the surface on which the spacer is provided.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Electronic component body 10X Multilayer ceramic capacitor 11 Body portion 12 Dielectric layer 13a First internal electrode 13b Second internal electrode 14a First external electrode 14b Second external electrode 20 Adhesive substrate 30 Intaglio 31 Recess 32 Squeegee 40 Metal paste 50 Spacer 60 Substrate 61 Land electrode 62 Solder 100 Chip-type electronic component

Claims (7)

1. A method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component, comprising: an electronic component body having a plurality of external electrodes protruding outward from a body portion; and spacers provided on surfaces of the external electrodes of the electronic component body, the method comprising the steps of:
preparing the electronic component body;
holding the electronic component body so that the plurality of external electrodes are exposed on the same surface side of the body portion;
a step of supplying a metal paste onto an intaglio plate having a plurality of recesses, and then scraping off the metal paste on the intaglio plate with a squeegee, thereby supplying the metal paste into the plurality of recesses;
a step of bringing the held electronic component body close to the intaglio plate, and bringing each of the plurality of external electrodes exposed on the same surface side of the body portion and protruding outward relative to the body portion into contact with the metal paste in the plurality of recesses of the intaglio plate, thereby transferring the metal paste to the plurality of external electrodes;
A method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component, comprising: The method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of transferring the metal paste to the external electrodes is performed multiple times. The method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the process of transferring the metal paste to the plurality of external electrodes includes a process of rocking the electronic component body after each of the plurality of external electrodes is brought into contact with the metal paste. The method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the recess has one of a groove shape and a box shape. The method for manufacturing chip-type electronic components according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least the surface of the intaglio is made of a hard material. The method for manufacturing chip-type electronic components according to claim 5, wherein the hard material is at least one of stainless steel, aluminum, iron, and steel. The method for manufacturing a chip-type electronic component according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a step of performing at least one of drying and hardening the metal paste transferred to the external electrodes.

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