JPS625894A - Card and manufacture of card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This publication 8A relates to a portable card for a signal processing device and a method of manufacturing such a card.

In many fields where a person has access to a device consisting of an object, this object is increasingly formed by a portable card, an example of which is the credit card, which has been around for more than 20 years. It has also been used and is becoming more and more widespread today.

Recently, the International Standards Organization
a1 day tanclarde organization
) set standards for the dimensional characteristics of credit cards (So/D Engineering E3 Standard 2894). According to this standard, a standard card is 0.762mm thick and 85.7mm thick.
Must be 2 x 55.98+++ m rectangular 0 Alphanumeric characters intended to indicate the name and address of the bearer to whom the card belongs, for example, may be formed by stamping, but the Akanesake card must not exceed approximately 0.51 for one side of the The only information other than alphanumeric characters is recorded on magnetic tape or strips affixed to the card. In some applications, the tape recording is sufficient, but in other applications, such as watercress (watercress) cards, it is very advantageous to increase the amount of information, and the cards contain It is extremely advantageous to incorporate circuitry and, in some cases, memory, which can interact with the signal processing device. Equipped with such a circuit, the credit card can inter alia perform all debit and/or credit operations in conjunction with the geographic device and record the results.

In view of the foregoing, numerous attempts have been made, most notably to incorporate integrated circuits into cards. However, various problems arise with credit cards. The small thickness (0.76 mm) required by international standards must be sufficient to accommodate an integrated circuit capable of performing the operations described above, and at the same time, the card must not endanger the operation of the device. It must have sufficient flexibility to avoid exposure.

Many examples of credit cards incorporating integrated circuits are already known today.

In one example, a capsule containing an integrated circuit is connected to a conductor array formed on a rectangular sheet of a given length, and the conductors terminate in a contact area across a widthwise portion of the sheet. There is.

A #12 sheet of the same thickness as the capsule has a groin of the same length and width as the capsule, but not as long as the first sheet, so that the contact area described above is exposed. There is. This second sheet is applied to the first sheet to encapsulate the capsule. Finally, a sixth cover having the same length and width as the second sheet covers the capsule with the second sheet.

The above-described method of making credit card cards has the disadvantage that six differently shaped sheets are required and these sheets must be properly mated and bonded or welded. Also, in order for the card to comply with the above standards, the total thickness of the above six sheets must be 0.762+u
, so each sheet must be thin. This makes handling of the sheet difficult. On the other hand, the capsule must also be very thin and special techniques must be used for joining or welding.

In other known methods, cards are made from only two 7-cards. One of the sides of the first sheet is provided with seven lays of conductors terminating in the same number of external contact areas, and an integrated circuit is mounted on this first sheet. The second sheet is 0 arranged on top of the first sheet.
The two sheets are made of a material that softens at high temperatures, and therefore this warm heating causes the two sheets to be bath-bonded to each other through an intervening device, which has carefully formulated characteristics for this type of assembly method. The condition of the device, i.e. the integrated circuit, may be affected due to the required use of two sheets made of materials with There is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to substantially reduce and eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages.

The portable card according to the invention is of the type constituting a standardized credit card, incorporating at least one electrical signal processing device or device and having external contact terminals connected to the device by a conductor arrangement. Equipped with
Moreover, the device and the conductor arrangement are provided on the same substrate, the thickness and area of the substrate is relatively smaller than the thickness and area of the card, the device is housed in a cavity formed in the card, and the contact terminals are provided on the card. characterized in that it is formed by terminal areas of the conductors of the conductor array which are accessible through the cutouts in the conductor array.

The card according to the invention can therefore consist of a single card with an open or closed cavity in which the device or device is placed. The fact that the device and its conductor arrangement are already provided on the substrate also provides benefits in terms of fabrication process and manufacturing costs.

Further, according to one of the basic features of the present invention, the launcher (
By using the depth of 0.5ii+ allowed for the reference character formed by embossing), an integrated circuit device is placed in the blank space formed by embossing the same way as the embossing for forming the character in the part of the card where this character appears. can be inserted.

Or alternatively, the total thickness is the standard thickness of the card 0
, 762 u+) plus the character height of approximately 0.48111).

The invention also relates to a method of making a card as described above, the method comprising: providing a roll of a first strip having a dimension at least equal to one dimension of the card; forming a wafer comprising a device and a substrate carrying an arrangement of conductors, inserting the device into each of the cavities as the strip is unwound, securing each wafer to the strip, and cutting a card from the strip. It is characterized by this.

This method is very simple and requires only well-known techniques to implement the method. For example, each of the wafers described above may be formed from the same strip carrying a series of conductor arrays and associated integrated circuit devices on the same substrate. In addition, this substrate, which occupies a very small area compared to the total area of the card, can be easily and effectively welded using well-known high frequency welding methods. It has also been found that conventional zero bonding methods can be employed equally advantageously.

The features and advantages of the invention will become more clearly understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings showing various embodiments of cards according to the invention. is a standard credit card, and from the point of view that the above-mentioned restrictions are imposed on standardization, it can be said that it is an outstanding example that has the features and advantages of the present invention. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. In these drawings,
The card 10 according to the present invention has a rectangular sheet 12 that complies with the above-mentioned international standards, that is, 85.72w long, 51s long,
Laminated Pv with 9811I width and 0.762mm thickness
It is formed from a rectangular sheet 12 made of O (polyvinyl chloride) or PVOA (polyvinyl chloride acetate) or a material having comparable or superior processing properties and suitable for stamping.

According to the standard, one of the long edges and the parallel border 1
5 (indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1) is used to hold reference or reference data, such as the name and address of the card holder. This 8-reference data may be, for example, an alphanumeric character formed by stamping, such as the reference character 16 shown in FIGS. It is also possible to write on a thin element made, for example, of paper, which is connected to the portion 14a of the front surface of the card 100. According to standards, the stamped reference character 16 as well as the connected element 1B should in no case exceed a height of approximately 0.5 mm above the upper surface 12a of the card 1G on which the reference data appears.

The permissible character height is therefore equal to approximately 215 degrees of the thickness of the sheet 12.

According to the invention, the seat 12 is provided with a void 20. In the embodiment shown, this void is a hole extending through the sheet. This hole is shaped to receive a device 22 for processing electrical signals. This device t is connected to a conductor array 24 in which a respective terminal area is provided.

According to the invention, the apparatus or device 22 and the conductor arrangement 24 are provided on the same substrate 28 having a relatively smaller thickness and area than the sheet 12 forming the card. It will be done. By way of example, an assembly formed by a wafer 30 including a device 22, an array 24 and a substrate 28 is disclosed in JP-A-51-99975 and JP-A-51-159777 and French Patent No. 2205800. It can be of any type.

As is clear from FIG.
It opens into a shallow recess 52 formed at 2kl. The geometry of the depression 52 corresponds to the shape of the substrate 28, but the area f'i is slightly larger than the latter. The depth is such that the substrate fits within the recess with one surface of the substrate in a coplanar relationship with surface 12.

In addition, the card has cutouts 6 in the areas where the terminal areas 26 of the conductors of the array 24 will be located when the substrate is placed on the card.
4 is formed. In this specific example, the notch is in sheet 12.
t - A through hole. These cutouts are designed to allow the card's external electrodes (not shown in FIG. 2) to make electrical contact with the terminal areas 26 on the wafer 60.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the wafer 60 includes an electrically insulating filler material 6 that fills the hole 20 as shown in the figure.
6 is fixed to the sheet 12. Although this material is in four-sided relationship with surface 12a in the example shown in FIG. 2, the present invention allows the material to be raised to a height acceptable to stamping 16. This is advantageous in that a device 22 of larger size can be used while maintaining a defined thickness of the card.

It should also be noted that the substrate shown in FIG. 2 must in this case be constructed from a relatively robust material. Alternatively, a cover (not shown) made of a more robust material than the substrate may be used under the conditions shown in FIG. In the absence of a cover, substrate 28 is bonded or welded to sheet 12.

Another essential feature of the invention is found in its configuration, which allows the device to be placed in the corner areas of the card, where the torsional stress exerted on the card, made from a relatively stiff material, is lower than that exerted on the central area. The advantage of this is that the substrate occupies a relatively small portion of the area of the card and the terminal contact can be made directly to the electrode via the cutout S4, so that there is no need to penetrate the conductor into the card and thus avoid twisting. This is based on the fact that it is easy to bend and bend.

Another feature of the invention is that the processing by the device 22 is compatible with the processing by other means such as magnetic tape or strips, which can be applied to the area 141 defined by international standards. It is. This area is a complementary portion of the card 100 to portion 14a and is delimited by a dashed line 15 extending in the longitudinal direction of the card as shown in FIG. In accordance with current practice, a magnetic tape is provided, indicated by the reference numeral 68, which is generally bonded to the underside of the card (121). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, neither device 22 nor the conductors of array 24 interfere with the area intended for information being recorded on the magnetic tape.

FIG. 6 shows a modified embodiment of the card according to the invention. In this example, wafer 60 for processing apparatus 22 is
card 10 instead of the opposite side, as in the example shown.
It is arranged on the 0 surface 12a. This configuration offers a number of advantages compared to those previously described. In view of the heights allowed on the card 100 side 12a under the requirements of the 1fil standard, it is no longer necessary to form depressions such as depression 52 shown in FIG. The cover 40 is made of a material that is stronger than the material that makes up the substrate 28.
It is possible to wrap the assemblage in a plastic wrapper and thereby achieve even more satisfactory protection. This results in easier construction and better protection. Additionally, note that the cutout 54 provided for external electrical connections to the card opens into the underside 12b of the card. This configuration has no effect on the accessibility of device 22 to external electrical signal processing equipment that needs to communicate with the card.

A plug 42 can also be provided to close the hole 20 on the side opposite to the side on which the wafer 60 and its substrate 2IIL are arranged. Such a plug can of course also be used in the case of a card as shown in FIG.

Furthermore, although not explicitly shown in the drawings, it should be noted that the cover 40 is welded or bonded to the card 10.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the void 20 is not a hole but a stamped out molding 44 of the sheet 12 forming the card 10. The height of this embossed portion satisfies standard specifications.

That is, it is at most equal to the height of the ejected portion 16 (
Approximately 0.5tm). This height is approximately 215 mm thick of the card.
Therefore, the additional room created by this embossing portion is by no means negligible and presents many advantages. The device 22 is housed in a cavity 46 narrowed by a stamping 44, while the substrate 2 of Ueno 30
A first insertion stage 4B is provided for holding 8. As with FIG. 6, a cover 50 equivalent to cover 40 of FIG. 3 can be provided to make the assembly more robust.

A wafer 60 similar to that shown in FIGS. 8g1-6 could be used. For this purpose, the notch 54 must open on the card surface 12a. However, FIG. 4 illustrates another construction method that may be employed. In the case of FIG. 4, the device 22
and the conductor array 24 are not both arranged on the same surface of the board, unlike in the case of FIGS. 8g1 to 6;
As clearly shown in the figure, one is provided on each side of the substrate. Therefore, it is in the cover 50 that the contact notch 54 is formed. However, in order to prevent dust and other fine debris from accumulating in the notch 34 and interfering with the electrical connections forming the link between the device 22 and the processing device to which it is connected, The notch can be filled with a conductive material 52. This material may particularly be a lead-tin alloy or a conductive polymer. FIG. 5 shows the underside of the card of FIG. 4 with cover 50 removed. In this embodiment, a rectangular central opening 54 is formed in the substrate of wafer 30 into which the conductors of conductor array 24 extend. Each output contact of an electrical or electronic circuit 56 included in device 22 is positioned in contact with an extension of these conductors. The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6 is that there is no opening 54 and that the combination formed by device 22 and array 24 are disposed on the same side of the substrate. The device is mechanically secured to the substrate by means other than electrical connections of the device, either on the side carrying the circuitry 56 or on the opposite side thereof. The advantages that Wave 6G presents in the cards shown in Figures 2 and 6 are that they are simple in construction and highly reliable, yet these features do not impair the operation of circuit 56 on the surface of circuit 56 of device 22. Further improvements can be made by applying substances that cannot otherwise be removed from the device.

According to this configuration, fraudulent acts are reliably prevented. The material is provided in the area 58 indicated by the cross in FIGS. 2 and 4, located directly below the device 22.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment using a device 22 secured to the array 24 by a surface carrying electrical or electronic circuitry. The conductors of the array 24 must therefore be bent to reach the height of the top surface of the device a on which the processing circuitry is located. As such, both the device and the conductor array are thrown on the same side of the substrate 28.

The card of FIG. 6 is also provided with a board 58 which cannot be removed from the device without impairing circuit operation. A suitable potting material for enclosing the enclosure [22] is indicated by reference 60, and this is also the case in all other figures.

A novel feature can also be seen in the case of the card in Figure 6. That is, this card has two sheets 62 instead of a single sheet.
and 64. As can be understood from the diagram, one ~ knee halo.

is inserted between these two sheets 62 and 64, and sheet 62 is pre-stamped. In fabrication, the two sheets 62 and 64 are joined or welded together. ' Figure 7 shows yet another embodiment according to the invention. This card uses a single sheet 12 that is simply perforated to form a notch 54 for the addition. A wafer 30 as shown in FIG. 5 is placed on the surface 12a of the sheet.

For this purpose, the cap is slightly welded to the sheet 12 in such a way that the thickness of the card where the device is located is equal to the thickness where the stamping 16 is located. It's being launched.

It will, of course, be understood that the specific examples described above are merely illustrative of some of the various configurations that may embody the teachings of the present invention. It goes without saying that various combinations of the embodiments described above are possible within the scope of the present invention.

This invention is! , fc, provides a means of ensuring a good electrical connection between the device 22 of the card and the device with which it is sought to cooperate. Figures 8a to 1
Figure 0 shows some embodiments of this means.

48a and 8b, the device 1i
Identical conductors 68 from the array 24 associated with 22 are inserted into two contact notches 54a and 6 facing the wide contact area 26.
Collaborate with 4-b. Therefore, two columns 4i 70a and 70b are required to test the contact between each conductor 68 and the processing device irZ (not shown) in which the card is used. A power source 72 connected to these electrodes 70a and 70b applies a predetermined voltage of 1 voltage between these electrodes. If the contact is satisfactory, a predetermined current flows through the two notches S 4 a * 54 b and the terminal area 26 .

With the arrangement shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b, it is possible to detect possible bad contacts on the card in a more satisfactory manner. In this example, each conductor 68 of the array 24 is divided into two conductors 68a and 6Bb, the latter being inserted through respective terminal areas 26a, 26b into respective notches 34a and 6Bb formed in the card 10. 541). In the device 22, the external terminal of the electrical or electronic circuit is a contact 74, which is itself divided into terminals 74a and 74bVc corresponding to the conductors 68a and 681), respectively.

By applying a voltage to the conductors from the power source 72 through the electrodes 70a, 70b and the notches 34a, 34b, a current exceeding a predetermined level is generated in the terminal area 26a1 conductor 6.
8a, contact 74a1 connection between contacts 74a and 74b, contact 74b, conductor 68b, terminal area 26b and notch 54
It flows along a path consisting of b. In this way, the device f
It is verified that all connections to 22 are good.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment in which each conductor 68 terminates in a terminal area 26 carried through the substrate 28 by an open arrow. In this embodiment, therefore, two terminal areas 26a, 26b are provided, one on each of the two sides of the substrate.

The two notches 54a and 34b each correspond to the area 26a.
and 26t) and therefore electrode 7
By applying a predetermined voltage across 0e and 70b, it is ensured that good contact is made if a current above a predetermined level flows.

FIG. 11 is a highly simplified schematic diagram of equipment that can be used to make cards according to the invention.

This apparatus is shown to illustrate a method that can be employed to manufacture cards.

In carrying out the card manufacturing method, first a first roll 78 of a first strip 80 is provided. The width of this strip is at least equal to one dimension of the card, namely the length or width of the card. The first strip constitutes the material of the card, and if the card is formed from a single sheet, the thickness of the strip 80Q will of course be the same as the standard thickness of the card.

While unwinding the strip 80, a plurality of equally spaced cavities 20 are formed by the forming device 82. As previously mentioned, these cavities may be holes or stampings and are shown in dashed lines in FIG. 11.

On the other side, a second roll 84 consisting of a second sheet 86 is provided. This second sheet has a conductor array 2
4 and nine series of devices 22 are provided. As this strip, those disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-100003 and the French patent specification can be used.

Assembly apparatus 88 cuts second strip 86 as indicated by arrow 90 to trim wafer 60 as described above.

This device #88 also inserts a device 22 into each of the cavities 20 and each wafer 6 as the strip 80 is unwound.
0 to strip 80. After the strip 80 has been cut as indicated by arrow 92, a card 10 according to the invention is obtained.

A third roll 94 of a sixth strip 96 is used to form the described cover 40 or 50 by making cuts in the device 88 at the locations indicated by arrows 98. The card 10 that came out of the device R88 has 20 spaces and 50 wafers. and a cover 40 are schematically shown.

In another case, in a roll of $6, the second sheet 64
An example of this is when producing a card as shown in FIG. 6.

The device 88 can likewise be used to bond 2 and weld together card components such as those described above.

In fact, wafer 60 and t′f compared to card 10
i: Since the area of the cover 40 or 500 is small, it can be effectively welded at the edges using conventional welding methods such as radio frequency welding. However, using the same method,
It is nearly impossible to weld large surfaces corresponding to substantially the entire open area of the card. And this is the main advantage of the present invention over the prior art.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific examples, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples, and these specific examples are merely examples for carrying out the present invention, and do not fall within the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that numerous variations, equivalent substitutions or combinations can be easily devised.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first specific example of a card according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an I of the card shown along the line
rr side view, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a second specific example of the card according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a sixth specific example of the card, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the fourth embodiment with the cover removed. The bottom views of the cards in the figures, Figures 6 and 7 are of the cards according to the invention.
8a is a sectional view of the card in the area where the external contact terminals of the signal processing device thrown onto the card are located; FIG. 8b shows part of the substrate of the structure of FIG. 8a. Figures 9a and 9b are shown in Figure 8a.
8a and 8b, respectively, showing a modified embodiment of the contact terminal according to the invention, FIG. 10 a sectional view of another embodiment of the contact terminal, and FIG. 11 a card according to the invention; 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for carrying out the manufacturing method of FIG. 10... Card; 12... Rectangular sheet; 16... Alphanumeric characters for reference; 20... Blank space; 22... Electrical signal processing device (
integrated circuit); 24...conductor arrangement; 28...substrate; 60...
・Wafer; 32... Depression; 54... Notch; 36...
Filler; 38...Magnetic tape.・I

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) comprising a sheet (12) provided with a void (20) and an integrated circuit assembly (30) having a substrate (28);
The board includes an electronic device (74) having a plurality of terminals (74).
22) and a radial conductor array (24) having an inner end and a peripheral end (26) connected to the terminals of the electronic device (22); A card secured to said sheet (12) such that a device (22) is inserted into said cavity (20), wherein: a) said card has a predetermined surface area and a predetermined maximum thickness of said sheet; (12); b) said void (20) is a standardized card having a face (12B) of the sheet (12);
) having an opening on the cavity (20) and a chamber for accommodating the integrated circuit assembly (30);
d) is maintained fixedly within said cavity (20) by a cover (50) closing said cover (50), the outer surface of said cover (50) being approximately in the plane of said surface (12B) of said sheet (12); through the cover (50) a cutout (34) is provided, which cutout is filled with a conductive material (52) and is used as an external contact terminal for said card (10), and e) said conductor arrangement ( 24) The peripheral end (26) of the radial conductor (68) is arranged to contact the inner end of the contact terminal. (2) The card according to claim 1, wherein the conductor array (24) faces the inner surface of the cover (50). (3) The terminal (74) of the electronic device (22) faces the inner surface of the cover (50) through an opening (54) provided in the substrate (28). Card described in Section 2. (4) At least the circuit (56) of the electronic device (22)
3. The reliability of the integrated circuit assembly (30) is improved by applying a substance throughout which, if removed, would impair the operation of the circuit (56). Cards listed in section. (5) A card according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least the electronic device (22) of the integrated circuit assembly (30) is provided with an embedded material (60). (6) Multiple sheets (12) with blank spaces (20)
an electronic device (22) having a plurality of terminals (74); and a radial conductor (68) having an inner end and a peripheral end (26) connected to the terminals of the electronic device (22). conductor array (
step 2 of providing a plurality of integrated circuit assemblies (30) comprising a substrate (28) supporting a substrate (24); (30) to the corresponding one of the sheet (12)
A method of manufacturing a card (10) comprising step 3 of adhering to a)
Each of the cards in step 1 is attached to the sheet (
12) is a standardized card having a predetermined surface area and a predetermined maximum thickness, each of said voids (
20) has an opening on the face (12B) of said sheet (12) and a chamber accommodating one of said integrated circuit assemblies; b) in said step 2 said integrated circuit assemblies are c) said step 3 inserts one whole of said integrated circuit assemblies into said chamber of said void of the corresponding card, and provides said cover (50); Each of the covers (50) has a peripheral shape corresponding to the shape of the opening of the cavity and further includes a cutout (3) passing through the cover (50).
4), said cutout being filled with a conductive material (52) and used as a contact terminal on the exterior of said card, and said cavity being fixed in said cavity to secure said integrated circuit assembly within said cavity. one of the covers (50), with the outer surface of said cover approximately in the plane of said surface (12B) of said sheet and the inner end of said contact terminal aligned with said peripheral edge of said conductor (68). (26) A method for producing a card, characterized in that the card is brought into contact with the card. 7. A method of manufacturing a card according to claim 6, wherein said sheet is cut from a second strip (78). (8) The cover (50) has a third strip (96)
8. A method for producing a card according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the card is cut from a card.