METHOD OF MANUFACTURING MAGNETIC MEMBER AND THE MAGNETIC MEMBER

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a magnetic member comprises preparing a base member, which have a front surface and a back surface, and wherein an anchor coat layer is formed on the front surface, and forming a composite magnetic layer on the anchor coat layer.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic member, the method comprising: preparing a base member having a front surface and a back surface, wherein an anchor coat layer is formed on the front surface; and forming, on the anchor coat layer, a composite magnetic layer in which magnetic powder is dispersed in a binder.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, the method further comprising: sticking a reinforcement member on the back surface of the base member before the forming of the composite magnetic layer; and unsticking the reinforcement member after the forming of the composite magnetic layer.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein: the reinforcement member has a front surface and a back surface; the front surface of the reinforcement member is sticked to the base member; and on the back surface of the reinforcement member, a release agent is applied.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the anchor coat layer has a thickness which is at least 0.5 μm and smaller than 1 ∥m.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the anchor coat layer is made of polyether-based resin or polyester-based resin.

6. A magnetic member comprising: a base member; an anchor coat layer formed on the base member; and a composite magnetic layer formed on the anchor coat layer, wherein the anchor coat layer has a thickness which is at least 0.5 μm and smaller than 1 μm.

7. The magnetic member as recited in claim 6, wherein the anchor coat layer is made of polyether-based resin or polyester-based resin.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. 1 is a flowchart for describing a method of manufacturing a magnetic member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a base member used in the method of manufacturing the magnetic member of FIG. 1. On a front surface of the base member, an anchor coat layer is formed.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state that a reinforcement member is stuck on a back surface of the base member of FIG. 2.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state that a composite magnetic layer is formed on the anchor coat layer of FIG. 3.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a magnetic member manufactured by the method of manufacturing the magnetic member of FIG. 1.

[0018] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the description will be made about a method of manufacturing a magnetic member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] First, a base member 10 as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared (Step 101). The base member 10 has a front surface 102 and a back surface 104, and an anchor coat layer 20 is formed on the front surface 102. In other words, the base member 10 is the base member 10 with the anchor coat layer 20.

[0021] As the base member 10, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film can be used. Alternatively, as the base member 10, a composite film having a conductive layer formed on a back surface of a PET film can be used. In that case, the conductive layer is stuck on the back surface of the PET film using an adhesive. The conductive layer is an aluminum foil or a copper foil, for example.

[0022] In the present embodiment, a size of the base member 10 may be remarkably larger than that of a real product. For example, the base member 10 may be a long and wide film. It is preferable that a thickness of the base member 10 is as thin as possible. A thickness of the PET film may be 5 μm to 20 μm, for example, and an example thereof is about 12 μm. Moreover, a thickness of the conductive layer may be 1 μm to 15 μm, for example, and an example thereof is about 7 μm.

[0023] In the present embodiment, the anchor coat layer 20 is made of polyether-based resin or polyester-based resin, for example. Material of the anchor coat layer 20 may be selected according to an expected usage environment of the magnetic member. For example, when magnetic material is required to have solvent resistance and mechanical strength, it is preferable to use polyester-based resin as the material of the anchor coat layer 20. Moreover, when the magnetic material is required to have water resistance such as when the magnetic member is used under high humidity, it is preferable to use polyether-based resin as the material of the anchor coat layer 20.

[0024] It is preferable that a thickness of the anchor coat layer 20 is as thin as possible. For example, it is preferable that the thickness of the anchor coat layer 20 is smaller than 1 μm. However, the anchor coat layer 20 needs some thickness to excellently form a composite magnetic layer (see FIG. 4) mentioned later. For example, it is preferable that the thickness of the anchor coat layer 20 is equal to 0.5 μm or more.

[0025] Next, as shown in FIG. 3, a reinforcement member 30 is stuck on the back surface 104 of the base member 10 (Step S102). In detail, the reinforcement member 30 has a front surface 302 and a back surface 304. In the present embodiment, a mold release agent is applied to the back surface 304 of the reinforcement member 30, and the front surface 302 of the reinforcement member 30 is stuck on the base member 10. In detail, the reinforcement member 30 is stuck on the back surface 104 of the base member 10 using adhesive (not shown) applied to the front surface 302 or using an adhesive tape (not shown) stuck on the front surface 302. By using an appropriate something as the adhesive or the adhesive tape, the front surface 302 of the reinforcement member 30 is given with slight adhesiveness for the back surface 104 of the base member 10. Accordingly, the reinforcement member 30 is detachable from the base member 10. In particular, when the base member 10 with a thin thickness is used, it might be hard to handle the base member 10 singly. Therefore, it is preferable to use the reinforcement member 30 to facilitate handling of the base member 10.

[0026] The reinforcement member 30 is a PET film, for example. It is not always necessary to apply the mold release agent to the back surface 304 of the reinforcement member 30. However, it is desirable that the mold release agent is applied to the back surface 304 of the reinforcement member 30 in consideration of storing a half-finished product after formation of a composite magnetic layer 40. For example, if the base member 10 is a long film, the mold release agent can prevent the composite magnetic layer 40 from adhering to the reinforcement member 30 when the half-finished product after the formation of the composite magnetic layer 40 is wound in a roll shape to be stored.

[0027] As described later, the reinforcement member 30 is removed in a later process. In other words, the reinforcement member 30 is not a component of the magnetic member manufactured by the method according to the present embodiment. Accordingly, the thickness of the reinforcement member 30 is not limited particularly. However, it is preferable that the thickness of the reinforcement member 30 is as thin as possible. When the base member 10 has necessary and sufficient strength, the step S102 may be omitted not to provide the reinforcement member 30.

[0028] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the composite magnetic layer 40 is directly formed on the anchor coat layer 20 (step S103). The composite magnetic layer 40 is formed by applying coating liquid in which magnetic powder is dispersed in a binder and drying the coating liquid. In detail, the coating liquid formed by mixing soft magnetic powder, binding agent, organic solvent, fire retardant and others is applied onto the anchor coat layer 20 and dried. The applying of the coating liquid is carried out so that the composite magnetic layer 40 has a thickness of 100 μm or less after the coating liquid is dried.

[0029] Here, as the soft magnetic powder, magnetic stainless steel (Fe-Cr-Al-Si based alloy), Fe-Si-Al based alloy such as Sendust (a registered trademark), permalloy (Fe-Ni based alloy), silicon copper (Fe-Cu-Si based alloy), Fe-Si based alloy, Fe-Si-B(-Cu-Nb) based alloy, Fe-Ni-Cr-Si based alloy, Fe-Si-Cr based alloy, Fe-Si-Al-Ni-Cr based alloy, Mo-Ni-Fe based alloy, amorphous alloy or the like is preferable. These various types of soft magnetic powders may be selectively used alone or in combination of two or more. In particular, in order to improve magnetic permeability characteristic, a metal alloy having large magnetization is desirable. Moreover, a shape of a particle in the soft magnetic powder is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to be a flat particle. In addition, it is desirable that, in the composite magnetic layer 40, almost all particles each of which has a flat shape are arranged to be directed in the same direction and to be generally parallel to a main surface of the composite magnetic layer 40.

[0030] Moreover, as the binding agent, a polymeric binder, such as rubber, elastomer, resin or the like, is preferable, and thermoplastic resin is more preferable. In particular, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymerization resin (EVA), acrylonitrile—butadiene rubber (NBR), nitrile rubber, ethylene propylene diene rubber, acrylic rubber, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, silicone rubber, polyurethane or the like is preferable.

[0031] Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the reinforcement member 30 is unstuck (step S104). It should be noted that this process is unnecessary when the step S201 is omitted.

[0032] As described above, the magnetic member is manufactured by the method of manufacturing the magnetic member according to the present embodiment. When the base member 10 is the long and wide film, the magnetic member manufactured is cut in accordance with a product size. For example, the magnetic member manufactured may be cut into a plurality of long products each of which has a narrow width.

[0033] As mentioned above, according to the present embodiment, the composite magnetic layer 40 is directly formed on the anchor coat layer 20 of the base member 10. With this structure, sufficient interlayer strength can be obtained between the base member 10 and the composite magnetic layer 40, and the thickness of the magnetic member can be reduced. As a result, the composite magnetic layer 40 is not unstuck even if the magnetic member is bent, so that the magnetic member which is difficult to be damaged is obtained.

[0034] While there has been described what is believed to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such embodiments that fall within the true scope of the invention.