IC-card manufacturing apparatus

An IC-card manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing an IC card from a laminated substrate consisting of an electronic component and resin sheets which sandwich the electronic component, the IC-card manufacturing apparatus comprising:

• a thermocompression-bonding press unit which applies heat and pressure to the laminated substrate from opposite sides thereof by use of a pair of upper and lower press platens which are formed to be identical to each other and having pressure-application surfaces to thereby effect thermocompression bonding;
• and
• a laminated-substrate sandwiching unit which is independent of a main body of the IC-card manufacturing apparatus and includes upper and lower sandwiching members for sandwiching the laminated substrate in a sealed state,
• at least one air passage which is formed in each of the upper and lower press platens, the at least one air passage having at least one air jetting opening formed on the pressure-application surface of each of the upper and lower press platens;
• an air supply unit for supplying air to the air passage;
• and
• a control unit for controlling the air supply unit so as to supply air to the air passage for a preset period of time when the paired pressure platens are opened.

An IC-card manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing an IC card from a laminated substrate consisting of an electronic component and resin sheets which sandwich the electronic component, the IC-card manufacturing apparatus comprising:

• a thermocompression-bonding press unit which applies heat and pressure to the laminated substrate from opposite sides thereof by use of paired press platens having pressure-application surfaces to thereby effect thermocompression bonding;
• and
• a laminated-substrate sandwiching unit which is independent of a main body of the IC-card manufacturing apparatus and includes upper and lower sandwiching members for sandwiching the laminated substrate in a sealed state, wherein:
• at least one of the press platens is composed of a press-platen main body having a pressure-application surface and a press-platen base for applying pressure to the press-platen main body;
• a plurality of air cushion units are disposed between the press-platen main body and the press-platen base to be located at different positions;
• and
• a pressure setting unit for independently setting the respective pressures of the air cushion units in order that the pressure applied over the entire surface of the laminated substrate may vary.