In a background art, an antenna used in a wireless communication processing apparatus for communicating with a wireless communication medium by an electromagnetic induction system, or the wireless communication medium per se is accompanied by a hazard that the antenna is influenced by a metal present at a surrounding thereof, a magnetic field is weakened, mutual inductance necessary for communication becomes insufficient, a communication distance is shortened or communication cannot be carried out. Hence, in order to prevent the antenna from being effected with the influence of the metal, it has been devised to separate the antenna and the metal by a spacer or the like, or intensifying the magnetic field generated by the antenna by installing a magnetic member by ferrite or the like to be proximate to or to be brought into contact with the antenna.
Further, thin-sized formation to an extreme is requested for an IC card or an IC tag, and an ID card or an ID tag or the like constituting a wireless communication medium in order to facilitate portability thereof or integrating the wireless communication medium to a portable telephone or an information terminal. This is similar even to a wireless communication medium processing apparatus of a reader or a reader/writer or the like for communicating data with a wireless communication medium.
Here, when the spacer or the like is used, there poses a problem that adjustment in stalling the spacer and operability involved with the adjustment becomes complicated and further, a shape, particularly a thickness of a total of the antenna is increased and thin-sized formation becomes difficult. Further, although as the magnetic member, a bulk material of ferrite which is sintered and having a high hardness or the like is used, there poses a problem that the bulk member is inferior in cracking in dropping the magnetic member or a workability thereof.
There has been proposed a constitution of installing a magnetic body in a flexible shape to a bottom face or a side face of an antenna in order to provide durability against destruction while realizing to intensify a magnetic field in this way. By using the magnetic body in the flexible shape, an extra thickness is not needed different from the case of using the spacer or the like, further, the magnetic member is strong at destruction and therefore, an antenna apparatus as well as a wireless communication medium and a wireless communication medium processing apparatus having high durability of use can be realized (refer to, for example, JP-A-2002-298095).
However, the magnetic body in the flexible shape shown in JP-A-2002-298095 uses sendust, permalloy or the like of a metal magnetic powder and therefore, in order to ensure workability capable of forming a sufficient shape, it is necessary to mix a sufficient amount of an organic material, according to the flexible magnetic body including much of the organic material, even when the flexible magnetic body is arranged at a vicinity of the antenna, it is insufficient to intensify a magnetic field to pose a problem that the flexible magnetic body is insufficient for expanding a communication distance of a wireless communication medium processing apparatus which is requested in recent years.
Further, the flexible magnetic body constituted by the metal magnetic powder and the organic material poses a problem that workability is poor, cost is increased and also durability against destruction is insufficient yet although the workability, the cost and durability are not as worse as those of sintered ferrite.
Further, according to the magnetic body constituted by the metal magnetic powder and the organic material, an insulating resistance thereof is low and therefore, a conductive member cannot be formed on the magnetic member or inside of the magnetic member and therefore, a radiating conductor or a terminal electrode forming an antenna and various circuits of a matching circuit or the like connected to the antenna cannot be formed. Therefore, similar to the case of using the magnetic member of the background art having a high hardness of sintered ferrite or the like, there poses a problem that it is necessary to separately form an antenna and a matching circuit or a processing circuit connected thereto by a conductor of a metal or the like to arrange to be proximate to or brought into contact with the magnetic member to constitute a limit in thin-sized formation.
Therefore, in addition to a problem that since durability of the magnetic member is weak, durability in practical use is weak, there poses a problem that thin-sized formation of an antenna apparatus is difficult and there is a limit in small-sized formation or thin-sized formation of a wireless communication medium or a wireless communication medium processing apparatus integrated therewith.