JP2524606C - - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a card, and more particularly to a card including a memory, especially an electronic memory. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Memory cards consist essentially of a card body, usually made of a plastic material, and a memory module. In a card with electronic memory, the memory module comprises a semiconductor chip on which the integrated circuit is formed and a piece of printed circuit to which the chip is fixed and which defines an outer connection tab. It is an electronic module. The electronic module is secured to the card body such that the electrical contact tab is flush with one of the main surfaces of the card body. The card body is in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped and its thickness must be less than 1 mm. The edge of the card body serves as a reference for positioning the card in the card reader such that the contact tabs of the card are in electrical contact with the connector of the card reader. Two main techniques are used to make the card body and implant the electronic module therein. In the first technique, a plurality of sheets of a plastic material such as PVC are hot-rolled to make a card body. Before rolling, the electronic module is placed in a superposed sheet of plastic material. After the rolling process, the electronic module is securely held in the card body. This step has the advantage of making the card body and implanting the electronic module therein in a single step. However, this is a difficult method and requires reworking the periphery of the card body. In the second technique, a card body is formed in a first step, a recess for accommodating an electronic module is formed by cutting the card body, and the electronic module is bonded in the recess. The cutting of this type of card body is still precise,
It is a very expensive task to get very accurate dimensions. In particular, the electronic module must be correctly positioned with respect to the edge of the card and the main surface of the card body, which must be at the same height as the electrical contact tabs, so that cutting is an expensive operation Becomes Such a process is shown in French Patent Publication No. 2,579,799. The card body must also meet other specifications with respect to its surface condition and distinct bending characteristics in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the card body. Also, the card body must not promote the accumulation of static charge. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for making a card, in particular a card with an electronic memory, in particular to reduce the cost of making the card body and simplify the process of fixing the electronic module to the card body. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a card body while satisfying the above specifications. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic memory card including a card body (2) having a bending resistance characteristic satisfying the requirements of the ISO standard, and an electronic module forming an information carrier. And the method comprises: a) two substantially rectangular parallel major surfaces (20a, 22a) and an edge (20b).
Molds (20, 22) having a width (l) of about 55 mm.
) And a length (L) of about 85 mm, and the distance between these main surfaces is about 0.8
mm, and one of these main surfaces (22a) is at least 0 mm in the card body.
. Having a core (24) defining a recess (8) having a depth of 25 mm; b) holding said mold (20,22) at a temperature between 10 ° C. and 50 ° C .; c ) Acrylic nitrile butadiene is used in the above recess to manufacture the entire card body.
Injecting styrene at a predetermined pressure and a temperature between 270 ° C. and 290 ° C . ; d ) removing the card body thus produced from the mold; e ) removing the semiconductor chip (44). Providing an electronic module (40) having: f ) placing said electronic module in said recess (8) and said card body (2);
And fixing to. A better understanding of the present invention may be had from reading the following description of several non-limiting examples of the invention. (Embodiment) First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, one of card bodies manufactured according to the present invention will be described.
The two forms will be described. The main body 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having two substantially rectangular main surfaces 4 and 6. The dimensions of the main surface are approximately 85 mm (length L) x 55 mm (width l).
8 mm. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the card body also includes a recess 8 opening in the main surface 4. The recess 8 has a constant depth of 0.25 mm, and its dimension in the plane of the main surface 4 is 11 mm × 13 mm. FIG. 1 shows that eight studs 10 protrude from the bottom 12 of the recess 8. The studs are arranged in two rows in parallel. As shown in FIG. 2, each stud 10 has a base 1 having a diameter of 2 mm and a thickness of 0.05 mm.
4 and a distal end 16 having a diameter of 1 mm and a thickness of 0.19 mm. According to the invention, the card body is made by heat injection molding. The plastic material used is acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The material is 180 ° C and 2
Injected into a mold at a temperature between 80 ° C., preferably between 220 ° C. and 260 ° C., wherein the mold is between 5 ° C. and 100 ° C., preferably between 10 ° C. and 50 ° C. Kept at temperature. Other plastic materials, such as, for example, polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyamine 11, can also be used. In that case, the injection parameters will need to be changed. An example of a mold for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. The mold comprises a fixed front part 20 and a moving rear part 22. Front part 2
0 has a major surface 20a defining the major surface 6 of the card body and a side wall 20b defining the edge of the card. The rear part 22 is a surface 22 that defines the second main surface 4 of the card body.
a. The core 24 is attached to the part 22 and serves to create the recess 8. Therefore, this core occupies the same position on the surface 22a of the portion 22 as the position occupied by the recess 8 on the surface 4 of the card body. The surface 24 a of the core 24 defines eight recesses 26 that define the bottom 12 of the recess and define the shape of the stud 10. The surface 20 a of the portion 20 includes a portion 28 that projects slightly and faces the core 24. The injection path 30 is open to the core 24. This path is opened facing the center of the surface 24 a of the core 24, that is, facing the center of the recess 8. Of course, two parts 2
When 0,22 are fixed to each other, the space between them defines the volume of the mold, and thus the volume of the card. The core 24 arranged opposite the injection point comprises a cooling system represented by a coolant flow duct 32. As a result of various tests, it was found that the above-mentioned method, despite the fact that the overall shape of the component is unsuitable for molding, and in particular, regardless of its thinness (0.8 mm), was extremely satisfactory while satisfying the above specifications. It has been found that this is a method that makes it possible to obtain a card body under good economic conditions. In particular, based on a special injection technique, the card body has good bending characteristics, its vertical dimension (L) and its horizontal dimension (l) are good and meet the requirements of ISO standard. In particular, this standard specifies that a bending operation should be performed with a center offset of 5 mm when bending across the width and a center offset of 10 mm when bending along the machine direction, with 25 bending operations.
After 0 runs, it requires that the apparent width of the card remain less than 0.94 mm. Also, the advantages of the method of the present invention are clear. In particular, the shape of the card body whose recesses contain the studs is obtained in a single step, the position of the recesses relative to the rim is completely repeatable. Returning to FIG. 3, it is clear that the core 24 can be omitted if the surface 22a of the mold part 22 itself has been cut to define a shape corresponding to the end 24a of the core. Also, the method of the invention can be used to manufacture card bodies of other shapes, especially card bodies with different shapes of recesses and different numbers of recesses.
In a card body having a plurality of recesses, it is advantageous to provide one injection point at the same height as each recess. Another important advantage of the method of the present invention is that the card body can be embossed using conventional techniques. In many card usages, the manufacturer needs to emboss personalization information on one side of the card. It is also emphasized that the card body obtained in this way can accept magnetic tracks and silk-screen print numbers and text. A method of manufacturing an electronic memory card using the card body obtained by the molding method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows an electronic module 40 to be implanted in the card body 2. This electronic module consists essentially of a single-sided printed circuit 42 and a suitable electronic circuit, in particular a semiconductor chip 44 on which a storage circuit is formed. The printed circuit 42 includes an insulating support 46 made of polyester, on one side of which is provided a shoulder of conductive material, usually made of copper. 7, a central window 50, an adhesive hole 52 surrounding the central window 50, and eight pre-fixing holes 54 extend through the insulating support 46. The eight pre-fastening holes 54 are arranged similarly to the eight studs 10 of the card body and have a diameter which is only slightly larger than the end 16 of the stud. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the metallization layer 48 has been etched to: a) eight electrical contact tabs 56-70 located above the pre-fix holes; b) a central window 50 and eight adhesive holes 52; Nine corresponding electrical contact points 72-
88); c) defining conductive tracks connecting each contact point to the electrical contact tab and connecting the central metallization 72 to the contact point 74; As can be seen from FIG. 5, the semiconductor chip 44 is located in the central window 50 and is fixed to the central metallization 72 by a conductive adhesive 90. In addition, chip 4
4 is connected to one of the corresponding contact points 74 to 88 by a conductive wire 94, and the other end of the wire 94 passes through the corresponding adhesive hole 52 and the bottom of the adhesive hole. It is adhered to the surface of the contact point that closes. In this way,
Each terminal 92 of the semiconductor chip, along with its rear surface, is electrically connected to a contact tab. The thickness of the insulating support 46 is 150 microns, and the thickness of the metallization layer 48 is 50 microns. The thickness of the insulating support of the printed circuit is less than the height of the distal end 16 of each stud 10. FIG. 8 shows an electronic module 40 implanted in a card body made by molding. In the previous step, holes 100 are made. This hole is firstly opened in the recess 8 between the two lines of the stud 10 (see the dashed circle in FIG. 1a) and then by the projection 28 of the injection mold into the face 6 of the card body. An opening is provided in the recess 102 provided. The electronic module 40 is inserted into the recess 8 of the main body 2 such that the stud end 16 penetrates the pre-fixing hole 54. The surface 48a of the printed circuit does not contact the base 14 of the stud. The remaining space is about 0.040 mm wide. In the next step, the metallization 48 above the preliminary fixing holes 54 is heated. As a result, the end of the distal end 16 of the stud deforms and expands as shown at 16a in FIG. Thereby, preliminary fixing is performed, and the electronic module 40 is positioned on the card body 2. In particular, the surface 48a of the printed circuit 42 is
Will come into contact with. Thereafter, the card body can be turned over to complete the fixing step of the electronic module 40. For example, a thermosetting epoxy adhesive 104 is injected through the hole 100 and the hole 100
At the same time, the space remaining between the bottom 12 of the recess 8 and the printed circuit is filled. As a result, the module is finally glued to the card body, filling the holes 100 and at the same time forming a cover protecting the semiconductor chip 44 and its connecting wires 94. Due to the presence of the recess 102, it is possible to scrape the surface 104a of the adhesive 104 without risking damaging the surface 6 of the card body itself. The above description particularly relates to the arrangement of an electronic device of the type shown in FIG. However, it should be understood that the method of the present invention can be used to make electronic memory cards that include other types of electronic modules. In particular, instead of providing electrical connection tabs, means for connection to the card reader can be provided by inductive coupling. Similarly, instead of providing studs at the bottom of the recess for positioning and pre-securing the electronic module, other forms of relief can be provided, provided that they can be made by molding. This method can be performed without making the hole 100. In this case, the adhesive is inserted into the recess through the front of the electronic module or is applied to the back of the printed circuit before the electronic module is placed on the card body. Finally, the memory module can be a magnetic memory component. 9a and 9b show a body of a card made in accordance with the present invention and suitable for receiving a memory module comprising magnetic tracks. Card body 12
0 has the same rectangular shape and the same outer dimensions as the card body shown in FIG. It has two main surfaces 122, 124 parallel to each other and has a thickness of 0.8 mm
It is. A recess 126 running in parallel with one of the long sides of the card is formed in the main surface 122, said recess extending over the entire length of the card. 9b, the recess 126 has a uniform rectangular cross section. The depth of the recess is about 0.2
mm. The card body 126 is obtained by molding according to the above-described technique. The only difference is in the shape of the molded core, which must be complementary to the shape of the recess. The plastic material injection duct opens into the core defining the recess. The magnetic track is arranged in the recess and fixed to the card body by gluing or hot rolling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a card body according to the present invention. FIG. 1a shows a detail of the recess provided in the card body of FIG. FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1a. FIG. 3 is a simplified horizontal sectional view of a mold for making a card body according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the mold of FIG. 3 along the line IV-IV. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of an electronic module mounted on the card body shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 6 and 7 show the printed circuit of the electronic module viewed from above and below, respectively. FIG. 8 is a partial view of the card showing the electronic module implanted in the card body. 9a and 9b show an embodiment of the card body, in which case the memory module is a magnetic module.

Claims (1)

Claims (1) A method for manufacturing an electronic memory card comprising a card body (2) having bending resistance characteristics satisfying the requirements of the ISO standard and an electronic module forming an information carrier, The method comprises: a) two substantially rectangular parallel major surfaces (20a, 22a) and an edge (20b).
) Are prepared, and their main surfaces have a width of about 55 mm (
l) and a length (L) of about 85 mm, and the distance between these main surfaces is about 0.1 mm.
A core (24) defining a recess (8) having a depth of at least 0.25 mm within said card body, said one of said major surfaces (22a) being 8 mm; b) said mold ( a step of holding 20, 22) at a temperature between 10 ° C. and 50 ° C., c) acrylonitrile butadiene above the recess to produce the entire card body
Injecting en-styrene at a predetermined pressure and a temperature between 270 ° C. and 290 ° C . ; d ) removing the card body thus produced from the mold; e ) removing the semiconductor chip (44). Providing an electronic module (40) having: f ) placing said electronic module in said recess (8) and said card body (2);
A) fixing the electronic memory card to the electronic memory card. (2) The electronic module (40) includes an insulating support (4) having a plurality of holes (54).
6) and a printed circuit element (42) with a metallization (48) defining the electrical contact tab, wherein the metallization plugs one end of each of the holes and when making a card body. Forming a plurality of studs (10) protruding into the recess (8), disposing the module in the recess so that the stud penetrates a hole in the insulating support, and locally disposing the module. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the module is fixed to the card body by heating to soften and crush the end of the stand, and thereafter, an adhesive is inserted into the recess to terminate the bonding . 13. The method for manufacturing an electronic memory card according to item 13. (3) The method for manufacturing an electronic memory card according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the injection is performed from a single injection path (30). (4) The method for manufacturing an electronic memory card according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a symbol is embossed on one surface of the card body. (5) magnetic tracks, the method of manufacturing an electronic memory card according to any one of Claims paragraphs 1 through 4, wherein, characterized in that it is arranged on one main surface of the card body .