CA2232162A1 - Device and process for determining film thickness and pattern register in cells plated on inductive debit cards - Google Patents
Device and process for determining film thickness and pattern register in cells plated on inductive debit cards Download PDFInfo
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- CA2232162A1 CA2232162A1 CA002232162A CA2232162A CA2232162A1 CA 2232162 A1 CA2232162 A1 CA 2232162A1 CA 002232162 A CA002232162 A CA 002232162A CA 2232162 A CA2232162 A CA 2232162A CA 2232162 A1 CA2232162 A1 CA 2232162A1
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- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- film thickness
- sensing
- converter
- pattern register
- debit cards
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Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06K—GRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
- G06K7/00—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns
- G06K7/08—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes
- G06K7/082—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes using inductive or magnetic sensors
- G06K7/083—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes using inductive or magnetic sensors inductive
- G06K7/086—Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns by means detecting the change of an electrostatic or magnetic field, e.g. by detecting change of capacitance between electrodes using inductive or magnetic sensors inductive sensing passive circuit, e.g. resonant circuit transponders
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01B—MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEAR DIMENSIONS; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS
- G01B7/00—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques
- G01B7/02—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring length, width or thickness
- G01B7/06—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring length, width or thickness for measuring thickness
- G01B7/10—Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques for measuring length, width or thickness for measuring thickness using magnetic means, e.g. by measuring change of reluctance
Abstract
A device for determining the thickness of conductive metal patterns plated on insulating surfaces, such as credit cells in prepaid telephone debit cards, comprising a plurality of sensing modules equal in number to the credit cells in said cards, each module consisting of an oscillator (30) wherein the inductance is provided by a pair of collinear sensing coils (24a, 24b), aligned with the true position of its relative credit cell (25), the output (26) of said sensing assembly being connected to the input of an A/D converter (40) whose output is connected to computing means (11, 21) provided with memory means. Said oscillators are enabled by turns, the output voltage being converted to a numeric value. The converter parameters are adjusted for each sensing module according to coefficients stored in said memory, to compensate for component variations, sensing coil position and so on. The resultant numeric value is processed by the computing means according to a transfer curve (53) which is specific for each sensing module, so as to furnish the film thickness. Said coefficients and transfer curves are previously determined for each one of the positions in the cell array by means of individual calibration, using standard cards of known metal film thickness.
Description
Specification DEVICE AND PROCESS FOR DETERMINING FILM
THICKNESS AND PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON
INDUCTIVE DEBIT CARDS
s The present invention refers to the determination of thickness of conductive metal layers deposited over ins~ ting surfaces, and more specifically to the thickness measurement of the metal film employed in the production of credit cells on inductive debit cards such as those described in the patent documents PI(BR) 7804885, PI(BR) 9201380-5 and PI(BR) 0 9304503-4, here incorporated by reference.
Methods for measuring the thickness of metal layers based on X-ray diffraction are already well known, however their cost, as well as the time required by them restrict their use to high precision measurements in laboratories.
Moreover, the currently known methods do not detect adequately the register errors that crop up in the card's m~nllf~cture, i.e., the position mi~m~tch of the metallic cell pattern plated over the card with relation to its edges.
In view of the above, the present invention has as its major aim 20 the provision of a device capable of measuring expeditiously the thickness of said metallic films, with minim~l error margin and at low cost.
An additional objective is the detection of faulty register during the plating of cells, i.e., the mi~m~t~h between the real position of those cells and the ideal one in relation to the card edges, said mi~m~tch rendering the 25 card useless.
The above aims are accomplished by the invention by means of a device compri~ing a sensing assembly consisting of a plurality of sensing modules, each module consisting of an oscillator wherein the inductance is provided by a sensing coil coincicl~nt~lly placed at true position of its relative 30 credit cell, each sensor being, one at a time, individually enabled by a pulse origin~ted by Co~ illg means which control the process, the oscillator output voltage being coupled to means for converting it into a numerical value, to be processed by said coln~u~ g means according to coefficients stored in memory means so as to inform the thickness of the metal layer.
According to another feature of the invention, said coefficients are previously determined for each one of the positions in the cell array by means of individual callibration, using standard cards of known metal film CA 02232l62 l998-03-l6 PCT~BR96/00041 t'nickness.
According to a further feature of the invention, sensors placed outside the cell matrix are provided. to enable the measurement of register errors in the plated cell pattern.
s According to yet another feature of the invention, the device allows the integrity check of all cells in the card, thus perrnitting the rejection of those cards in which one or more cells are open due to manufacturing defects.
The previous characteristics, as well as other aspects and o advantages of the present invention, will become more evidente from the description of a specific embo-liment, taken as an example and not in a limiting sense, as shown by the attached drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the test device built according to the principles of the invention, as well as its connections to extern~l control equipment, such as a PC-compatible micro-co~ uler.
Figure 2 shows a more detailed view of the proposed device, according to the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates a calibration curve for one sensing module, showing the elements which allow conversion of the measured voltage values into metal layer thicknesses, according to the invention.
Figure 4 shows the principle of register mi~lignment detection, according to the invention.
Referring now, more specifically, to the block diagram in figure 1, the proposed device 20 comprises the following blocks:
2s ~ Control board 21-- CPU-A/D -- consisting of micro-controller, analog to digital converter (A/D), memories and accessories;
Decoding card CEO 22, consisting of the address decoders, which controls the operation of each oscillator in the sensor matrix by means of individual lines 23;
~ Sensing assembly 27, consisting of as many sensing modules as the number of cells in the card, each of these modules con~ining, in addition to the oscillator, a pair of colinear sensing coils 24a - 24b, the internal ends of their cores forrning a gap into which lies a credit cell 25, the width of said gap being slightly greater than the card thickness, to allow for accidental irregularities.
Still according to figure 1, device 20 is connected to a PC
microcomputer 11, which controls the measuring process through a serial CA 02232162 l99X-03-16 W O 97/11332 PCT~BR96/00041 comm-mication line 46 m~king use of a standardized protocol such as, for instance, the RS 232.
Referring now to figure 2, it can be seen that the sensing assembly 27 comprises a plurality of test modules 30, each one consisting of s a Colpitts oscillator in which the coils that make up the tank are the inductive sensors 24a and 24b. Such oscillators have the property of producing an altern~ting signal whose amplitude is proportional to the inductive coil loading. Considering that said loading depends on the characteristics (thickness, conductivity) of the metal layer, as well as on the cell condition o (open or shorted), it follows that for a known alloy, the signal amplitude between the leads of the sensing coil will be inversely proportional to the thickness of the metal film.
Transistor 31 in all oscillators is normally cut-off, the oscillation being enabled individually by block CEO 22 through a positive voltage pulse 32 applied to the transistor's base through one of the lines of group 23. Duration 33 of this pulse is sub t~nti~lly greater than the time needed by the oscillator to reach steady-state operation, thus elimin~ting the effects of any possible transients. Part of the oscillation voltage present in transistor's 31 collector is rectified by diode 34 and filtered by capacitor 35,resulting in a fairly rectangular pulse 36 with a duration equal to the above mentioned command pulse 32.
~ gnit~ e of pulse 36 is much greater than the maximum voltage that can be applied to A/D converter 40. For that reason, a Zener diode 37 is connected in series with the converter input, in order to subtract aconstant voltage from said pulse 36, resulting in a lower amplitude pulse 38, which is forwarded to the input of said converter 40 for translation into a numerical value.
Said tr~n~mi~ion is done trough a digitally controlled potentiometer 39, whose value is adjusted by CPU 21 by means of a signal applied to control terminal 39'. This adjustment is individual for each one of the test modules 30, since there are differences between the components of each oscillator; moreover, the oscillation voltage is influenced by the positionof the sensing coils within the array (more or less distant from the edges, etc.). Data for adjustment of this potentiometer are det~rmined during the 3s previous calibration of the device, using standard cards of known thickness, and stored in the CPU's memory (not shown).
The controlled potentiometers 41 and 42 are trimmed in the W O 97/11332 PCT~BR~GI'~~~11 same way by control signals from the CPU, their adjustment being specific for each one of the 104 sensing modules; the first one adjusts the A/D
converter span and the second one establishes the lowest voltage signal (V
null) for said converter (corresponding to the thickest metal film). As said before, the controlled potentiometer 39 limits the m~ximl-m value of voltage applied to the input of the converter.
After those potentiometers have been correctly adjusted, the output of the converter will be zero for the thickest foreseen metal layer, and 255 for the thinnest film that is to be expected during m~nllf~cture of the o debit cards. In order to provide a direct relation between the numeric valueand the metal thickness (E), the output of converter 40 is processed by CPU
21 to generate its 255's complement.
After this step, said CPU sends to CEO 23 the address of the next position to be tested, in case of several positions having been progr~mm~-l for testing. Through serial interface 4~ and line 46, said numeric value is kansmitted to micro-computer 11 (shown in figure 1), which will process this result in order to inform the actual thickness of the metal layer.
Calculation of this thickness is done with the aid of the transfer curve of each test module, which depends, as already said, on the characteristics of the components and on the position of the sensor within the matrix. Thus, each one of the 104 modules (in the present example) has a kansfer curve which can be appro~im~t~l by one or more skaight line segments. Figure 3 exemplifies the approximation of this curve with a single segment ~3 which is defined by two coefficients: linear coefficient b and angular coefficient m. Therefore, for each position within the matrix the thickness shall be calculated by expression E = (VN x m) + b, where VN is the numerical value kansmitted to the CPU.
As previously mentioned, the characteristic curve of each test module can be more exactly approxim~t~-l through 2, 3 or more straight line segment~, each segment being defined by a specific angular coefficient (ml, m2, etc.) as well as by a specific linear coefficient (bl, b2, etc.). Evidently, in those cases, the formula for calculating the film thickness will be considerably more complex than the one utilized for approximation through one single segment.
Once the values of thickness in one or more cells in the card have been calculated, they can be stored, printed, kansmitted to other units, etc.. or even be used to trigger alarms (for thickness values beyond tolerance W O 97/11332 PCT~BR96/00041 limits) for card rejection, and so on. In case the cell is broken due to manufacturing defect, such a fact will be interpreted by the device as "insufficient thickness", le~ing to card rejection.
In addition to thickness deterrnin~tion, the proposed device allows the det~rmin~tion of occasional register errors. To this end, non-met~lli7.o-1 windows are provided in the card, said windows -- rectangular or square in sahpe -- being located in plated areas outside the credit cell array.
The inductive sensor set shall, in a similar way, be provided with additional test modules, with coils placed coincidentally with said windows.
0 Figure 4 shows the principle of the register error determin~tion.
Considering one of the edges 61 of window 60, it can be seen that roughly 3 positions are possible with regard to the inductive sensor core. In figure 4-a, core 62 lies entirely over a non-plated portion, so the current induced in the metal layer is lowest; therefore the voltage at the oscillator termin~l~ will bes the greatest. Figure 4-b shows a position where core 63 lies partially over a plated region and partially over a window; in this case some loading occurs and, therefore, the oscillation amplitude is sm~ller than before. Finally, in figure 4-c, core 64 lies entirely over a metal-plated region. Oscillator coil loading is the highest; hence, the voltage of the oscillations is the ~m~llest.
Through proper choice of window sizes and positions, as well as positions of the corresponding inductive sensors it becomes possible to detect deviations of the metal pattern plated on the card, either on the longitudinal or in the transversal directions, as well as pattern rotation relative to the axes of the card.
2s Obviously, the voltage values detected by the sensors will vary according with the thickness of the metal layer on the card, thus requiring an adequate software for interpretation of the values furnished by said register sensors.
As before, m~ximllm and Illillilll~llll acceptable measured levels must be previously determined through standard cards with known register mi~m~tches. Those values will be stored in the computer's memory, to enable rejection of cards in which said register errors exceed allowable deviation from true position.
Although the invention has been described with base in a 3s specific embo~liment it becomes clear that variations and modifications may be introducad without ovel~le~ing the scope of the inventive concept. Thus, for example, all data processing can be made by the device's CPU 21, provided that enough memory is available and all necessary software is loaded, elimin~tin~, therefore, the need for the use of micro-computer 11.
Moreover, although the description shows a device designed to test cards with 104 cells (100 credit cells and 4 for positioning/validity), it s shall be understood that the principle of the invention is equally applicable to cards with any amount of cells and even for measurement of thickness of continuos metal layers applied over an insulating m~f~ri~l -
THICKNESS AND PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON
INDUCTIVE DEBIT CARDS
s The present invention refers to the determination of thickness of conductive metal layers deposited over ins~ ting surfaces, and more specifically to the thickness measurement of the metal film employed in the production of credit cells on inductive debit cards such as those described in the patent documents PI(BR) 7804885, PI(BR) 9201380-5 and PI(BR) 0 9304503-4, here incorporated by reference.
Methods for measuring the thickness of metal layers based on X-ray diffraction are already well known, however their cost, as well as the time required by them restrict their use to high precision measurements in laboratories.
Moreover, the currently known methods do not detect adequately the register errors that crop up in the card's m~nllf~cture, i.e., the position mi~m~tch of the metallic cell pattern plated over the card with relation to its edges.
In view of the above, the present invention has as its major aim 20 the provision of a device capable of measuring expeditiously the thickness of said metallic films, with minim~l error margin and at low cost.
An additional objective is the detection of faulty register during the plating of cells, i.e., the mi~m~t~h between the real position of those cells and the ideal one in relation to the card edges, said mi~m~tch rendering the 25 card useless.
The above aims are accomplished by the invention by means of a device compri~ing a sensing assembly consisting of a plurality of sensing modules, each module consisting of an oscillator wherein the inductance is provided by a sensing coil coincicl~nt~lly placed at true position of its relative 30 credit cell, each sensor being, one at a time, individually enabled by a pulse origin~ted by Co~ illg means which control the process, the oscillator output voltage being coupled to means for converting it into a numerical value, to be processed by said coln~u~ g means according to coefficients stored in memory means so as to inform the thickness of the metal layer.
According to another feature of the invention, said coefficients are previously determined for each one of the positions in the cell array by means of individual callibration, using standard cards of known metal film CA 02232l62 l998-03-l6 PCT~BR96/00041 t'nickness.
According to a further feature of the invention, sensors placed outside the cell matrix are provided. to enable the measurement of register errors in the plated cell pattern.
s According to yet another feature of the invention, the device allows the integrity check of all cells in the card, thus perrnitting the rejection of those cards in which one or more cells are open due to manufacturing defects.
The previous characteristics, as well as other aspects and o advantages of the present invention, will become more evidente from the description of a specific embo-liment, taken as an example and not in a limiting sense, as shown by the attached drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the test device built according to the principles of the invention, as well as its connections to extern~l control equipment, such as a PC-compatible micro-co~ uler.
Figure 2 shows a more detailed view of the proposed device, according to the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates a calibration curve for one sensing module, showing the elements which allow conversion of the measured voltage values into metal layer thicknesses, according to the invention.
Figure 4 shows the principle of register mi~lignment detection, according to the invention.
Referring now, more specifically, to the block diagram in figure 1, the proposed device 20 comprises the following blocks:
2s ~ Control board 21-- CPU-A/D -- consisting of micro-controller, analog to digital converter (A/D), memories and accessories;
Decoding card CEO 22, consisting of the address decoders, which controls the operation of each oscillator in the sensor matrix by means of individual lines 23;
~ Sensing assembly 27, consisting of as many sensing modules as the number of cells in the card, each of these modules con~ining, in addition to the oscillator, a pair of colinear sensing coils 24a - 24b, the internal ends of their cores forrning a gap into which lies a credit cell 25, the width of said gap being slightly greater than the card thickness, to allow for accidental irregularities.
Still according to figure 1, device 20 is connected to a PC
microcomputer 11, which controls the measuring process through a serial CA 02232162 l99X-03-16 W O 97/11332 PCT~BR96/00041 comm-mication line 46 m~king use of a standardized protocol such as, for instance, the RS 232.
Referring now to figure 2, it can be seen that the sensing assembly 27 comprises a plurality of test modules 30, each one consisting of s a Colpitts oscillator in which the coils that make up the tank are the inductive sensors 24a and 24b. Such oscillators have the property of producing an altern~ting signal whose amplitude is proportional to the inductive coil loading. Considering that said loading depends on the characteristics (thickness, conductivity) of the metal layer, as well as on the cell condition o (open or shorted), it follows that for a known alloy, the signal amplitude between the leads of the sensing coil will be inversely proportional to the thickness of the metal film.
Transistor 31 in all oscillators is normally cut-off, the oscillation being enabled individually by block CEO 22 through a positive voltage pulse 32 applied to the transistor's base through one of the lines of group 23. Duration 33 of this pulse is sub t~nti~lly greater than the time needed by the oscillator to reach steady-state operation, thus elimin~ting the effects of any possible transients. Part of the oscillation voltage present in transistor's 31 collector is rectified by diode 34 and filtered by capacitor 35,resulting in a fairly rectangular pulse 36 with a duration equal to the above mentioned command pulse 32.
~ gnit~ e of pulse 36 is much greater than the maximum voltage that can be applied to A/D converter 40. For that reason, a Zener diode 37 is connected in series with the converter input, in order to subtract aconstant voltage from said pulse 36, resulting in a lower amplitude pulse 38, which is forwarded to the input of said converter 40 for translation into a numerical value.
Said tr~n~mi~ion is done trough a digitally controlled potentiometer 39, whose value is adjusted by CPU 21 by means of a signal applied to control terminal 39'. This adjustment is individual for each one of the test modules 30, since there are differences between the components of each oscillator; moreover, the oscillation voltage is influenced by the positionof the sensing coils within the array (more or less distant from the edges, etc.). Data for adjustment of this potentiometer are det~rmined during the 3s previous calibration of the device, using standard cards of known thickness, and stored in the CPU's memory (not shown).
The controlled potentiometers 41 and 42 are trimmed in the W O 97/11332 PCT~BR~GI'~~~11 same way by control signals from the CPU, their adjustment being specific for each one of the 104 sensing modules; the first one adjusts the A/D
converter span and the second one establishes the lowest voltage signal (V
null) for said converter (corresponding to the thickest metal film). As said before, the controlled potentiometer 39 limits the m~ximl-m value of voltage applied to the input of the converter.
After those potentiometers have been correctly adjusted, the output of the converter will be zero for the thickest foreseen metal layer, and 255 for the thinnest film that is to be expected during m~nllf~cture of the o debit cards. In order to provide a direct relation between the numeric valueand the metal thickness (E), the output of converter 40 is processed by CPU
21 to generate its 255's complement.
After this step, said CPU sends to CEO 23 the address of the next position to be tested, in case of several positions having been progr~mm~-l for testing. Through serial interface 4~ and line 46, said numeric value is kansmitted to micro-computer 11 (shown in figure 1), which will process this result in order to inform the actual thickness of the metal layer.
Calculation of this thickness is done with the aid of the transfer curve of each test module, which depends, as already said, on the characteristics of the components and on the position of the sensor within the matrix. Thus, each one of the 104 modules (in the present example) has a kansfer curve which can be appro~im~t~l by one or more skaight line segments. Figure 3 exemplifies the approximation of this curve with a single segment ~3 which is defined by two coefficients: linear coefficient b and angular coefficient m. Therefore, for each position within the matrix the thickness shall be calculated by expression E = (VN x m) + b, where VN is the numerical value kansmitted to the CPU.
As previously mentioned, the characteristic curve of each test module can be more exactly approxim~t~-l through 2, 3 or more straight line segment~, each segment being defined by a specific angular coefficient (ml, m2, etc.) as well as by a specific linear coefficient (bl, b2, etc.). Evidently, in those cases, the formula for calculating the film thickness will be considerably more complex than the one utilized for approximation through one single segment.
Once the values of thickness in one or more cells in the card have been calculated, they can be stored, printed, kansmitted to other units, etc.. or even be used to trigger alarms (for thickness values beyond tolerance W O 97/11332 PCT~BR96/00041 limits) for card rejection, and so on. In case the cell is broken due to manufacturing defect, such a fact will be interpreted by the device as "insufficient thickness", le~ing to card rejection.
In addition to thickness deterrnin~tion, the proposed device allows the det~rmin~tion of occasional register errors. To this end, non-met~lli7.o-1 windows are provided in the card, said windows -- rectangular or square in sahpe -- being located in plated areas outside the credit cell array.
The inductive sensor set shall, in a similar way, be provided with additional test modules, with coils placed coincidentally with said windows.
0 Figure 4 shows the principle of the register error determin~tion.
Considering one of the edges 61 of window 60, it can be seen that roughly 3 positions are possible with regard to the inductive sensor core. In figure 4-a, core 62 lies entirely over a non-plated portion, so the current induced in the metal layer is lowest; therefore the voltage at the oscillator termin~l~ will bes the greatest. Figure 4-b shows a position where core 63 lies partially over a plated region and partially over a window; in this case some loading occurs and, therefore, the oscillation amplitude is sm~ller than before. Finally, in figure 4-c, core 64 lies entirely over a metal-plated region. Oscillator coil loading is the highest; hence, the voltage of the oscillations is the ~m~llest.
Through proper choice of window sizes and positions, as well as positions of the corresponding inductive sensors it becomes possible to detect deviations of the metal pattern plated on the card, either on the longitudinal or in the transversal directions, as well as pattern rotation relative to the axes of the card.
2s Obviously, the voltage values detected by the sensors will vary according with the thickness of the metal layer on the card, thus requiring an adequate software for interpretation of the values furnished by said register sensors.
As before, m~ximllm and Illillilll~llll acceptable measured levels must be previously determined through standard cards with known register mi~m~tches. Those values will be stored in the computer's memory, to enable rejection of cards in which said register errors exceed allowable deviation from true position.
Although the invention has been described with base in a 3s specific embo~liment it becomes clear that variations and modifications may be introducad without ovel~le~ing the scope of the inventive concept. Thus, for example, all data processing can be made by the device's CPU 21, provided that enough memory is available and all necessary software is loaded, elimin~tin~, therefore, the need for the use of micro-computer 11.
Moreover, although the description shows a device designed to test cards with 104 cells (100 credit cells and 4 for positioning/validity), it s shall be understood that the principle of the invention is equally applicable to cards with any amount of cells and even for measurement of thickness of continuos metal layers applied over an insulating m~f~ri~l -
Claims (8)
1. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS characterised by comprising a sensing assembly (27) consisting of a plurality of sensing modules equal in number to the credit cells in said cards, each module consisting of an oscillator (30) wherein the inductance is provided by a pair of collinear sensing coils (24a, 24b), having their longitudinal axis aligned with the true position of its relative credit cell (25), the output (26) of said sensing assembly being connected to the input of an A/D converter (40) whose output is connected to computing means (11, 21) provided with memory means loaded with specific software for thickness calculation as well as data related to each individual sensing module.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS characterised by comprising a sensing assembly (27) consisting of a plurality of sensing modules equal in number to the credit cells in said cards, each module consisting of an oscillator (30) wherein the inductance is provided by a pair of collinear sensing coils (24a, 24b), having their longitudinal axis aligned with the true position of its relative credit cell (25), the output (26) of said sensing assembly being connected to the input of an A/D converter (40) whose output is connected to computing means (11, 21) provided with memory means loaded with specific software for thickness calculation as well as data related to each individual sensing module.
2. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the pattern register is checked by additional sensing modules wherein the sensing coils ( 62, 63, 64) are placed outside the region of the array of credit cells.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the pattern register is checked by additional sensing modules wherein the sensing coils ( 62, 63, 64) are placed outside the region of the array of credit cells.
3. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that each one of said sensing modules comprises a Colpitts oscillator.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that each one of said sensing modules comprises a Colpitts oscillator.
4. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterised by the insertion of a Zener diode (37) between the sensing assembly (27) output and the A/D converter (40) input.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterised by the insertion of a Zener diode (37) between the sensing assembly (27) output and the A/D converter (40) input.
5. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the connection of a digitally controlled potentiometer (39) to the input path of said A/D converter (40), wherein said potentiometer's control terminal (39') is connected to said computing means (21).
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the connection of a digitally controlled potentiometer (39) to the input path of said A/D converter (40), wherein said potentiometer's control terminal (39') is connected to said computing means (21).
6. DEVICE FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the fact that digitally controlled potentiometers (41, 42) are connected to the span and V-null terminals of the A/D converter, wherein said potentiometers' control terminals (41', 42') are connected to said computing means (21).
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by the fact that digitally controlled potentiometers (41, 42) are connected to the span and V-null terminals of the A/D converter, wherein said potentiometers' control terminals (41', 42') are connected to said computing means (21).
7. PROCESS FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS characterized by:
selecting at least one position to be tested within the credit cell array;
reading-off from the computing means' (11, 21) memory the coefficients associated with the test module related to said selected position;
presetting the A/D converter (40) by means of control signals generated by the CPU (21) fed into the control terminals (39', 41', 42') of the digitally controlled potentiometers (39, 41, 42), respectively connected to the signal input, span and V-null terminals of said converter, said control signals being derived from said coefficients;
calculating the film thickness by processing the numerical value forwarded from said A/D converter to the computing means (21, 11) according to a transfer curve associated with said position within the array as well as with the metallic alloy which makes up said film.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS characterized by:
selecting at least one position to be tested within the credit cell array;
reading-off from the computing means' (11, 21) memory the coefficients associated with the test module related to said selected position;
presetting the A/D converter (40) by means of control signals generated by the CPU (21) fed into the control terminals (39', 41', 42') of the digitally controlled potentiometers (39, 41, 42), respectively connected to the signal input, span and V-null terminals of said converter, said control signals being derived from said coefficients;
calculating the film thickness by processing the numerical value forwarded from said A/D converter to the computing means (21, 11) according to a transfer curve associated with said position within the array as well as with the metallic alloy which makes up said film.
8. PROCESS FOR DETERMINING FILM THICKNESS AND
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 7, characterized in that the values of said coefficients and of said transfer curves stored in the computing means' (11, 21)memory are previously determined by measurements performed on standard cards of known metallic film thicknesses.
PATTERN REGISTER IN CELLS PLATED ON INDUCTIVE DEBIT
CARDS as claimed in Claim 7, characterized in that the values of said coefficients and of said transfer curves stored in the computing means' (11, 21)memory are previously determined by measurements performed on standard cards of known metallic film thicknesses.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR9504681A BR9504681A (en) | 1995-09-18 | 1995-09-18 | Measurement of the thickness of metallic layers on insulating sheets |
| BR9504681-0 | 1995-09-18 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2232162A1 true CA2232162A1 (en) | 1997-03-27 |
Family
ID=4062547
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002232162A Abandoned CA2232162A1 (en) | 1995-09-18 | 1996-09-17 | Device and process for determining film thickness and pattern register in cells plated on inductive debit cards |
Country Status (8)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH11512526A (en) |
| KR (1) | KR100467116B1 (en) |
| CN (1) | CN1121604C (en) |
| BR (1) | BR9504681A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2232162A1 (en) |
| CZ (1) | CZ83698A3 (en) |
| PL (1) | PL326356A1 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1997011332A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE10014348B4 (en) * | 2000-03-24 | 2009-03-12 | Immobiliengesellschaft Helmut Fischer Gmbh & Co. Kg | Device for nondestructive measurement of the thickness of thin layers |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL132754C (en) * | 1965-04-29 | |||
| US4029945A (en) * | 1975-08-27 | 1977-06-14 | Stanley Electric Co., Ltd. | Card and card reader apparatus therefor |
| CH601863A5 (en) * | 1976-04-28 | 1978-07-14 | Sodeco Compteurs De Geneve | |
| US4181958A (en) * | 1978-04-21 | 1980-01-01 | The Valeron Corporation | Multiple probe gage system |
| US4678994A (en) * | 1984-06-27 | 1987-07-07 | Digital Products Corporation | Methods and apparatus employing apparent resonant properties of thin conducting materials |
| BR8502667A (en) * | 1986-10-01 | 1987-01-06 | Artacho Dalson | ELECTRONIC DATA READING AND RECORDING SYSTEM |
| BR9304503C1 (en) * | 1993-11-09 | 2002-01-08 | Fundacao Cpqd Ct De Pesquisa E | Method of charging fraud-proof credits on inductive debit cards |
-
1995
- 1995-09-18 BR BR9504681A patent/BR9504681A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
1996
- 1996-09-17 JP JP9512253A patent/JPH11512526A/en active Pending
- 1996-09-17 CZ CZ98836A patent/CZ83698A3/en unknown
- 1996-09-17 PL PL96326356A patent/PL326356A1/en unknown
- 1996-09-17 CA CA002232162A patent/CA2232162A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1996-09-17 WO PCT/BR1996/000041 patent/WO1997011332A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1996-09-17 KR KR10-1998-0702011A patent/KR100467116B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1996-09-17 CN CN96197731A patent/CN1121604C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| KR19990045767A (en) | 1999-06-25 |
| WO1997011332A1 (en) | 1997-03-27 |
| KR100467116B1 (en) | 2005-04-13 |
| CZ83698A3 (en) | 1998-12-16 |
| BR9504681A (en) | 1997-10-07 |
| CN1200171A (en) | 1998-11-25 |
| PL326356A1 (en) | 1998-09-14 |
| JPH11512526A (en) | 1999-10-26 |
| CN1121604C (en) | 2003-09-17 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Discontinued |