Carrier tape, method for manufacturing same, and method for manufacturing RFID tag

1. A method for manufacturing a carrier tape housing a plurality of electronic components with seal materials, the method comprising the steps of:

preparing a tape-shaped main body including a plurality of housing holes including bottom surfaces and arranged along a longitudinal direction;

providing chip-shaped electronic components respectively into the plurality of the housing holes;

affixing a tape-shaped seal material including an adhesive layer on one principal surface to the tape-shaped main body such that the adhesive layer covers the housing holes and adheres to the electronic components; and

forming cuts in the tape-shaped seal material to separate portions defining and functioning as the seal materials including portions at least partially overlapping with the respective housing holes in a planar view from the other portions.

2. The method for manufacturing a carrier tape according to claim 1 , wherein a depth of the housing holes is equal or substantially equal to a thickness of the electronic components or less than the thickness of the electronic components.

3. The method for manufacturing a carrier tape according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of separating the portions other than those defining and functioning as the seal materials from the tape-shaped main body after the cuts are formed in the tape-shaped seal material.

4. The method for manufacturing a carrier tape according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic components each include a pair of terminal electrodes on a surface thereof on a side opposite to a fixation surface adhered to the adhesive layer of the seal material.

5. The method for manufacturing a carrier tape according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic components each include a pair of terminal electrodes and are each adhered through the pair of the terminal electrodes to the adhesive layer of the seal material.

6. A carrier tape housing a plurality of electronic components with seal materials, the carrier tape comprising:

a tape-shaped main body including a plurality of housing holes including bottom surfaces and arranged along a longitudinal direction;

a plurality of chip-shaped electronic components respectively housed in the plurality of the housing holes; and

a plurality of seal materials including an adhesive layer on one principal surface and affixed to the tape-shaped main body such that the adhesive layer covers the housing holes and adheres to the electronic components.

7. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein the seal materials have a rigidity higher than that of the tape-shaped main body.

8. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein the electronic components are RFID tags that each include an RFIC chip and a substrate on which the RFIC chip is mounted.

9. The carrier tape according to claim 8 , wherein the substrate is a substrate of an RFID tag and includes a power feeding circuit that performs impedance matching between an antenna element and the RFIC chip.

10. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein the electronic components each include a pair of terminal electrodes and are each adhered through the pair of the terminal electrodes to the adhesive layer of the seal material.

11. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein the electronic components each include a pair of terminal electrodes on a surface thereof on a side opposite to a fixation surface adhered to the adhesive layer of the seal material.

12. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of seal materials has a size larger than each of the plurality of housing holes so as to completely cover each of the plurality of housing holes.

13. The carrier tape according to claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of seal materials has a rectangular or substantially rectangular belt shape, and is adhered to a portion of a fixation surface of a respective one of the electronic components so as to extend in a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the electronic component.

14. A method for manufacturing an RFID tag comprising the steps of:

preparing a carrier tape housing a plurality of RFIC elements with seal materials, the carrier tape including a tape-shaped main body that includes a plurality of housing holes including bottom surfaces along a longitudinal direction, a plurality of chip-shaped RFIC elements respectively housed in the plurality of the housing holes, and a plurality of seal materials including an adhesive layer on one principal surface thereof and affixed to the tape-shaped main body such that the adhesive layer covers the housing holes and adheres to the RFIC elements;

folding the tape-shaped main body to separate each of the RFIC elements with seal materials from the tape-shaped main body;and

affixing the separated RFIC element with a seal material to an antenna base material by the adhesive layer of the seal material.

15. The method for manufacturing an RFID tag according to claim 14 , wherein

the carrier tape is wound around a supply reel; and

while the carrier tape is continuously pulled out from the supply reel, the tape-shaped main body of the pulled-out carrier tape is folded at a location away from the supply reel to sequentially separate the plurality of the RFIC elements with seal materials from the tape-shaped main body.

16. The method for manufacturing an RFID tag according to claim 14 , wherein

the seal materials extend in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction in a planar view;

when each of the RFIC elements with seal materials is separated from the tape-shaped main body, a portion in the longitudinal direction of the seal material is separated first.

17. The method for manufacturing an RFID tag according to claim 16 , wherein

the RFIC elements each include a pair of terminal electrodes and are each adhered through the pair of the terminal electrodes to the adhesive layer of the seal material;

when the RFIC elements with seal materials are each affixed to the antenna base material by the adhesive layer of the seal material, a portion of each of the pair of the terminal electrodes is connected to an antenna conductor provided on the antenna base material.